Snark: to annoy or irritate

"Snark" has been in English language dictionaries since at least 1906, and Lewis Carroll used the word to describe a mythological animal in his poem, The Hunting of the Snark (1874). Most recently, the word has come to characterize snappish, sarcastic, or mean-spirited comments or actions directed at those who annoy or irritate us.

At first, this blog was just going be a place to gripe, but because it's more satisfying to take action than it is to merely complain, now most of the posts/reposts suggest ways to get involved in solving problems.


Sunday, June 5, 2011

Medicare Ad

A message from Democracy for America:

Republicans are scared and angry. Scared that voters will know the truth about their plan to end Medicare. Angry that you and I are exposing it.

They aren't just sitting back and complaining about it, they are threatening legal action and demanding TV stations take the ad off the air.

Comcast's response: We're not pulling it.

Our ad is working! 
Please contribute $5 right now so we can INCREASE our ad buy and keep Republicans on defense. 
Here's a snippet of the letter the National Republican Congressional Committee and Charlie Bass sent to TV stations running our new ad in New Hampshire:
The Advertisement states, in pertinent part, that "Charlie Bass voted to END Medicare." This is completely false... a vote in favor of the [Paul Ryan] Budget Resolution was a vote to protect Medicare for future seniors.

We urge you not to ascent to this political ploy... broadcasting stations are not protected from legal liability for airing a false and misleading advertisement...
So is the ad true? Of course it is. Help keep it on the air. But don't just take it from me or our partners at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Here's the New York Times' Paul Krugman on our ad:
What's In A Name? A lot, or at least that's what Republicans think. Greg Sargent reports that they're demanding that a TV station stop running ads saying that the GOP wants to end Medicare; the claim is that this is a lie, because the new program the GOP wants to impose in place of Medicare is still Medicare.

As Greg says, this is important -- because 
if they can get away with this, it will amount to a serious infringement of free speech, preventing people from running truthful ads. 

Because the fact is that Republicans are trying to end Medicare. The program we now call Medicare is one in which the government acts as your insurer, paying your major medical bills; coverage is guaranteed to all seniors. The program Republicans want gives you vouchers and tells you to go buy your own insurance, if you can. That's not at all the same thing.

...So you can call the new thing Medicare; you could also call an onion a rose. But a non-rose by the same name does not smell as sweet.
Paul Krugman is right and we must make sure every single voter knows what the Republicans are trying to do.
If we can raise $50,000 by Monday morning we can increase our ad buy to run all week. Contribute now to make it happen. 

Thank you for everything you do.

-Charles Chamberlain, Political Director
Democracy for America
Democracy for America relies on you and the people-power of more than one million members to fund the grassroots organizing and training that delivers progressive change on the issues that matter. Please Contribute Today and support our mission.

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