I created some of the images used but others I “borrowed” from the Internet.

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“Better to Have Lost in Love (Than Never to Have Loved at All)”

“Better To Have Lost in Love…” just hit the nail on the head. It was like the band foretold my angst but was telling me everything would be alright.

Cool tears flow upon my pillow.
And I’m freezing blue with misery.
You know that I never meant to hurt you
But something always gets right in the way.

So I’ll fill this bedroom full of mystery.
Hang our last conclusions on the wall.
And if this empty building starts to get to me
Please remember that it just might be your fault.

Better to have lost in love
Than never to have loved at all…

So the fated lovers turn to enemies -
And all their hidden feelings start to show.
And I never though that boy
Could mean so much to me.
And now it seems I’ll have to let you go…

“Here Comes That Sinking Feeling”

“Here Comes That Sinking Feeling” also was a laser pointer at the mess I was in and shouldn’t have been.

Nobody hurts me like you do.
You cut into me like a poison dart.
Creep into my sleep at night.
Break into my dreams and tear them apart.

Here comes that sinking feeling.

“Thorn in My Side”

“Thorn in My Side” from the Revenge album expressed my messed up head although in real life I wasn’t angry at the person in question. I was angry at myself because I couldn’t stop thinking about the girl. It didn’t help that we still hung out in the same social circle and even though we agreed we were “cool” I lied. I wasn’t cool at all.

Thorn in my side.
You know that’s all you’ll ever be.
So don’t think you know better
‘Cause that’s what you mean to me…
I was feeling complicated.
I was feeling low.
Now every time I think of you
I shiver to the bone…

“The Miracle of Love”

“The Miracle of Love” was another song that said “you are feeling crappy now but just wait – the miracle of love will come your way again…”

How many sorrows
Do you try to hide
In a world of illusion
That’s covering your mind?
I’ll show you something good
Oh I’ll show you something good.
When you open your mind
You’ll discover the sign
That there’s something
You’re longing to find

[Chorus:]
The miracle of love
Will take away your pain
When the miracle of love
Comes your way again.

“When Tomorrow Comes”

After all the “Sturm und Drang” of the previous songs “When Tomorrow Comes” is a pick-me-up in comparison. As my fog lifted, this song let me know that even though the relationship didn’t work out – we could be friends and that is what happened. I was finally able to move on and lust after other women during the rest of my college experience.

Underneath your dreamlit eyes
Shades of sleep have driven you away.
The moon is pale outside
And you are far from here.

Breathing shifts your careless head
Untroubled by the chaos of our lives.
Another day, another night
Has taken you again my dear.

And you know that I’m gonna be the one
Who’ll be there
When you need someone to depend upon
When tomorrow comes
When tomorrow comes

Wait till tomorrow comes, yea yea
Wait till tomorrow comes, yea yea
Last night while you were
Lying in my arms

And I was wondering where you were
You know you looked just like a baby
Fast asleep in this dangerous world.
Every star was shining brightly
Just like a million years before.

And we were feeling very small
Underneath the universe.

And you know that I’m gonna be the one
Who’ll be there when you need
Someone to depend upon
When tomorrow comes
When tomorrow comes

Like I said, the first broken heart is a human milestone in life. It has been two decades since it happened to me and I remember in vivid details what happened and the funk I was in for months. When I hear “Be Yourself Tonight” and “Revenge” either on my mp3 player or on the radio, I can smile and enjoy the music that got me through my rough time.

Thanks Annie and Dave…

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The chart’s original source was US House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s Flickr page. Turns out the percentages displayed were wrong.

Politifact did a check on the chart when it first showed up and found the percentages were off. Although President Obama still had a lower increase in the deficit compared to George W Bush, Bush’s increase wasn’t as severe and Obama’s wasn’t as small.

A friend of mine did another chart using more accurate numbers and math:

The issue of who had the biggest rise in the deficit is debatable but that is for another post. However Politifact’s other observations about Pelosi’s chart are not good conclusions. They gave the original chart “pants on fire” when in fact it was partly true. President Bush started with a budget surplus and added $800 billion to the deficit by the time he left office in 2009. The point of the chart was showing which President had added the most to the deficit and Obama is better than W no matter what information you use to measure it.

Statistics is one of those data points that can be misleading or flat wrong for all kind of reasons. They can be hard to pin down but quote images are pretty easy to verify.

This quote attributed to TV host Lawrence O’Donnell is making the rounds:

What did liberals do that was so offensive to the Republican Party? I’ll tell you what they did. Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act.

What did Conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things, every one. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, ‘Liberal,’ as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won’t work, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor.

Written By Lawrence O’Donnell Jr.

Yes O’Donnell did write the words – most of them. It was used in an episode of “The West Wing” in 2005. In the scene, a live debate, the Democratic character Matthew Santos spoke the words but it was only about liberals and conservatives – not Democrats and Republicans specifically. Also a refresh on history will show that Liberals did help in those items – also known as progressive ideas but Democrats at the time supported segregation and Republicans got African-Americans the right to vote at the end of the Civil War. In 2012, it is obviously clear that most Democrats support an explicit liberal agenda and Republicans are far more conservative including wanting to return America to the 1850′s when “women and African-Americans knew their place”.

When I see these quote images what I like to do is put the person’s name and a line or two from the quote in a search engine to see where it comes up. The following quote from Senator Bernie Sanders is true because his office posted a video of him saying the words:

“This country does in fact have a serious deficit problem. But the reality is that the deficit was caused by two wars — unpaid for. It was caused by huge tax breaks for the wealthiest people in this country. It was cause by a recession as a result of the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street. And if those are the causes of this deficit, I will be damned if we’re going to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly, the sick, the children, and the poor. That’s wrong.” — Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) 11/18/2011

The only quibble is the words were spoken on 11/17/2011 but the rest is correct.

Just remember, before tweeting or posting that quote or chart, try to verify the accuracy.

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There are some people who have birthdays at inconvenient times. Some were born on or near Christmas or during some national tragedy like those born on September 11th. There are others who were born on leap day so they can only celebrate the actual day of their birth in years that are evenly divisible by 4. Back when I was in elementary school, my birthday conflicted with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Why did he have to be born the day after me? Martin Luther King Jr. ruined my childhood.

In my elementary school when someone had a birthday, they would bring in a treat for their classmates. The birthday boy or girl would get some kind of hat. The usual in my school was the paper crown you could get for free at any Burger King restaurant. We would also get to be first in line for recess, lunch, and for bathroom breaks. Then at a certain time, usually just after lunch the class would sing “Happy Birthday” and nosh on the treats. It was a special day and one I wanted to have very badly.

Now some out there will say, “But Doug, Martin Luther King Jr. Day wasn’t an observed holiday until 1986, when you were a Senior in High School.”

Yes, MLK Day wasn’t a Federal holiday until 1986 but in the late 70′s when I was in elementary school, our district observed the day. It was usually a Monday closest to his actual birthday. Since my birthday was on the weekend late in the 70′s when I finally thought I would have a chance then my birthday was the holiday.

Now some might say, “But Doug, if the holiday was on your birthday then isn’t that better? You get a day off of school.”

Did you read what was part of the Birthday celebration? If I’m at home then I have no one to feel special to. I automatically am at the head of the line. What fun is that?

“But what about the kids who had birthdays in the summer or during school breaks?”

Sucks to be them. This is about me!

“I’m sorry you hate Martin Luther King Jr. He was a great man.”

I don’t hate him now. Back when I was a kid I wasn’t mature enough to realize how great he was. Today he is a hero of mine and I’m glad we have a Federal Holiday in his honor. The only other great people to have holidays is Washington and Lincoln so MLK is in good company.

Besides now that I think about it, a natural gas crisis and a blizzard in 1977 also prevented me from celebrating my birthday at school.

Get Mother Nature on the phone, Mom!

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Hite, a former Teacher was appointed to his Senate seat when he agreed to vote for the anti-union Senate Bill 5 that was overturned by voters this past November.

Notice all the non-voting children in the video? I wonder if they all understand what the bill is really about? I can image Hite saying to the children in the room, “Every time there is an abortion a Teddy Bear dies…”

For more info on this tacky photo-op and the awful “Heartbeat” bill see my essay Anti-Abortion Supporters Use Ohio State Senators, Children, And Teddy Bears As Props

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Mike Huckabee repealitnow.org Ad

Mike Huckabee: In locked rooms in the middle of the night Obamacare was passed and rammed down the throat of the American people. It’s time the people’s voice be heard.

Narrator: Americans have spoken in record numbers to repeal Obamacare. On October 5th we delivered 1.6 million petitions to the Senate making it the largest citizen petition drive in US history. Now we urgently ask all previous repeal Obamacare petition signers and a million more concerned Americans to pick up the phone within the next 10 minutes. We must convince these Senators to honor the will of the American people. Add your voice to immediately bring Obamacare to the floor of the Senate for a new vote. We are asking all original petition signers plus 1 million more concerned Americans to call now to send massive waves of phone demands into the Senate…

First of all “Obamacare” wasn’t passed in the middle of the night behind locked doors and was not “rammed down the throat of the American people.” The law was introduced in 2009 and passed after the usual committee meetings and usual work done in Congress to pass laws. PPACA passed the Senate on December 24, 2009, by a vote of 60–39 with all Democrats and two Independents voting for, and all Republicans voting against and passe the House on March 21, 2010, by a vote of 219–212, with 34 Democrats and all 178 Republicans voting against the bill.

The news media was filled with stories about the law and the massive debate about it. One would have to have been living in a cave without the Internet not to have seen and heard about the law and its travels through the Congress.

Also turning in 1.6 million signatures for a national issue is not that big of a deal. In the 2008 General election there were over 231 million people of voting age and almost 133 million voted. That 1.6 million signatures are only approximately 1.2% of those who voted in 2008. The ad asking for an additional million callers would only bump up the percentage to only 1.95% of those 2008 voters.

That 1% of people who signed the petition don’t represent “the will of the American people”. I think of them as the grouchy Uncle who always ruins Christmas each year.

As a side note, I checked out the repealitnow.org’s YouTube page and one of the ads there said they needed 5 million signatures. They only got 1.6 million.

A new Post poll shows that 50 percent of those surveyed oppose the “Obamacare” law, while 45 percent support it. But these numbers are misleading, since The Post reports that “a quarter of those who oppose the health-care law say the legislation is faulty because it did not go far enough, not because it pushed change too far.”

In other words, one-fourth of the law’s opponents believe it should have been more ambitious and far-reaching, not less so. These are people who would have liked to see single-payer universal care, or tighter regulation of insurance companies, or less restrictive language on abortion rights — hardly positions that John Boehner and Eric Cantor would endorse. By counting them among opponents of the law, Republicans are essentially arguing that Michael Moore is on their side.

Americans don’t want health-care repeal

The will of the American people wanted to see the law do more. Personally I wanted to see single-payer or a public option not a rule forcing me to give my money to a private insurance company that may or may not cover my medical expenses. If the law had turned out like it should have then businesses across the country wouldn’t have to provide health insurance to their employees and that would be less money they would have to spend on labor which equals more profit.

That’s probably the real reason people like Mike Huckabee and the GOP are against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It forces businesses to spend more money on their workers by buying coverage for the first time or improving the token coverage millions of workers are over charged for each year. If they could shift all the costs to the government – like they do in Europe – profits would rise considerably because you know they wouldn’t pay their workers more.

This is why I wish there were laws against false advertising of political issues.

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