Gene Lyons in Salon on the myriad forces that insist we can't afford health care, but just as strongly assure us that $6.73 trillion for the war in Afghanistan is perfectly doable. (That's $1 million per soldier, per year.) Go read the whole thing:

For all its brutality, the Taliban rebellion is mainly a localized, nationalist effort to expel foreigners -- one reason Gen. McChrystal hopes to be able to pacify them, as his mentor Gen. David Petraeus bought off Iraqi insurgents. With winter approaching, Taliban fighters will soon be forced into semi-hibernation. Any U.S. buildup will take at least a year to complete.

The big rush, in other words, has less to do with military necessity than with Washington political theater: specifically, the war lobby's ability to force President Obama's hand. Actually, "war industry" might be more apt. It's both more concise than the "military-industrial complex" President Eisenhower warned against and it takes into account the "privatization" of military jobs once done by soldiers -- such as driving supply convoys (Halliburton), guarding embassies and other U.S. facilities (Blackwater) and training Afghan soldiers (DynCorp International).

[...] Following upon David Barstow's 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times exposé about blatant conflicts of interest among Pentagon-coached retired generals posing as disinterested "military analysts" on every TV news network you can think of, Americans can no longer afford to be blasé about the war industry.

They're selling us endless war the way they sell cellphones and Viagra.

The question is: How much is President Obama buying?

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1021)

PLAYS: (7174)

Glenn Beck was in prime form last night. He warned everyone up front that he wasn't arguing that eugenics are about to descend on America.

But then it becomes clear that what he is arguing is that the Democrats and progressives in general and President Obama in general are just like the Nazis. And in case you didn't get it the first time, he caps the whole thing off by comparing a Nazi cartoon to liberals' dismissal of the teabaggers.

Of course, he knows he can get away with this kind of nonsense because, hey, if Rush can get away with it, he probably can, too.

And he makes plain that he completely supports Sarah Palin's intimations of "death panels" and subscribes to her view that universal health care will bring about euthanasia.

In other words, he's a "deather."

Oh, and as an added bonanza, he cries. Again. He always does this whenever he mentions his disabled daughter. Which reminds me: Why do these people who get all indignant when their families get mentioned always hold their families up for public displays of whatever political point they want to make? Just wondering.

File this one under "Deluxe Nutball Rant, with Nazis on the side."

(h/t to Blabbermouth for the heads up.)

Neil Peart of Rush, legendary for being a great drummer and an all around nice guy, is adding a new section to his website -- about cooking. "Bubba's Bar and Grill" opens soon. Peart tells us:

“I have learned a few things about preparing good simple food that might be worth sharing. In this space I will assemble and present some of that lore, along with some simple recipes, because it seems a shame that other Bubbas (of any gender and ethnicity) should have to suffer the foolishness of my youth — I was in my forties before I learned to cook anything more complicated than soft-boiled eggs.”

Visit Bubba’s Bar ’n’ Grill, where you will learn about “The One Hour Rule,” “The Queen’s Portion,” and why Bubba says, “If you want to impress a woman, bake her a pie.”

Perhaps we'll preview some selections on a new section here at C+L, the Early Evening Dinner Club.

Find out more about Neil's recipes for things other than a ten minute drum solo here.

TIME Magazine: Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over?

The most urgent question is the meaning of economic conservatism. Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, a conservative who keeps a bust of Reagan on his desk, surprised me by declaring that the Reagan era is over. "Marginal tax rates are the lowest they've been in generations, and all we can talk about is tax cuts," he said. "The people's desires have changed, but we're still stuck in our old issue set."

I give it one day. Once Rush mentions it on the radio, McHenry will be bowing and scraping before his altar.

C+L reader Max (a different one) submitted this clip of Canadian singer/songwriter Jacob Moon playing an acrobatic rendition of "Subdivisions" by Canada's finest trio, Rush, while on the roof. Incidentally, when I saw Rush last year they had prop rotisserie chicken ovens on either side of the stage for reasons still unclear to me.

I couldn't post this without another Rush cover clip from the almighty Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, shot on a budget from the crowd. C'mon Ted, record this one!