Randi Rhodes: Drunk on Lies

Hour Two Guest: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on the possible perils of Comcast/NBC deal, our volatile/violent political culture, the GOP’s attack on healthcare reform, etc.

In their first major act, the Republican-led House voted to repeal healthcare reform. The Republicans have gone from stopping things getting done to undoing things. In the Republican world, that’s progress. President Obama has vowed “we can’t go backward.” But backward looks like forward to the Republicans—that’s the direction they’re facing.

Congressman Anthony Weiner proposed a drinking game in which “you take a shot whenever Republicans say something that’s not true” during the healthcare repeal effort. We could make the game more involved—lies about death panels mean a shot of tequila, lies about the cost of reform mean a shot of whiskey, and every time the phrase “job killing” is mentioned you have to do a beer bong. This game has the potential to turn everybody into Snooki from the Jersey Shore.

The FCC has approved Comcast’s bid to acquire NBC-Universal. At this point, there is so much consolidation of the media that we’re going to have to start calling it consolidation of the medium. That’s a Latin pluralization joke for you all. Why should we care if giant corporations decide what we see on TV? I can tell you in three words: “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.” Plus, this merger is going to mean higher cable bills. My cable bill is already so high that it would be cheaper for me have Jon Stewart appear live in my living room. According to the FCC’s former chief economist, consumers will pay $2.4 billion more in cable bills as a result of the merger. I think my last cable bill was $2.4 billion. But then I have HBO and Showtime.

There’s a great YouTube video of a housewife in the 1950’s taking part in an LSD experiment. You get a real feel for what it would have been like if June Cleaver had gone to a Phish concert. Now this is one housewife who won’t bat an eye if Mr. Clean suddenly materializes in her kitchen, or the Kool-Aid pitcher starts talking to her.

Well, the results of Representative Weiner’s drinking game are in, and guess who won? John Boehner! And he didn’t even know he was playing.

Today’s Homework | Discuss

A Democratic congressman evoked Joseph Goebbels on the House floor when talking about GOP healthcare lies this week (video). Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) stood by his analogy last night on Anderson Cooper (below), concluding with “I won’t say it again, but I was right.”