* Dear Senator Barack Obama - Your vote for the FISA bill was a major disappointment to many of us who support your candidacy. At the same time I cannot anticipate anything that you could do to lose my vote, given the alternative. I accept the fact that “politician” defines your career path and it requires tactics and decisions that cannot always satisfy your core constituency. However, I believe you possess the integrity and a sense of the law that mandates accountability for all branches of government. I would hope that as president you will sanction the investigation of the many areas where the Bush administration is suspected of having broken the law. At a minimum, the exposure of wrong-doing would provide some level of accountability for the Bush administration that was non-existent during its tenure. If trust in our government and leaders is not restored the future will be even bleaker than the current state of affairs. You sir, are the best hope that our country has at this time. I wish you well in your candidacy and trust that you have the ability and courage to fulfill the expectations that so many millions hold for you and our country.
* It may be a headache but, its all in your head – Phil Graham is McCain’s top economic advisor. The former senator and then lobbyist for national and international banking interests earned millions of dollars pushing for laws and policies that substantially contributed to the current mortgage crisis. Given his substantial wealth it is no wonder that this week he said that we are a nation of whiners. Graham claims that the economic recession that millions of Americans are experiencing is in fact a mental recession. The 10 percent of haves in this country would probably agree with this lobbyist leech. The vast majority of Americans would conclude that Mr. Graham’s head is up his assets.
* The Manchurian Candidates were elected – Vice President Dick Cheney not only ignores the safety and welfare of Americans but actually goes out of his way to ensure that we are at risk. The justification for this seemingly implausible statement about a national leader was the revelation this week that Cheney’s office deliberately deleted congressional testimony of a senior government official about the consequences of climate change on public health. A former senior EPA official, Jason K. Burnett, said “the White House was concerned that the proposed testimony last October by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might make it tougher to avoid regulating greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.” Protecting the interests of Big Oil was more important to the VP than the health and safety of fellow citizens. When the history of the first decade of the 21st century is written I believe that the damage to America caused by Dick Cheney and George Bush will have far exceeded the damage perpetrated by Osama bin Laden. Also to be ignobly immortalized will be a Congress that was gutless and impotent opposing the Bush/Cheney juggernaut and too often sucked at the teat of special interests.
* Foot dragging, incompetence, malfeasance? ~ meet the U.S Justice Department – “More than 900 cases alleging that government contractors and drug makers have defrauded taxpayers out of billions of dollars are languishing in a backlog that has built up over the past decade because the Justice Department cannot keep pace with the surge in charges brought by whistle-blowers, according to lawyers involved in the disputes.” Under the Bush administration we have experienced the Justice Department acting as a political arm of the executive branch of government. As the government cries poor mouth, lacking funds for education, reducing Medicare payments to doctors and a litany of other under-funded programs it allows available resources to be stolen by scumbags with portfolio. I did not share the mild optimism that Michael Mukasey would be an improvement over Alberto Gonzales since any Bush appointee must possess an inherent Stepford quality. Both Attorney Generals have proven to be advocates for a corrupt and incompetent administration, failing to investigate wrongs and blocking the attempts of Congress to perform its fiduciary responsibilities. The nobility of blind justice has tragically descended to merely blind.
* Fighting hunger with gourmet meals and droppings from the southern end of a bull – The G8 is an organization of leading countries that meet to address an array of world problems. Their recent meeting in Japan focused on solving the global food crisis. “Delicious” would best describe the gathering. The six-course lunch was followed by an 18-course dinner that included white asparagus and truffle soup, almond oil foam and tapenade, smoked salmon and sea urchin with hot onion tart, grilled bighead thorryhead fish with pepper sauce, G8 Fantasy dessert and Le Reve Grand Cru Brut/La Seule Gloire Champagne. Fighting hunger is a challenge. On the other hand, “pathetic” would describe the G8’s commitment to reducing world hunger. “In 2005, at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, world leaders promised to increase global aid by £25billion a year by 2010 and raise aid to Africa, the world's poorest continent, by £12.5billion. But the bloc of rich nations is only 14 per cent of the way towards hitting its target (60 percent into the commitment).” “Fantasy” not only describes the G8 dessert.
* If not them, whom? – The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is part of the U.S. intelligence community, has the lead responsibility for domestic surveillance of foreign intelligence and suspected terrorist targets. Important and vital would best describe this critical role in keeping us safe. However, a new report by the Senate Appropriations Committee has determined that the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C is somewhat lacking. “The Hoover Building does not meet the Interagency Security Committee’s criteria for a secure Federal facility capable of handling intelligence and other sensitive information.” The most surprising part of this revelation is that it was revealed. We have become accustomed to inadequacies, incompetence and illegalities in the federal government being hidden from public view by classifying the information as national security, state secrets, executive privilege and none of your bees wax. In too many cases “embarrassment” is the real motivation for hiding the truth but the shear volume of screw-ups does result in a few leakers.
* Movie nostalgia ~ not the film, the venue of drive-in theaters – Younger readers may have heard of but never experienced a drive-in movie theater. My online friend Sue Katz has an interesting blog entry at Consenting Adult that looks at the 75th anniversary of drive-in theaters. It sure brought back some memories! Also of interest in the article is a video that is a montage of intermission films that were shown at drive-ins that as Sue says, “are a window on the social messages being pushed during the 50s and 60s: from cold war patriotism to urgings that you go to church and the PTA to proper drive-in etiquette.” Other messages encouraged registering to vote and supporting the Boy Scouts. It led me to ponder where one finds the message today for responsible participation in society? Almost every waking moment is accompanied by some form of electronic communication. To what end and to what value?
* “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858 – 1919) 26th president of the U.S.
Showing posts with label Bush. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bush. Show all posts
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
* Alzheimer’s, stupidity or Cheney Machiavellism? – On three occasions last week McCain claimed that Iranian operatives were "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back." With no evidence to support this claim the first time he said this it was considered a slip of the tongue. The second time it was said Mr. McStraightTalk was reading from a prepared statement. The third time he said this Joe Lieberman whispered into his ear and McCain corrected himself. This is not unlike the Bushites’ claim that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction about to be launched at the U.S. causing a huge mushroom cloud to hover over America or that Saddam was in some way connected to al Qaeda. None of it true. Is John McBush preparing us for an attack on Iran or is he like the eccentric uncle at the family dinner table mumbling between belches until anesthetized by a nap? As Obama and Clinton battle for the Democratic nomination McCain is advancing in the polls. Do the American people suffer from Alzheimer’s or stupidity as they even remotely consider an extension of the Bush years?
* When the word “so” begins with a capital “F” and ends in a lower case “u”- I have not commented on remarks from White House Press Secretary Dana Perino for quite some time. Like her predecessors Ari Fleisher and Scott McClellan, she produces so much inane pap from the podium that it becomes like the drone from a room air conditioner that is soon not heard. When Dick Cheyney was told by a reporter that “two-thirds of Americans say” the Iraq war “is not worth fighting,” he responded, “So?” That of course was no surprise. When Perino was asked about Cheney’s comment she responded that the last time the American people were heard was the 2004 elections. Her observation ignored the 2006 elections that in many ways was a repudiation of the Iraq war as the Republican War Party was soundly defeated. Of course when Bush and Cheyney treated their election and re-election as coronations, mid-term elections became marginal. From one perspective they are right. In 2004 the American people had the opportunity to reject/evict these disingenuous imperialist warmongers. So, we didn’t.
*Quote of the week - "At 11:00 on a Tuesday, a prominent politician spoke to Americans about race, as though they were adults." This was said by Jon Stewart of the Dailey Show, referring to Barack Obama’s speech on March 11, 2008. The speech can be seen and heard at: Barack Obama: Change We Can Believe In His Own Words
* Observation of the week –Cynthia Tucker, syndicated columnist and editorial page editor of The Atlanta Constitution, said about Obama’s speech, “That high-minded appeal has drawn its share of skeptics, and for good reason. One of the more puzzling, yet persistent, features of the American political landscape has been the success of politicians who seize on racial tensions and long-simmering resentments to win over working-class white voters -- even while supporting policies that betray the economic interests of that same group.” Ronald Reagan and George Bush are examples of the politicians Tucker references. It is unfortunate that the quote from 1961 at the end of this post remains, in part, a hope. There has been progress but, it is a road slowly traveled.
* Did you get your letter from the IRS? - Last week I received notification that following an evaluation of my 2007 tax return I may receive a rebate check (intended to stimulate the U.S. economy). Unfortunately, there are cynics out there that do not believe this Bush fix for the economy will fix much. A reader sent me the following:
If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China. If we spend it on gasoline it will all go to the Arabs, if we purchase a computer it will all go to India, if we purchase fruit and vegetables it will all go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala (for some reason Chile was left off the list), if we purchase a good car it will all go to Japan, if we purchase useless crap it will all go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy. We need to keep that money here in America, so the only way to keep that money here at home is to buy prostitutes, beer and visit Indian casinos, since those are the only businesses still in the US.
* Disquieting quote of the week ~ improving the U.S. balance of trade - "I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them into the United States because we believe homosexuality is destructive to society." So said Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council pontificating on behalf of the religious wrong. These are the same people that support Bush and will reluctantly support McCain since he is the closest thing to Bush that they can get this election cycle (and he is getting much closer – see below “Reality of the Week”). They are as wrong for America as the corporate and financial “geniuses” whose greed-driven policies have wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy.
* A full plate and an empty coffer - Not making a hybrid car like the Prius (Toyota) was a "mistake," General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz told a group at last week’s NY Auto Show. Despite GM losing billions of dollars over the last couple of years and Toyota making a profit this gaff can be excused. GM and its lobbyists were too busy opposing higher gas mileage standards.
* Context and furor – The recent media frenzy and citizen reaction to comments by Obama’s minister after the 9/11 attack on America do have a context beyond the YouTube sound bites. Rev. Wright based one of his comments about “chickens coming home to roost” on an interview he had heard on FOX News with Ambassador Edward Peck, “retired, white, career U.S. diplomat who served 32-years in the U.S. Foreign Service and was chief of the U.S. mission to Iraq under Jimmy Carter.” Wright said, “A white ambassador said that yall, not a black militant, not a reverend who preaches about racism, an ambassador whose eyes are wide open and is trying to get us to wake up and move away from this dangerous precipice... the ambassador said that the people we have wounded don't have the military capability we have, but they do have individuals who are willing to die and take thousands with them...” The “dangerous precipice” reference was the consequences of decades of myopic U.S. foreign policy, which, as most of us realize, has further deteriorated since 9/11. I am not aware of any violence committed by Rev. Wright nor have I heard of any violence committed by anyone as a result of Wright’s words. Speaking of Wright’s words he has said, "Violence begets violence, hatred begets hatred, and terrorism begets terrorism." And that leaves little to disagree with.
* Buying the (Iraq) War – PBS’ outstanding journalist Bill Moyers produced a program that asks the questions, “How did the mainstream press get it so wrong... How and why did the press buy it, and what does it say about the role of journalists in helping the public sort out fact from propaganda?" The program can be seen at this link. Walter Pincus of the Washington Post concludes, "More and more the media become, I think, common carriers of administration statements and critics of the administration. We've sort of given up being independent on our own." I believe that the lesson to be taken is that to be informed citizens we must go beyond the six o’clock news, traditional print media and Sunday morning pundit sound bites that we have relied upon. It is a lesson of a democracy manipulated and a Fourth Estate surrendering its role in a democratic society. Not much has changed in the last six years.
* On Easter Sunday the 4000th U.S. soldier was killed in Iraq. 97% of these deaths (3860) occurred after President Bush’s Mission Accomplished speech announcing the end of “major combat” in Iraq on May 1, 2003.
* Repenting support for the Iraq War – Andrew Sullivan has a conservative perspective and writes for The Atlantic. A recent article closely examines his initial support for the Iraq war and dissects why he was wrong on a number of levels. It is worth a read. He concludes, “I know our enemy is much worse. I have never doubted that. But I never believed that America would do what America has done. Never. My misjudgment at the deepest moral level of what Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld were capable of - a misjudgment that violated the moral core of the enterprise - was my worst mistake. What the war has done to what is left of Iraq - the lives lost, the families destroyed, the bodies tortured, the civilization trashed - was bad enough. But what was done to America - and the meaning of America - was unforgivable. And for that I will not and should not forgive myself either. Thanks to the web site The Sideshow for bringing this article to attention.
* Separation of Church and State – Last weekend many internet sites featured the theme Blog Against Theocracy. This is not a stand against religion but a reminder that the Government should keep out of religion, and Religion should keep out of the government. One might find it interesting and informative surfing some of the links.
*Myth of the Week ~ John McCain supports the troops – Contrary to McCain’s stance that what you see is what you get, another carnival mirror of distortion is broken. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) is sponsoring legislation that would offer benefits to veterans similar to those benefits offered military personnel following Word War II. I recently had seen a study that estimated for every dollar the U.S. government had spent on G.I. benefits following WWII the government received in return seven dollars in taxes from increased wages earned. Webb has called on McCain to co-sponsor the bill but McBush has yet to do so. It must be a Republican thing that appearing to spend money is verboten in their political circles – contrary to actually spending money over the past 7 years that blew through our surplus and created unimaginable deficits. For the Republicans currently in power “supporting the troops” is a marketing term for a product that does not exist. Of course, if we keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years, as McCain has suggested, we will not have to give them educational benefits – only bomb-resistant walkers. Democratic presidential candidates Clinton and Obama are among the 51 co-sponsors of the bill that does include nine Republicans.
* Reality of the Week ~ McCain’s draconian (for most Americans) tax and healthcare agenda - The Center for American Progress Action Fund's (CAPAF) Robert Gordon and James Kvaal issued a report on "the Bush-McCain-Norquist Tax Agenda," which found that Sen. John McCain's tax plan would cost $2 trillion over the next decade and would deliver 58 percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent of taxpayers. McCain's plan to "reform the tax code to eliminate the bias toward employer-sponsored health insurance" would cost $206 billion in 2009 alone -- an amount of spending that "is double that proposed by Obama or Clinton's plan." Moreover, "McCain and Bush's plan would make it harder for people with health issues to obtain affordable health insurance." From the report’s summary: “In the final analysis, we conclude that the McCain tax plan is essentially a continuation of the agenda articulated by Norquist and others to achieve piecemeal but radical changes to the U.S. tax code... These changes require huge spending cuts, shift the tax burden away from capital and onto labor, and come “at the expense of lower- and middle-income Americans.” When I refer to McCain as McBush, substance far outweighs sarcasm.
* "I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one, with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions." Martin Luther King Jr., Dec. 11, 1961
* When the word “so” begins with a capital “F” and ends in a lower case “u”- I have not commented on remarks from White House Press Secretary Dana Perino for quite some time. Like her predecessors Ari Fleisher and Scott McClellan, she produces so much inane pap from the podium that it becomes like the drone from a room air conditioner that is soon not heard. When Dick Cheyney was told by a reporter that “two-thirds of Americans say” the Iraq war “is not worth fighting,” he responded, “So?” That of course was no surprise. When Perino was asked about Cheney’s comment she responded that the last time the American people were heard was the 2004 elections. Her observation ignored the 2006 elections that in many ways was a repudiation of the Iraq war as the Republican War Party was soundly defeated. Of course when Bush and Cheyney treated their election and re-election as coronations, mid-term elections became marginal. From one perspective they are right. In 2004 the American people had the opportunity to reject/evict these disingenuous imperialist warmongers. So, we didn’t.
*Quote of the week - "At 11:00 on a Tuesday, a prominent politician spoke to Americans about race, as though they were adults." This was said by Jon Stewart of the Dailey Show, referring to Barack Obama’s speech on March 11, 2008. The speech can be seen and heard at: Barack Obama: Change We Can Believe In His Own Words
* Observation of the week –Cynthia Tucker, syndicated columnist and editorial page editor of The Atlanta Constitution, said about Obama’s speech, “That high-minded appeal has drawn its share of skeptics, and for good reason. One of the more puzzling, yet persistent, features of the American political landscape has been the success of politicians who seize on racial tensions and long-simmering resentments to win over working-class white voters -- even while supporting policies that betray the economic interests of that same group.” Ronald Reagan and George Bush are examples of the politicians Tucker references. It is unfortunate that the quote from 1961 at the end of this post remains, in part, a hope. There has been progress but, it is a road slowly traveled.
* Did you get your letter from the IRS? - Last week I received notification that following an evaluation of my 2007 tax return I may receive a rebate check (intended to stimulate the U.S. economy). Unfortunately, there are cynics out there that do not believe this Bush fix for the economy will fix much. A reader sent me the following:
If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China. If we spend it on gasoline it will all go to the Arabs, if we purchase a computer it will all go to India, if we purchase fruit and vegetables it will all go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala (for some reason Chile was left off the list), if we purchase a good car it will all go to Japan, if we purchase useless crap it will all go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy. We need to keep that money here in America, so the only way to keep that money here at home is to buy prostitutes, beer and visit Indian casinos, since those are the only businesses still in the US.
* Disquieting quote of the week ~ improving the U.S. balance of trade - "I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them into the United States because we believe homosexuality is destructive to society." So said Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council pontificating on behalf of the religious wrong. These are the same people that support Bush and will reluctantly support McCain since he is the closest thing to Bush that they can get this election cycle (and he is getting much closer – see below “Reality of the Week”). They are as wrong for America as the corporate and financial “geniuses” whose greed-driven policies have wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy.
* A full plate and an empty coffer - Not making a hybrid car like the Prius (Toyota) was a "mistake," General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz told a group at last week’s NY Auto Show. Despite GM losing billions of dollars over the last couple of years and Toyota making a profit this gaff can be excused. GM and its lobbyists were too busy opposing higher gas mileage standards.
* Context and furor – The recent media frenzy and citizen reaction to comments by Obama’s minister after the 9/11 attack on America do have a context beyond the YouTube sound bites. Rev. Wright based one of his comments about “chickens coming home to roost” on an interview he had heard on FOX News with Ambassador Edward Peck, “retired, white, career U.S. diplomat who served 32-years in the U.S. Foreign Service and was chief of the U.S. mission to Iraq under Jimmy Carter.” Wright said, “A white ambassador said that yall, not a black militant, not a reverend who preaches about racism, an ambassador whose eyes are wide open and is trying to get us to wake up and move away from this dangerous precipice... the ambassador said that the people we have wounded don't have the military capability we have, but they do have individuals who are willing to die and take thousands with them...” The “dangerous precipice” reference was the consequences of decades of myopic U.S. foreign policy, which, as most of us realize, has further deteriorated since 9/11. I am not aware of any violence committed by Rev. Wright nor have I heard of any violence committed by anyone as a result of Wright’s words. Speaking of Wright’s words he has said, "Violence begets violence, hatred begets hatred, and terrorism begets terrorism." And that leaves little to disagree with.
* Buying the (Iraq) War – PBS’ outstanding journalist Bill Moyers produced a program that asks the questions, “How did the mainstream press get it so wrong... How and why did the press buy it, and what does it say about the role of journalists in helping the public sort out fact from propaganda?" The program can be seen at this link. Walter Pincus of the Washington Post concludes, "More and more the media become, I think, common carriers of administration statements and critics of the administration. We've sort of given up being independent on our own." I believe that the lesson to be taken is that to be informed citizens we must go beyond the six o’clock news, traditional print media and Sunday morning pundit sound bites that we have relied upon. It is a lesson of a democracy manipulated and a Fourth Estate surrendering its role in a democratic society. Not much has changed in the last six years.
* On Easter Sunday the 4000th U.S. soldier was killed in Iraq. 97% of these deaths (3860) occurred after President Bush’s Mission Accomplished speech announcing the end of “major combat” in Iraq on May 1, 2003.
* Repenting support for the Iraq War – Andrew Sullivan has a conservative perspective and writes for The Atlantic. A recent article closely examines his initial support for the Iraq war and dissects why he was wrong on a number of levels. It is worth a read. He concludes, “I know our enemy is much worse. I have never doubted that. But I never believed that America would do what America has done. Never. My misjudgment at the deepest moral level of what Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld were capable of - a misjudgment that violated the moral core of the enterprise - was my worst mistake. What the war has done to what is left of Iraq - the lives lost, the families destroyed, the bodies tortured, the civilization trashed - was bad enough. But what was done to America - and the meaning of America - was unforgivable. And for that I will not and should not forgive myself either. Thanks to the web site The Sideshow for bringing this article to attention.
* Separation of Church and State – Last weekend many internet sites featured the theme Blog Against Theocracy. This is not a stand against religion but a reminder that the Government should keep out of religion, and Religion should keep out of the government. One might find it interesting and informative surfing some of the links.
*Myth of the Week ~ John McCain supports the troops – Contrary to McCain’s stance that what you see is what you get, another carnival mirror of distortion is broken. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) is sponsoring legislation that would offer benefits to veterans similar to those benefits offered military personnel following Word War II. I recently had seen a study that estimated for every dollar the U.S. government had spent on G.I. benefits following WWII the government received in return seven dollars in taxes from increased wages earned. Webb has called on McCain to co-sponsor the bill but McBush has yet to do so. It must be a Republican thing that appearing to spend money is verboten in their political circles – contrary to actually spending money over the past 7 years that blew through our surplus and created unimaginable deficits. For the Republicans currently in power “supporting the troops” is a marketing term for a product that does not exist. Of course, if we keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years, as McCain has suggested, we will not have to give them educational benefits – only bomb-resistant walkers. Democratic presidential candidates Clinton and Obama are among the 51 co-sponsors of the bill that does include nine Republicans.
* Reality of the Week ~ McCain’s draconian (for most Americans) tax and healthcare agenda - The Center for American Progress Action Fund's (CAPAF) Robert Gordon and James Kvaal issued a report on "the Bush-McCain-Norquist Tax Agenda," which found that Sen. John McCain's tax plan would cost $2 trillion over the next decade and would deliver 58 percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent of taxpayers. McCain's plan to "reform the tax code to eliminate the bias toward employer-sponsored health insurance" would cost $206 billion in 2009 alone -- an amount of spending that "is double that proposed by Obama or Clinton's plan." Moreover, "McCain and Bush's plan would make it harder for people with health issues to obtain affordable health insurance." From the report’s summary: “In the final analysis, we conclude that the McCain tax plan is essentially a continuation of the agenda articulated by Norquist and others to achieve piecemeal but radical changes to the U.S. tax code... These changes require huge spending cuts, shift the tax burden away from capital and onto labor, and come “at the expense of lower- and middle-income Americans.” When I refer to McCain as McBush, substance far outweighs sarcasm.
* "I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one, with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions." Martin Luther King Jr., Dec. 11, 1961
Thursday, March 20, 2008
* The Iraq debate ~ voices unheard ~ my letter to the Phila. Inquirer - The editorial “The Iraq debate – Five Years Later” offered many voices and facets of the dilemma then and now. However, I believe that some voices were not heard when the statement was made, “With Saddam gone, we will not leave Iraq worse than we found it...” I refer to the voices of the almost 90,000 Iraqis killed and their survivors, the more than 4 million Iraqis displaced, the untold injured and maimed, the orphans, the current population living with inadequate electricity, tainted water and disease and so much of the population not knowing if today will be the day that they or family member or friend will be blown up into unrecognizable pieces. The claim that Iraq is or will be better off is reminiscent of the arrogance of our President, the imperialism of our Vice-President and the amorality of the neoconservative philosophy that fueled this misadventure.
* Situational law ~ socializing the financial industry - The Mortgage Bankers Association is calling for the U.S. to commit $31 million over the next 5 years in new funding for the FBI and Justice Dept. to investigate and prosecute consumer fraud when obtaining mortgages. It would seem to me that those lending the money should be more responsible for investigating the veracity of potential borrowers. Not surprisingly, this austere group did not mention the need to investigate fraud committed by the lending side of the equation that contributed to the subprime mortgage disaster. It is these same bankers that spend untold sums lobbying congress to avoid oversight and regulation - until their own greed and stupidity create situations where they now want government assistance and bailouts. AND they are getting it. The Federal Reserve Board of NY just pumped $200 million into Wall Street, in part to bail out investment banking firm Bear Sterns. Where is the “free market system” that Bush and the Republicans so proudly wear on their lapels next to their waving American flag? If you cannot pay your credit card bill you are charged an interest rate on unpaid balances up to 28%. I was not able to find what the Fed is charging these bankers. The wave for help from the average Joe Consumer goes unanswered although our leader did comment: “President Bush conceded on Friday (3/14) that the country "obviously is going through a tough time". Obviously.
* The U.S. car accident – Following a car crash the survivors stumble from their vehicle glassy-eyed and mumbling “what happened”. The American economy finds itself in a similar situation. My short story take on this giant failure is that we used inexpensive foreign funds to import more than we exported while undermining our ability to actually produce goods; we abandoned the middle and poorer classes as a smaller and smaller contingent of our population accumulated more and more of the wealth; we removed oversight of the corporate and financial community; and we developed amnesia from the lessons learned from the Great Depression and the Savings and Loan crash two decades ago. It is a failure of leadership, ethics and responsibility. This is my non-economist opinion. For an excellent analysis of “what happened” to the U.S. economy and some solutions for recovery I recommend a piece by Jerome a Paris at dailykos.com.
* A witness to the accident – About 18 months ago I wrote a letter to Wachovia after reading an article describing Wachovia’s decision to outsource clerical work overseas (India?). I suggested that the decision was short-sighted. The jobs they were eliminating in the U.S. represented people who earned an income from Wachovia and then purchased food, clothes and services from businesses that used Wachovia banking and stock brokerage services. I did not bother to make the “ludicrous” argument that these lost jobs also represented lost tax revenue that impacted schools and services and communities. I had already concluded that responsible involvement with one’s community, one’s country by the financial/corporate world was a romantic myth of yore. The essence of Wachovia’s response to me was that they had to remain competitive. A “noble” goal but devoid of merit if at the same time they were undermining their base business – individuals and businesses that save, borrow and invest through Wachovia. As the oil rich and wealth-bloated Arab countries continue to purchase ownership in U.S. business and financial institutions perhaps they will outsource some jobs to America.
*Well, here is a macho challenge to gun toting American cowboys – The state of Madhya Pradesh in India, in an attempt to reduce population growth, is trying to persuade men to undergo sterilization by offering to fast-track their gun license applications. If such a rule were mandated in the U.S. one wonders which weapon would be relinquished.
* The economics of unfettered capitalism - Jane Smiley at The Huffington Post penned an article that I strongly recommend. She reviews the role of economists since the 1970s who preached unregulated capitalism that led to our economic crisis. In previous posts I have characterized this phenomenon as “capitalism on steroids”.
* Supporting intelligent government ~ it does not have to be an oxymoron – The senate is considering a bill, Foreclosure Prevention Act (S. 2636) that will allow victims of abusive lending who are facing foreclosures to stay in their homes while they work through the bankruptcy courts to repay the debt. The website Care2 provides a petition supporting this legislation that will be forwarded to your Senator.
* Mind-numbing statistic of the week – One in 25 people living in New Orleans are homeless (12,000).
* Genius at work – Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist Mark Penn says that Obama cannot win the general election. This from the man heading the Clinton campaign that in early 2007 led every poll by wide margins, had more money than it knew what to do with and was certain that she was “guaranteed” the Democratic nomination. The national media continue to treat Penn’s every word as if it comes from the lips of the inventor of political campaigns. Clinton hitched her campaign to many of the same strategists that have failed the Democratic Party over the last decade. It may be her failing.
* Epiphany on the campaign trail – John McCain told reporters that “he is doing the Lord’s work”. For twenty years he has represented the citizens of Arizona. Now that he is running for president of the U.S. McCain has concluded that he needs the Bush base of the religious right to win and he has upgraded his constituency to the highest power. As he changes his position to pro-torture, welcomes the lobbyists he claims he abhorred, embraces the religious right that he once criticized and dances around campaign finance law remember that he now works for a higher order. In another remarkable other-worldly occurrence McCain can be seen miraculously channeling Bush at every campaign stop. At any moment McBush is likely to call Dick Cheney to the pulpit to serve as his Vice-Presidential nominee. Hallelujah!
* Military violence ~ there is a difference – Military violence against an enemy is understandable and unavoidable. Military violence against one’s own troops is reprehensible. A Pentagon report says that one-third of women in the military are sexually harassed AND in the years 2006 and 2007 there were a reported 5635 sexual assaults. Ironically, “Officials said that overall, the survey showed both men and women polled (in the military) think the climate on sexual relations is better in the military than it is in the nation as a whole. And the survey found that a majority of those surveyed believe the military's training on sexual harassment is effective.” I guess that my understanding of “effective” is defective.
* Questions of the week - John “the surge is working” McCain visited Iraq last weekend under total secrecy due to security concerns. Last year he was telling us how safe it was when he visited a Baghdad market, while protected by military personnel and helicopters. On this current trip it is too unsafe for an American to visit the same market as it is controlled by Sadr. Recall that the purpose of the surge was to give the Iraqi government the time needed to reconcile the country’s differences and begin governing. How is that going? “Iraqi leaders have failed to take advantage of a reduction in violence to make adequate progress toward resolving their political differences, said Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.” Which leads to my next question, “What the hell are we doing there”?
* Justice from the Twilight Zone – An email from Amnesty International provided the following dismaying saga: “Troy Davis came within 24 hours of execution in July, 2007 before receiving a temporary stay of execution. Two weeks later the Georgia Supreme Court agreed to hear his extraordinary motion for a new trial. On Monday, March 17, 2008 the court denied Mr. Davis’ appeal. Troy Davis was sentenced to death for the murder of Police Officer Mark MacPhail in Georgia. The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony which contained inconsistencies even during the trial. Since then, all but two of the state's nine non-police witnesses from the trial have recanted or contradicted their testimony. Many of these witnesses have stated in sworn affidavits that they were pressured or coerced by police into testifying or signing statements against Troy Davis. Amnesty International is providing a petition you can sign requesting justice from the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parole.
* Toxic conflict of interest – “The House Energy and Commerce Committee cited the case of eight scientists who were consultants or members of EPA science advisory panels assessing the human health effects of toxic chemicals while getting research support from the chemical industry on the same chemicals they were examining.” Two of these “scientists” were employed by companies being investigated. Ironic and infuriating but not surprising, “The American Chemistry Council, the industry trade group, had called for the removal of Deborah Rice, a toxicologist from Maine, as chairman of an independent EPA panel assessing the health risks from "deca", a flame retardant in electronic equipment, after she urged the Maine state legislature to ban the chemical.” Apparently Ms. Rice “naively” attempted to do her job as advocate for the safety of the American public. I do not consider myself naive and yet I am stunned at the overwhelming number of educated people with responsible positions and decent incomes who lack any sense of moral, ethical or responsible behavior in the service of their government and their country which has provided the environment for them to succeed.
* Remember when America was the world leader? – For most of my life I have had a sense of pride that whatever the situation America embodied the highest standard for human rights, law, democracy, helping the needy, being a moral compass, achievements in science, education and health – being the best that we could be. Observing the demise of U.S. world leadership has not been pleasant. And yet, seeing other countries filling the void we are creating still surprises and stings. A case in point was the announcement by the European Union (EU) that unless U.S. airlines go green on carbon emissions they will lose flights to EU countries. It is a natural law that vacuums will be filled, even if Bush and his appointees to the EPA, NASSA and the CDC do not believe in science.
*No stone left unturned – A naive person would think that there is little left for George W. Bush to damage in our country.. As the country staggers to January 20, 2009 the sapping of its strength continues. Last month a program created by President Gerald Ford 32 years ago was essentially jettisoned by Bush. The Intelligence Oversight Board was made up of six private citizens with top security clearance to ensure that our spy agencies operated within the law. "I believe [the IOB] will eliminate abuses and questionable activities on the part of the foreign intelligence agencies while at the same time permitting them to get on with their vital work of gathering and assessing information," Ford told Congress. Why has President Bush tried to function under more secrecy and avoidance of oversight than any previous president? The historical autopsy of the Bush administration will demonstrate that George W. Bush and the people surrounding him were inflicted with the engulfing FEAR of being exposed for an incompetence and criminality unseen in the annals of American experience.
* Leadership ~ the exclusion of fear – Barack Obama presented America with a landmark speech this week that focused on racial concerns in America. He addressed the issues more openly and courageously than anyone I have heard in a public forum since Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Obama shed light on the thoughts and fears and resentments that Americans of all races harbor but rarely verbalize. He appeared to be the rare individual who can see and understand and communicate the myriad elements and nuances of the race issues nagging at our society. As he spoke at the U.S. Constitution Center, located within earshot from where this country was founded, a leader of potential historical significance emerged. A video of Obama’s speech is available at: Barack Obama : : Change We Can Believe In His Own Words
* “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858 – 1919), 26th President of the United States of America, a leader of the Republican Party and the Progressive Movement
* Situational law ~ socializing the financial industry - The Mortgage Bankers Association is calling for the U.S. to commit $31 million over the next 5 years in new funding for the FBI and Justice Dept. to investigate and prosecute consumer fraud when obtaining mortgages. It would seem to me that those lending the money should be more responsible for investigating the veracity of potential borrowers. Not surprisingly, this austere group did not mention the need to investigate fraud committed by the lending side of the equation that contributed to the subprime mortgage disaster. It is these same bankers that spend untold sums lobbying congress to avoid oversight and regulation - until their own greed and stupidity create situations where they now want government assistance and bailouts. AND they are getting it. The Federal Reserve Board of NY just pumped $200 million into Wall Street, in part to bail out investment banking firm Bear Sterns. Where is the “free market system” that Bush and the Republicans so proudly wear on their lapels next to their waving American flag? If you cannot pay your credit card bill you are charged an interest rate on unpaid balances up to 28%. I was not able to find what the Fed is charging these bankers. The wave for help from the average Joe Consumer goes unanswered although our leader did comment: “President Bush conceded on Friday (3/14) that the country "obviously is going through a tough time". Obviously.
* The U.S. car accident – Following a car crash the survivors stumble from their vehicle glassy-eyed and mumbling “what happened”. The American economy finds itself in a similar situation. My short story take on this giant failure is that we used inexpensive foreign funds to import more than we exported while undermining our ability to actually produce goods; we abandoned the middle and poorer classes as a smaller and smaller contingent of our population accumulated more and more of the wealth; we removed oversight of the corporate and financial community; and we developed amnesia from the lessons learned from the Great Depression and the Savings and Loan crash two decades ago. It is a failure of leadership, ethics and responsibility. This is my non-economist opinion. For an excellent analysis of “what happened” to the U.S. economy and some solutions for recovery I recommend a piece by Jerome a Paris at dailykos.com.
* A witness to the accident – About 18 months ago I wrote a letter to Wachovia after reading an article describing Wachovia’s decision to outsource clerical work overseas (India?). I suggested that the decision was short-sighted. The jobs they were eliminating in the U.S. represented people who earned an income from Wachovia and then purchased food, clothes and services from businesses that used Wachovia banking and stock brokerage services. I did not bother to make the “ludicrous” argument that these lost jobs also represented lost tax revenue that impacted schools and services and communities. I had already concluded that responsible involvement with one’s community, one’s country by the financial/corporate world was a romantic myth of yore. The essence of Wachovia’s response to me was that they had to remain competitive. A “noble” goal but devoid of merit if at the same time they were undermining their base business – individuals and businesses that save, borrow and invest through Wachovia. As the oil rich and wealth-bloated Arab countries continue to purchase ownership in U.S. business and financial institutions perhaps they will outsource some jobs to America.
*Well, here is a macho challenge to gun toting American cowboys – The state of Madhya Pradesh in India, in an attempt to reduce population growth, is trying to persuade men to undergo sterilization by offering to fast-track their gun license applications. If such a rule were mandated in the U.S. one wonders which weapon would be relinquished.
* The economics of unfettered capitalism - Jane Smiley at The Huffington Post penned an article that I strongly recommend. She reviews the role of economists since the 1970s who preached unregulated capitalism that led to our economic crisis. In previous posts I have characterized this phenomenon as “capitalism on steroids”.
* Supporting intelligent government ~ it does not have to be an oxymoron – The senate is considering a bill, Foreclosure Prevention Act (S. 2636) that will allow victims of abusive lending who are facing foreclosures to stay in their homes while they work through the bankruptcy courts to repay the debt. The website Care2 provides a petition supporting this legislation that will be forwarded to your Senator.
* Mind-numbing statistic of the week – One in 25 people living in New Orleans are homeless (12,000).
* Genius at work – Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist Mark Penn says that Obama cannot win the general election. This from the man heading the Clinton campaign that in early 2007 led every poll by wide margins, had more money than it knew what to do with and was certain that she was “guaranteed” the Democratic nomination. The national media continue to treat Penn’s every word as if it comes from the lips of the inventor of political campaigns. Clinton hitched her campaign to many of the same strategists that have failed the Democratic Party over the last decade. It may be her failing.
* Epiphany on the campaign trail – John McCain told reporters that “he is doing the Lord’s work”. For twenty years he has represented the citizens of Arizona. Now that he is running for president of the U.S. McCain has concluded that he needs the Bush base of the religious right to win and he has upgraded his constituency to the highest power. As he changes his position to pro-torture, welcomes the lobbyists he claims he abhorred, embraces the religious right that he once criticized and dances around campaign finance law remember that he now works for a higher order. In another remarkable other-worldly occurrence McCain can be seen miraculously channeling Bush at every campaign stop. At any moment McBush is likely to call Dick Cheney to the pulpit to serve as his Vice-Presidential nominee. Hallelujah!
* Military violence ~ there is a difference – Military violence against an enemy is understandable and unavoidable. Military violence against one’s own troops is reprehensible. A Pentagon report says that one-third of women in the military are sexually harassed AND in the years 2006 and 2007 there were a reported 5635 sexual assaults. Ironically, “Officials said that overall, the survey showed both men and women polled (in the military) think the climate on sexual relations is better in the military than it is in the nation as a whole. And the survey found that a majority of those surveyed believe the military's training on sexual harassment is effective.” I guess that my understanding of “effective” is defective.
* Questions of the week - John “the surge is working” McCain visited Iraq last weekend under total secrecy due to security concerns. Last year he was telling us how safe it was when he visited a Baghdad market, while protected by military personnel and helicopters. On this current trip it is too unsafe for an American to visit the same market as it is controlled by Sadr. Recall that the purpose of the surge was to give the Iraqi government the time needed to reconcile the country’s differences and begin governing. How is that going? “Iraqi leaders have failed to take advantage of a reduction in violence to make adequate progress toward resolving their political differences, said Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.” Which leads to my next question, “What the hell are we doing there”?
* Justice from the Twilight Zone – An email from Amnesty International provided the following dismaying saga: “Troy Davis came within 24 hours of execution in July, 2007 before receiving a temporary stay of execution. Two weeks later the Georgia Supreme Court agreed to hear his extraordinary motion for a new trial. On Monday, March 17, 2008 the court denied Mr. Davis’ appeal. Troy Davis was sentenced to death for the murder of Police Officer Mark MacPhail in Georgia. The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony which contained inconsistencies even during the trial. Since then, all but two of the state's nine non-police witnesses from the trial have recanted or contradicted their testimony. Many of these witnesses have stated in sworn affidavits that they were pressured or coerced by police into testifying or signing statements against Troy Davis. Amnesty International is providing a petition you can sign requesting justice from the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parole.
* Toxic conflict of interest – “The House Energy and Commerce Committee cited the case of eight scientists who were consultants or members of EPA science advisory panels assessing the human health effects of toxic chemicals while getting research support from the chemical industry on the same chemicals they were examining.” Two of these “scientists” were employed by companies being investigated. Ironic and infuriating but not surprising, “The American Chemistry Council, the industry trade group, had called for the removal of Deborah Rice, a toxicologist from Maine, as chairman of an independent EPA panel assessing the health risks from "deca", a flame retardant in electronic equipment, after she urged the Maine state legislature to ban the chemical.” Apparently Ms. Rice “naively” attempted to do her job as advocate for the safety of the American public. I do not consider myself naive and yet I am stunned at the overwhelming number of educated people with responsible positions and decent incomes who lack any sense of moral, ethical or responsible behavior in the service of their government and their country which has provided the environment for them to succeed.
* Remember when America was the world leader? – For most of my life I have had a sense of pride that whatever the situation America embodied the highest standard for human rights, law, democracy, helping the needy, being a moral compass, achievements in science, education and health – being the best that we could be. Observing the demise of U.S. world leadership has not been pleasant. And yet, seeing other countries filling the void we are creating still surprises and stings. A case in point was the announcement by the European Union (EU) that unless U.S. airlines go green on carbon emissions they will lose flights to EU countries. It is a natural law that vacuums will be filled, even if Bush and his appointees to the EPA, NASSA and the CDC do not believe in science.
*No stone left unturned – A naive person would think that there is little left for George W. Bush to damage in our country.. As the country staggers to January 20, 2009 the sapping of its strength continues. Last month a program created by President Gerald Ford 32 years ago was essentially jettisoned by Bush. The Intelligence Oversight Board was made up of six private citizens with top security clearance to ensure that our spy agencies operated within the law. "I believe [the IOB] will eliminate abuses and questionable activities on the part of the foreign intelligence agencies while at the same time permitting them to get on with their vital work of gathering and assessing information," Ford told Congress. Why has President Bush tried to function under more secrecy and avoidance of oversight than any previous president? The historical autopsy of the Bush administration will demonstrate that George W. Bush and the people surrounding him were inflicted with the engulfing FEAR of being exposed for an incompetence and criminality unseen in the annals of American experience.
* Leadership ~ the exclusion of fear – Barack Obama presented America with a landmark speech this week that focused on racial concerns in America. He addressed the issues more openly and courageously than anyone I have heard in a public forum since Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Obama shed light on the thoughts and fears and resentments that Americans of all races harbor but rarely verbalize. He appeared to be the rare individual who can see and understand and communicate the myriad elements and nuances of the race issues nagging at our society. As he spoke at the U.S. Constitution Center, located within earshot from where this country was founded, a leader of potential historical significance emerged. A video of Obama’s speech is available at: Barack Obama : : Change We Can Believe In His Own Words
* “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858 – 1919), 26th President of the United States of America, a leader of the Republican Party and the Progressive Movement
Friday, March 14, 2008
* Belief in One’s Nation ~ my letter to the Phila. Inquirer - Kevin Ferris’ column “Holding fast to values, ideas” extensively quotes former Australian Prime Minister John Howard. In opposing Islamist extremists “the West must keep a steadfast belief in itself” and at the same time determine, “What is expendable? And what stays? What are the anchors, the guiding values and ideas that help a nation and its people endure?” It is the answer to these questions where the Bush administration has miserably failed our nation. The response to 9/11 demonstrated that the fear mongering that is constantly on George Bush’s lips is also in his heart. This fear obliterated any belief he held in American values and system of government as demonstrated by: a contrived justification for the debilitating Iraq war; excessive secrecy; spying and wiretapping outside of the law; the justification of torture; abandonment of habeas corpus; interminable imprisonment without proof of guilt; extraordinary rendition (kidnapping); signing statements to negate the intent of legislation. If only Mr. Bush had believed in his country.
* A stunning upset ~ that bodes well for Democrats in the November congressional elections – A special election was held in a northern Illinois district last weekend to replace former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, who had resigned. The district is heavily Republican, the Republican candidate Jim Oberweis was well known, Bush took this district in 2004 with 56% of the vote, the National Republican Congressional Committee spent $1.2 million (one-fifth of its cash on hand) to secure this seat, John McCain endorsed and raised funds for Oberweis and Oberweis spent a great deal of his own money to fund extremely negative ads against his opponent. Little-known Democrat Bill Foster won the election.
* The Republican playbook of smears and misdirection ~ meet Rep. Steve King (R-IW) – Referring to the prospect of Barack Obama as President of the U.S. King said, “They (al Qaeda) will be dancing in the streets if he's elected president...(because of) Obama's pledge to pull troops out of Iraq, his Kenyan heritage and his middle name, Hussein.” Apparently Mr. King failed to notice that while Republicans have been in charge al Qaeda is stronger than ever, terrorism is more widespread than ever (in large part due to U.S. policy), our country is bankrupt and our military is depleted. The al Qaeda Dance of Doom has been on tour for the last 7 years to the orchestration of Georgie Bush and the Republican Merrymakers. I look forward to adults running our country.
* Good news on ethics reform – Overcoming very strong Republican opposition as well as some from Democrats the House on Wednesday passed ethics reforms that are the most significant in decades. “The six members of the new Office of Congressional Ethics would have the authority to initiate preliminary reviews of allegations against House members, conduct investigations and refer their findings to the House ethics committee along with a public report.” Congratulations to the House of Representatives for starting to clean their house. The Senate remains deaf, dumb and blind to ethics reform and little will change until some of the good ole boys (and girls) are replaced.
Update: House Republicans are demanding an investigation of parliamentary rules used in passing this bill in an attempt to sideline the legislation. You certainly have to admire their passion to defeat the ogre of ethics.
* McCain trolls for support – Mr. Straight Talk McBush addressed the Council of National Policy (CNP) last Saturday seeking their support for his presidential bid. CNP sounds like a think tank of intellectuals formulating policy for a better America. What it is, in fact, is a septic tank of religious-right extremists denigrating what the concept of Jesus Christ embodies. The founding duo of this hate-laden group are Rev. Tim LaHaye (Catholicism is a “false religion” and popes are “antichrists.”) and Paul Weyrich (claimed that CNP is a group of “radicals working to overturn the present power structure in this country.”). In Afghanistan such groups would be called Taliban as they seek to impose their convoluted sense of the almighty upon us. Selling his soul to this group demonstrates McCain’s lack of principles and a Bush-like penchant to take situational ethics to new depths. Thanks to thinkprogress.org for exposing the “faith” of John McCain.
* Speaking of untreated effluence (link is 3/10/08) – “KBR, until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton, began its work for the Bush administration in Iraq with no-bid contracts to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure. Today the company has $16 billion in contracts, employs over 54,000 people in Iraq and in the fourth quarter of 2007 reported profits of $71 million. One would think that it has the resources to do a respectable job. One would think. The list of KBR’s incompetence and malfeasance is beyond the scope of this entry but one example of their pathetic performance involves clean water for the American troops. “According to a new report from the Pentagon Inspector General, dozens of American troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water supplied by KBR. The Associated Press writes that the medical records for troops at one KBR-run site indicated "38 cases of illnesses commonly attributed to problem water. These include skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections and diarrhea. Doctors diagnosed 24 of the cases in January and February 2006, the same period when medical officials warned of a rise in bacterial infections at the base." In water supplied to a Marine base in Ramadi, "The level of contamination was roughly 2x the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates River."
Perhaps KBR is distracted from doing their job because they are so busy avoiding U.S. taxes. “According to a detailed investigation by the Boston Globe, KBR has "avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies" based in the Cayman Islands -- a scheme established by Halliburton under (Dick) Cheney's tenure. In doing so, the firm deprived KBR employees of guaranteed future retirement benefits and unemployment insurance should they lose their jobs.” The parasitic chain of Bush-Cheyney-Halliburton-KBR symbolizes today’s American political and corporate leadership.
* Run for cover! ~ exploding homosexual is approaching – A not-likely member of MENSA Sally Kern, Republican (what else?) Representative from Oklahoma said, “Homosexuality poses a greater danger than terrorism”. If the military had available troops, at Ms. Kern’s insistence they would probably be invading Provincetown, Fire Island and Key West. Perhaps we could use the National Guard. No, they are also depleted. Maybe we can mobilize the Ku Klux Klan and half of McCain’s supporters who can be issued defective protective vests, vehicles that do not resist explosives and rations supplied by KBR and “protect” them the same way we protect our military. The medical team can be made up of dermatologists.
Update: I’ll leave the analysis to the psychologists but the web site queerty.com cites information that Sally Kern and her Baptist preacher husband’s disowned son Jesse is gay. On March 4th mention of her two sons was removed from her official website. Move over Dr. Spock and make room for closet parenting.
* Good news in Australia ~ inclusive church leaders – The Sydney Morning Herald reports that “up to 100 reverends, ministers and pastors will march in the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to apologize to those rejected by churches because of their sexuality.” The clergy are from the Anglican, Baptist, Pentecostal and Uniting churches. Pastor Mike Hercock said, "Church has been a hostile place for a number of people, including the homosexual community. It's really trying to get away from the ideology of throwing rocks." I look forward to some of this brotherhood reaching American shores. Thanks to Sue Katz at Consenting Adult for noting this story.
* Birds of a feather – Rick Renzi (R-AZ) is your somewhat typical Republican politician - conservative Bush enabler, anti-abortion advocate and under federal indictment on umpteen charges. What is particularly interesting about this crook-of-the-week is that some of the charges involve his stealing money from pro-life organizations. As a freshman U.S. representative in 2003 he said, "The sanctity of human life should always be upheld, and I will continue to fight for the rights of the unborn in Congress." It is alleged that his insurance brokerage business, Renzi and Company, embezzled insurance premiums from approximately 50 pro-life organizations by collecting premiums and not submitting them to insurance companies. The funds were allegedly used to fund his campaign for Congress. Other charges against him include illegally using his influence on land deals that netted him substantial funds. Did I mention that he was the co-chair in Arizona for the McCain presidential campaign? To date Mr. McBush has not called for Renzi to resign from Congress.
* The torturous question about torture – If you have been drinking the Bush-flavored Kool Aide that in a convoluting manner justifies torture I suggest a visit to the web site Washington Monthly. Here you will find 37 short essays by people from across the political spectrum explaining why the use of torture is wrong. “They include a former president, the speaker of the House, two former White House chiefs of staff, current and former senators, generals, admirals, intelligence officials, interrogators, and religious leaders. Some are Republicans, others are Democrats, and still others are neither.” The title is “No More, No Torture, No Exceptions”.
* Question of the week – Both are bad but which is worse - lying to your country to initiate a debilitating and immoral war in Iraq or overpaying a hooker (NY Governor Eliot Spitzer)? I guess the answer is hiring a prostitute for $5500 per hour since that news dominated the headlines this week.
* Quote of the week – On Wednesday President Bush said, "I think when people take a look back at this moment in our economic history, they'll recognize tax cuts work." I cannot speak to the future but the tax cuts have not helped about 92% (270,000,000) of the people living in this country at the present time.
* Policy folly - The Center for Disease Control says that 1 in 4 teenage girls in America (3 million) have a sexually transmitted disease (STD). The Bush administration, under the influence of the religious right, initiated federal programs that stressed abstinence in place of intelligent sex education and they have opposed for young women a vaccine that prevents cervical cancer stemming from STD. This is another legacy builder and another reason why the separation of church and state is so important to the health of a democracy and its citizens.
* Mind-numbing statistic of the week – A survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that only 28% of the American people know that almost 4000 U.S. personnel have died in Iraq. “Related Pew surveys have found that the number of news stories devoted to the war has sharply declined this year, along with professed public interest.” I am guessing that more than 28% of Americans know the name of Eliot Spitzer’s prostitution service.
* “It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear.” The comment was made about six decades ago, yet apropos today, by General Douglas MacArthur (1880 – 1964)
* A stunning upset ~ that bodes well for Democrats in the November congressional elections – A special election was held in a northern Illinois district last weekend to replace former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, who had resigned. The district is heavily Republican, the Republican candidate Jim Oberweis was well known, Bush took this district in 2004 with 56% of the vote, the National Republican Congressional Committee spent $1.2 million (one-fifth of its cash on hand) to secure this seat, John McCain endorsed and raised funds for Oberweis and Oberweis spent a great deal of his own money to fund extremely negative ads against his opponent. Little-known Democrat Bill Foster won the election.
* The Republican playbook of smears and misdirection ~ meet Rep. Steve King (R-IW) – Referring to the prospect of Barack Obama as President of the U.S. King said, “They (al Qaeda) will be dancing in the streets if he's elected president...(because of) Obama's pledge to pull troops out of Iraq, his Kenyan heritage and his middle name, Hussein.” Apparently Mr. King failed to notice that while Republicans have been in charge al Qaeda is stronger than ever, terrorism is more widespread than ever (in large part due to U.S. policy), our country is bankrupt and our military is depleted. The al Qaeda Dance of Doom has been on tour for the last 7 years to the orchestration of Georgie Bush and the Republican Merrymakers. I look forward to adults running our country.
* Good news on ethics reform – Overcoming very strong Republican opposition as well as some from Democrats the House on Wednesday passed ethics reforms that are the most significant in decades. “The six members of the new Office of Congressional Ethics would have the authority to initiate preliminary reviews of allegations against House members, conduct investigations and refer their findings to the House ethics committee along with a public report.” Congratulations to the House of Representatives for starting to clean their house. The Senate remains deaf, dumb and blind to ethics reform and little will change until some of the good ole boys (and girls) are replaced.
Update: House Republicans are demanding an investigation of parliamentary rules used in passing this bill in an attempt to sideline the legislation. You certainly have to admire their passion to defeat the ogre of ethics.
* McCain trolls for support – Mr. Straight Talk McBush addressed the Council of National Policy (CNP) last Saturday seeking their support for his presidential bid. CNP sounds like a think tank of intellectuals formulating policy for a better America. What it is, in fact, is a septic tank of religious-right extremists denigrating what the concept of Jesus Christ embodies. The founding duo of this hate-laden group are Rev. Tim LaHaye (Catholicism is a “false religion” and popes are “antichrists.”) and Paul Weyrich (claimed that CNP is a group of “radicals working to overturn the present power structure in this country.”). In Afghanistan such groups would be called Taliban as they seek to impose their convoluted sense of the almighty upon us. Selling his soul to this group demonstrates McCain’s lack of principles and a Bush-like penchant to take situational ethics to new depths. Thanks to thinkprogress.org for exposing the “faith” of John McCain.
* Speaking of untreated effluence (link is 3/10/08) – “KBR, until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton, began its work for the Bush administration in Iraq with no-bid contracts to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure. Today the company has $16 billion in contracts, employs over 54,000 people in Iraq and in the fourth quarter of 2007 reported profits of $71 million. One would think that it has the resources to do a respectable job. One would think. The list of KBR’s incompetence and malfeasance is beyond the scope of this entry but one example of their pathetic performance involves clean water for the American troops. “According to a new report from the Pentagon Inspector General, dozens of American troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water supplied by KBR. The Associated Press writes that the medical records for troops at one KBR-run site indicated "38 cases of illnesses commonly attributed to problem water. These include skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections and diarrhea. Doctors diagnosed 24 of the cases in January and February 2006, the same period when medical officials warned of a rise in bacterial infections at the base." In water supplied to a Marine base in Ramadi, "The level of contamination was roughly 2x the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates River."
Perhaps KBR is distracted from doing their job because they are so busy avoiding U.S. taxes. “According to a detailed investigation by the Boston Globe, KBR has "avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies" based in the Cayman Islands -- a scheme established by Halliburton under (Dick) Cheney's tenure. In doing so, the firm deprived KBR employees of guaranteed future retirement benefits and unemployment insurance should they lose their jobs.” The parasitic chain of Bush-Cheyney-Halliburton-KBR symbolizes today’s American political and corporate leadership.
* Run for cover! ~ exploding homosexual is approaching – A not-likely member of MENSA Sally Kern, Republican (what else?) Representative from Oklahoma said, “Homosexuality poses a greater danger than terrorism”. If the military had available troops, at Ms. Kern’s insistence they would probably be invading Provincetown, Fire Island and Key West. Perhaps we could use the National Guard. No, they are also depleted. Maybe we can mobilize the Ku Klux Klan and half of McCain’s supporters who can be issued defective protective vests, vehicles that do not resist explosives and rations supplied by KBR and “protect” them the same way we protect our military. The medical team can be made up of dermatologists.
Update: I’ll leave the analysis to the psychologists but the web site queerty.com cites information that Sally Kern and her Baptist preacher husband’s disowned son Jesse is gay. On March 4th mention of her two sons was removed from her official website. Move over Dr. Spock and make room for closet parenting.
* Good news in Australia ~ inclusive church leaders – The Sydney Morning Herald reports that “up to 100 reverends, ministers and pastors will march in the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to apologize to those rejected by churches because of their sexuality.” The clergy are from the Anglican, Baptist, Pentecostal and Uniting churches. Pastor Mike Hercock said, "Church has been a hostile place for a number of people, including the homosexual community. It's really trying to get away from the ideology of throwing rocks." I look forward to some of this brotherhood reaching American shores. Thanks to Sue Katz at Consenting Adult for noting this story.
* Birds of a feather – Rick Renzi (R-AZ) is your somewhat typical Republican politician - conservative Bush enabler, anti-abortion advocate and under federal indictment on umpteen charges. What is particularly interesting about this crook-of-the-week is that some of the charges involve his stealing money from pro-life organizations. As a freshman U.S. representative in 2003 he said, "The sanctity of human life should always be upheld, and I will continue to fight for the rights of the unborn in Congress." It is alleged that his insurance brokerage business, Renzi and Company, embezzled insurance premiums from approximately 50 pro-life organizations by collecting premiums and not submitting them to insurance companies. The funds were allegedly used to fund his campaign for Congress. Other charges against him include illegally using his influence on land deals that netted him substantial funds. Did I mention that he was the co-chair in Arizona for the McCain presidential campaign? To date Mr. McBush has not called for Renzi to resign from Congress.
* The torturous question about torture – If you have been drinking the Bush-flavored Kool Aide that in a convoluting manner justifies torture I suggest a visit to the web site Washington Monthly. Here you will find 37 short essays by people from across the political spectrum explaining why the use of torture is wrong. “They include a former president, the speaker of the House, two former White House chiefs of staff, current and former senators, generals, admirals, intelligence officials, interrogators, and religious leaders. Some are Republicans, others are Democrats, and still others are neither.” The title is “No More, No Torture, No Exceptions”.
* Question of the week – Both are bad but which is worse - lying to your country to initiate a debilitating and immoral war in Iraq or overpaying a hooker (NY Governor Eliot Spitzer)? I guess the answer is hiring a prostitute for $5500 per hour since that news dominated the headlines this week.
* Quote of the week – On Wednesday President Bush said, "I think when people take a look back at this moment in our economic history, they'll recognize tax cuts work." I cannot speak to the future but the tax cuts have not helped about 92% (270,000,000) of the people living in this country at the present time.
* Policy folly - The Center for Disease Control says that 1 in 4 teenage girls in America (3 million) have a sexually transmitted disease (STD). The Bush administration, under the influence of the religious right, initiated federal programs that stressed abstinence in place of intelligent sex education and they have opposed for young women a vaccine that prevents cervical cancer stemming from STD. This is another legacy builder and another reason why the separation of church and state is so important to the health of a democracy and its citizens.
* Mind-numbing statistic of the week – A survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that only 28% of the American people know that almost 4000 U.S. personnel have died in Iraq. “Related Pew surveys have found that the number of news stories devoted to the war has sharply declined this year, along with professed public interest.” I am guessing that more than 28% of Americans know the name of Eliot Spitzer’s prostitution service.
* “It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear.” The comment was made about six decades ago, yet apropos today, by General Douglas MacArthur (1880 – 1964)
Sunday, March 2, 2008
* Afghanistan ~ No Way to Treat A Lady – In 2002 the Americans and the British invaded Afghanistan to rid the country of the Taliban - enablers of al Qaeda training and infamous for repressive treatment of its citizens, especially women. A report by the Independent (UK) newspaper details how life for women in Afghanistan is worse than ever: “Grinding poverty and the escalating war is driving an increasing number of Afghan families to sell their daughters into forced marriages; Girls as young as six are being married into a life of slavery and rape; Violent attacks against females, usually domestic, are at epidemic proportions with 87 per cent of females complaining of such abuse – half of it sexual; The illiteracy rate among women is 88 per cent with just 5 per cent of girls attending secondary school; Maternal mortality rates – one in nine women dies in childbirth – are the highest in the world alongside Sierra Leone; Afghanistan is the only country in the world with a higher suicide rate among women than men.” There certainly is no easy solution to a problem steeped in history, culture, radical religion and abject poverty. At a minimum, when the Bush administration says that “we” are making progress in Afghanistan we can ask, “What the hell are you talking about?” I do wonder if current conditions would be as pathetic had Bush not prematurely pulled military resources out of Afghanistan to invade Iraq thereby allowing the Taliban to re-establish itself along with criminal and other radical elements in that society.
* Underwater – is your home drowning, are you drowning? – “Underwater” is a term used to describe a house that is worth less than the amount of money owed on it. Moody’s Economy.com reports that 8.8 million homeowners (10.3% of the total) are in this situation, double the percentage from last year and the worst since the Depression. There certainly is enough blame to go around – intentionally lax federal oversight, inattentive members of Congress reliant on campaign donations from the financial industry, greed and lack of ethics exhibited by national banks and mortgage companies, and too many home buyers making naive and uninformed purchasing decisions. A number of fixes are being proposed and I would guess that whatever the “fix” (bailout for borrower or lender) it will tap into the taxpayers’ pockets. Glub!
* Emotional isolationism ~ mental well-being – On Saturday morning I opened my Yahoo home page and saw the following headlines: Israel Kills 31 Palestinians in Gaza Raid; Suicide Bomber kills 38 at Pakistan Funeral; Guatemala Bus Plunges off Cliff, 37 Killed. On most mornings I would treat these headlines as if they were sports scores, possibly making a brief mental note and moving on to the weather report. Like the news about genocide in Darfur and factional assassinations in Iraq, after a while they are statistics that cease to resonate in one’s emotional world. The over 100 deaths the day before involved no one that I knew and there is nothing that I could have done about it. But this morning was different as I recalled having lived in Guatemala and driven the narrow, winding roads that snake through the mountains. I recall having the frightful thought when traveling in this beautiful and culturally fascinating country that going off the road meant a drop of 1000 feet or more with little chance of survival. I stopped to read this article and then moved on to the weather report.
* Mitt Romney wins ~ by the skin of his teeth – At the 143rd annual Midwinter Meeting the Chicago Dental Society selected Romney as having the best smile of all the presidential candidates. The former governor of Massachusetts is also expected to be the choice of the Illinois Republican Hair Stylists Association when all three of them meet at a Starbucks next month.
* Modern health care ~ antiquated health insurance – The marvel of DNA testing allows a person to learn if an elevated risk of an inherited disease exists. Such knowledge would allow individuals to make more informed healthcare decisions. However, fear of genetic predispositions on health insurance costs or total loss of coverage lead many to avoid such testing. This is the state of health insurance today where employers or health insurers can discriminate against an individual because of the costs that individual may generate. A conservative perspective might be that if a person has an illness that could lead to substantial or catastrophic costs they alone should be responsible. I strongly disagree with such a mentality and argue that this is not the path that America has chosen. As a society we pool the cost of our national defense, our protection from crime and fire, basic education, and a long list of other services and protections essential to our well-being. Healthcare should be no different. A plan for health insurance that protects all Americans in an equitable manner should replace the current health insurance system where profit-driven objectives do not serve the common good.
* Derriere Orifice of the Week ~ the Environmental Protection Agency - What would you call a person who knowingly uses a broken condom? Answer: a fool. What would you call a government agency mandated to protect the environment and the citizens it serves that continually facilitates policies harmful to both? Answer: the EPA. “Under pressure from agriculture industry lobbyists and lawmakers from agricultural states, the Environmental Protection Agency wants to drop requirements that factory farms report their emissions of toxic gases, despite findings by the agency's scientists that the gases pose a health threat... The EPA acknowledges that the emissions can pose a threat to people living and working nearby, but it says local emergency responders don't use the reports, making them unnecessary.” We have repeatedly seen such asinine decisions supported by asinine justifications that only serve the economic interest of private industry. Almost always these decisions go against the judgment and advice of the EPA’s own and independent scientists. Sometimes the courts reverse these dangerous decisions but the process is costly, time consuming and allows dangerous activity to continue until EPA rulings are nullified. America currently lacks a balance between private and public interest. This is not an issue of less government. It is an issue of irresponsible government.
* Yes Virginia, Edward R .Murrow is gone - Watching the Clinton/Obama debate this past week the mediocre state of television news/political interviewers was on display in the form of Tim Russert. Tough questions are fine and even preferred but this observer felt that many of Russert’s questions were framed so that he was focus of this event. Such an approach also left me with questions about his objectivity and yearning for the likes of Jim Lehrer of PBS. Our broadcast fourth estate is far from first rate.
* No merit in consistency – On Monday the National Governors Association met with President Bush. “Bush rebuffed appeals from the nation’s governors to increase spending on roads, bridges and other public works as a way to revive the economy.” He wanted to see the effects of his own stimulus package before supporting new measures (some would call it self-stimulation). The President refused to address the fact that London Bridge is falling down along with much of the country’s infrastructure. Like the war in Iraq, no immigration solutions, devastating deficits, etc., etc., etc. the 43rd president of the U.S. will retire to his planned $200 million G. W. Bush Library at SMU in Texas where he can install a 43 foot high photo of himself in flight gear - “Mission Accomplished”.
* Merit in involvement - If you have a desire to be more knowledgeable and involved in your community, each month Tom Ulrich provides a calendar of all things politically progressive for people living in the Pennsylvania counties of Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery. You can join his mailing list by contacting him at tomulrich@mybluelight.com.
*Obama speaks about Israel – Steve Benen at caprpetbagger.com brought to my attention comments that Barack Obama made this week to about 100 members of the Jewish community in Cleveland. I was particularly interested because for some time I have had a nagging sense that America’s hard-line, ask no questions support of Israel relative to the Palestine question does not especially serve the interest of Israelis, Palestinians or Americans. There are many within Israel and the U.S. who share this perspective. In part Obama said: “I think there is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt an unwavering pro-Likud (right wing) approach to Israel that you’re anti-Israel and that can’t be the measure of our friendship with Israel. If we cannot have an honest dialogue about how do we achieve these goals, then we’re not going to make progress.”
Some of the most influential people in the so-called “pro-Israel” block in the U.S. are neocons such as William Kristol, Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, Richard Perle and members of the Bush administration (current and former) who had beaten the drums to invade Iraq. We have clearly seen the results of such myopic war-mongering. Recall when Israel, with full support from Bush and Secretary of State Rice, destroyed so much of the infrastructure of Lebanon. To what end? For decades I have been a supporter of Israel – a country with every right to defend its citizens from suicide attacks and missiles. However, there are valid questions to be asked. Does the expansion of settlements still make sense? Do policies that worsen the condition of Palestinian lives make sense? Is this not one of the reasons that Hamas came to power? It is time for leaders in Israel and America to explore new solutions. Stubborn adherence to unsuccessful policy does not lead to progress.
* Surgeon General of the Army Eric B. Schoomaker and I are red-faced – I am embarrassed because I naively believed it was the function of the Department of Veterans Affairs to be helpful to injured veterans. NPR reports that an Army team from Washington ordered VA officials at Fort Drum (NY) to stop counseling soldiers on their disability paperwork because when they did the soldiers received better benefits and this was a conflict of interest. Schoomaker flatly denied that it was the Army that told the VA to stop this help. Oops. NPR obtained a four-page VA document that proves the denial to be false. There is more than one conflict of interest in this saga – especially conflicted are the interests of brave men and women who served our country and have paid a heavy price. When our military and political leaders speak of honor and fidelity and supporting the troops they should in the same breath mention their own shame, dishonor, malfeasance and disgrace.
* It is not so much what you believe in that matters, as the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that belief into action. Lin Yutang, Chinese writer and inventor (1895 – 1976)
* Underwater – is your home drowning, are you drowning? – “Underwater” is a term used to describe a house that is worth less than the amount of money owed on it. Moody’s Economy.com reports that 8.8 million homeowners (10.3% of the total) are in this situation, double the percentage from last year and the worst since the Depression. There certainly is enough blame to go around – intentionally lax federal oversight, inattentive members of Congress reliant on campaign donations from the financial industry, greed and lack of ethics exhibited by national banks and mortgage companies, and too many home buyers making naive and uninformed purchasing decisions. A number of fixes are being proposed and I would guess that whatever the “fix” (bailout for borrower or lender) it will tap into the taxpayers’ pockets. Glub!
* Emotional isolationism ~ mental well-being – On Saturday morning I opened my Yahoo home page and saw the following headlines: Israel Kills 31 Palestinians in Gaza Raid; Suicide Bomber kills 38 at Pakistan Funeral; Guatemala Bus Plunges off Cliff, 37 Killed. On most mornings I would treat these headlines as if they were sports scores, possibly making a brief mental note and moving on to the weather report. Like the news about genocide in Darfur and factional assassinations in Iraq, after a while they are statistics that cease to resonate in one’s emotional world. The over 100 deaths the day before involved no one that I knew and there is nothing that I could have done about it. But this morning was different as I recalled having lived in Guatemala and driven the narrow, winding roads that snake through the mountains. I recall having the frightful thought when traveling in this beautiful and culturally fascinating country that going off the road meant a drop of 1000 feet or more with little chance of survival. I stopped to read this article and then moved on to the weather report.
* Mitt Romney wins ~ by the skin of his teeth – At the 143rd annual Midwinter Meeting the Chicago Dental Society selected Romney as having the best smile of all the presidential candidates. The former governor of Massachusetts is also expected to be the choice of the Illinois Republican Hair Stylists Association when all three of them meet at a Starbucks next month.
* Modern health care ~ antiquated health insurance – The marvel of DNA testing allows a person to learn if an elevated risk of an inherited disease exists. Such knowledge would allow individuals to make more informed healthcare decisions. However, fear of genetic predispositions on health insurance costs or total loss of coverage lead many to avoid such testing. This is the state of health insurance today where employers or health insurers can discriminate against an individual because of the costs that individual may generate. A conservative perspective might be that if a person has an illness that could lead to substantial or catastrophic costs they alone should be responsible. I strongly disagree with such a mentality and argue that this is not the path that America has chosen. As a society we pool the cost of our national defense, our protection from crime and fire, basic education, and a long list of other services and protections essential to our well-being. Healthcare should be no different. A plan for health insurance that protects all Americans in an equitable manner should replace the current health insurance system where profit-driven objectives do not serve the common good.
* Derriere Orifice of the Week ~ the Environmental Protection Agency - What would you call a person who knowingly uses a broken condom? Answer: a fool. What would you call a government agency mandated to protect the environment and the citizens it serves that continually facilitates policies harmful to both? Answer: the EPA. “Under pressure from agriculture industry lobbyists and lawmakers from agricultural states, the Environmental Protection Agency wants to drop requirements that factory farms report their emissions of toxic gases, despite findings by the agency's scientists that the gases pose a health threat... The EPA acknowledges that the emissions can pose a threat to people living and working nearby, but it says local emergency responders don't use the reports, making them unnecessary.” We have repeatedly seen such asinine decisions supported by asinine justifications that only serve the economic interest of private industry. Almost always these decisions go against the judgment and advice of the EPA’s own and independent scientists. Sometimes the courts reverse these dangerous decisions but the process is costly, time consuming and allows dangerous activity to continue until EPA rulings are nullified. America currently lacks a balance between private and public interest. This is not an issue of less government. It is an issue of irresponsible government.
* Yes Virginia, Edward R .Murrow is gone - Watching the Clinton/Obama debate this past week the mediocre state of television news/political interviewers was on display in the form of Tim Russert. Tough questions are fine and even preferred but this observer felt that many of Russert’s questions were framed so that he was focus of this event. Such an approach also left me with questions about his objectivity and yearning for the likes of Jim Lehrer of PBS. Our broadcast fourth estate is far from first rate.
* No merit in consistency – On Monday the National Governors Association met with President Bush. “Bush rebuffed appeals from the nation’s governors to increase spending on roads, bridges and other public works as a way to revive the economy.” He wanted to see the effects of his own stimulus package before supporting new measures (some would call it self-stimulation). The President refused to address the fact that London Bridge is falling down along with much of the country’s infrastructure. Like the war in Iraq, no immigration solutions, devastating deficits, etc., etc., etc. the 43rd president of the U.S. will retire to his planned $200 million G. W. Bush Library at SMU in Texas where he can install a 43 foot high photo of himself in flight gear - “Mission Accomplished”.
* Merit in involvement - If you have a desire to be more knowledgeable and involved in your community, each month Tom Ulrich provides a calendar of all things politically progressive for people living in the Pennsylvania counties of Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery. You can join his mailing list by contacting him at tomulrich@mybluelight.com.
*Obama speaks about Israel – Steve Benen at caprpetbagger.com brought to my attention comments that Barack Obama made this week to about 100 members of the Jewish community in Cleveland. I was particularly interested because for some time I have had a nagging sense that America’s hard-line, ask no questions support of Israel relative to the Palestine question does not especially serve the interest of Israelis, Palestinians or Americans. There are many within Israel and the U.S. who share this perspective. In part Obama said: “I think there is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt an unwavering pro-Likud (right wing) approach to Israel that you’re anti-Israel and that can’t be the measure of our friendship with Israel. If we cannot have an honest dialogue about how do we achieve these goals, then we’re not going to make progress.”
Some of the most influential people in the so-called “pro-Israel” block in the U.S. are neocons such as William Kristol, Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, Richard Perle and members of the Bush administration (current and former) who had beaten the drums to invade Iraq. We have clearly seen the results of such myopic war-mongering. Recall when Israel, with full support from Bush and Secretary of State Rice, destroyed so much of the infrastructure of Lebanon. To what end? For decades I have been a supporter of Israel – a country with every right to defend its citizens from suicide attacks and missiles. However, there are valid questions to be asked. Does the expansion of settlements still make sense? Do policies that worsen the condition of Palestinian lives make sense? Is this not one of the reasons that Hamas came to power? It is time for leaders in Israel and America to explore new solutions. Stubborn adherence to unsuccessful policy does not lead to progress.
* Surgeon General of the Army Eric B. Schoomaker and I are red-faced – I am embarrassed because I naively believed it was the function of the Department of Veterans Affairs to be helpful to injured veterans. NPR reports that an Army team from Washington ordered VA officials at Fort Drum (NY) to stop counseling soldiers on their disability paperwork because when they did the soldiers received better benefits and this was a conflict of interest. Schoomaker flatly denied that it was the Army that told the VA to stop this help. Oops. NPR obtained a four-page VA document that proves the denial to be false. There is more than one conflict of interest in this saga – especially conflicted are the interests of brave men and women who served our country and have paid a heavy price. When our military and political leaders speak of honor and fidelity and supporting the troops they should in the same breath mention their own shame, dishonor, malfeasance and disgrace.
* It is not so much what you believe in that matters, as the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that belief into action. Lin Yutang, Chinese writer and inventor (1895 – 1976)
Saturday, February 16, 2008
*America on Trial – This week military commission charges were handed down that seek the death penalty for six individuals accused of involvement in the 9/11 attack. There is a natural inclination to say, “fry the bastards”. And bastards they may well be. However, there is much more at stake than emotional retribution for Americans. As noted by the Center for Constitutional Rights, “For the past six years, the United States government has refused to conduct traditional criminal trials or courts martial against Guantanamo detainees suspected of wrongdoing... the military commissions at Guantanamo allow secret evidence, hearsay evidence, and evidence obtained through torture. They are unlawful, unconstitutional, and a perversion of justice... Now the government is seeking to execute people based on this utterly unreliable and tainted evidence: it is difficult to imagine a more morally reprehensible system. Executions based on secret trials and torture evidence belong to another century. These barbaric sham proceedings will likely to inflame the controversy surrounding Guantanamo and draw the condemnation of even our allies.” Some thoughts:
>If America is so proud of its system of justice, a system that it has held up to the world as the icon of a free society, why has the Bush administration chosen an alternative thorny path?
>Is this justice? “The cadre of civilian lawyers representing terrorism suspects held by the military at Guantanamo Bay are not allowed to meet their clients in private, without video surveillance. All their mail and notes must be turned over to the military. Classified information cannot be shared with their clients. They are not entitled to everything the government knows about their clients.”
> The majority of Americans and the world community will have no confidence in these proceedings.
>What jeopardy does this create for our own military men and women if captured by enemy forces?
>Losing our moral compass under the “leadership” of George W. Bush has resulted in an America tentative and uncertain. The ultra divisive politics of the Republican Party has left our country fractured.
>Actions have consequences. What price this fiasco – for Americans and America?
*House cleaning ~ the road to better government – This week politically progressive Donna Edwards (D) defeated 8-term incumbent Al Wynn (D) in Maryland’s 4th congressional district primary. Steve Benen at The Carpetbagger Report explains why this matters: “Was Wynn really that bad? Without question. He partnered with right-wing crooks like Bob Ney to oppose campaign-finance reform; he partnered with right-wing lobbyists on the estate tax; he partnered with right-wing lawmakers on the ridiculous bankruptcy bill; and he partnered with right-wing hedge-fund managers on the private equity tax break. It wasn't just corporate lobbyists, either -- Wynn also voted with Bush on Iraq and tax cuts for the wealthy.” I have received emails from several organizations celebrating this win including Democracy for America and Act Blue. Each group deserves credit for helping to fund and campaign for Edwards. Some other organizations working to bring about better government are Common Cause, People for the American Way, MoveOn.org, Human Rights Campaign, and TrueMajority.org. You may want to visit one or two of these organizations to participate in making a difference in your community and your country.
*Only the names have been changed ~ to protect you know who – When Bush’s “personal” lawyer Alberto Gonzales was forced to resign as Attorney General (under pressure for incompetence and malfeasance) much discussion took place over his replacement. During confirmation hearings for the next Bush nominee to head the Department of Justice it was learned that a number of senators decided to vote for the confirmation of Michael Mukasey because he would be the best alternative the president would offer for this post. Last week Mukasey testified before the House Judiciary Committee and said he would not investigate torture or warrantless wiretapping (which legal experts and lay people alike believe are against the law). He also said he would not enforce contempt citations if issued by congress to current and former Bush officials for not answering subpoenas to appear before investigating committees (videos of the testimony are available at the above link). Like Gonzales, it appears that former judge Mukasey does not interpret his role as Attorney General to be an independent enforcer of the laws of the land. Both men were persuaded that their role was to be enablers and apologists of a unitary executive branch unbounded by existing law and precedent.
Life memoir ~ abridged edition – smithmag.net is an online storytelling community where authors write and share stories. They invited people to submit a life memoir in only six words. Over 15,000 did and 832 were selected for a book titled “Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure”. I found the idea intriguing. Being a guy I am introspectively challenged so I decided to try a six-pack of six word memoirs:
>From solid parents a firm footing.
>Bush presidency did a writer inspire.
>Looked over shoulder, hit a boulder.
>Life love, life illuminated, love life.
>Became a father, never pushed farther.
>Friends, friends, friends, friends, friends, friends.
If only everyone could be so fortunate. If only politicians could be so succinct.
*Questions for the President – In Mr. Bush’s latest attempt to convince congress to approve anti-terror legislation that permits spying on Americans without court oversight he said, “Terrorists are planning new attacks on our country...that will make Sept.11 pale by comparison.” How does spying on Americans without warrant or court oversight make us safer? Should we not fear a government that attempts to reduce our constitutional freedoms? Would we be safer now if you had done a better job? Disclosure: Please remember that these are rhetorical questions. My people do not speak to his people and President Bush and I do not speak directly to each other.
*Question for Democrats in the Senate – Why do you wet you underwear every time the President says Boo? The President has an approval rating below freezing (30%). The vast majority of Americans oppose his policies. Recall Franklin D. Roosevelt’s admonition, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Boo! The Democrats in the House did stand up to Bush’s fear tactics this week by not rubber-stamping the Protect America Act as the Senate did. By exhibiting some courage they did not have to pack Desitin for their week-long legislative break.
*Do we hear a bid of 30 – The announcement by Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) that he will not seek re-election marks the 29th Republican congressman to do so. Some of the spoken and unspoken reasons for these representatives moving on include spending more time with the wife and kids, joining a lobbying firm, too busy being investigated by the Dept. of Justice, suffering from Bushitis and won’t get re-elected. Recalling the Republicans performance in congress for well over a decade I feel no love lost. Do we hear 30?
*Be all that you can be – This is a phrase used in U.S. Army recruitment advertisements. I am sure that enlistment in all of the armed services has been an excellent and wonderful opportunity for millions of young Americans. The following causes one to wonder if the Army is not just plain Bushed. “A Fort Carson soldier who says he was in treatment at Cedar Springs Hospital for bipolar disorder and alcohol abuse was released early and ordered to deploy to the Middle East with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team... [he had] spent 31 days in Kuwait and was returned to Fort Carson on Dec. 31 after health care professionals in Kuwait concurred that his symptoms met criteria for bipolar disorder and “some paranoia and possible homicidal tendencies.” Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, was outraged. “If he’s an inpatient in a hospital, they should have never taken him out... First, we had the planeload of wounded, injured and ill being forced back to the war zone. And now we have soldiers forcibly removed from mental hospitals. The level of outrage is off the Richter scale.” Enlisted men and women deserve better than a Command that is AWOL. Where is the outrage of military leaders that are seemingly: silent to the uncaring deployment of personnel; silent to the inadequate care of wounded troops with permanent disabilities; and silent to the frighteningly high number of suicides and emotional disorders of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are under-treated. When the history of Iraq is written the top brass will be indelibly tarnished.
*Be all that you should be – In 2007 the Food and Drug Administration received 350 reports of health problems associated with the drug heparin (a blood thinner). The drug ingredients are manufactured in China for Baxter International. Following 4 patients dying and hundreds becoming ill Baxter halted sales on some versions of the drug. The FDA admits it has never inspected the plant (a violation of its own policy), BUT, "Preparations are being made to perform an inspection as soon as possible," said FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley. Perhaps they were waiting until the summer so that inspectors could take in the Olympics and avoid the harsh winter that China is experiencing. And where was Baxter in this equation?
~Update – The Chinese manufacturer is not certified by China’s drug regulators to manufacture pharmaceuticals and therefore was not inspected by China’s drug agency. It appears that the FDA and Baxter International are on brain thinners. That rumbling you hear in the background are the hooves of personal injury lawyers.
~Caveat for consumers – From the same NY Times article: “China provides a growing proportion of the active pharmaceutical ingredients used in drugs sold in the United States. And Chinese drug regulators have said that all producers of those ingredients are required to obtain certification by the State Food and Drug Administration. However, some of the active ingredients that China exports are made by chemical companies, which do not fall under the Chinese drug agency’s jurisdiction.”
*There is a positive side to the subprime crisis – You may have noticed that your junk mail is a tad lighter in recent weeks. It is the result of companies such as Citibank and Discover cutting back on credit card mailing offers following substantial losses in the mortgage meltdown. I am puzzled by this strategy because our elected “leaders” have allowed credit card companies to charge interest rates of 23% and higher for unpaid balances. One would think that more than ever these usurious financial icons would be trying to increase the number of people they can “legally” drain. What do I know?
*McCain ~ conviction versus confection – Over the last several years, as America has debated the use of torture, John McCain has consistently spoken out against its. Although the use of torture is prohibited by the U.S. Army Field Manual, agencies such as the CIA have used waterboarding. A bill that has already passed the House was voted on this week in the Senate. It requires that the Army Field Manual be adhered to by all U.S. agencies. Although the bill passed, and will likely be vetoed by Bush, McCain voted against the bill. He voted to allow waterboarding. On October 26, 2007 the NY Times reported: Of presidential candidates like Mr. Giuliani, who say that they are unsure whether waterboarding is torture, Mr. McCain said: “They should know what it is. It is not a complicated procedure. It is torture.” Americablog.com has a video from a recent Republican presidential debate where McCain discusses the use of torture and says, “Life is not 24 and Jack Bauer. I just came back from visiting prisons in Iraq and the Army General there said the techniques under the Army Field Manual are working effectively and he didn’t think they needed anything else. My friends, this is what America is all about.” For McCain what America is really about alters when alteration he finds.
*Sex toys – Now that I have your attention you will be relieved to know that you can once again purchase them in Texas. “A federal appeals court has overturned a Texas statute outlawing sex toy sales...” Why? The statute violated the 14th Amendment on the right to privacy. In its opinion the appeals court said, “the state here (Texas) wants to use its laws to enforce a public moral code by restricting private intimate conduct... The case is not about public sex. It is not about controlling commerce in sex. It is about controlling what people do in the privacy of their own homes because the state is morally opposed to a certain type of consensual private intimate conduct.” Hallelujah and pass the batteries.
*Macho Republicans – “The National Park Service has reasonable guidelines about firearms in national parks. It is currently lawful to transport firearms through national parks as long as they are unloaded and stored.” But a pending amendment proposed by Senator John Coburn (R-OK) would allow people to carry loaded weapons in national parks. The organization Care2 provides a petition to senators and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to say NO to the loaded guns in parks amendment at the above link. The senators need our help since it was reported that a number of them believe firearms are prohibited in national parks.
*Trader Joe’s ~ another reason I like shopping there – This food store chain has announced that it will cease importing food products from China due to customers' concerns about the products' safety. I applaud this decision for several reasons: U.S. inspection of imports is questionable; China’s inspection of exports is more than questionable; numerous articles have noted very serious air and water pollution problems in China and their effect on the food supply. Another reason to reduce our purchases of Chinese products is economic. As America’s trade imbalance with China has grown so has the loss of American jobs. Buying American-made and grown products where possible just seems to make sense. Increasing the demand for locally-grown produce makes equal sense.
*Who is going to hell? – I find it interesting that the “values” voters who are so concerned about everyone else’s soul and telling others how to conduct their lives continue to support an unprovoked war, torture, the politicians who voted against raising the minimum wage, the congressmen who opposed SCHIP (health insurance for children), an administration that hides the inadequate care it is providing wounded military, a Party that attempts to suppress the voting rights of minorities and has the unmitigated effrontery to restrict the freedoms of gay men and women in our society. I’ll chance my eternal fate opposing such hypocrisy.
*"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1829)
>If America is so proud of its system of justice, a system that it has held up to the world as the icon of a free society, why has the Bush administration chosen an alternative thorny path?
>Is this justice? “The cadre of civilian lawyers representing terrorism suspects held by the military at Guantanamo Bay are not allowed to meet their clients in private, without video surveillance. All their mail and notes must be turned over to the military. Classified information cannot be shared with their clients. They are not entitled to everything the government knows about their clients.”
> The majority of Americans and the world community will have no confidence in these proceedings.
>What jeopardy does this create for our own military men and women if captured by enemy forces?
>Losing our moral compass under the “leadership” of George W. Bush has resulted in an America tentative and uncertain. The ultra divisive politics of the Republican Party has left our country fractured.
>Actions have consequences. What price this fiasco – for Americans and America?
*House cleaning ~ the road to better government – This week politically progressive Donna Edwards (D) defeated 8-term incumbent Al Wynn (D) in Maryland’s 4th congressional district primary. Steve Benen at The Carpetbagger Report explains why this matters: “Was Wynn really that bad? Without question. He partnered with right-wing crooks like Bob Ney to oppose campaign-finance reform; he partnered with right-wing lobbyists on the estate tax; he partnered with right-wing lawmakers on the ridiculous bankruptcy bill; and he partnered with right-wing hedge-fund managers on the private equity tax break. It wasn't just corporate lobbyists, either -- Wynn also voted with Bush on Iraq and tax cuts for the wealthy.” I have received emails from several organizations celebrating this win including Democracy for America and Act Blue. Each group deserves credit for helping to fund and campaign for Edwards. Some other organizations working to bring about better government are Common Cause, People for the American Way, MoveOn.org, Human Rights Campaign, and TrueMajority.org. You may want to visit one or two of these organizations to participate in making a difference in your community and your country.
*Only the names have been changed ~ to protect you know who – When Bush’s “personal” lawyer Alberto Gonzales was forced to resign as Attorney General (under pressure for incompetence and malfeasance) much discussion took place over his replacement. During confirmation hearings for the next Bush nominee to head the Department of Justice it was learned that a number of senators decided to vote for the confirmation of Michael Mukasey because he would be the best alternative the president would offer for this post. Last week Mukasey testified before the House Judiciary Committee and said he would not investigate torture or warrantless wiretapping (which legal experts and lay people alike believe are against the law). He also said he would not enforce contempt citations if issued by congress to current and former Bush officials for not answering subpoenas to appear before investigating committees (videos of the testimony are available at the above link). Like Gonzales, it appears that former judge Mukasey does not interpret his role as Attorney General to be an independent enforcer of the laws of the land. Both men were persuaded that their role was to be enablers and apologists of a unitary executive branch unbounded by existing law and precedent.
Life memoir ~ abridged edition – smithmag.net is an online storytelling community where authors write and share stories. They invited people to submit a life memoir in only six words. Over 15,000 did and 832 were selected for a book titled “Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure”. I found the idea intriguing. Being a guy I am introspectively challenged so I decided to try a six-pack of six word memoirs:
>From solid parents a firm footing.
>Bush presidency did a writer inspire.
>Looked over shoulder, hit a boulder.
>Life love, life illuminated, love life.
>Became a father, never pushed farther.
>Friends, friends, friends, friends, friends, friends.
If only everyone could be so fortunate. If only politicians could be so succinct.
*Questions for the President – In Mr. Bush’s latest attempt to convince congress to approve anti-terror legislation that permits spying on Americans without court oversight he said, “Terrorists are planning new attacks on our country...that will make Sept.11 pale by comparison.” How does spying on Americans without warrant or court oversight make us safer? Should we not fear a government that attempts to reduce our constitutional freedoms? Would we be safer now if you had done a better job? Disclosure: Please remember that these are rhetorical questions. My people do not speak to his people and President Bush and I do not speak directly to each other.
*Question for Democrats in the Senate – Why do you wet you underwear every time the President says Boo? The President has an approval rating below freezing (30%). The vast majority of Americans oppose his policies. Recall Franklin D. Roosevelt’s admonition, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Boo! The Democrats in the House did stand up to Bush’s fear tactics this week by not rubber-stamping the Protect America Act as the Senate did. By exhibiting some courage they did not have to pack Desitin for their week-long legislative break.
*Do we hear a bid of 30 – The announcement by Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) that he will not seek re-election marks the 29th Republican congressman to do so. Some of the spoken and unspoken reasons for these representatives moving on include spending more time with the wife and kids, joining a lobbying firm, too busy being investigated by the Dept. of Justice, suffering from Bushitis and won’t get re-elected. Recalling the Republicans performance in congress for well over a decade I feel no love lost. Do we hear 30?
*Be all that you can be – This is a phrase used in U.S. Army recruitment advertisements. I am sure that enlistment in all of the armed services has been an excellent and wonderful opportunity for millions of young Americans. The following causes one to wonder if the Army is not just plain Bushed. “A Fort Carson soldier who says he was in treatment at Cedar Springs Hospital for bipolar disorder and alcohol abuse was released early and ordered to deploy to the Middle East with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team... [he had] spent 31 days in Kuwait and was returned to Fort Carson on Dec. 31 after health care professionals in Kuwait concurred that his symptoms met criteria for bipolar disorder and “some paranoia and possible homicidal tendencies.” Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, was outraged. “If he’s an inpatient in a hospital, they should have never taken him out... First, we had the planeload of wounded, injured and ill being forced back to the war zone. And now we have soldiers forcibly removed from mental hospitals. The level of outrage is off the Richter scale.” Enlisted men and women deserve better than a Command that is AWOL. Where is the outrage of military leaders that are seemingly: silent to the uncaring deployment of personnel; silent to the inadequate care of wounded troops with permanent disabilities; and silent to the frighteningly high number of suicides and emotional disorders of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are under-treated. When the history of Iraq is written the top brass will be indelibly tarnished.
*Be all that you should be – In 2007 the Food and Drug Administration received 350 reports of health problems associated with the drug heparin (a blood thinner). The drug ingredients are manufactured in China for Baxter International. Following 4 patients dying and hundreds becoming ill Baxter halted sales on some versions of the drug. The FDA admits it has never inspected the plant (a violation of its own policy), BUT, "Preparations are being made to perform an inspection as soon as possible," said FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley. Perhaps they were waiting until the summer so that inspectors could take in the Olympics and avoid the harsh winter that China is experiencing. And where was Baxter in this equation?
~Update – The Chinese manufacturer is not certified by China’s drug regulators to manufacture pharmaceuticals and therefore was not inspected by China’s drug agency. It appears that the FDA and Baxter International are on brain thinners. That rumbling you hear in the background are the hooves of personal injury lawyers.
~Caveat for consumers – From the same NY Times article: “China provides a growing proportion of the active pharmaceutical ingredients used in drugs sold in the United States. And Chinese drug regulators have said that all producers of those ingredients are required to obtain certification by the State Food and Drug Administration. However, some of the active ingredients that China exports are made by chemical companies, which do not fall under the Chinese drug agency’s jurisdiction.”
*There is a positive side to the subprime crisis – You may have noticed that your junk mail is a tad lighter in recent weeks. It is the result of companies such as Citibank and Discover cutting back on credit card mailing offers following substantial losses in the mortgage meltdown. I am puzzled by this strategy because our elected “leaders” have allowed credit card companies to charge interest rates of 23% and higher for unpaid balances. One would think that more than ever these usurious financial icons would be trying to increase the number of people they can “legally” drain. What do I know?
*McCain ~ conviction versus confection – Over the last several years, as America has debated the use of torture, John McCain has consistently spoken out against its. Although the use of torture is prohibited by the U.S. Army Field Manual, agencies such as the CIA have used waterboarding. A bill that has already passed the House was voted on this week in the Senate. It requires that the Army Field Manual be adhered to by all U.S. agencies. Although the bill passed, and will likely be vetoed by Bush, McCain voted against the bill. He voted to allow waterboarding. On October 26, 2007 the NY Times reported: Of presidential candidates like Mr. Giuliani, who say that they are unsure whether waterboarding is torture, Mr. McCain said: “They should know what it is. It is not a complicated procedure. It is torture.” Americablog.com has a video from a recent Republican presidential debate where McCain discusses the use of torture and says, “Life is not 24 and Jack Bauer. I just came back from visiting prisons in Iraq and the Army General there said the techniques under the Army Field Manual are working effectively and he didn’t think they needed anything else. My friends, this is what America is all about.” For McCain what America is really about alters when alteration he finds.
*Sex toys – Now that I have your attention you will be relieved to know that you can once again purchase them in Texas. “A federal appeals court has overturned a Texas statute outlawing sex toy sales...” Why? The statute violated the 14th Amendment on the right to privacy. In its opinion the appeals court said, “the state here (Texas) wants to use its laws to enforce a public moral code by restricting private intimate conduct... The case is not about public sex. It is not about controlling commerce in sex. It is about controlling what people do in the privacy of their own homes because the state is morally opposed to a certain type of consensual private intimate conduct.” Hallelujah and pass the batteries.
*Macho Republicans – “The National Park Service has reasonable guidelines about firearms in national parks. It is currently lawful to transport firearms through national parks as long as they are unloaded and stored.” But a pending amendment proposed by Senator John Coburn (R-OK) would allow people to carry loaded weapons in national parks. The organization Care2 provides a petition to senators and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to say NO to the loaded guns in parks amendment at the above link. The senators need our help since it was reported that a number of them believe firearms are prohibited in national parks.
*Trader Joe’s ~ another reason I like shopping there – This food store chain has announced that it will cease importing food products from China due to customers' concerns about the products' safety. I applaud this decision for several reasons: U.S. inspection of imports is questionable; China’s inspection of exports is more than questionable; numerous articles have noted very serious air and water pollution problems in China and their effect on the food supply. Another reason to reduce our purchases of Chinese products is economic. As America’s trade imbalance with China has grown so has the loss of American jobs. Buying American-made and grown products where possible just seems to make sense. Increasing the demand for locally-grown produce makes equal sense.
*Who is going to hell? – I find it interesting that the “values” voters who are so concerned about everyone else’s soul and telling others how to conduct their lives continue to support an unprovoked war, torture, the politicians who voted against raising the minimum wage, the congressmen who opposed SCHIP (health insurance for children), an administration that hides the inadequate care it is providing wounded military, a Party that attempts to suppress the voting rights of minorities and has the unmitigated effrontery to restrict the freedoms of gay men and women in our society. I’ll chance my eternal fate opposing such hypocrisy.
*"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1829)
Saturday, February 9, 2008
2/9/08
*A proposal for the impeachment movement – The reality is that OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT IS BROKEN and NO ONE SEEMS ABLE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. Bush and company discovered and invented ways to neuter checks and balances, and oversight. I believe that they broke laws. I do not believe that current circumstances will yield a congressional trial. I would like to make a suggestion to the forces campaigning for impeachment and to advocates for responsible government. Devote at least a portion of your passion and resources to fixing the problem. Pressure each presidential candidate and each senator and representative to investigate what went wrong during the Bush administration and devise legislation that prevents a recurrence. It is incumbent upon our legislators to repair the system. However, since Congress has been dysfunctional and oft times impotent, we the citizens must vociferously demand they be responsive to renewing accountability. For those congressmen who do not respond, expose their recalcitrance and campaign for their defeat. In less than 11 months the Bush & Cheyney Prestidigitation Show closes. America will be best served focusing our outrage and disappointment on the solution.
*A Tale of Two Senators ~ from Pennsylvania
>Arlen Specter (R) is currently in a hissing contest with the National Football League concerning the New England Patriots against-the-rules video taping of opponents’ signals. In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Specter said, "I am very concerned about the underlying facts on the taping, the reasons for the judgment on the limited penalties and, most of all, on the inexplicable destruction of the tapes". My “esteemed” senator is not investigating hundreds of millions of U.S. tax dollars unaccounted for in Iraq. He is not investigating Bush’s demolishing of the Civil Rights division in the Justice Department. He is not investigating the CIA’s destruction of interrogation tapes of suspected terrorists. But, look out NFL.
>Bob Casey (D) wrote an important and intelligent commentary for the Philadelphia Inquirer that addresses a subject of great concern – keeping nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists. Excerpts: “Since the early 1990s, there have been hundreds of reports of attempted smuggling from the former Soviet Union's vast nuclear stockpile... Too many nuclear facilities across the globe still do not have the security safeguards we should demand for stockpiles of fissile material... as many as 40 nations possess the key materials and components required to assemble a nuclear weapon, with security conditions varying greatly...” Casey’s final comment in the article is particularly telling. “The next president, with a strong mandate from Congress, must place at the very top of his or her agenda a full-scale effort to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism.” I take this to imply that it is not very high on the current agenda. As soon as our leaders finish investigating major league baseball (for performance enhancing substances) and football (for who the hell knows what) they can work on preventing a nuclear bomb from blowing up an American city.
*In need of Xanax ~ Ole! – This week was incredibly exciting. I received an email notifying me that I had won the ROYAL SPANISH SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY. Ignoring the fact that I had not entered the sweepstake and that there was no mention of the amount awarded, I began thinking like a travel agent. I started a list of the people I wanted to tell where to go. As the adrenalin waned the thought occurred to visit the website noted in the awarding email. Gloom settled over my computer desk when a message window popped up, accompanied by a deafening ding, telling me the website could not be found. I sheepishly tucked my list away for future reference. In the mean time I will continue to be nice to almost everyone
*To your good health – There is an interesting article at alternet.org that discusses 10 Myths About Canadian Health Care. I will note a couple of the points it makes. The link provides the entire article.
~Canada’s system is not socialized medicine where the doctors work for the state. In Canada and many other countries with universal healthcare the doctors run their own private practices. The only difference is that the doctors deal with one insurer (the government) instead of multiple insurers. It is called “single-payer” insurance.
~Canadians choose their own doctor and poor Canadians have exactly the same access to the country's top specialists that rich ones do.
~ Americans and Canadians have exactly the same drugs, made by the same pharmaceutical companies, often in the same factories.
~The Canadian system covers only the basics and depending where you live wait times for an appointment may be a bit longer in some regions. At the same time I have spoken with people who have called a specialist in the U.S. for an appointment and they had to wait 3 months or more.
As America begins to look at changes to the current health care system that is burdened with skyrocketing costs, much misinformation is being disseminated by health insurers and pharmaceutical companies that make inordinate profits under the current system. We do not know what changes the U.S will eventually implement but it would be prudent to become familiar with what does and does not work in other countries as well as being able to separate fact from fiction.
*A Tribute to John Edwards – He has dropped out of the presidential race. However, his strong positions on improving health care, attention to the environment, fairer government and policies for all Americans and the need to reduce the influence of special interests helped shape the platform of the other Democratic presidential candidates.
*Romney ~ Romoney - Mitt Romney has suspended his bid for the presidency. I saw one analysis that concluded he spent about one million dollars for each of the 35 delegates he had garnered. Some attribute his lack of acceptance by Republican primary voters to his being a Mormon. I believe it more likely that people did not believe his flip-flopping lips. Only Romney’s shirts were changed more often than his positions. You can’t fool all of the people all of the time – even the Republican base.
*Up, up and away ~ even if you can get it up – Israeli doctors recently did a study of mountain climbers. They found that erectile dysfunction drugs, such as Viagra, improved performance at high altitudes. Army doctors are now considering giving the drugs to Israeli combat pilots who fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet. Rumor has it that the new battle cry for these pilots is Mazel Tov!
*The South and racism ~ an optimistic perspective - Highly respected columnist George Curry wrote a commentary this week about Barack Obama’s strong showing among southern voters. Mr. Curry was a teenager in Alabama in the 1960s when the call for civil rights was met with the reactionary likes of George Wallace and Lester Maddox – representatives of a racism mentality forged over generations. The article provides a brief history of that unseemly but revolutionary period as well as Democratic and Republican Party attempts to use this racial divide to their political benefit. Mr. Curry sees the success of Obama as well as other equally important developments as an indication of significant positive change. An excerpt: “Fortunately, the South is vastly different from the South I knew during my childhood. The University of Alabama has since elected an African American as its student body president. Atlanta and Birmingham have elected a string of black mayors; Alabama and Georgia have African Americans in Congress. Public schools in the South are more desegregated than in any other region of the country.” As I noted last week, prejudice is a constant throughout the history of man. Perhaps in our own small corner of the universe we are beginning to nurture a degree of color blindness.
*Everyday is a Superbowl ~ on television – Advertising on TV now averages about 15 minutes an hour. With all of this free time to go to the kitchen for a snack it is no wonder that Americans are overweight. If you want to lose weight, listen to the radio where advertisements average only 10 minutes per hour.
*Quote of the Week – “It's sort of a little poetic justice, in that the people that brewed this toxic Kool-Aid found themselves drinking a lot of it in the end." This was said by billionaire investor Warren Buffett referring to bankers who designed and sold complex investments that have since gone sour. The sub-prime mortgage fiasco occurred when Republican leadership and Democratic impotence surrendered oversight of the financial community. They closed their eyes to the memory of the U.S. Savings and Loan collapse in 1985, a result of deregulation and unsound real estate lending. While there are now laws against performance enhancing steroids our elected leaders enfranchise greed on steroids. Unfortunately, it is far more than the financial community that pays the price.
*Quote of the Minute – “Dick Cheyney is the best Vice President in history”. In a speech to a gathering of the hard-core Republican base group, Conservative Political Action Conference, so spoke George W. Bush, aka, The Worst President in History”.
*What’s It All About? ~ another Brown-out – In testimony to a Senate panel this week U.S. Intelligence Chief Mike McConnell said, “Al Qaeda is gaining in strength from its refuge in Pakistan and is steadily improving its ability to recruit, train and position operatives capable of carrying out attacks inside the U.S. and ...Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, remained in control of the terrorist group and had promoted a new generation of lieutenants.” We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars and almost 4000 American lives in the war on terror and the two individuals responsible for initiating the terror attacks are still around, stronger than ever and based in a country that is led by a dictator whom George Bush touts as our ally. At the same time, early successes in Afghanistan by U.S. troops have been dissipated after Bush reduced our resources in Afghanistan to attack Iraq. The Taliban has since regained a strong presence in Afghanistan and the U.S. is unsuccessfully pleading with NATO to commit additional resources to the region. Also this week Admiral Mike McMullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, Afghanistan is facing "a growing insurgency, increasing violence and a burgeoning drug trade fueled by widespread poppy cultivation." Heckuva job Mr. President!
*If you don’t have a headache yet – Our government continues to reward incompetence/malfeasance. “A North Dakota manufacturer, Sioux Manufacturing, has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a suit saying it had repeatedly shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military, including those for the first troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.” Grab your meds because here comes the migraine! “Twelve days before the settlement with the Justice Department was announced... the company was given a new contract of up to $74 million to make more armor for helmets to replace the old ones, which were made from the late 1980s to last year.” The investigation resulted from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Jeff Kenner and Tamra Eishaug, two former managers at Sioux Mfg. These two people deserve medals but it is not likely to happen in the alternative universe that we find ourselves.
*An anniversary remembered – February 5th marked the 5-year anniversary of Colin Powell’s presentation to the U. N. Security Council. One of his introductory comments: “My second purpose today is to provide you with additional information, to share with you what the United States knows about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, as well as Iraq's involvement in terrorism...” During his presentation he said, “My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.” Recall his description and graphics of mobile chemical labs. Be he a pawn or a deceiver is for history to judge. He will have to resolve with his soul the deaths and injury to almost 35,000 American military personnel. For more detail and analysis on Powell at the U.N I recommend the site tinyrevolution.com.
* Francois de La Rochefoucauld - Quotes
~A man's worth has its season, like fruit.
~A wise man thinks it more advantageous not to join the battle than to win.
~No man is clever enough to know all the evil he does.
*A Tale of Two Senators ~ from Pennsylvania
>Arlen Specter (R) is currently in a hissing contest with the National Football League concerning the New England Patriots against-the-rules video taping of opponents’ signals. In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Specter said, "I am very concerned about the underlying facts on the taping, the reasons for the judgment on the limited penalties and, most of all, on the inexplicable destruction of the tapes". My “esteemed” senator is not investigating hundreds of millions of U.S. tax dollars unaccounted for in Iraq. He is not investigating Bush’s demolishing of the Civil Rights division in the Justice Department. He is not investigating the CIA’s destruction of interrogation tapes of suspected terrorists. But, look out NFL.
>Bob Casey (D) wrote an important and intelligent commentary for the Philadelphia Inquirer that addresses a subject of great concern – keeping nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists. Excerpts: “Since the early 1990s, there have been hundreds of reports of attempted smuggling from the former Soviet Union's vast nuclear stockpile... Too many nuclear facilities across the globe still do not have the security safeguards we should demand for stockpiles of fissile material... as many as 40 nations possess the key materials and components required to assemble a nuclear weapon, with security conditions varying greatly...” Casey’s final comment in the article is particularly telling. “The next president, with a strong mandate from Congress, must place at the very top of his or her agenda a full-scale effort to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism.” I take this to imply that it is not very high on the current agenda. As soon as our leaders finish investigating major league baseball (for performance enhancing substances) and football (for who the hell knows what) they can work on preventing a nuclear bomb from blowing up an American city.
*In need of Xanax ~ Ole! – This week was incredibly exciting. I received an email notifying me that I had won the ROYAL SPANISH SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY. Ignoring the fact that I had not entered the sweepstake and that there was no mention of the amount awarded, I began thinking like a travel agent. I started a list of the people I wanted to tell where to go. As the adrenalin waned the thought occurred to visit the website noted in the awarding email. Gloom settled over my computer desk when a message window popped up, accompanied by a deafening ding, telling me the website could not be found. I sheepishly tucked my list away for future reference. In the mean time I will continue to be nice to almost everyone
*To your good health – There is an interesting article at alternet.org that discusses 10 Myths About Canadian Health Care. I will note a couple of the points it makes. The link provides the entire article.
~Canada’s system is not socialized medicine where the doctors work for the state. In Canada and many other countries with universal healthcare the doctors run their own private practices. The only difference is that the doctors deal with one insurer (the government) instead of multiple insurers. It is called “single-payer” insurance.
~Canadians choose their own doctor and poor Canadians have exactly the same access to the country's top specialists that rich ones do.
~ Americans and Canadians have exactly the same drugs, made by the same pharmaceutical companies, often in the same factories.
~The Canadian system covers only the basics and depending where you live wait times for an appointment may be a bit longer in some regions. At the same time I have spoken with people who have called a specialist in the U.S. for an appointment and they had to wait 3 months or more.
As America begins to look at changes to the current health care system that is burdened with skyrocketing costs, much misinformation is being disseminated by health insurers and pharmaceutical companies that make inordinate profits under the current system. We do not know what changes the U.S will eventually implement but it would be prudent to become familiar with what does and does not work in other countries as well as being able to separate fact from fiction.
*A Tribute to John Edwards – He has dropped out of the presidential race. However, his strong positions on improving health care, attention to the environment, fairer government and policies for all Americans and the need to reduce the influence of special interests helped shape the platform of the other Democratic presidential candidates.
*Romney ~ Romoney - Mitt Romney has suspended his bid for the presidency. I saw one analysis that concluded he spent about one million dollars for each of the 35 delegates he had garnered. Some attribute his lack of acceptance by Republican primary voters to his being a Mormon. I believe it more likely that people did not believe his flip-flopping lips. Only Romney’s shirts were changed more often than his positions. You can’t fool all of the people all of the time – even the Republican base.
*Up, up and away ~ even if you can get it up – Israeli doctors recently did a study of mountain climbers. They found that erectile dysfunction drugs, such as Viagra, improved performance at high altitudes. Army doctors are now considering giving the drugs to Israeli combat pilots who fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet. Rumor has it that the new battle cry for these pilots is Mazel Tov!
*The South and racism ~ an optimistic perspective - Highly respected columnist George Curry wrote a commentary this week about Barack Obama’s strong showing among southern voters. Mr. Curry was a teenager in Alabama in the 1960s when the call for civil rights was met with the reactionary likes of George Wallace and Lester Maddox – representatives of a racism mentality forged over generations. The article provides a brief history of that unseemly but revolutionary period as well as Democratic and Republican Party attempts to use this racial divide to their political benefit. Mr. Curry sees the success of Obama as well as other equally important developments as an indication of significant positive change. An excerpt: “Fortunately, the South is vastly different from the South I knew during my childhood. The University of Alabama has since elected an African American as its student body president. Atlanta and Birmingham have elected a string of black mayors; Alabama and Georgia have African Americans in Congress. Public schools in the South are more desegregated than in any other region of the country.” As I noted last week, prejudice is a constant throughout the history of man. Perhaps in our own small corner of the universe we are beginning to nurture a degree of color blindness.
*Everyday is a Superbowl ~ on television – Advertising on TV now averages about 15 minutes an hour. With all of this free time to go to the kitchen for a snack it is no wonder that Americans are overweight. If you want to lose weight, listen to the radio where advertisements average only 10 minutes per hour.
*Quote of the Week – “It's sort of a little poetic justice, in that the people that brewed this toxic Kool-Aid found themselves drinking a lot of it in the end." This was said by billionaire investor Warren Buffett referring to bankers who designed and sold complex investments that have since gone sour. The sub-prime mortgage fiasco occurred when Republican leadership and Democratic impotence surrendered oversight of the financial community. They closed their eyes to the memory of the U.S. Savings and Loan collapse in 1985, a result of deregulation and unsound real estate lending. While there are now laws against performance enhancing steroids our elected leaders enfranchise greed on steroids. Unfortunately, it is far more than the financial community that pays the price.
*Quote of the Minute – “Dick Cheyney is the best Vice President in history”. In a speech to a gathering of the hard-core Republican base group, Conservative Political Action Conference, so spoke George W. Bush, aka, The Worst President in History”.
*What’s It All About? ~ another Brown-out – In testimony to a Senate panel this week U.S. Intelligence Chief Mike McConnell said, “Al Qaeda is gaining in strength from its refuge in Pakistan and is steadily improving its ability to recruit, train and position operatives capable of carrying out attacks inside the U.S. and ...Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, remained in control of the terrorist group and had promoted a new generation of lieutenants.” We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars and almost 4000 American lives in the war on terror and the two individuals responsible for initiating the terror attacks are still around, stronger than ever and based in a country that is led by a dictator whom George Bush touts as our ally. At the same time, early successes in Afghanistan by U.S. troops have been dissipated after Bush reduced our resources in Afghanistan to attack Iraq. The Taliban has since regained a strong presence in Afghanistan and the U.S. is unsuccessfully pleading with NATO to commit additional resources to the region. Also this week Admiral Mike McMullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, Afghanistan is facing "a growing insurgency, increasing violence and a burgeoning drug trade fueled by widespread poppy cultivation." Heckuva job Mr. President!
*If you don’t have a headache yet – Our government continues to reward incompetence/malfeasance. “A North Dakota manufacturer, Sioux Manufacturing, has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a suit saying it had repeatedly shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military, including those for the first troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.” Grab your meds because here comes the migraine! “Twelve days before the settlement with the Justice Department was announced... the company was given a new contract of up to $74 million to make more armor for helmets to replace the old ones, which were made from the late 1980s to last year.” The investigation resulted from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Jeff Kenner and Tamra Eishaug, two former managers at Sioux Mfg. These two people deserve medals but it is not likely to happen in the alternative universe that we find ourselves.
*An anniversary remembered – February 5th marked the 5-year anniversary of Colin Powell’s presentation to the U. N. Security Council. One of his introductory comments: “My second purpose today is to provide you with additional information, to share with you what the United States knows about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, as well as Iraq's involvement in terrorism...” During his presentation he said, “My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.” Recall his description and graphics of mobile chemical labs. Be he a pawn or a deceiver is for history to judge. He will have to resolve with his soul the deaths and injury to almost 35,000 American military personnel. For more detail and analysis on Powell at the U.N I recommend the site tinyrevolution.com.
* Francois de La Rochefoucauld - Quotes
~A man's worth has its season, like fruit.
~A wise man thinks it more advantageous not to join the battle than to win.
~No man is clever enough to know all the evil he does.
Friday, February 1, 2008
2/1/08
*Do not impeach Bush and Cheyney ~ this is not a typo! - About 3 years ago I was emotionally expressing to a friend that Bush and Cheyney should be impeached. My friend said that he was on the fence on this matter. Whenever a lie or abuse by the Bush administration was revealed in the news I would call my friend and ask if he was ready to get off the fence. Needless to say, we spoke quite often. By mid- 2007 he was ready to join me in the call for impeachment. The justification for impeachment remains stronger than ever. The case for impeachment is emphatically made by Elizabeth Holtzman, a former Congresswoman who served on the House Judiciary Committee considering the impeachment of Richard Nixon. Kargo X at dailykos.com offers a succinct list of reasons for impeachment. However, I do not favor impeachment proceedings at this point in time. As Michael Tomasky discusses in a recent article, impeachment would fail (67 votes would be needed in the Senate – no way it would happen) and the unity that this country needs going forward would be jeopardized. An indictment of the Bush administration would also be an indictment of the Republican members of Congress who rubber stamped its programs. Even if overwhelming evidence for impeachment were presented these legislators could not support a conclusion of guilt. I certainly think that our country would be best served if the next president or congress appointed a commission to investigate and assess the illegal activities that occurred during the Bush/Cheney regime. The findings would be utilized to implement safeguards against future abuses of power. We are currently in the process of selecting new leadership for America and our hands will be full correcting the errors, crimes and misdemeanors Bush and Cheyney committed as well as addressing a broad spectrum of other problems America and Americans face. History will oblige the “impeachment” of George Walker Bush and Richard Bruce Cheyney. It is our imperative to move forward.
*Honoring Suharto ~ foreign policy fallacy and folly – “The United States Sunday hailed former Indonesian president Suharto as a "historic figure" who "achieved remarkable economic development," in a statement released by the U.S. embassy. “President Suharto led Indonesia for over 30 years, a period during which Indonesia achieved remarkable economic and social development," said U.S. ambassador Cameron Hume. Here is the truth. Jeffrey Winters, associate professor of political economy at Northwestern University, said “the graft effectively robbed Indonesia of some of the most golden decades, and its best opportunity to move from a poor to a middle class country... When Indonesia does finally go back and redo history, (its people) will realize that Suharto is responsible for some of the worst crimes against humanity in the 20th century," In my lifetime the U.S. has a history of supporting (and in some cases propping up) dictators that have been abysmal for interests of their people. In the case of Suharto the alibi was fighting Communism during the Cold War. Other examples involve dictators in Central America, South America, Africa and the Middle East. To achieve short-term goals America has created generations of people who have been victimized by these dictators and who now despise us. We too easily forget our support of the Shah of Iran led to the long-term hostage situation of Americans. The Iranians still hate us. If the situation were reversed, Americans would feel the same way. There are consequences to our actions and the Bush administration honoring Suharto only exasperates former U.S. decisions that were devoid of moral grounding and foresight. America is not the world and our current standing provides the evidence. When masses of people in many parts of the world demonstrate their hatred for America, instead of changing the channel, ask why.
*Airline security ~ getting down to basics – It confounds me why no one thought of this before. A German travel agency has begun booking travel for nudists that allow the vacationers to be naked on the plane. If this policy can be extended to check-in, security lines would substantially shorten. I do have concern about seat belts but it is probably a guy thing.
*Autism – It is a complex neurological disorder that affects 1 in 150 children. There is currently no cure. It inhibits the ability to communicate with and relate to others. This year more children will be diagnosed with Autism than the combined total for AIDS, cancer and diabetes. Most insurance plans do not cover the required intensive therapy. By clicking on this link about Autism and watching a short video a donation will be made to Autism Speaks, you will learn more about this disorder and a personal donation can be offered.
*Freedom and Opportunity – These two concepts have been American ideals since the founding of our nation. It is a sad fact that slavery continued to exist for 3 generations following the writing of the U.S. Constitution. For almost 200 years Blacks could not go to white schools in parts of the country, eat in white restaurants, drink from white water fountains or ride in the front of the bus. For a century and a half following our founding women had few rights and could not vote. Even today, on average, women earn less pay than men for the same job. There continues to be discrimination due to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, accent, political party affiliation or the brand of athletic shoes that one wears. Prejudice has accompanied the history of man no less virulently than disease. The freedom and opportunity we so boastfully proclaim to ourselves and the world is not without warts. This is not to minimize some of the greatest achievements in the political record of mankind. But deep down inside we know that challenges remain for our nation. This gives us all the more reason to celebrate the prospect of our first Black or female president. Regardless of the election outcome we have evolved – with no apology to creationists.
*Handgun control ~ shooting itself in the foot – When a handgun is purchased a background check is generally required of the purchaser EXCEPT at gun shows and this is a significant loophole. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has introduced legislation that will keep criminals and other dangerous people (convicted felons, domestic violence abusers, or someone who is dangerously mentally ill) from buying and selling guns without Brady criminal background checks at gun shows. At The Brady Campaign web site you can send an email urging Senators to pass this important bill.
*McCain ~ Dr. Strangelove on Viagra – John McCain recently said that he could see American soldiers in Iraq for 10 years or even 100 years. This week he said that if elected president he would cut government spending sharply and lower taxes. I guess he failed to review the expense vouchers for the Iraq war. He reminds me of the beer-soaked college sophomore at a frat party who will say anything to the attractive coed to get into her dorm.
*McCain ~ bench-pressing the G.W. Bush scepter of fear – In a speech on Sunday John McCain warned supporters, "It's a tough war we're in. It's not going to be over right away. There's going to be other wars." The man driving the “Straight Talk Express” bus is not exactly Karnack incarnate. The history of man on this planet is a history of war. I would prefer a president who exhibits the leadership to avoid war rather than one who is looking to keep us in one that should not have taken place and mongers the next one that has not yet been invented. The need for a very strong national defense remains critical to our security. However, we must be vigilant to the fact that Iraq was the result of a mindset pre-conditioned to war. It is essential that we change the paradigm.
*What recession? – CNN is reporting that Exxon Mobil is expected to earn $10.37 billion in the fourth quarter and $39,000,000,000 (billion) for 2007. Shell just posted 2007 profits of $27.6 billion (a 9% increase over last year), a new record for a U.K. company. That should help fund a few meretricious advertising and lobbying campaigns that assert the use of their product does not harm the environment. Ka-ching.
*Exploding Easter Eggs – When one is a Baptist preacher I guess it is not unusual that many of one’s analogies will have a religious context. Mike Huckabee out-pulpits himself. When asked during a Republican presidential debate whether going to war in Iraq was worth it he replied, “Oh, gosh, yes... we didn't find the weapons doesn't mean they weren't there. Just because you didn't find every Easter egg didn't mean that it wasn't planted." Huckabee must have been busy proselytizing when he missed that fact that no (capital “N” capital “O”) weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq and there was no evidence that they existed and were moved to Syria, Jordan or the ancient mythical land of Lemuria where egg-laying ape-like creatures live. As Jason Linkins points out at the Huffington Post, “Doesn't this crazy "Easter Egg" idea provide the rationale to just invade anybody, anywhere in the world?" Recall that this neo-conservative philosophy led to the Iraq Easter egg hunt. Gosh, golly, gee!
*The hubris of Ralph Nader – That creaking sound you hear is the crypt of Mr. Nader once again opening to explore a presidential run. Many feel that his presence in the Bush-Gore presidential contest helped Bush to victory. Every progressive issue that Nader spent a lifetime championing suffered under Bush. It is beyond sad to see ego trump a life’s work.
*Labeling of cloned food ~ an opportunity to be heard – Nine of ten American consumers want labels on products from clones. Consumers Union has a petition urging Senators and Representatives to co-sponsor the Cloned Food Labeling Act.
*State of the Union 1 - President Bush’s seventh SOTU speech left me feeling gratified that it was his last one. In my euphoria I will not attempt to address the President’s claims. However, others are not so euphoric. ThinkProgress.org offers a comprehensive and documented fact check on Mr. Bush’s mendacity. This is information and analysis you will not find on the alphabet channels of NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, CNN, MSNBC, or even PBS. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) offered a strong response to Mr. Bush’s stubborn adherence to failed and harmful policies concerning Iraq. The Philadelphia Inquirer offers an editorial that eviscerates Bush’s speech.
*State of the Union 2 - Okay, you knew I would have to make a comment. In his speech the President was emphatic that congress has to cut back on earmarks (pork barrel spending) and he threatened to veto legislation that contained earmarks. The President did not share with us that he is attempting to become a recovering spendaholic. In addition to converting the U.S. budget from a surplus to an avalanche-burying deficit Mr. Bush has signed spending bills containing 55,000 earmarks worth more than $100 billion. That equates to 22 earmarks and almost $4 million each day that he has been in office. Dealing with an addiction is a bitch – especially the stage of denial where one lies to both oneself and others.
*Presidential debates ~ an overview with bias - On Wednesday I watched the debate of the Republican candidates and on Thursday the Democrats. I felt that McCain (with a smirk) and Romney (with bluster) often sounded and acted like children disingenuously saying what they thought their parents wanted to hear while nah nahing each other. As I listened to Clinton and Obama I felt that I was listening to adults with well thought-out plans for this country. Their vision on a number of issues, including healthcare and immigration, differed mainly around the edges. If elected, each of their plans would eventually be fine tuned through congressional negotiations and subject to the degree of majority enjoyed in Congress. With either Clinton or Obama in the White House the future of America would be a lot brighter than its recent past.
*Democracy – At the heart of democracy is the free expression and exchange of ideas. Modern technology makes this more possible today than at any time in our history. Stephen Views the News (SVN) is one example of utilizing the internet to express oneself and share ideas. Writing about my view of the news began in June 2007 with a weekly email to several friends. In October my website was born. It was made possible by a free program provided by Google. By most standards the exposure of SVN is miniscule. At the same time, through another free program - Google Analytics – I know that my writing has been visited by people from 5 continents, from 18 countries (including India, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Bulgaria and Portugal) and from over 260 cities (including Brooklyn, Colorado Springs, Ahmedabab, Tours, Leeuwarden, Beersheba and Athens). I believe that Benjamin Franklin would have thought the internet pretty cool.
*Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790)
*Honoring Suharto ~ foreign policy fallacy and folly – “The United States Sunday hailed former Indonesian president Suharto as a "historic figure" who "achieved remarkable economic development," in a statement released by the U.S. embassy. “President Suharto led Indonesia for over 30 years, a period during which Indonesia achieved remarkable economic and social development," said U.S. ambassador Cameron Hume. Here is the truth. Jeffrey Winters, associate professor of political economy at Northwestern University, said “the graft effectively robbed Indonesia of some of the most golden decades, and its best opportunity to move from a poor to a middle class country... When Indonesia does finally go back and redo history, (its people) will realize that Suharto is responsible for some of the worst crimes against humanity in the 20th century," In my lifetime the U.S. has a history of supporting (and in some cases propping up) dictators that have been abysmal for interests of their people. In the case of Suharto the alibi was fighting Communism during the Cold War. Other examples involve dictators in Central America, South America, Africa and the Middle East. To achieve short-term goals America has created generations of people who have been victimized by these dictators and who now despise us. We too easily forget our support of the Shah of Iran led to the long-term hostage situation of Americans. The Iranians still hate us. If the situation were reversed, Americans would feel the same way. There are consequences to our actions and the Bush administration honoring Suharto only exasperates former U.S. decisions that were devoid of moral grounding and foresight. America is not the world and our current standing provides the evidence. When masses of people in many parts of the world demonstrate their hatred for America, instead of changing the channel, ask why.
*Airline security ~ getting down to basics – It confounds me why no one thought of this before. A German travel agency has begun booking travel for nudists that allow the vacationers to be naked on the plane. If this policy can be extended to check-in, security lines would substantially shorten. I do have concern about seat belts but it is probably a guy thing.
*Autism – It is a complex neurological disorder that affects 1 in 150 children. There is currently no cure. It inhibits the ability to communicate with and relate to others. This year more children will be diagnosed with Autism than the combined total for AIDS, cancer and diabetes. Most insurance plans do not cover the required intensive therapy. By clicking on this link about Autism and watching a short video a donation will be made to Autism Speaks, you will learn more about this disorder and a personal donation can be offered.
*Freedom and Opportunity – These two concepts have been American ideals since the founding of our nation. It is a sad fact that slavery continued to exist for 3 generations following the writing of the U.S. Constitution. For almost 200 years Blacks could not go to white schools in parts of the country, eat in white restaurants, drink from white water fountains or ride in the front of the bus. For a century and a half following our founding women had few rights and could not vote. Even today, on average, women earn less pay than men for the same job. There continues to be discrimination due to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, accent, political party affiliation or the brand of athletic shoes that one wears. Prejudice has accompanied the history of man no less virulently than disease. The freedom and opportunity we so boastfully proclaim to ourselves and the world is not without warts. This is not to minimize some of the greatest achievements in the political record of mankind. But deep down inside we know that challenges remain for our nation. This gives us all the more reason to celebrate the prospect of our first Black or female president. Regardless of the election outcome we have evolved – with no apology to creationists.
*Handgun control ~ shooting itself in the foot – When a handgun is purchased a background check is generally required of the purchaser EXCEPT at gun shows and this is a significant loophole. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has introduced legislation that will keep criminals and other dangerous people (convicted felons, domestic violence abusers, or someone who is dangerously mentally ill) from buying and selling guns without Brady criminal background checks at gun shows. At The Brady Campaign web site you can send an email urging Senators to pass this important bill.
*McCain ~ Dr. Strangelove on Viagra – John McCain recently said that he could see American soldiers in Iraq for 10 years or even 100 years. This week he said that if elected president he would cut government spending sharply and lower taxes. I guess he failed to review the expense vouchers for the Iraq war. He reminds me of the beer-soaked college sophomore at a frat party who will say anything to the attractive coed to get into her dorm.
*McCain ~ bench-pressing the G.W. Bush scepter of fear – In a speech on Sunday John McCain warned supporters, "It's a tough war we're in. It's not going to be over right away. There's going to be other wars." The man driving the “Straight Talk Express” bus is not exactly Karnack incarnate. The history of man on this planet is a history of war. I would prefer a president who exhibits the leadership to avoid war rather than one who is looking to keep us in one that should not have taken place and mongers the next one that has not yet been invented. The need for a very strong national defense remains critical to our security. However, we must be vigilant to the fact that Iraq was the result of a mindset pre-conditioned to war. It is essential that we change the paradigm.
*What recession? – CNN is reporting that Exxon Mobil is expected to earn $10.37 billion in the fourth quarter and $39,000,000,000 (billion) for 2007. Shell just posted 2007 profits of $27.6 billion (a 9% increase over last year), a new record for a U.K. company. That should help fund a few meretricious advertising and lobbying campaigns that assert the use of their product does not harm the environment. Ka-ching.
*Exploding Easter Eggs – When one is a Baptist preacher I guess it is not unusual that many of one’s analogies will have a religious context. Mike Huckabee out-pulpits himself. When asked during a Republican presidential debate whether going to war in Iraq was worth it he replied, “Oh, gosh, yes... we didn't find the weapons doesn't mean they weren't there. Just because you didn't find every Easter egg didn't mean that it wasn't planted." Huckabee must have been busy proselytizing when he missed that fact that no (capital “N” capital “O”) weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq and there was no evidence that they existed and were moved to Syria, Jordan or the ancient mythical land of Lemuria where egg-laying ape-like creatures live. As Jason Linkins points out at the Huffington Post, “Doesn't this crazy "Easter Egg" idea provide the rationale to just invade anybody, anywhere in the world?" Recall that this neo-conservative philosophy led to the Iraq Easter egg hunt. Gosh, golly, gee!
*The hubris of Ralph Nader – That creaking sound you hear is the crypt of Mr. Nader once again opening to explore a presidential run. Many feel that his presence in the Bush-Gore presidential contest helped Bush to victory. Every progressive issue that Nader spent a lifetime championing suffered under Bush. It is beyond sad to see ego trump a life’s work.
*Labeling of cloned food ~ an opportunity to be heard – Nine of ten American consumers want labels on products from clones. Consumers Union has a petition urging Senators and Representatives to co-sponsor the Cloned Food Labeling Act.
*State of the Union 1 - President Bush’s seventh SOTU speech left me feeling gratified that it was his last one. In my euphoria I will not attempt to address the President’s claims. However, others are not so euphoric. ThinkProgress.org offers a comprehensive and documented fact check on Mr. Bush’s mendacity. This is information and analysis you will not find on the alphabet channels of NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, CNN, MSNBC, or even PBS. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) offered a strong response to Mr. Bush’s stubborn adherence to failed and harmful policies concerning Iraq. The Philadelphia Inquirer offers an editorial that eviscerates Bush’s speech.
*State of the Union 2 - Okay, you knew I would have to make a comment. In his speech the President was emphatic that congress has to cut back on earmarks (pork barrel spending) and he threatened to veto legislation that contained earmarks. The President did not share with us that he is attempting to become a recovering spendaholic. In addition to converting the U.S. budget from a surplus to an avalanche-burying deficit Mr. Bush has signed spending bills containing 55,000 earmarks worth more than $100 billion. That equates to 22 earmarks and almost $4 million each day that he has been in office. Dealing with an addiction is a bitch – especially the stage of denial where one lies to both oneself and others.
*Presidential debates ~ an overview with bias - On Wednesday I watched the debate of the Republican candidates and on Thursday the Democrats. I felt that McCain (with a smirk) and Romney (with bluster) often sounded and acted like children disingenuously saying what they thought their parents wanted to hear while nah nahing each other. As I listened to Clinton and Obama I felt that I was listening to adults with well thought-out plans for this country. Their vision on a number of issues, including healthcare and immigration, differed mainly around the edges. If elected, each of their plans would eventually be fine tuned through congressional negotiations and subject to the degree of majority enjoyed in Congress. With either Clinton or Obama in the White House the future of America would be a lot brighter than its recent past.
*Democracy – At the heart of democracy is the free expression and exchange of ideas. Modern technology makes this more possible today than at any time in our history. Stephen Views the News (SVN) is one example of utilizing the internet to express oneself and share ideas. Writing about my view of the news began in June 2007 with a weekly email to several friends. In October my website was born. It was made possible by a free program provided by Google. By most standards the exposure of SVN is miniscule. At the same time, through another free program - Google Analytics – I know that my writing has been visited by people from 5 continents, from 18 countries (including India, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Bulgaria and Portugal) and from over 260 cities (including Brooklyn, Colorado Springs, Ahmedabab, Tours, Leeuwarden, Beersheba and Athens). I believe that Benjamin Franklin would have thought the internet pretty cool.
*Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790)
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