I hope everyone’s not too hung over from last night’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Today we go back to not celebrating Irish heritage. Are you ready for an open thread? Let’s thread.
Heckuva job CNN! CNN has hired Red State‘s Erick Erickson to be their newest contributor to their politics coverage. Erick Erickson has had great insights like the following:
He’s called a Supreme Court justice a “goat-fucking child molester.” Last month, he told “ugly” “feminazis” to “return to their kitchens.” He’s compared an administration official to a Nazi and called First Lady Michelle Obama a “Marxist harpy.”
I guess they miss that Lou Dobbs vibe. This is how CNN is selling their new hire:
In Tuesday’s announcement, CNN political director Sam Feist lauded Erickson as being a voice for small-town values.
“Erick’s a perfect fit for John King, USA, because not only is he an agenda-setter whose words are closely watched in Washington, but as a person who still lives in small-town America, Erick is in touch with the very people John hopes to reach,” Feist said.
When the show was announced in November, CNN framed it as a sticking with straight news when the other, more opinionated broadcasts were pulling in higher ratings.
“I think what is troubling in part of our business is you have people on news shows who start the conversation with a bias,” King said at the time. He also said he envisioned his show as an oasis of “insight and context.”
Adding political hack Erick Erickson means they’re free from “bias.” I assume in CNN-land bias = facts. After all, facts have a well-known liberal bias.
Rep. Shadegg (R-AZ) supports single-payer? I’ll believe it when I see it.
“The reality is, this bill is going to reward for-profit insurance companies that have done a disservice,” Shadegg said. “This bill is going to give them exactly what they wanted. The insurance industry, the for-profit insurance industry, wanted an individual mandate and that’s what they’re getting out of this bill. The for-profit insurance industry did not want a public option because they don’t like competition and guess what? They’re getting that.”
When Shuster accused Republicans of supporting insurers, Shadegg balked.
“No we don’t! You guys keep saying that, but I’m not the guy pushing the bill that says we should compel people to buy insurance from the for-profit guys. That’s the Democrats,” he said.
Then, after some back and forth with Shuster: “I would support single-payer.”
“You would support a government-run medical system?” Shuster asked.
“Absolutely,” Shadegg said. “I would support forcing American insurance companies to compete. Right now they have a monopoly.”
There’s a single payer bill in the House right now. Shadegg should sign on as a co-sponsor.