* A time to grieve, but for whom – If anyone other than his family is grieving at the death of Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1967, I suggest stripping off the black cloth of mourning. This once head of Ford Motor Co. and eventual president of the International Monetary Fund proved to be one of the best and brightest but also one of the worst leaders in American history. He intentionally misled then President Lyndon B. Johnson and the American people about a North Vietnamese attack on American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin – an attack that never occurred. McNamara’s deception led to the bombing of North Viet Nam and resulted in the escalation of a war that would claim over 58,000 American lives, 350,000 American casualties and untold numbers of Asian lives. For many of the American military personnel who survived Viet Nam tragic lives followed from loss of legs and arms, mental illness, joblessness, homelessness and a host of illnesses from exposure to the chemical known as Agent Orange. I for one do not wish that Mr. McNamara rest in peace. I suspect that in the future the same will be written about several members of the Bush administration for their criminal and immoral role in the Iraq War. Amen.

* If you reside in Pennsylvania the foul odor assaulting your senses is not environmental, it is political. Former state senator Vincent Fumo was recently found guilty of a long list of crimes (137 to be exact) and he is about to be sentenced. The Philadelphia Inquirer featured an article about the well-connected pols who have stepped forward pleading for leniency at the Fumo sentencing. Below is my letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Tuesday’s front page article “Rendell lends support to Fumo” epitomizes the stench of Pennsylvania politics and failed leadership. Vincent J. Fumo is the poster boy for and has been found guilty of pay to play politics, fraud, misuse of office and funds and destroying evidence among a list of crimes that is longer than his years of “service.” There is no question of his egregious and criminal acts. Now that he is about to be sentenced, who steps up to ask for mercy? There is the governor of PA, U.S. Rep. Robert A. Brady, and former PA Supreme Court Chief Justice Stephen A. Zappala. The “good old boy network” is not good for the citizens of PA and it has gotten very old. The aphrodisiac of power knows no shame!

* Un-American – This is a term we have heard quite often this decade. It is an accusation usually hurled by Republicans/Conservatives at critics of an unprovoked war, individuals who support the rights of gay citizens, citizens that believe torture is immoral, and lovers of freedom offended by the government spying on citizens. I thought about this when reading of Switzerland’s opposition to its international bank UBS disclosing data to U.S. tax authorities on 52,000 Americans who are holders of secret Swiss bank accounts. If one were hiding money in a Swiss bank it seems reasonable to conclude it is being done to avoid taxes, to avoid paying one’s fair share. It is clearly an un-American act and yet I have not heard the lapel flag pin faux patriots offering their outcry. Maybe some of them are waiting until they move their hidden accounts to the Cayman Islands.

The Swiss claim that such revelations would break their banking laws. Not reporting money to the IRS to avoid paying taxes breaks U.S. law so in a very real sense the Swiss are aiding and abetting criminal activity by U.S. citizens. In response to the Swiss intransigence perhaps the U.S. should impose a 500% tariff on Swiss cheese and watches. The other alternative would be to follow the propensity of our Neocon brethren and drop a bunker bomb on the Swiss vaults.

* Speaking of what it means to be an American – Conservative icon Pat Buchanan offered this interesting perspective in an interview this week: “I put democracy far down the line. I think a devoutly Christian, conservative, traditionalist country—even if it’s a monarchy—is fine with me.” I guess that being a real conservative means never having to say you are sorry for ignoring the Constitution of the United States of America or the history of what brought settlers to the new world - fleeing the religious persecution that took place under a monarchy. It is obvious that being extremely intelligent does not preclude one from being a fool.

* Speaking of big cheeses - A report in the Washington Post offers an interesting insight into the lobbying efforts of the healthcare industry to influence or impede legislation on healthcare reform. In this historic battle you and I are David versus Goliath:

~ The healthcare industry is spending $1.4 million per day as it attempts to influence legislation.
~ “The nation's largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues… At least three of every four major healthcare firms have at least one former insider on their lobbying payrolls”
~ “The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) doubled its spending to nearly $7 million in the first quarter of 2009, followed by Pfizer, with more than $6 million.”

It will require a great deal of citizen action to overcome the mountain of resources being utilized by the folks that have brought us the current state of affairs in healthcare and who wish to maintain the status quo. Seventy-six percent of Americans want a public option to healthcare. As overwhelming as this statistic may be the healthcare industry and their friends/advocates/hired guns in Congress stand in the way. Change will only happen if we the people assert ourselves.

Health Care for America Now has a petition you can sign that will be forwarded to your Representative at this link. Change.org offers a letter to your Senator about healthcare reform at this link. If you want to contact your elected officials directly Project Vote Smart, at this link, provides the tools to locate your congressmen’s contact information to let them know your vote will depend upon their actions. If you want to become more active in the effort to achieve healthcare reform Organizing for America has a site where you can sigh up for an event to make phone calls or canvass door-to-door at this link. If you wait for the next increase in your health insurance premium or co-pay it may be too late.

In case you are accepting the band aid solutions the health insurance industry claims it will institute to improve healthcare and control costs a Senate committee report noted the following: “Health insurers have forced consumers to pay billions of dollars in medical bills that the insurers themselves should have paid.” Insurers have systematically underpaid for so-called out-of-network care. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo described the underpayments “as a scheme by health insurers to defraud consumers by manipulating reimbursement rates." Who do you trust?

Some resources on healthcare reform:
~ Physicians for a National Health Program
~ California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee
~ Health Care for America Now
~ The U.S. House's Health Care Reform Discussion Draft
~ National Health Care Policy Study Group

* “One reason the Kennedy and Johnson administrations failed to take an orderly, rational approach to the basic questions underlying Vietnam was the staggering variety and complexity of other issues we faced. Simply put, we faced a blizzard of problems, there were only twenty-four hours in a day, and we often did not have time to think straight.”
Robert S. McNamara, “In Retrospect” (a memoir), 1995

Postscript: One wonders if this week Mr. McNamara is explaining to his maker how he did have the time and mental acuity to intentionally mislead his country into an unnecessary escalation of war marked by death, destruction and tragedy for millions of human beings?

The Conservative Perspective – Political Pornography

As I troll, surf and stalk what is happening in the news I often stumble upon such absurdity by so-called Conservatives that I do a check to ensure I have taken the correct medication for the day. In a clear-headed world such lewdness of logic could not be taking place. More often than not I ignore such offense to reason. When I have noted these mental burlesques they have been featured in a segment designated Derriere Orifice of the Week. This was indeed a special week!

* Senator John Ensign (R-NV) and Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC), advocates of family values, opponents of gay rights and pontificators of how others should conduct their lives, were exposed for extra-marital affairs. Perhaps these disgraced icons of the holier-than-thou movement should pay more attention to what their own sexual organs are doing. Republican sexual indiscretions have become so prevalent that TalkingPointsMemo.com has developed a Sex Scandal Flow Chart, where all roads must lead to hell. Truth be told, I would not care less what happens in the private lives of politicians if not for those instances where their hypocrisy is palpable. The sanctity of marriage begins with one’s own zipper remaining in the up position. And what does it say about Senate Republican leadership that during their regular Tuesday luncheon meeting, following Ensign’s mea culpa apology to them, they showered him with applause. Good job John, another notch on the chastity belt!

* Noted natural healer and airwaves polluter Rush Limbaugh offered an alibi for Sanford’s love tryst in Argentina. Limbaugh said, “Sanford flew out of the country to have an affair because ‘President Obama drove him over the edge’.” The background of “over the edge” involved Sanford opposing the acceptance of desperately needed money provided in the Stimulus Plan for South Carolina. Sanford lost this fierce battle with his state legislature as he desperately attempted to establish his conservative credentials for a presidential run in 2012. The Limbaugh Prescription: committing adultery is the homeopathic approach to dealing with stress. Whatever bothers you, just get laid and blame it on the President.

* Right-wing anti-tax activist Grover Norquist offered an interesting perspective on recent Republican adultery. Norquist said, “It does indicate that men who oppose federal spending at the local level are irresistible to women.” Oh to have had this knowledge when I was single. Who would have thought that approaching a woman in a cocktail lounge as a tight-assed, anal-retentive bible thumper with a Shirley Temple in hand would have her disrobing and fogging up my eyeglasses?

* One of Maryland’s most prominent Republican organizations, Republican Women of Anne Arundel County, issued a letter by the organization’s President, Joyce Thomann. Her letter began “Dear Friends” and went on to say, “Obama and Hitler have a great deal in common in my view. Obama and Hitler use the “blitzkrieg” method to overwhelm their enemies. FAST, CARPET BOMBING intent on destruction. Hitler’s blitzkrieg bombing destroyed many European cities – quickly and effectively. Obama is systematically destroying the American economy and with it AMERICA.” I do have issues with Ms. Thomann’s grammar but, more importantly, this is a good example of what happens when rain closes the country club golf course. Idle hands are the devil’s tools.

* Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) is the poster child for Attention Deficit Disorder and the mindless meanderings of a mercury-tainted cerebral hemisphere. Her malapropisms and malcogitation (sic) are legendary and the congresswoman from Minnesota is a frequent flyer on the Derriere Orifice express. She has announced that she will break the law by not filling out her 2010 Census questionnaire. Her explanation included that the Census led to the internment of Japanese Americans in the 1940’s. This link attempts to analyze Bachmann’s irrationality and historical to hysterical errors. I suggest two aspirin one hour before reading. One wonders if the citizens of her district should be interned for electing her to congress. If one guessed that her public display of idiocy took place on FOX News you are exempt from completing your census form. And what does it say about your assertions when right-wing nut Glenn Beck thinks you have lost your census?

* Eight Supreme Court justices ruled that a school’s strip search of an Arizona 13 year old girl accused of having prescription-strength ibuprofen was illegal.” The eight justices range in philosophy from liberal to moderate to conservative. But there are nine SC justices and the ultra conservative and reactionary Justice Clarence Thomas offered a dissenting opinion. Thomas said, “the court was making a “deep intrusion” into the administration of public schools and their efforts to fight the scourge of drug abuse.” Yes, the eternal challenge for a democracy is finding that elusive balance between the common good and individual freedoms. Someone should explain to Justice Thomas that “No Child Left Behind” had nothing to do with students baring their behind by lowering their Calvin Klein underwear.

* Just when you thought that Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher’s career as spokesperson for the conservative mind was over he floats to the top of the septic tank. At a speaking engagement to Americans for Prosperity in Wisconsin “The Plunger” said more than once, referring to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), "Why hasn't he been strung up?" Ah, the voice of Conservatism – cogent, articulate and erudite while conveying the ideals and principles of American freedom and democracy. I expect that Joe’s next appearance will be in Anne Arundel, Maryland at the annual Spaetzle Cook Off.

* Let my people go – Republican Representatives John Culberson (TX), Peter Hoekstra (MI), and David Dreier (CA) all compared their minority status in congress to the plight of the Iranian protestors. With the exception of living in a democracy and not being shot at or bludgeoned for their views their analogy is spot on. I suggest that they will feel better if they take the advice of the leader of their Party, Rush Limbaugh, and just get laid.

* Recall Republicans going ballistic when President Obama said that one of the characteristics his Supreme Court nominee should possess is empathy. Some would say that Republican opposition stemmed from the fact that they do not understand the meaning of the word. Well, there is some evidence that at least one Republican can express empathy. Meet Missouri state representative Cynthia Davis. As chairwoman of the Missouri House Special Standing Committee on Children and Families she was critical of a government program that provides food during the summer for thousands of low-income Missouri children who rely on the school cafeteria for free or reduced-price meals during the regular school year. “A report by Feeding America found that one in five Missouri children currently lives with hunger.” Here is where the empathy thing comes in. Ms. Davis extolled the virtues of hunger because “hunger can be a positive motivator.” Rumor has it that Ms. Davis has been selected Woman of the Year by the Republican Women of Anne Arundel County.

* Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell (R) signed the US Senate vacancy bill which takes away the governor’s power to appoint someone to a vacant US Senate seat. Rell said, “this bill gives directly to the people of Connecticut the decision on who would fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate… Since taking office as Governor, I have done everything in my power to make Connecticut a model for all states when it comes to openness, transparency and citizen participation in government." “Republican lawmakers had called the bill a "power grab" during lengthy debates in both the House and the Senate.” Lacking empathy and the concept of democracy, Republicans conclude that giving the citizens the right to elect their officials “is a power grab.”


Who then is sane? He who is not a fool.
Quintus Horatius Flaccus, aka, Horace (65 BC to 8 BC) Roman lyric poet

Some Disappointments in Obama

Readers of this blog may find this heading surprising in light of my support of Barack Obama as a candidate in the Democratic primary contest, in the presidential election and in the early days of his presidency. I have no doubt that his election over John McCain was to the American advantage. There is much that I approve of since Obama has taken occupancy of the oval office. Previous blogs have praised a number of his decisions including that the U.S. will no longer allow torture, closing Guantanamo Bay prison, making healthcare reform a major priority, upgrading consumer product safety, reigning in the abusive tactics of credit card companies, returning the concept of “protection” to the Environmental Protection Agency and bringing back diplomacy to America’s international relations.

I never expected that I would agree with everything that the Obama administration does. There is a full understanding that most of what Obama attempts will be strongly opposed by Republican congressmen from the viewpoint of ideology, appeal to their hardcore base or attempts to simply save their political derrieres by re-writing history and blaming every ill on the Democrats and Obama. Joining Republican obstructionism is a considerable number of Democrats who, regardless of the state they come from, reside in the pockets of special interests. Obama faces formidable foes and the circumstances of an economy and financial structure in crisis, war on two fronts and countries such as Pakistan, Iran and North Korea that present daunting challenges. Has a President ever taken office in the U.S. inheriting so many challenges?

My problem with Obama involves policies and decisions that did not have to be so weak. There have been decisions that have gone against campaign promises, that have contradicted positions previously taken and in some cases have mirrored George W. Bush’s egregious policies. The vast bulk of Obama’s presidency is yet to unfold. Some areas of improvement that I would like to see:

* Transparency – Open government was a mainstay of the Obama candidacy. “Transparency” was a signature issue on the campaign trail. There have been a number of instances where the Obama Justice Department argued in federal courts to block the release of information about torture and other issues and, like the Bush administration, blocked public access to the White House visitors’ log – especially when it came to secreting the names of the coal industry’s representative visitors, not unlike Secret Dick Cheney’s meetings with oil and gas interests. The downside to secretive government was made evident in the last administration. Public trust can only be established through consistent and responsible behavior by its elected representatives. Only a fool would blindly trust a politician or anyone else for that matter. A democracy best functions in the daylight. When Bush secreted his activities behind opposition to the Freedom of Information Act and the bleat of “state secrets” I had had enough. For Obama to do the same is appalling. McClatchy news services offers examples of Obama emulating Bush. Michael Isikoff of Newsweek authors an article, “Obama Closes Doors on Openness.” During his second day in office Obama promised "a new era of openness in our country." One can only hope that the “new era” will still be in the early stages of his presidency.

* Wiretapping-Spying on American citizens – Many wise legal and constitutional minds cautioned against the provisions of the Patriot Act in spite of government assurances that there are safeguards in place to protect the rights and privacy of citizens. As it became evident under Bush and as it is playing out under Obama, these safeguards are as effective as the Abstinence Only program to protect against teen pregnancies. A recent NY Times article titled “E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns in Congress” demonstrates that individuals working in these eavesdropping programs regularly spy on citizens without legal justification and even former president Bill Clinton was illegally spied on. There once was a game show titled “Who Do You Trust?” Today’s answer would be, “No one.” When Obama was a senator he said that warrantless wiretapping was illegal. Does the lofty view from the White House change one’s principles and beliefs? Recall in the first days of his presidency George W. Bush gushed about the importance of following the rule of law. We all saw how that played out.

* Gays in the military – Returning to the Obama campaign trail, his comments and positions on gay rights matters would belie what has taken place since Obama took office. He has not stopped the military’s dismissal of gay service people under the policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” At a time when their services are more needed than ever gays in the military are being fired. Obama has the authority to suspend such activity until congress changes the law. He has remained silent.

* Gays not in the military – There has been a rising tide of anger and frustration by the gay community with Obama “slights and deferred promises.” First his Justice Department argued in a legal brief, “The brief insists it is reasonable for states to favor heterosexual marriages because they are the “traditional and universally recognized form of marriage.” In arguing that other states do not have to recognize same-sex marriages under the Constitution’s “full faith and credit” clause, the Justice Department cites decades-old cases ruling that states do not have to recognize marriages between cousins or an uncle and a niece.” Conclusion, gay marriages are equivalent to incest! During his candidacy Obama declared he would work to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). During his presidency his legal office is defending a law that deprives a segment of our population their equal rights.

* Shadow Army – When the Bush administration realized that it could not fight wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with the existing size of the U.S. military it began hiring contractors to perform traditional military responsibilities. The waste, abuse and illegal activity that ensued is well-documented. And the paramilitary presence of Department of Defense (DOD) contractors continues to grow. In a recent report by Commission on Wartime Contracting (CWC) there are now over 240,000 DOD contractors in Southeast Asia – including 132,000 in Iraq and 68,000 in Afghanistan. The report also raises concerns about the poor or inadequate training some of the (contractor personnel) receive, particularly Third Country Nationals hired to guard US bases and facilities: “Poorly trained and ill-equipped contractor employees providing security for our operating bases put American forces at increased risk of harm.” Some fresh thinking is required and old habits changed. Recall that there have been too many instances of these contractors committing rape and murder, building shoddy military facilities that have resulted in the electrocution of U.S. military personnel, and supplying our troops with tainted food and water.

This is not change we can believe in.

* Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
Barack Obama speech, February 5, 2008

* There are more noble people in the world than me – The Washington Post reports that the white supremacist responsible for murdering Holocaust Museum security guard Stephen T. Johns was being treated at George Washington University Hospital by a staff that includes Blacks, Jews and Middle Easterners. I would have a difficult time working to keep this poor excuse for a human being alive. If I had been driving the ambulance carrying the wounded shooter James W. von Brunn to the hospital I would have stopped at Five Guys for burgers and fries – not to go.

* Heavens to Betsy ~ a hell of a story - Texan Leonso Canales Jr. has convinced the Kleberg County commissioners to unanimously designate "heaven-o" as the county's official greeting. The reason: "hello" contains the word "hell." Who says that Texans are not a thinking breed? I believe that Mr. Canales, with an apparent DNA connection to the Italian pastry cannoli, has come upon something. Using cannoli logic; deviled eggs should be removed from American menus; Green Goddess is the only dressing allowed at salad bars; everyone living in Wisconsin should be excommunicated; Lady Godiva should be nominated for sainthood (if she puts on some clothes); and as an alternative to heaven-o we can use the word “goodbye” when coming and going. If we really want to be closer to the Almighty perhaps we should all sneeze more often.

* Calling a spade a spade – Watching Pat Buchanan on MSNBC one sees an articulate and irascible spokesman for the conservative point of view. When on cable news Buchanan takes relative care to mask his racism. Off camera he is the promoter of the Great White Hope mentality that yearns for the days when white folk dominated America’s culture. Buchanan’s true colors can be seen when observing the activities of his group American Cause (you have to love such patriotic sobriquets). At the upcoming American Cause conference the guest speaker will be white nationalist and anti-immigration website editor Peter Brimelow. According to Think Progress Buchanan has appeared at least twice on a Neo-Nazi radio show. This link provides a photo of Buchanan appearing with fellow hate mongers Filip DeWinter and Frank Vanhecke. Perhaps it is time for MSNBC and Chris Matthews to stop back patting Pat and allow him to ooze to the fringe of society where he is most compatible. To supplement any lost income Mr. Buchanan can make appearances at white supremacist rallies as the Pillsbury doughboy.

* Calling a predator a bank – Former loan officers for Wells Fargo Bank are signing affidavits that for a decade, Wells Fargo systematically singled out blacks in Baltimore and suburban Maryland for high-interest subprime mortgages. Loan officers pushed customers who could have qualified for prime loans into subprime mortgages. The affidavits provide the first detailed accusations of deliberate racial steering into subprimes by one of the nation’s top banks. The attorney generals for both Illinois and New York have raised similar questions about lending practices at Wells Fargo. “Loan officers received cash incentives to aggressively market subprime loans in minority communities.” Such practices have taken a “great toll on customers” by adding three points to such mortgages and adding $100,000 to the repayment of a $165,000 loan. When will “esteemed” financial executives begin going to jail for their deceit, dishonesty and criminal behavior and the havoc they caused to the American economy and American citizens. Smoke a joint and get three years in jail. Stink up the joint and get another parking spot at the country club. Welcome to the American Dream constructed on nightmares.

* Take 2 aspirin because healthcare reform will be a bruising battle – The American Medical Association (AMA) has made statements that it opposes a public option for health insurance. There has been the perception that this iconic organization speaks for a broad base of physicians in this country. According to Healthcare.Change.org the AMA represents only about 20% of medical doctors and only about half of its members are practicing physicians. I have heard it stated in an interview on NPR that the AMA does not even poll its members. So when the AMA makes a policy statement who is it speaking for and to what end? How many private health insurers and pharmaceutical companies are influencing the policy stances of the AMA?

A more representative group of physicians is Doctors for America, an organization representing doctors in all fifty states. They recently issued a statement in support of a public health insurance option. This link offers a summary of the state of healthcare in America today and the group’s position on a number of issues important to all of us.

* The myth of “clean” coal – Producers and users of coal are spending millions of dollars to convince Americans that coal is a clean energy source. It reminds one of the attempt by credit card companies to convince Americans that they are looking out for the welfare of consumers. Putting aside the fact that the burning of coal is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, the coal ash resulting from the burning of coal creates a major environmental hazard as well. In January I commented on the mythology of clean coal following the sludge spill of coal ash in Tennessee: “In 2007 the plant’s byproducts included: “45,000 pounds of arsenic, 49,000 pounds of lead, 1.4 million pounds of barium, 91,000 pounds of chromium and 140,000 pounds of manganese. Those metals can cause cancer, liver damage and neurological complications, among other health problems.”

This week the Department of Homeland Security reported to a Senate committee that the coal ash situation is so bad “the committee can't publicly disclose the location of coal ash dumps across the country… The pollution is so toxic, so dangerous, that an enemy of the United States -- or a storm or some other disrupting event -- could easily cause them to spill out and lay waste to any area nearby.” There are now 44 sites across America (out of several hundred) deemed by the Environmental Protection Agency to be high hazard.” Between domestic right-wing extremists and malfeasant environmental oversight al Qaeda can retire. Clean coal my ash!

And if the burning of coal were not sufficiently destructive there is the matter of mountaintop removal coal mining, a practice that allows the coal industry to dynamite the tops off of mountains to get at the thin coal seams underneath and bulldoze the remaining rubble into the valleys below. According to the organization Earth Justice the real price we pay for this type of coal mining is, “ … the hundreds of flattened mountaintops ... poisoned drinking water ... thousands of miles of buried streams, and American landscapes that now more closely resemble desolate moonscapes than the lush wilderness they were just a generation ago.” The next time you see one of the bucolic ads on television promoting “clean coal” it would be good to remember that there is no such thing.

* “Politicians fascinate because they constitute such a paradox; they are an elite that accomplishes mediocrity for the public good.”
George F. Will, columnist for the Washington Post

Diplomacy, Hegemony and Terrorism

During President Barack Obama’s historic 55 minute speech in Cairo he received a standing ovation one dozen times. It seems to me impossible for one to shoot a rifle while forcibly bringing one’s hands together in applause. Unlike the trigger-happy Neocon derriere’s who had beat the drum for invading Iraq and, most recently, called for the U.S. to bomb North Korea and Iran (hello Bill Kristol and Brit Hume of FOX News) intelligent diplomacy gives America at least a chance to bring about a better situation while reducing the threat to American military personnel and civilians. If a time would come when military action is required it is also more likely that having first taken the diplomatic route America would garner meaningful international support – not what George W. Bush had in Iraq. For the sophomoric Neocon tough guys such as Cheney and Kristol who always want to go to war as long as they can continue to avoid serving in the military themselves, I suggest masturbation. It will relieve the pressure generated by overactive male hormones. Like most men walking around with a missile silo between their legs being macho leads to more harm than good.

And let us not forget that the United States was responsible for the overthrow of the elected government in Iran in the 1950’s that inserted the Shah of Iran into power – a puppet of American foreign “policy.” He ruled with a despotic heavy hand that was supported by a secretive and brutal police force. Two decades later the Iranian people rebelled and the result was the U.S. Iranian embassy hostage situation. And who can forget the unprovoked U.S. invasion of Iraq. America’s hands in the Middle East are far from clean (and covered in oil) yet few in America readily accept this reality and its effect on current political relations. It is refreshing and encouraging to have an adult in the White House.

Some voices in America, especially the conservative choir, bemoan Obama’s approach to a new diplomacy that they conclude is an apology. Perhaps standing up and taking responsibility for previous action is an anathema to conservatives since it was their approach that contributed to so much damage in the world. In a cowardly fashion they try to rewrite history rather than acknowledge their culpability. This past week, across the cable news networks, we saw Dick Cheney and daughter Liz making appearances and lying through their gritted teeth about Bush’s justification to invade Iraq and the illegal and immoral use of torture. I have never been waterboarded but I can relate to being tortured while watching these apologists for failed policy try to re-make their brand. Adding to my extreme discomfort is the general failure of interviewers to confront the Cheney family and like-minded phonies with the hard facts of recent history. The media proved to be complete failures in the lead up to the Iraq invasion and they continue to demonstrate their inadequacy today.

There are forces in America that want to demonize all Muslims because of the actions of murderers who call themselves Muslims. There are 1.5 billion people in the world who embrace the Muslim religion. Yes, there are some who claim to be Muslims and who have bastardized the teaching of Muhammad for their own political agenda. This does not justify the condemnation of the entire Muslim world. This past week we saw the murder of George Tiller, a doctor in Kansas who performed legal abortions, being justified in Christian religious terms. At Tiller’s funeral on Saturday anti-abortionists demonstrated with signs saying, “God Sent the Killer.” These are the actions of terrorists and murderers who call themselves Christians. What would Jesus say? Probably, “Oy vey.” It is this short-circuiting of a connection to the Almighty that demeans all that is holy. The bombers of abortion clinics and shooters of physicians are the immoral equivalent of the al Qaeda terrorists who struck the World Trade Center. The long history of man on planet Earth is wrought with acts of inhumanity premised on religious canards. It is a lesson that man is apparently not fated to learn.

* “Four things support the world: the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the valor of the brave.”
Muhammad (570 – 632), Prophet of Islam

A note to the graduating class of 2009

News shows this past week broadcast excerpts of speeches given by well-known individuals at college commencement ceremonies. The wisdom and insight of Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Laura Bush, Robert Gates, Colin Powell, Ellen DeGeneres, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and others reigned down upon graduates as they are about to embark on life as adults. Below are some thoughts and observations that these esteemed speakers may not have noted in their addresses.

Graduates who have followed the news on CNN, MSNBC, FOX or Comedy Central have seen a very clear choice as to how to conduct one’s life. Regardless of whether one agrees with the policies of President Obama his embrace of civility and nobility is in marked contrast to the narrow sewer politics of Limbaugh, Gingrich and Cheney. Obama’s adherence to veracity is in marked contrast to the lies and twisted logic of these icons of failed leadership under the banner of conservatism. The college graduates of 2009 may have the clearest examples in American history of how poor leadership can weaken America, how greed on steroids can destroy an economy and how ignoring the environment and the health of its citizens can put our society and communities at great risk. Everyone we are exposed to in life is our teacher. Some people show us to what to do and some show us what not to do. Rarely have such choices for graduates been in sharper focus.

For decades the message to graduates has consistently been to make the world a better place as one seeks their place to pursue dreams, hopes and aspirations. Today’s graduates will begin careers and soon start families under the umbrella of a political system that is flawed – a system that in recent years has yielded more impediments than opportunities for individuals to participate in the American dream. It is a system where our elected officials must raise large sums of money to fund political campaigns that ensure re-election. Elected officials are lured into serving the needs of the special interests that provide campaign and other funds and the officials must devote an inordinate amount of time to fundraising, which reduces the time available to deal with issues important to citizens. This will only change with the public financing of elections because self-policing by elected officials is an American pipe dream. For the most part, today’s elected officials are owned by corporate interests of energy, finance and banking, pharmaceutical and healthcare corporations. The sellout led to de-regulation of financial markets, a reduction in product safety, a reduction in competition and blockage of sound energy policies that would have reduced dependence on foreign oil and more responsibly protected the environment.

Today’s graduates will have to bide their time until there is once again a viable two-party political system in America. The current version of the Republican Party (Conservatism) became the voice of corporate interests, the religious-right and the Neocons, also known as the warmongers. The GOP was embarrassed in the elections of 2006 and 2008. As the current version of conservative politics continues to lose support in almost every demographic, 2010 will likely be even more devastating to the Republican Party. Following repeated defeats I expect the GOP will seek candidates more moderate, more inclusive and more reflective of a society rejecting the narrow issues of abortion and gay marriage, more demanding that elected representatives actually represent their interests which include fair wages, intelligent broad-based healthcare, sound energy policy, verifiable voting apparatus, renewal of our infrastructure, reliable mass transit and improvements in education.

We can only trust that this year’s graduates will reject the lies that the conservative/GOP cabal continue to spew. Examples include: gay marriage will destroy traditional marriage and lead to pedophilia and bestiality; the U.S. will be endangered if prisoners at Guantanamo were housed in federal high security prisons on American soil; Obama is a Fascist and his policies will result in a socialist state; oversight of capitalism will result in a socialist state; evolution is not valid; the world was created a) 3000 years ago, b) 5000 years ago, c) 15000 years ago; torture is justifiable in our society and the use of torture made Americans safer; Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat to America.

Finally, this note to graduates should not be construed as an endorsement of the Democratic Party. Over the past decade its record is not seen as horrendous only because it is compared to the Republican Party. Democrats are also subject to the influence of special interests and their lobbyists, they participated in the reigning in of regulation and reduction of oversight and they were silent and impotent in opposing the invasion of Iraq and subsequent funding of the occupation. Both political parties governed out of fear and a cynicism in the American political system and the American people. You are the next generation and you can do better.

“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
Robert Louis Stevenson

* The conservative agenda ~ or lack thereof – Today a Washington Post article was titled, “Gay-Marriage Issue Awaits Court Pick, Same-Sex Unions Supplant Abortion As Social Priority for Conservatives.” Despite no evidence that same-sex marriage has a negative influence on the institution of marriage or the fabric of our society the conservative movement has hitched their Trojan horses to this empty wagon. Imagine the benefits to the American people if the full force of the conservative movement, be they social or anti-social conservatives, actually advocated for meaningful issues that include:

~ Affordable, quality healthcare for all citizens (as is the case in most industrialized nations)
~ Energy and environmental policies that protect the air and water essential to human existence and the food supply to sustain that existence
~ Responsible inspection of imported and domestic food and products
~ Workers rights that assure fair wages and reasonable and safe working conditions
~ Limitations on interest rates that have now reached levels that qualify as usury and were at one time outlawed in America
~ Public financing of elections so that special interests do not override the real interests of the people

Perhaps God should be recruited to the policy-setting committee for the conservative agenda. Rumor has it that She cares about the actual well-being of people.

* Romancing a Sheep – Religious-right leader Pat Robertson says, “The ‘ultimate conclusion’ of legalizing same-sex marriage would be the legalization of polygamy, bestiality, child molestation and pedophilia.” As the religious-right apprehensively watches its relevancy wane, its inflammatory rhetoric increases in intensity and absurdity. Appropriate responses to such nonsense would be “Nah” and “Baa.”

* Ignorance is bliss ~ or, just ignorant – John McCain has returned to the Sunday talk show punditocracy. These days he is weighing in on the military’s policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT). If one is in the armed forces and is gay, just don’t admit to it and you are permitted to face a Taliban sniper or the possibility that the family jewels will be blown off by an al Qaeda operative or Sunni insurgent. McCain says that the policy is working. A fair question would be, “What are the results of inserting one’s head in the sand on this issue?”

From ThinkProgress.org: Since 1994, DADT has resulted in the discharge of more than 13,000 military personnel across the services, including approximately 800 with skills deemed “mission critical,” such as pilots, combat engineers, and linguists. According to a 2005 report from the Government Accountability Office, “the cost of discharging and replacing service members fired because of their sexual orientation during the policy’s first 10 years totaled at least $190.5 million — roughly $20,000 per discharged service member.

With war on two fronts and a military extremely over-extended Senator McCain says that the system is working. At a time when the strategic goals in Iraq and Afghanistan critically require personnel with Arabic language capabilities many have been dismissed. At a time when many military personnel have received deployment to combat zones four and five times because of a shortage of trained soldiers, this has resulted in very high numbers of military personnel with stress disorders. McCain would have us believe the system is working. Appropriate responses to such nonsense would be “Nah” and “Baa.”

* Seeing the obvious ~ when it is right in front of you – “Census data from the Mexican government indicate an extraordinary decline in the number of Mexican immigrants going to the United States.” I guess one could say that the U.S. government’s effort to stem the flow of illegal immigrants across our borders is finally working. Nah and baa. “If jobs are available, people come,” said Jeffrey S. Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington. “If jobs are not available, people don’t come.” The recession is proving more effective in reducing illegal immigration than incompetent and malfeasant U.S. policy.

Something we have always known is that the attraction for people to enter our country illegally was the availability of jobs. Something we have known all along is that it is illegal to employ undocumented workers. Something we have known all along is that said law was not enforced. Why? One reasonable guess would be that politically influential farmers, food processors, manufacturers, builders, landscapers… convinced the powers that be to look the other way. There was too much profit to be relinquished if they could not use these immigrants who work for low wages, no benefits, no worker rights and protections. Now that the not-so-secret “secret” is out, how will this affect enforcement of existing law and the formulation of new laws going forward? The answer depends upon the balance of power in this country between the special interests and the interests of the American people.

* “Power always thinks it had a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak, and that it is doing God's service when violating all His laws.”
John Adams (1735 – 1826) second President of the U.S. (1797 – 1801)