I got an e-mail yesterday from Democrats.org, telling me to “stand with” President Obama on healthcare, and touting the “historic” agreement by the healthcare industry to reduce costs. Yeah. They’ve agreed to “voluntarily” reduce costs (gee, maybe the financial services industry will agree to voluntarily regulate itself, too) by $2 trillion over 10 years (so health care will cost an estimated $31 trillion instead of an estimated $33 trillion). We’ll know they’re doing this, because they’ll tell us they are (congratulations! Your premium only went up 3%, but it would have gone up 6% if we weren’t doing such a great job. Honest, you can trust us – we’re the insurance company!).

Unfortunately, I know how the insurance industry cuts costs – they just cut what they’re willing to pay (they’ll cut payments by, say, 5%, increase their profits by 4%, and tout the 1% “savings” they’ve passed along to you). And then the uninsured either make up the difference, or get pushed off to public hospitals (who get ever-reduced Medicaid reimbursement, but don’t have the option of refusing patients). Of course, in order for you to save that 1%, we either have to raise taxes by 5%, or let people die in the street (my money is on “let ’em die in the street”). Yep, it’s gonna be great.

Speaking of e-mails from people I don’t know, I got one from Barbara Boxer yesterday, too. She was pleading with me to contact the White House to push for the appointment of a woman as the next Supreme Court Justice. And that’s OK, as far as it goes. We need more women in government.

What she didn’t urge me to do, however, was push for a progressive woman who would respect the Constitution, individual rights (like my right not to be spied on, tortured, or thrown into a prison forever with no right to see the evidence against me), and the rule of law (such as pressing to investigate and prosecute those who ordered and carried out torture).

I guess Barb’s e-mail would have had more of an impression on me if I hadn’t seen Fahrenheit 9/11, with Representatives from the Congressional Black Caucus coming forward one at a time objecting to the illegal appointment of George W. Bush as President, and begging for one – just one – Senator to stand with them. Senators like Barbara Boxer, who remained silent and are at least in part responsible for what happened over the ensuing eight years (oh, I know, Boxer found a little courage after the 2004 election, and joined in the objection to Ohio’s electoral votes. Too little, too late. She missed the boat in 2000, and 2004 was just a dog and pony show).

The problem is, I want more than a woman, Barb. I want one who’ll do what you didn’t have the guts to do. What nobody – male or female, particularly in the Senate – seemed to have the guts to do while Bush was president, and still don’t have the balls to do now that he’s gone. All while his despicable hatchet man Dick Cheney goes on the teevee taunting the Obama Administration, and just daring somebody to do something about it.

Maybe they should have sent that e-mail from Maxine Waters instead. Come to think of it, maybe I’ll contact the White House and insist that Obama appoint Maxine or Stephanie Tubbs Jones to SCOTUS. I’d like to see them kick Clarence Thomas’ ass when he pulls that Coke can shit.

And now for the important stuff: Donald Trump and Carrie Boobjob coming up on the Today Show. Can we officially be done with this now?