"All Quiet on the Western Front" not the remake we expected

Some negative reviews have come in for Netflix's remake of  "All Quiet on the Western Front." They all say the same thing, that the movie is not loyal to the book. That's true -- it leaves out some crucial scenes and adds scenes between the German and French armistice-seekers on the war's closing days. Also, the ending. The famous butterfly ending of the 1930 movie vs. this version which takes its time settling Paul Baumer's life and the armistice. He dies and the camera lingers on his young face, so young and so dead. 

I read Erich Marie Remarque's novel in the sixth grade. It wasn't a class assignment. My father had a massive library and I had a library card as soon as I could walk. Dad's World War II collection was a doozy. "Guadalcanal Diary," Ernie Pyle's "Brave Men," Bill Mauldin's Willie and Joe cartoons, "They Were Expendable," "PT109." He was a WWII veteran, an infantry radioman in France, Belgium, and Germany. He also had World War 1 books, probably because his mother and father both served in that war. I was entranced by the pilots of those rickety old airplanes. I was obsessed with the Lafayette Escadrille and the "The Red Baron" Richthofen's aerial battles. I read all Nordhoff and Hall books, as  both had been pilots in The Great War. I also read their Mutiny on the Bounty trilogy. Even now, I equate their "The Falcons of France" with "Mutiny on the Bounty." Adventure books. Boys' books. They made me yearn to be a fighter pilot and Fletcher Christian. Only in my imagination.

I was a kid and really had no idea what I was reading about any war. As bodies piled up in books, I viewed that as part of the adventure. My viewpoint has changed over the decades. I never went to war, the one of my generation in Vietnam and Cambodia and Laos. I was 18 when I graduated high school in 1969. I never served in the military although I was in the Navy ROTC program for 18 months. I felt guilty about my lack of service for a long time, especially in the 1980s when Reagan told us we had licked the Vietnam Syndrome. I had Viet Vet friends. I had peacenik friends. I read a lot of books about Vietnam. There always some nagging sense that I had missed out on something. How odd that seems now. 

I reread "All Quiet" prior to watching the Netflix movie. I also rewatched the 1930 movie, released just a year after talkies appeared. The book and the movie both cover Paul's recruitment and his leave when he confronts those who were so eager to send him to war. They are at the heart of the book. Paul was subject to "the old lie" in Wilfred Owens' poem, "Dulce et Decorum Est." After recounting the deadly effects of a gas attack, Owen ends his poem with this:

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest/To children ardent for some desperate glory/The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est/Pro patria mori.

That sentiment appears in the new "All Quiet on the Western Front." It just doesn't get the starring role I expected.  

Real letter from Wyoming Sen., Mike Enzi; fake content

I had some comments to Sen. Enzi's reply to my letter admonishing him for supporting Republican efforts to  end health care coverage for millions of Americans. I had to use a crayon because that's what it deserves. Republicans have been working overtime to sabotage the Affordable Health Care Act since its inception., That is why it is in trouble. To say otherwise is a lie. 

Republicans say it loud and scary: BENGHAZI!

As a fiction writer, I enjoy e-mails from Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis. The Republican from Cheyenne never ceases to amaze with her fabrications and half-truths and spin -- can't forget the spin. As a member in good standing of the Republican cabal in the House that gives gridlock new meaning, she can be trusted to always be on the FAR RIGHT side of each issue. This time, she is even asking questions at one of the many hearings that House Republicans are holding on BENGHAZI! I capitalize and emphasize the Libyan city's name because that's how the Republicans do it. BENGHAZI! Or like this: 

BENGHAZI!

It was funny to read today that 39 percent of those Americans polled who believe, as does Rep. Lummis, that BENGHAZI is a cover-up, don't know what country it's in. From Public Policy Polling's latest national survey (thanks to Crooks & Liars):

"One interesting thing about the voters who think Benghazi is the biggest political scandal in American history is that 39% of them don't actually know where it is. 10% think it's in Egypt, 9% in Iran, 6% in Cuba, 5% in Syria, 4% in Iraq, and 1% each in North Korea and Liberia with 4% not willing to venture a guess."

BENGHAZI!

Wherever the hell it is.  

Oogalee Boogalee! Are you scared now?

Here's Rep. Lummis's e-mail (the links are hers):

Dear Friends, This past Wednesday the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee heard from three men, all of whom are public servants and all of whom have firsthand experience with the Benghazi attacks of September 11th, 2012 that claimed the lives of four Americans.

From the testimony we heard it’s clear there was a conscious effort to provide misleading and conflicting information on the Benghazi attacks. The question now is how far up in the administration did this cover up go?

People died. There are four deaths. Concealing the facts and impeding efforts on behalf of Congress to investigate this situation is simply deplorable.

Wednesday’s witnesses had illustrious careers. But when they had the gumption to correct the inaccuracies being spread about this attack some of their careers became fodder for revenge. It is inexcusable what this administration has done to these citizens, particularly in light of what these men have done for our country.

I walked away from this week’s hearing with more questions, more rabbit holes and without concrete answers for the families of these victims. Clearly it was the tip of the iceberg, but I’m glad to hear truth being shed on this unfortunate situation. The Committee will continue our investigation until concrete answers can be delivered.

I want to thank witnesses Gregory Hicks, Mark Thompson and Eric Nordstrom, for having the courage and strength to come forward and set the record straight on these horrific attacks.

Watch my questions HERE.

Sincerely, Representative Cynthia M. Lummis 

Interesting to note that Republicans in the House have yet to convene numerous committees to investigate how George W. Bush and Dick Cheney lied us into the Iraq War. Or the many diplomats and embassy staffers who were killed during the Bush presidency. After all, PEOPLE DIED!

Republicans make up their own stats about Medicaid in Wyoming

Great article on the Equality State Policy Center blog by Barb Rea about the May 9-10 Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee meeting in Evanston.

Committee Co-Chairman Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, felt the need to add his personal interpretation to almost every piece of information presented. He painted Medicaid as a perennial problem in the state, and assured the committee that the new federal health care law, which he dismissively terms “Obamacare,” will be repealed or at least defunded. He also continues to portray his pet project, Healthy Frontiers, as a viable program which could be used to replace both Medicaid and the benefits offered in the new legislation.

First, one has to wonder why so many wacko Republican legislators come from Casper. Second, one has to wonder why Sen. Scott feels he has to bully other members of the committee. Third, why does Sen. Scott have such an unhealthy interest in the very flawed Health Frontiers program? Right, it’s his pet project and he is single-minded in pursuing that over any other alternative to rising health care costs and the stone-cold fact that thousands of Wyomingites are uninsured.

But Scott wasn’t the only one with a suspicious agenda.

The state’s new Director of the Department of Family Services, Steve Corsi, who made a stunning assertion that 30% to 40% of people who enroll in Medicaid in Wyoming, come dressed like he was (black suit and new haircut) and driving an Escalade, “and there is nothing we can do about it.”

Senator Scott let the committee’s disgust percolate until Wyoming’s Medicaid Director, Teri Green, was able to question the validity of Mr. Corsi’s numbers. Mr. Corsi later apologized for using an inflammatory example and a “guesstimate.”

Later we learned from another presenter, that nationally less than 10% of Medicaid payments are claimed fraudulently, and in Wyoming the figure is less than 6%. Moreover, research tells us most of the fraud by far (80%) is committed by providers (primarily medical-device and pharmaceutical companies). Less than 10% of the fraud is committed by patients.

Mr. Corsi’s hysterical assertions seem to be cut from the same cloth as the “Welfare Queens” of the 1980s, those mythical creatures who drove up to welfare offices in their Cadillacs to rake in the big welfare bucks. What nonsense. A director of a state agency should know better.

At this point, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that our family has benefited from the Wyoming Medicaid Children’s Waiver. This program fills in the insurance holes when your son or daughter needs long-term care for mental health diagnoses or drug and alcohol treatment.

Our daughter benefited from the tax-supported program on several occasions. I will have to note that she is now 18 and a healthy contributing member of society and is currently working and her taxes go to help other young people in Wyoming who have experience health care emergencies. She doesn’t seem to mind.

And I also have to admit that I had a new haircut the last time I filled out the paperwork for the Medicaid Waiver. I have always admired Mr. Corsi’s tonsorial discipline and thus was inspired to follow his example. I wasn’t wearing a black suit as I didn’t want to be mistaken for a bureaucratic blockhead (note to self: no name-calling) such as Mr. Corsi. And I left my Escalade at home. Mr. Corsi may be able to afford to Escalade on his director’s salary, but most of us state employees have to make do with four-year-old Fords and Chevy compacts.

UPDATE: AT last night's Laramie County Democratic Party meeting, I learned that Mr. Corsi was referring specifically to the state's S-CHIP program in his good haircut/dark suit/Escalade remarks. Our family has never been involved in the S-CHIP program. A good thing, considering my lack of attention to hair, clothes and gas-guzzling personal mobility devices.

Read the entire Equality State Policy Center post at http://equalitystatewatch.blogspot.com/2011/05/medicaid-is-helpful-and-should-be.html

Right-Wing Group from Utah Spearheading Effort to Recall Wisconsin Dems

Why oh why is a batshit crazy group of Utah right-wingers spending time and money in Wisconsin?

Because they are batshit crazy Utah right-wingers and they've run out of targets in Utah and its satellite states of Wyoming and Idaho and Arizona and are now spreading venom to Wisconsin.

The conservative American Recall Coalition, a group from Salt Lake City, Utah, is leading the charge to reel in eight Democratic Senators in Wisconsin who are among 14 lawmakers who left the state in protest of Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill, according to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB).

The out-of-state group last week filed with the GAB website to recall the Senators, but initial filings did not have anyone from the local senatorial district as part of the recall requests.

"They didn't have any local people involved, so we contacted them and said they need to have one local person in each district," said GAB spokesman Reid Magney. "They withdrew those initial filings and made new ones and we are waiting for the signed paperwork."

Wisconsin senators targeted in the campaign are Lena Taylor, Spencer Coggs, Jim Holperin, Mark Miller, Robert Wirch, Julie Lassa, Fred Risser and Dave Hansen.

According to a Reuters report, the American Recall Coalition is also campaigning to recall Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Arizona, who drew conservative fire last month after linking the Tucson shootings that killed 6 and seriously hurt 13 people, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, to "political vitriol, prejudice and bigotry."

Read the rest at Workers' Uprising: Right-Wing Group from Utah Spearheading Effort to Recall Wisconsin Dems| AlterNet

WyoDems check facts on Barrasso statements

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso reeled off a few whoppers on FOX news. So what else is new...

WyoDems' communication director Brianna Jones ran a fact check on Dr. Barrasso's statements at http://www.wyomingdemocrats.com/ht/display/ViewBloggerThread/i/1283969

My God, Jim, I'm a doctor -- not a U.S. Senator!

Fact Check: Wyoming Sen. Barrasso's statement on health care reform

The Wyoming Democratic Party did a little research and came up with a fact check on some health care reform comments by Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, M.D. (hope he's a better doctor than researcher):

Brianna Jones, WyoDems communications director: Please see below for a fact check of the claims made by Senator Barrasso on the floor of the Senate just now on how the Patients Protection and Affordable Care Act would affect Medicare:

Sen. Barrasso: “When you look at the details of this bill, this is going to cut almost $500 billion. $500 Billion from our seniors who depend on Medicare for their health care.” [Barrasso Floor Speech, 11/20/09]

REALITY: MEDICARE SAVINGS DO NOT CUT BENEFITS

AARP: Statement That Reform Would Cut Medicare Benefits Is “Misleading And Alarmist,” And “The Proposed Medicare Savings Do Not Limit Benefits, They Do Not Impose Rationing.” The Wall Street Journal reported that, “[t]he Republican Party issued a new salvo in the health debate Monday with a ‘seniors' health care bill of rights’ that opposed any moves to trim Medicare spending or limit end-of-life care to seniors. Intended as a political shot at President Barack Obama, the Republican National Committee manifesto marks a remarkable turnaround for a party that had once fought to trim the health program for the elderly and disabled, which last year cost taxpayers over $330 billion…The country's largest lobbying group for seniors, AARP, said it welcomed the RNC's commitment to protect Medicare. But the group, which supports efforts to overhaul the health-care system, also dismissed the RNC statement as misleading and alarmist. ‘Change by itself is anxiety producing, but as we have analyzed the various bills [before Congress], the proposed Medicare savings do not limit benefits, they do not impose rationing and they do not put the government between patients and their doctors,’ said John Rother, AARP's executive vice president.” [Wall Street Journal, 8/25/09]

Hospitals Group Refuted CMS Actuary Report: “Hospitals Always Will Stand By Senior Citizens. This Summer, Hospitals Agreed To Contribute Substantial Medicare Savings Are Part Of Our Shared Sacrifice To Reform Health Care.” Politico Live Pulse reported: “The following statement was released today by Chip Kahn, President of the Federation of American Hospitals: Hospitals’ commitment to our mission of serving the health care needs of seniors in communities across America is steadfast. A memorandum recently issued by the CMS Actuary analyzing the effects of “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009” (H.R. 3962) concludes that some providers may end their participation in the Medicare program. Hospitals always will stand by senior citizens. This summer, hospitals agreed to contribute substantial Medicare savings as part of our shared sacrifice to reform health care and achieve near universal coverage for all Americans. We are pleased with the legislative progress as well as the movement towards market-based solutions. And we look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to enact legislation that will enable hospitals to continue to provide our patients, including seniors, with ready access to the highest quality health care possible.” [Politico Live Pulse, 11/16/09]

Medicare Advantage Health Economist: 86 Percent Of Extra MA Payments Went To Profits, Only 14 Percent Went To Extra Benefits – “Cuts To MA Should Be A No Brainer.” Health Economist Austin Frakt, a professor at Boston University, has studied Medicare Advantage plans extensively and wrote on his blog about his findings: “Payment to MA plans has gone way up since 2003. Did the payment increase largely benefit beneficiaries or not? This is a current political and policy debate, about which much has been written in the media (both traditional and blogospheric). It turns out the answer is known and quantifiable. My work (with Steve Pizer and Roger Feldman) shows that for each additional dollar spent by the federal government (taxpayers) on the program since 2003, just $0.14 of it can be attributed to additional value (consumer surplus) to beneficiaries (see also: findings brief). What do we make of the other $0.86? That goes to the insurance companies but doesn’t come out “the other end” in the form of value to beneficiaries. In part it is accounted for by the costs of the additional benefits and in part it is captured as additional insurer profit. So, do higher MA payments produce little value to beneficiaries, as Obama claims, or are the benefits they fund important to maintain, as Republicans would have us believe? The balance of the evidence is on Obama’s side. In fact, it is a landslide: for each dollar spent, 14% of the value reaches beneficiaries and 86% of it goes elsewhere (profit or cost). Cuts to MA should be a no brainer.” [Incidental Economist - Austin Frakt, 9/28/09]

REALITY: REFORM WOULD STRENGTHEN MEDICARE

CBO On Senate Bill: Medicare Savings Amount To $491 Billion. In its estimate of the Senate reform bill, CBO wrote: “Other components of the legislation would alter spending under Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs…In total, CBO estimates that enacting those provisions would reduce direct spending by $491 billion over the 2010-2019 period.” [Congressional Budget Office, 11/18/09]

Senate Bill Includes $500 Shrinkage Of Medicare Prescription Drug Donut Hole In 2010. Politico Live Pulse reported that, “[i]n what can be viewed as an election-year sweetener for senior citizens, the coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug program would shrink by $500 in 2010 only under the Senate bill. A Senate leadership aide described it as a ‘downpayment’ on closing the donut hole. ‘Our goal is to get it closer to the House bill,’ which would eliminate the coverage gap over the next decade, the aide said.” [Politico Live Pulse, 11/18/09]

AARP CEO: House Bill “Includes Critical Priorities For Seniors…Provides And Strengthens Medicare For Today’s Seniors And Future Generations.” The Hill reported on AARP’s endorsement of House Democratic health reform. AARP CEO A. Barry Rand said, “[t]his bill includes critical priorities for seniors – critical – ensures quality, affordable health coverage options for all Americans, provides and strengthens Medicare for today’s seniors and future generations and puts us on a path to improving our long-term health system.” [The Hill, 11/5/09]

New York Times: Reform Will Enhance Drug Coverage, Reduce Premiums, and Help Keep Medicare Solvent. “Far from harming elderly Americans, the various reform bills now pending should actually make Medicare better for most beneficiaries — by enhancing their drug coverage, reducing the premiums they pay for drugs and medical care, eliminating co-payments for preventive services and helping keep Medicare solvent, among other benefits.” [New York Times, Editorial, 9/27/09]

Top Ten Republican Tax Day Lies

This comes courtesy of Crooks and Liars:

Here, then, are 10 Republican Tax Day lies:

1. President Obama will raise taxes on small businesses.
2. The estate tax devastates small businesses and family farms.
3. 40% of Americans pay no taxes.
4. Tax cuts always increase revenue.
5. The GOP is the party of fiscal discipline.
6. Ronald Reagan was the greatest tax cutter of all time.
7. FDR caused the Great Depression, or at least made it worse.
8. Obama's cap-and-trade plan will cost each American family $3,100 a year.
9. Obama's tax proposals will undermine charitable giving.
10. The rich pay too much in taxes already.

Go to crooksandliars.com for the sordid details.

Veep is clueless about low approval ratings

Now that Americans have repudiated everything that V.P. Dick Cheney stands for (or lies about standing for), we will have to bear his prattling on and on and on as he returns at least part time to Wyoming.

Jared Miller interviewed Cheney for the Casper Star-Tribune. In it,

Dick Cheney spoke about his future plans, why his term in office has been so controversial, and the role his office played in keeping the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park open in winter. Cheney spoke with the newspaper from
his home in Teton County, where he was spending time with family.

Asked about the Obama Administration's (love the sound of that) impact on Western issues, he said:

I guess Sen. Ken Salazar from Colorado is going to take the interior (secretary) job. I think that's helpful to have somebody from Colorado, the Rocky Mountain West, in that post. Now, you know I'd rather have a conservative Republican, given my view of the world. But Democrats won the election, and they get to fill those posts, and we'll see how they do.

I love this question from Miller: "How do you explain your low approval rating?"

I don't have any idea. I don't follow the polls.

LOL

Asked to assess Cynthia Lummis, who ran a lie-laden, mean-spirited, Barbara Cubin-style dirty campaign against Democrat Gary Trauner, Cheney replied:

I thought she would make a very able congresswoman, and I'm sure she will do an excellent job. I thought she ran a good campaign. She knows Wyoming. She's obviously spent a lot of time in public office in Cheyenne, as well as in the ranching business. She's known all over the state because of the time she spent as a statewide office holder. So she starts with an excellent base in terms of putting together a successful career in the House.

Why Wyoming?

We've always considered Wyoming home. It's where we vote and pay taxes ... it's always been an important part of our lives. Now we'll have the opportunity to spend more time here.

"Any future political plans?"

Uh oh.

I've been involved now for a long time... I ended up spending most of my career in politics in government, and I've loved it. But I think there comes a time to step aside, and I've reached that point in my career. We've got a lot of new talent coming along, good people ready to take on major responsibilities, and that's all to the good. Some of us have had a shot at it as I have over the course of the last 40 years. I think it's time now for us to step aside and watch from the sidelines. If I can be helpful from time to time I will, but I have no desire whatsoever to get back into elected office."

That's good news. But Cheney has always been known as a big fat liar.

Sen. John McCain, teller of tall tales

Lies, and the lying liars who utter them

There are whoppers, and then there are McCain-style whoppers

John McCain's lies are mounting up into a big pile of...

"Im having a hard time keeping up...

McCain's lies: the gifts that keep on giving

McCain's lies: 51 and still counting

So many lies. So difficult to track them all.

Until now.

As a public service, the Democratic National Committee has launched a "Count the Lies" page on its McCainPedia site. It spells out the whoppers emanating from the campaign of Mr. Maverick and Mr. Straight Talker. These have been tracked by independent nonpartisan fact-checkers.

Wyoming's own Dr. Evil fudges facts on climate change testimony

From the July 8 Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — Seeking to play down the effects of global warming, Vice President Dick Cheney's office pushed to delete from congressional testimony references about the consequences of climate change on public health, a former senior EPA official claimed Tuesday.

The official, Jason K. Burnett, said the White House was concerned that the proposed testimony last October by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might make it tougher to avoid regulating greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.

Burnett's assertion, which he made in a July 6 letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, conflicts with the White House explanation at the time that the deletions reflected concerns by the White House Office of Science and Technology over the accuracy of the science.

Burnett, until last month a senior adviser on climate change at the Environmental Protection Agency, wrote that Cheney's office was deeply involved in getting nearly half of the CDC's original draft testimony removed.

PHOTO: Wyoming's own Dr. Evil, Dick Cheney (photoshopped image from Crooks & Liars)

Tom Tomorrow explains the news

Cubin keeps repeating Iraq lies

I thoroughly enjoy those e-mail replies I receive from my congresswoman, Barbara Cubin of Wyoming. They are chock full of fictions and I can't resist sharing. The most recent one concerning withdrawal from Iraq is just too darn long for a blog post. Here are some excerpts with my comments.

For decades we have been in the cross hairs of terrorists. Even before September 11th, we had lost 600 Americans since the 1983 bombings in Beirut. We must now fight this war on our terms, bringing the fight to the terrorists, lest they bring the fight again to our cities, towns, and rural communities. Radical Islamists will not go away if ignored, they will not be content with attacks on foreign soil, and they will not be placated by nice words or friendly gestures. Osama bin Ladin has called the war in Iraq the center of World War III. He realizes the importance of Iraq, his partners in terror recognize it, and we need to realize it too.

Osama bin Forgotten said nothing about Iraq until the U.S. invasion in March 2003. He then recognized the importance of Iraq, a place where 19-year-old soldiers from Lusk and Meteetsee would be sitting ducks for suicide bombers and I.E.D.s. As of this morning, 3,558 U.S. soldiers and marines have been killed preventing terrorists from invading Wyoming. Two soldiers from the state and one Ohio airman based at Warren AFB in Cheyenne have been killed this month.

The connection between al Qaeda and Iraq has been documented and I supported the ousting of Saddam as part of our global War on Terror.

This connection has never beeen documented and it's a lie to say so. Experts agree that the link between al Queda and Iraq was as nonexistent as Bush's weapons of mass destruction.

I would like to see our soldiers out of Iraq as soon as possible, but not before their job is complete. On January 10, 2007, President Bush presented a comprehensive plan to achieve success in Iraq, including the deployment of 20,000 additional troops to intensify Baghdad security operations.

Cubin has supported Bush's loony war against Iraq from the beginning. She also supports his equally loony "surge" which has been accompanied by a surge in U.S. casualties and a bigger surge in Iraqi civilian deaths. Rep. Cubin says she would like to see our troops come out of Iraq as soon as possible. What she means is, she wants to keep our troops in Iraq through next November's elections so she can count on the votes of those stupid enough to believe her assertions, and those of her overlords, Pres. Bush and (another Wyomingite) V.P. Cheney, a guy who tells whoppers on a daily basis.