Writing about fascism for an American audience is always a fraught business. Invariably, a third of the readers will dismiss the topic (and your faithful blogger’s basic sanity) out of hand. Either they’ve got their own definition of fascism and whatever’s going on doesn’t seem to fit it; or else they’re firm believers in a variant of Godwin’s Law, which says (with some justification) that anyone who invokes the F-word is a de facto alarmist of questionable credibility.

This wasn’t the result the teabaggers or their Republican and corporate sponsors were hoping to have, now, was it? “More than 60 percent of U.S. residents approve of the job President Barack Obama has done in his first six months in office, a Gallup Poll indicates.”

Thai judges refused to extradite Viktor Bout for trial in the US because, they say, Thailand does not recognize Colombia’s FARC as a terrorist organization.

A new report shows a record number of California homes are scheduled for a foreclosure sale, which would hit banks very hard. Meanwhile the FDIC is suddenly looking to quickly shift two dozen Resolution & Receivership Specialists to Irvine CA.

Coincidence? I think not.

A former manager of doctor/hospital billing systems provides an example of how the billing system works for different categories of patients — insured, uninsured, indigent, Medicare and Medicaid — to help explain why the system seems so irrational.

On my way to NN. US Air flight 2172 to LaGuardia was supposed to leave at 1pm — we’ve been out on the tarmac and they say that we’re delayed but won’t know til 3pm when we’ll be leaving

Everyone wants to get off the plane but they won’t let us.

There’s something rather surreal about this seemingly endless hysteria over President Obama fulfilling one of his campaign promises.

Johnny Isakson got kicked around by Rush Limbaugh after when Obama cited his support for end of life counseling in refuting Sarah Palin’s “death panel” nonsense. He released an irate statement distancing himself:
Isakson vehemently opposes the House and Senate health care bills and he played no role in drafting language added to the House bill by House Democrats calling for the government to incentivize doctors by offering

Adam Cohen of the New York Times is a fairly astute and erudite writer on legal issues, and he has a new article up on the interesting case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission; and it is indeed a cse with many fascinating and troubling aspects to it.

After Karen Ignagni, the personable head of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), saw that President Obama and the Democrats had decided to make her insurance companies the enemies of “health insurance reform,” she came up with the logical response: blame those greedy doctors and hospitals. And she’s partly right.