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Pope Benedict on pedophile scandal: move on, nothing to see here.

Roman Catholics appalled by the long-running scandal of sexual abuse perpetrated by pedophile priests, and the revolting cover-up by enabling Bishops that followed, have been eagerly awaiting Pope...

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David Broder: Dumbass

I see that several Kossacks have noted that David Broder, the official fossil of print journalism, is accepting a "buy-out" and leaving his privileged position at WaPo. It's about freakin' time, given...

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Michael Hayden: Partisan Hack

Michael Hayden was pitched by Bush/Cheney as the ideal CIA director, with his years of experience directing the NSA and his military credentials. He was approved by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 78:15...

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Grow the F*** up?

Okay. I mean, what do people usually have in mind when they tell some one to grow up? I guess in my book this means accepting full responsibility for the consequences of one's actions; comprehending...

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Primary care is dying. And you should be worried.

Medical care in America is fraught with crisis, from rapidly escalating costs and the ever-rising proportion of citizens lacking meaningful health insurance to an exploding epidemic of obesity and...

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Pakistan: with friends like these...

Ever since 9/11, Bush/Cheney have showered billions of dollars in aid on the Pakistani government and military, despite abundant evidence that Musharraf and the ISI were continuing to support the...

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The Medical community won’t solve the primary care crisis

I posted a diary recently about the looming crisis in primary care. The number of physicians practicing primary care is falling rapidly as the vast majority of medical students choose more lucrative...

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Back when populism wasn't a dirty word.

As American citizens, we are co-owners of one of the most remarkable bodies of social documentary art in existence anywhere. I'm talking about the incredible treasure of FSA photography preserved by...

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Facts and reality versus fantasy: why it matters.

The current Presidential campaign began on a historic note, with the Democratic contest between the first serious woman candidate and the first serious African-American candidate. It also promised a...

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George Will is a racist pig.

This morning George Will made a comment on camera in response to Katrina vanden Heuvel regarding the current economic melt-down. it was the most despicably racist comment I have ever heard from a...

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"Defeatist": last refuge of losing combatants

Today our esteemed Defense Secretary Robert Gates, one of very few members of the Bush/Cheney administration with even a shred of credibility or integrity, has officially jumped the shark. Following in...

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Condoleeza Rice: comedy gold

The Bush/Cheney administration has blighted America for nearly 8 years now with an unending parade of corruption, cronyism, malice, incompetence and just plain evil (see: torture). I have tried to...

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"Don't blame us for this fiasco" says the Fundie right.

Ross Douthat has become one of the most prominent apologists for the Conservative Epic Fail over the past year. He has been doing his best to put a positive spin on the catastrophic policies that have...

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Modern Capitalism's Big Lie

Okay, that's a tease. Modern-day Republican crony capitalism as it's practiced in Bush/Cheney's America is built on multiple lies and falsehoods. But underneath it all is an ur-narrative, a fundamental...

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Mark Bowden: shilling for Lockheed-Martin

Mark Bowden has written some very compelling stuff, most famously Blackhawk Down. He is clearly a talented journalist. However, his latest essay for The Atlantic crosses the line between respectful...

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Thomas Friedman: wrong again.

It still boggles my mind that Thomas Friedman can recycle warmed-over common knowledge, mix it with a smattering of false conclusions and personal opinion, and package it as another best-seller. (See...

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My daughter's tragedy: U.S. health care in a nutshell.

I've been posting on Kos for a year or two now, and folks may note that I talk a lot about health care issues and the primary care crisis in particular. As a family physician I see the brutal reality...

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Rep. Tom Price tried to seduce me!

Okay, not quite. But yesterday I received a fax from Dr. Price's Congressional office, asking me as a physician to sign on as a "consultant" to the "Physician's Council for Responsible Reform". Because...

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ABC News: Hack-tacular new anchor.

Just a quick note; NY Times is reporting here that Charlie "don't raise taxes on us rich people!" Gibson is being replaced by...wait for it...Diane Sawyer. Blond Ambition herself. The ultimate...

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Joe Wilson: Might as well have said "boy".

My lovely and brilliant wife pointed this out to me this morning after watching video of President Obama's address on health care reform. She heard the shouted "you lie!" from the Republican "peanut...

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Gosh, my heart bleeds for those poor tax cheats.

As reported in today's NY Times, the October 15th deadline is looming for Americans who have used offshore accounts to conceal income from the IRS. The clock is ticking on relative leniency in...

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Pope decries world hunger. But with the other hand....

the Vatican is working feverishly to undermine reproductive choice around the world, thereby insuring ever larger starving multitudes. The Pope rails against worldwide hunger, yet his actions guarantee...

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He's $100,000 in debt...yet we're still thankful.

Last summer I posted a diary about my daughter's partner, who suffered a health catastrophe while uninsured, because it sadly illuminated everything that's wrong with our health care 'system'. This...

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Two more patients were crying today.

The last year has been really tough as a primary care doctor. More of my patients are losing their health insurance every week. Some hard-pressed employers have dropped all coverage; others have pushed...

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Irony alert: Moody's Issues "warning"

From the department of "you just can't make this shit up", the giant Moody's credit rating firm has issued a "warning" about the credit-worthiness of the governments of the United States, Germany, and...

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South Korean naval vessel sinks near N. Korea. Uh, oh.

As if the world didn't have enough trouble already. The lunatics in charge of North Korea have been ratcheting up the rhetoric over the last few days, threatening "unprecedented" nuclear strikes on...

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MetaKos: about that Grayson ad....

I understand the need to pay for the oodles of bandwidth we all use to hang out here. But the Grayson ad is essentially a virus. Stop that.

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Pope Benedict: still doesn't get it.

Like many recovering former Roman Catholics, I have been absolutely appalled by the unending tales of sexual abuse of children by priests. Just as appalling have been the endless examples of...

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Climate change denialism goes local

I think we're all familiar with the depressingly effective climate change denial propaganda campaign being waged by Big Oil, Big Coal, and their numerous corporate friends. This morning my wife and I...

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Scary new superbugs: coming soon.

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a fact of life for those of us in the medical profession. In my 25 years of practice this has gradually morphed from a very manageable problem to one that is...

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What keeps Red states Red: diet.

I've often wondered exactly why America's red states are so red. I mean, think about it for a minute. What do places like Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi and Kansas have in common? For starters, they're...

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Who do I vote for when Dems act like Republicans?

The 2010 election here in New York posed an especially stark choice for voters when it came to the Governorship. In one corner was Andrew Cuomo- thoroughly competent State Attorney General, and son of...

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My entire family just voted for Hochul!

Here in NY-26 it's been one corrupt Republican corporate lackey after another, as far back as anyone can remember. The district was re-gerrymander'd after 2000 explicitly to make it even more of a...

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How to get Older Americans on board

Republican success at gulling middle class Americans into voting for their own economic destruction has baffled me for years. Why, when Republican economic ideas are so ruinous for all but the wealthy,...

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Why are the Bishops attacking traditional Catholic Teaching?

Many here at the Great Orange Satan are upset that America's Catholic Bishops have inserted themselves into the political debate over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. More specifically,...

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Kosability: Disability from Doc's point of view

KosAbility is a community diary series posted at 5 PM ET every Sunday and Wednesday by volunteer diarists. This is a gathering place for people who are living with disabilities, who love someone with a...

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Terry McAuliffe: everything that's wrong with America

Just a quick hit here; but today's New York Times Magazine has an article that caused me instant uncontrollable nausea and vomiting. The article is all about Terry McAuliffe's latest adventure starting...

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OMG but John Harwood is a tool.

Not much of a diary, but I'm just apoplectic this morning after seeing John Harwood puking up pure Broderism. He was yacking on camera about the bogus fiscal 'cliff' drama, and was asked why it was so...

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Andrew Cuomo: Republican Lite.

Just in case you had any doubts, Andrew Cuomo is going all-in with his quest to brand himself as the second coming of Ronald Reagan, the faux-Democratic standard-bearer for corporate friendly anti-tax...

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KosAbility: Fielding a Disability 'Team'

KosAbility is a community diary series posted at 5 PM ET every Sunday by volunteer diarists. This is a gathering place for people who are living with disabilities, who love someone with a disability,...

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It's official: poverty bad for health

Not that this will be any surprise to sentient beings, but a recent quick note from the CDC confirms that poverty is bad for your health.Follow below the orange pasta if you dare.

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A better Democratic message against Trump's stupid wall

Here’s a concept. Republicans utterly suck at policy, at the actual nuts ‘n bolts of governing. Their ideas are terrible, their implementation incompetent, their legislative chops limited to sabotage...

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Trump's COVID-19 guilt: malignant incompetence in a nutshell.

As a physician I have been stunned by the incredible incompetence, ignorance, and just plain malicious ill-will the Trump administration has displayed in its response to the emerging novel Coronavirus...

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A Modest Proposal....

I have a modest proposal for Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden and every other Democrat serving or running for Federal office. America is confronting the grim certainty of anywhere from a hundred...

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Is it even possible to be more craven than my despicable Republican Congressman?

I live in ruby-red NY-27, where we were “represented” (using the term very loosely) by the corrupt Chris Collins, who committed felonious insider trading literally on the White House lawn, on camera....

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Cuomo doubles down and digs a deeper hole

I’m a practicing family physician, and I’ve been mystified by COVID19 vaccine distribution in NY State. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to when limited allocations show up. Over the last two...

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Smacking around the CDC

The New York Times does it again.The “liberal paper of record” just can’t seem to help themselves. They continue to bend over backwards to sooth the ruffled feathers of Republicans and Trumpists,...

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A brief dispatch from the rural COVID front line

Well, it’s official. Things at my little rural hospital, and in my office practice, are every bit as bad as they were back in December/January. Every bed in our ICU is full; we’re averaging at least...

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A brief dispatch from the rural COVID front line, updated

So things were pretty bad a few weeks back when I posted a dairy. We had a brief blip of hope, a dip in the inpatient numbers. But now it’s worse than ever. Our little hospital is once again boarding...

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An Update from the Rural Covid Frontlines

Just a little update from purgatory. My little rural hospital is now officially in crisis. Inpatient census is 120% of capacity with gasping coughing COVID patients packed into every available nook and...

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