South Carolina House of Representatives votes to cut ALL HIV/AIDS funding

What the hell is wrong with South Carolina?

Last Thursday, the SC House of Representatives did something so wrong that words cannot convey how I feel about it:

The South Carolina House voted Thursday to cut all HIV/AIDS funding from the budget, a funding issue that could affect thousands of South Carolinians.

The South Carolina HIV/AIDS Care Crisis Task Force reports there are more than 14,000 people living in the state who have tested positive for HIV or AIDS. About 3,000 people rely on government funds for medications.

 . . . Dr. Bambi Gaddist of the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Care Crisis Task Force says when state funding began in 2006, more than 600 people were on a waiting list for medicine. Four of those people died.

Currently South Carolina ranks 8th in newly diagnosed HIV cases and that is up from last year when it ranked  number nine. And new infections are hitting young black and bisexual gay men at an ugly rate.
But none of these things seem to be a matter of concern to the South Carolina Legislature.

Apparently it's not enough for South Carolina to be nationally embarrassed by our "Argentinian trailwalking" Governor, our Lt. Governor who doesn't know the difference between stray animals and poor folks and our national Congressman who mistakes the President's speech with Showtime At The Apollo.

We are now entering territory where thing aren't funny anymore. I sincerely doubt that The Daily Show can find anything funny about this dereliction of duty by South Carolina's government to its constituents.

Let's be honest here. The elimination of HIV funding is the culmination of piss poor management by South Carolina's governing body. And worse, it shows where the state's priorities are. It's an ugly indictment on the hypocrisy of the supposed Bible belt region.

It is written that Jesus healed the sick, but I guess things have changed to the point that those who claim to be his followers have no problems with ignoring the sick.

Big hat tip to Rod 2.0 Beta.

Wanda Sykes - the cure for a blah Monday

Even before she came out, Wanda Sykes was a favorite comedian of mine. Her coming out merely added another dimension to her immense talents. If only other famous lgbts of color who are in the closet would take the hint:

Will and Grace's Sean Hayes states the obvious and other Monday midday news briefs

Sean Hayes: I Am Who I Am - I am more shocked about this one than I was about Clay Aiken (sarcasm alert). But he is right - he was NEVER in the closet. However, cue the "he still should have made some type of statement" backlash in T-minus 10 . . . 9 . . . 8

Lisa Miller Pal/ CWA Member Linda Wall: A Modern Day Harriet Tubman?? - Harriet Tubman only if Harriet Tubman was a hypocritical, lying woman who fought to keep families apart.

Former Santa Cruz lesbian partners settle paternity suit - A happy ending is always good.

Florida Lawmaker Attempts To Deny Tax Credit To Movies Filmed With Gay Characters - Lawd, lawd, lawd!

Pundits and think tanks are giving me nightmares

I'd like to interrupt my regularly scheduled deconstruction of religious right lies for a moment to talk about this situation which has been on my mind for a few days. Please indulge me.

Recently, Fox News pundit, the perpetually inaccurate Bill Kristol admitted that he didn’t watch President Obama’s healthcare summit with Republicans claiming that “he has a life.”

However, this didn’t preclude him from giving his opinion in regards to the effectiveness of the summit.

And none of his colleagues had the temerity to ask “if you didn’t watch the summit, then how can you comment on it?” Rather they took what I thought to be an egregious error in journalistic etiquette in stride.

This little observed incident just brings into focus the fact that while all of the rage seems to be giving  hell to Washington politicians, the Washington media is escaping a much deserved scathing.

Every time I switch (very briefly) to cable news, I can’t help thinking that true journalism is dead. Or to turn a phrase in order to better emphasize my point, the Washington media is slowly being tortured to death due by a constant immersion into a self-sustaining cesspool populated by think-tank sycophants and trust fund babies so secure in their jobs that they don’t even attempt to have the decency to disguise the brand of phony goods they are trying to sell to the American people

And let's not forget the self-important newscasters who rarely call out either of these groups on their deceptions.

The problem is not all of these folks have something to say about the state of affairs in Washington but the fact that all of them seem to have an “angle” and nothing remotely looking like the truth is contained in that angle.

I’m very serious when I ask the simple question of who can you trust to give you the uncorrupted truth about our government instead of a list of talking points and phrases which you continuously hear until you find yourself repeating them in your sleep.

And while I’m asking questions, allow me to ask a few more:

Just what constitutes a “senior policy analyst” for some organization with a fancy sounding name - an organization which very few Americans have heard of but seem to have deep pockets of resources thanks to clandestine millionaires with more money than sense?

And on what grounds is there to put this same “senior policy analyst” on a show repeatedly even if the powers that be who book the show know that the self-same analyst is not going to be objective in his or her commentary?

Or in the case of Bill Kristol, going to be staggeringly inaccurate and biased.

And how can we trust political books which place high on the New York Times bestseller list when we know that they have been bought in bulk copies simply to drive up their ratings? And what’s more, how is it that more noise isn’t made about this ridiculous practice?

Americans seem to have a justifiable problem with Washington politicians and the lobbyists bending their ears for influence. But our anger isn’t going far enough. We really need to take a critical look and ask even more critical questions about the pundits and think tanks and especially news entities which are supposed to be giving us the truth about the Washington politicians and the lobbyists. Because from where I stand, they are a major part of the problem.

And I have one more question.

Is there any way we can resurrect Edward R. Murrow?