Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

Explore news, videos, and much more based on what your friends are reading and watching. Publish your own activity and retain full control.

To get started, first

YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Tom Coburn Another Embarrassment in Backwards GOP

    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
    Do you have a story to tell? Become a Yahoo! contributor

    COMMENTARY | Every week it seems there's another good ol' boy in our government who seems to want to take our country back a hundred years. I continue to be surprised at these politicians who are supposed to represent the American people. Have they been living in a deep, dark hole, only to pop their head out once in awhile to make hateful and violent comments?

    Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., should not be representing anyone. He has done nothing for his home state of Oklahoma, and he'd be happy to see America's senior citizens lose their Medicare program. Coburn says that before Medicare was enacted, communities came together to make sure people received medical attention, though he agreed that many received poor care or none at all before the program's inception.

    The Daily Kos reports the senator commented Wednesday, "Show me where in the Constitution the federal government is responsible for your health care?"

    In Coburn's twisted way of thinking, if we abolish Medicare, we'll just leave our senior citizens on the streets and see if someone takes care of them. I don't see communities coming together anywhere to help the millions of uninsured right now. How is kicking the elderly out of the only medical insurance program they have going to make things better?

    It won't, but Coburn doesn't care. He receives excellent medical insurance through his position as a senator, where his job is supposed to be as a representative of the people.

    Coburn went on to attack President Obama and Affirmative Action, stating, according to Tulsa World, "Obama's intent is not to destroy, his intent is to create dependency because it worked so well for him. As an African-American male, Obama received tremendous advantage from a lot of these programs."

    Though this statement is extremely disrespectful and offensive to our president and our society, Coburn's worst comment was yet to come. With the horrendous violent shooting rampage in Norway, the tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, and countless other violent acts, Coburn's next comment went as low as it could possibly get.

    After calling his colleagues cowards, Politico reports Coburn remarked, "It's a good thing I can't pack a gun on the Senate floor."

    In typical GOP fashion, Coburn's spokesman said the senator was "obviously joking." This seems to be the response for every horrible thing the Republicans say, but violence is no joke. The only joke here is Coburn, and he needs to resign.

    If an average person off the street made a comment like that, they'd be hauled into the nearest police station for questioning. Can you imagine what would happen if someone made a comment like that on an airplane? And what if that person was black?

    The disrespectful, hateful, violent and prejudiced comments that come from the mouths of some of those in the GOP need to stop being brushed off. Where do we draw the line? Continuing to pander to these good ol' Republican boys needs to end now.

     

    There are no comments yet

    [ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
    [ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]
    Loading...
    • USS Iowa passes under the Golden Gate Bridge en route from Richmond, California to Los Angeles

      SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Golden Gate Bridge was a larger than life engineering project undertaken against dangerous odds and it opened 75 years ago on Sunday against vehement protest, at the cost of 11 lives. One of the most astonishing and admired man-made wonders of the world, gracing millions of postcards, featured …

    • NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The Gulf Coast is a hot destination again two years after the massive BP Plc oil spill made the region a tourist dead zone, with the petroleum giant pumping more than $150 million into promotions to help the region recover. In New Orleans, about 150 miles northeast of where BP's well blew up on April …

    • Retired military vessel USS Iowa prepares for departure from Richmond, CA en route to Los Angeles

      RICHMOND, California (Reuters) - The battleship USS Iowa, which served the United States through victory and tragedy during six decades at sea, set off on its final voyage on Saturday, a trip to Los Angeles to become a museum. With a cheer, volunteers in hard hats cast off the last of a dozen thick lines that had moored …

    • ATLANTA (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Beryl closed in on the southeastern U.S. coast on Sunday, dumping rain and whipping up heavy surf from northeastern Florida to South Carolina. The second named storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to make landfall later on Sunday with possible wind gusts to hurricane …

    • Handout photo of smoke billowing from the site of wildfires at the Whitewater-Baldy Complex in southwestern New Mexico in the Gila National Forest

      SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - Calmer winds and cooler temperatures promised relief on Sunday to fire crews battling blazes in New Mexico and Colorado, where wildfires sweeping across miles of forest, brush and grass have forced evacuations and disrupted holiday weekend travel plans. New Mexico's wildfires - which are …

     
    With significant physical rehabilitation, these wounded warriors perform inspiring acts of athleticism. Join the conversation.
    Meet the six families who are relying on your suggestions to confront real challenges this election year.
    Should Bill and Donna take on more risk to boost their business?