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

DOWNLOADS: (1242)

PLAYS: (4755)

Rachel talks to native South Carolinian Eugene Robinson about the sorry state of South Caronlina's education and health care systems in contrast to the attitudes of their politicians who are all opposed to health care reform.

MADDOW: We‘ve had that lot of reaction to our report last night about the appalling new data out of South Carolina that read like a statewide cry for health care reform.

Last night, we reported that South Carolina has among the country‘s worst women‘s reproductive health care. Rates of teen pregnancy, low birth weight infants, and infant mortality that are among the highest in the country. The rate at which young women in South Carolina received the important and effective HPV vaccine is also among the lowest in the country.

But wait, there‘s more—and it‘s all bad. The state has the fifth highest rate of obesity. It has the highest stroke death rate of all states in the country, and has maintained that distinction for five decades. It has the second highest death rate for oral cancer. The life expectancy in South Carolina is the third worst in the union.

If Governor Mark Sanford, for example, decided to move to Argentina permanently, he would be among people expected to live at least a year and a half longer than South Carolinians are—in Argentina.

Yes, South Carolina needs better health care. And to get it, it may need some civil servants who are slightly more interested in getting that for the state.

Governor Sanford, considered just a year ago a possible presidential contender in 2012, led the fight to turn down stimulus funding from the federal government, shunning federal unemployment benefits when South Carolina had the second highest rate of joblessness in the country. We should‘ve seen that as a symbol.

And that was all before he offered this fine moment in leadership.

Continue reading »

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

DOWNLOADS: (115)

PLAYS: (340)

Rachel points out that the states that have the most elected representatives opposed to health care/insurance reform are also the same ones that rank the worst in a number of national health metrics, such as HPV vaccination rates, teenage pregnancy, premature births, lowest birth weight and infant mortality.

As Rachel notes, you'd think they'd be the states most concerned with rather than opposed to some real reform of our health care system.

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

DOWNLOADS: 108

PLAYS: 27

(Sex, dope and not quite rock n' roll)

Gangs, binge drinking, teen pregnancies, dope, crime, dropouts - we were a mess. And that was only 1953!

Going back to the mantra "no matter how much things change, it's how much they stay the same" kind of nails it here.

The world was a frightening place in 1953. Smack in the middle of the Korean War, not to mention the Cold War with Commies everywhere - no wonder kids got a little out of control. Life Magazine called them the "lucky generation" but I wonder how lucky they were feeling at the time.

This documentary, produced by CBS Radio, featured narration by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and interviews with a vast group of teenagers, all slated to graduate in winter and summer 1953, from all over the country. It's a fascinating document, and a good reminder that what's going on now may seem horrible. But it's always been that way.

Strangely, we've also managed to survive.

Think of your parents and grandparents when you listen to this - they are most likely the ones the documentary is talking about.

Scary . . no?

From my pal Lisa Derrick: Family Values? Red States Lead in Divorce, Teen Pregnancy and Online Porn

What is astounding is the New York Times chart which takes politicians out of the mix and breaks it down into the values that the Right espouses: Anti-divorce, anti-porn and anti-teen sex. Well gosh, even with my admittedly and embarrassingly bad math skills, it's clear that eight out of the ten states with highest rates in the categories of divorce, teen pregnancy and online porn usage were states where McCain came out ahead in the 2008 election.

Ahhhh, help...we need more teabaggers to save us...

This time O'Reilly releases his flunkie on Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution Cynthia Tucker. Ms. Tucker's crime? Criticizing Bill O'Reilly for having a double standard when it comes to the teen pregnancies of Jamie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin.

Download | play Download | play (h/t Bill W.)

O’Reilly guy: “Cynthia, in your column, were you comparing Bristol Palin to Jamie Lynn Spears?”

Cynthia: “In my column, I was criticizing Bill O”Reilly. And I stand by that.”

O’Reilly guy: “Bill pointed out that Jamie Lynn Spears was running around unsupervised. You know that. So you were saying that Bristol Palin was running around unsupervised.”

Cynthia: “If I said that, read that part. You’re holding the column (in your hand). Read where I said Bristol Palin was running around unsupervised.”

O’Reilly guy: “You inferred it.”

Cynthia: “I inferred O’Reilly is a hypocrite. And I stand by that. Good day, gentlemen. I’m going inside to finish my Saturday chores.”

Transcript via Kos, who writes:

Does O'Reilly really want to maintain that the difference between Jamie Lynn and Bristol is that the Spears daughter was "running around unsupervised"? Because if O'Reilly insists that Bristol, to the contrary, was supervised, then how exactly did she get knocked up? It would follow that ... yeah. Gross. And somehow, I really, really doubt that's what happened.

Bill O'Reilly is the ultimate coward. Not only is he incapable of admitting he's wrong when called on it, he sends his minions out to harass these people at their homes. How petty can this guy be?

Act now and you'll get Bill O'Reilly's Greatest Ambush Hits, including Rep. Wexler, Bill Moyers, Arianna Huffington, GE CEO Immelt, Scott McClellan, and Mark Cuban.

Also be sure to check out Amato's: Handy Tips To Defend Yourself Against The Falafel Guy Fatwa

Washington Post:

ST. PAUL -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee who revealed Monday that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, earlier this year used her line-item veto to slash funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live.

After the legislature passed a spending bill in April, Palin went through the measure reducing and eliminating funds for programs she opposed. Inking her initials on the legislation -- "SP" -- Palin reduced funding for Covenant House Alaska by more than 20 percent, cutting funds from $5 million to $3.9 million. Covenant House is a mix of programs and shelters for troubled youths, including Passage House, which is a transitional home for teenage mothers. Read on...

So Mrs. Palin throws her full support behind her own pregnant, unwed teen daughter, but it's tough sh*t for all the other girls? It's bad enough that by bringing her out and center, Palin's daughter is now the poster child for the failures of abstinence only "education," but to now find that with the stroke of a pen she made things tougher on pregnant teens to get the services they need really takes the cake. That's just the kind of compassionate conservatism that America could do without.

Dr Phil disguises the breakdown of the family as a moral values issue. Is that a hidden message to bring more religion into the family? He says that we are giving our children too much, and calls it child abuse. Materialism is child abuse?

Dr Phil: "I believe that overindulgence is one of the most insidious forms of child abuse known to man. You don't teach them how the world really works if you're overindulging them."

Video

On the issue of teen pregnancy, Russert and Dr. Phil seem to put all the blame on the girls and only a fleetingly mentions the role of teenage boys.

Tim: How do we get in the hearts and minds of those young girls, young babies having babies?

Dr. Phil: The reason that's important is I think we have to begin with these young girls in helping them to believe that they are capable of more...

Phil's answer is disingenuous because it doesn't cover the fact that sexual behavior is a natural instinct that is never addressed as such. Instead of talking about our " social masks and personal truths," young people make mistakes and often experiment with many things (like sex, alcohol and drugs) and his answer seems to say that young girls are having sex to get pregnant because they don't believe in themselves.

James Wolcott : I share Jeff Jarvis's incredulity at tuning into Meet the Press and seeing Tim Russert engaged in Vulcan mind-meld with Dr. Phil. What's next, Suzi Orman laying out Social Security privatization for us between teeth bleachings?