Mind and Destiny

Purposely Distorted

2009-07-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

In response to a letter, that I had published in “Hometown Oneonta,” Adrian D. VanEssendelft wrote: “To say those who are vocally against abortion are responsible for the murder of Dr. Tiller is to say those who beat the drum against the Iraq war are responsible for inspiring the killing of a military recruiter.” (My letter was posted on 6/15/09, and is entitled: “Agenda of Violence.”)

Either, Mr. VanEssendelft purposely distorted my views, or he has reading impediment. I’ve no problem with people using their voices to speak out against abortion, but I do have a problem with those that bomb abortion clinic and murder abortion providers. Excerpts from my letter include: some extremist have been resorting to murder for decades... an organized network of extremists, who advocate the murder of abortion providers... the only way to stop abortion is to murder providers... anti-abortion extremists resorted to violence...the ATF, who were able to detonate it without a loss of life.

I wrote about extremist, who advocate violence, by murder and detonating bombs. My letter conclude: In a civilized democratic society, we can’t allow people to use violence to advance their anti-abortion agenda to stop abortions from taking place in the United States. I’ve read that the only difference between the American anti-abortion movement and the Taliban is about 8,000 miles.

VanEssendelft suggests: “those who beat the drum against the Iraq war were responsible for inspiring the killing of a military recruiter.” That killing was done by a homegrown Muslim extremist. Delhi peace vigils began before the invasion of Iraq and continue to this day. We don’t beat a drum and have never advocated violence.

I’ve sought to use the words of Dwight Eisenhower, to inspire peace. Ike said: “When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war... I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”

*****************************************************************************
I will not be sending this rebuttal to Hometown Oneonta for publication. Instead, I’ve stayed with my prior plan to send in my post of 6/19/09 entitled; Extremist, but I did get in a dig at Mr. VanEssendelft by adding: Apparently, a reader of this publication has a reading impediment. Therefore, I’ve emphasized the primary topic of this letter in capital letters; EXTREMIST throughout the letter.

Intervention

2009-07-04T01:20:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing that both fundamentalists and reformers will agree on, it’s that the Iranian people’s long march to freedom began during the Constitutional Revolution or Mashruteh of 1906-1909. Today, both sides insist, that they’re the true defenders of the mashruteh legacy.

Iran’s constitutionalist uprising was the first significant revolution of the 20th century. It was an expression of rage against a corrupt and bankrupt monarchy. Much like today’s movement, it didn’t demand an overthrow of the prevailing system, but it unified the country’s merchants, intellectuals, and clerics in demanding nothing more than an elected parliament and a constitution. It resulted in the principles of equality, personal rights, universal public education, and freedom of the press. It was the first document of its kind in the Middle East, and it has formed the basis of Iran’s political debates ever since.

Initially, Iran’s shah Mohammed Ali tolerated the constitutional movement, but after an assassination attempt in February 1908, he began cracking down, by arresting constitutionalists, declaring martial law, and calling in the fearsome Russian Cossacks to intimidate protesters in the streets of Tehran. In 1908, the Cossacks unleashed a civil war, when they stormed the new parliament building, precipitated a gun battle, and killed several constitutionalists.

Despite demands for tough action from our government, by politicians with close ties to the evangelical Christian movement, Theodore Roosevelt’s State Department refused to take sides.

Thousands were starved or beaten into submission, and Iran’s brave little experiment with democracy appeared dead. However, eventually, our country found itself in an excellent position to reap the rewards of its neutrality. Iranian constitutionalists recognized the contrast between America’s hands-off attitude and the heavy-handed interference by Russia and Britain. They were impressed by this apparently unselfish new power on the world stage, and interpreted its silence as a form of support. When the constitutional upheaval was over, its leaders turned to America to help them build a new Iran.

Power may come from the barrel of a gun but freedom does not. The struggle continues in Iran and in America.

Obstruction

2009-07-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

For over five months, Obama has faced nothing but attacks and obstruction from Republicans, because they have no ideas for improving peoples lives. Their only hope is to obstruct the his agenda, with a plan that includes:

1. Deny the Democratic Party another vote in the Senate, by bank rolling Norm Coleman’s effort to drag on the Minnesota Senate race. They expected to slow down the Obama agenda, but it didn’t work.

2. Most congressional Republicans avoid attacking Obama, because he’s so very popular. Instead, they’ve used Dick Cheney as an attack dog to sling mud at Obama. Cheney has no political future and nothing to lose.

3. Congressional Republicans have been attacking Obama on the economy by accused him of being a big spender. The Republican party has not accepted responsibility for the faulty intelligence, which resulted in the invasion of Iraq. That war has already cost us a $1 trillion and could eventually cost $3 trillion. They have the audacity to attack Obama for spending money to fix the economic catastrophe left behind by Bush administration.

4. The Republican party is using the bailouts to make the government the bogeyman. Although, the money loaned to GM and Chrysler is pocket change compared to the money that has been thrown at Wall Street, Republicans have attacked the auto bailout. They’re attempting to scare Americans by warning, look out for socialism.

5. Republican have tried to vilify Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi by connecting her to torture. It’s important to recognize, that even if Pelosi had been briefed on torture, she couldn’t say anything about, because it was a national security matters.

Republican have constantly promoted anti-government feeling. Now, they have an opportunity to pass health care reform, which can improve the conditions of people’s lives for generations to come. They won’t, because it has never been about big or small government, it’s always been about more effective government, which only the Democratic Party can deliver.

Spiraling Costs

2009-07-02T00:15:00.000-07:00

An essential step to economic recovery is controlling the spiraling cost of health care. We’re spending over $2 trillion a year on health care, which is nearly 50 percent more per person than the next most costly nation. Nevertheless, every day more Americans become uninsured and the quality of care is lessened.

The cost of our health care is a threat to our economy and a serious burden on our families and businesses. Some doctors spend 20 percent of each day supervising a staff explaining insurance problems to patients, completing authorization forms, and writing appeal letters. It’s a routine, which has become distracting and taken time away from patient care.

Nationwide, over one third of small businesses have reduced healthcare benefits and another third have had to drop their workers’ coverage altogether. A major cause of the financial problems at General Motors and Chrysler were the huge costs of providing health care for their workers. As those costs grew those companies became less profitable, and competitive with automakers around the world.

The cost of our present health care is unsustainable. Health care reform is a necessity, because the cost of inaction is rapidly increasing. Failure to act soon will see premiums increasing, benefits eroding, and the rolls of the uninsured swelling to include more than a million additional Americans.

If we fail to act, one out of every five dollars we earn will have to be spent on health care within a decade. In thirty years, that trend that will mean lost jobs, lower take-home pay, shuttered businesses, and a lower standard of living for all Americans.

Federal spending on Medicaid and Medicare will grow over the coming decades by an amount almost equal to the amount our government currently spends on our nation’s defense.

Some Day

2009-07-01T00:49:00.000-07:00

Long ago, abolitionist Frederick Douglass said: “A struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it maybe both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.”

President Dwight Eisenhower cautioned: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” Originally, he called it ‘the military-industrial-legislative complex,’ but cut out the word ‘legislative’ from the final draft, when asked to do so by Congress. Today, members of Congress continue to depend on war profiteers to contribute heavily to their re-election campaigns and provide jobs for their constituents.

Eisenhower observed: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hope of its children.”

Eisenhower speculated: “If men can develop weapons that are so terrifying as to make the thought of global war include almost a sentence for suicide, you would think that man’s intelligence and his comprehension... would include also his ability to find a peaceful solution.” And, it was Eisenhower, who warned: “We must achieve both security and solvency. In fact, the foundation of military strength is economic strength.”

Ike said: “When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war.” and “I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”

But, Ike’s most insightful remark was: “I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of their way and let them have it.” Our military-industrial-legislative complex, better get out of the way.

Perhaps, Eisenhower considered warmongers to be naive, fools and an embarrassment to this country, as I do.

History Lesson

2009-06-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

On 6/16/09, Richard Averett of Otego had the following letter to the editor published in the Oneonta Star.

“Since 1945, the party that claims to support ‘small government’ and ‘fiscal responsibility’ actually spent more money and grew bigger governments than did Democratic presidents. In fact, Republican administrations (excluding Eisenhower) have outspent Democrats and driven up the national debt as a percentage of GDP by a whopping 3-to-1 ratio!

“When Reagan took office in 1981, the national debt was $930 billion, and when he left it had mushroomed to nearly $2.9 trillion, turning the largest creditor nation into the largest debtor nation in just eight short years. Reagan’s fiscal strategy was based on cutting taxes for the wealthy and increasing military spending while selling treasury bonds to foreign investors to pay the bills.

“Following in his mentor’s footsteps, George H.W. Bush ran up the national debt by almost $2 trillion, and until his son took office, he held the record for the largest annual budget deficit in U.S. history (more than $500 billion).

“In 1993, Clinton inherited a national debt of around $4.5 trillion and a budget deficit of $290 billion. By raising taxes on the wealthy (and cutting them for the middle-class and poor) and reducing military spending, the U.S. debt was cut by $360 billion and was $2.4 trillion less at the end of his presidency than had been projected when Clinton took office.

“When George W. Bush took the oath in 2001, he inherited a budget surplus of more than $230 billion with a national debt of around $5.6 trillion, and he immediately cut taxes for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans by $630 billion, thus eradicating Clinton's surplus by year's end. Bush also raided Social Security to the tune of $150 billion to make the 2004 deficit appear smaller. By the end of Bush's presidency, the national debt had doubled to more than $10 trillion.”

The AMA

2009-06-29T01:12:00.000-07:00

Historically, the American Medical Association has sought to block health care reform in this country. The term socialized medicine, originated with the AMA, when they were trying to defeat FDR’s efforts to put medicine into the Social Security Act in the 1930s.

In 1961, the group hired actor Ronald Reagan to be spokesman for their campaign to block Medicare. The script read: “My name is Ronald Reagan. One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. All of us can see what happens once you establish the precedent that the government can determine a man’s working place and his working methods. And behind it will come other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country. Until one day we will awake to find that we have socialism.”

Recently, President Obama spoke to the American Medical Association. He said: ”When you hear the naysayers claim that I’m trying to bring about government-run health care, know this: they’re not telling the truth. What a public option will help do, is put affordable health care within reach for millions of Americans.”

Sixty percent of doctors claim, that they support a public option for health insurance, and the AMA might come on board in favor of a public plan. However, most likely the public plan would have to be so watered down, that it would be ineffective.

The clout of the AMA has greatly diminished, and it no longer represents the vast majority of the physicians worldwide. Some member of the AMA are so resentful of the fact, that their group continues to be against a public option that they’re thinking of quitting the organization.

Incited by Hate

2009-06-28T01:12:00.000-07:00

In April, the extremism and radicalization branch of the Department of Homeland Security’s threat analysis division released its report on potential threats from right-wing extremists. That report stated: “Despite similarities to the climate of the 1990s, the threat posed by lone wolves in small terrorist cells is more pronounced than in past years. In addition, the historical election of an African-American president and the prospect of policy changes are proving to be a driving force for right-wing extremist recruitment and radicalization.”

Conservative radio talk show host, Roger Hedgecock insisted: “If the Bush administration had done this to left-wing extremists, it would be all over the press as an obvious trampling on the First Amendment rights of folks and dissent.” Actually, in January, there was a warning about left-wing extremists. It was issued by the Obama administration, but both reports were begun under Bush.

Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano responded: “We do not exist to infringe, impinge or invade anybody’s Constitutional rights of free speech, of free assembly or anything else like that. We exist to protect the country against the homeland (sic) consistent with the United States Constitution. And so in there is where that product was created and what it was designed to do.”

Nevertheless, Secretary Napolitano was called before the House Homeland Security Committee and ranking Republican, Peter King, demanded that she further apologize for the report about right-wing extremist. Hate filled rhetoric keeps ratcheting up, and we seem to have forgotten, that Army veteran Timothy McVeigh, was incited by hate speech. Reportedly, the recent shooting of three Pittsburgh police officers by a man influenced by racist ideology and fears of gun confiscations. In early June, we saw two fatal shootings in which the prime suspects were clearly motivated by extreme right-wing political views, which the Homeland Security report had warned about. The killing of a guard at the Holocaust Museum, by James Von Brunn and the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas could embolden others, who are already on the edge.

The American Way

2009-06-27T01:51:00.000-07:00

Hugh Hewitt broadcasts on the right-wing Salem Radio Network. In “The Washington Examiner, he wrote: “I won’t buy a socialist cars which means I won’t be buying a GM or Chrysler. I won’t be visiting a GM or a Chrysler lot no matter the product offered. The very idea of a socialized American car company ought to cause millions of Americans to reject the idea of doing their car shopping at those venues.”

Mr. Hewitt insists, that there’s only one answer for conservatives angry at Obama and the government for getting involved with the automobile industry, and that is a boycott. Apparently, there is a disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street, for Hewitt, who doesn’t mention the bailouts of financial institutions. He ignores Bush’s $700 billion TARP bailout of financial institutions, who were in fact responsible for banks not making car loans. Both GM and Chrysler received $17 billion in government help from the Bush administration, and asked for another $21 billion from the Obama administration. Obama insisted both companies go into bankruptcy to clear away old debt and restructure quickly.

Wall Street doesn’t care if our auto industry fails, because they can exploit the people of other countries, where they don’t have to deal with environmental regulations, unions, standards, an eight-hour work day. We have Americans across this country that used to be in industries, that made furniture, TVs, and appliances. Their jobs have been outsourced, because Wall Street CEO’s don’t mind making deals with communist and fascist dictators overseas. We should be promoting the American way, which stands for democracy, but Wall Street only cares about profits. They’re a bunch of greedy paper shufflers, who make more money by producing products offshore.

Republicans insist, that medical reform is socialized medicine, but every time a person without insurance goes to an emergency room the cost is socialized. The bogeyman term "socialized" was used by the Republican party more than a generation ago, and fortunately they failed in their attempts to prevent Democrats from passing Social Security and Medicare legislation. Today, the Republican party insists, we must not allow the government to come between you and your doctor. Presently, the insurance industry is between you and your doctor, and for 40 years, they’ve been milking consumers for millions of dollars, while denying claims.

A Better Plan

2009-06-26T01:39:00.000-07:00

The UN’s top official in Afghanistan has pointed out: “The war in Afghanistan cannot be won militarily and success is only possible through political means including dialogue between all relevant parties.”

Obama has announced a 10 year plan for Afghanistan, which includes an additional 21,000 U.S. military forces deployed in Iraq and diplomatic engagement of Pakistan. Unfortunately, he’s still trying to force political and social change through the Pentagon.

A better plan would be to focus on diplomatic cooperation and humanitarian aid, diminish civilian causalities by scaling back military force.

1. De-escalate troop levels in Afghanistan and reject the idea that there is a military solution to the region’s problems;

2. Immediately stop military activities that indiscriminately impact civilians such as air and drone strikes;

3. Withdraw all U.S. troops and foreign forces from Afghanistan as soon as possible;

4. Commit to negotiated diplomatic talks involving all major regional players, including major international peacekeeping bodies; and,

5. Address the real needs of Afghans, which include healthcare, clean water, education, and security.

Michael Scheuer has two decades of experience in national security issues. While with the CIA, he wrote “Imperial Hubris” under the pseudonym Anonymous.

In 2004, Scheuer wrote: “Unless U.S. led foreign forces are massively increased and are prepared to kill liberally and remain in Afghanistan permanently, the current Afghan regime cannot survive. In Afghanistan, above all other places, familiarity with foreigners breeds not just contempt, but war to the death. The reestablishment of an Islamic regime in Kabul is as close to an inevitability as exists. One hopes that Karzai and the rest of the westernized, secular, and followerless Afghan expatriates we installed in Kabul are able to get out with their lives.”

The Three A’s

2009-06-25T00:53:00.000-07:00

There are more than 46 million people without health insurance and medical problems contribute to nearly 2/3 of all bankruptcies. This is not just about those 46 million people who don’t have health insurance, it’s about the future of the American economy. We’re losing jobs to other countries, because their health care system is better for business.

Republican’s insists, that we must not allow the government to come between you and your doctor. Actually, the insurance industry has been between you and your doctor for 40 years, and they’ve been milking consumers for millions of dollars by denying claims.

In the first three months of this year, nearly $35 million was spent by the largest insurance and drugs companies to ensure that pending reform benefits them and not the American people. Congressional Republicans have never intended to contribute in a positive way to health care reform. They are standing in the way of real reform, because they’re not interested in the future of our country.

Republicans say, that there shouldn’t be a government run health insurance program, because it would compete with private plans. We’ve had a private system in this country for 40 years and costs have increased at least twice the rate of inflation every year. Our public system, Medicare has seen costs go up only about 15% above the rate of inflation.

Obama insists: “If you like what you have, you can keep it, but we’re going to offer you something that you may find better and less expensive.” You can sign up for a public plan, like Medicare, or you can sign up for a private plan. You get the choice. Unless, you allow Republicans to make that choice for you.

Everybody thinks bipartisanship is a wonderful thing, but bipartisanship comes second to doing the right thing. We need a bill, that allows the American people to make the choice between a public health insurance option and the private plans they have now.

Affordable: Healthcare reform must lower costs, and the insurance industry hasn’t done it when left to their own devices. We need a strong public health insurance option to compete with industry to lower rates and keep them honest.

Available: We need a public health insurance option available throughout the country to compete with the insurance companies who often control your local market by determining what you pay and what you get.

Accountable: We need tough rules with penalties for waste and abuse that apply to the private companies and the public entity offering insurance.

Do the Math

2009-06-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

In early April, Oklahoma Republican Senator Jim Inhofe accused President Obama of “gutting the military.”

Senator Inhofe said: “The only thing in the budget that’s being cut is the military. The announcement today that we’re not going to be able to carry through with the responsibilities that we have to these guys right here in Afghanistan. We owe it to these guys right here in Afghanistan.” On his website, Inhofe added that Obama is “disarming America” to support his welfare state.

Senator Inhofe represents a state in Congress, which stands to lose a lot of money if the Pentagon goes through its plan to cut the future combat system that Oklahoma’s connected to.

We have to realize that this is all part of a pattern, that Cheney and Giuliani have come up with to make the case that America is less safe with President Obama. Inhofe’s claim, that it’s a military budget cut is absolutely false, because Obama’s military budget shows an increase of four percent.

In announcing his budget plans, the Defense secretary, Gates, presented a new way of spending the Pentagon’s money, shifting money away from many traditional weapons systems, focusing it instead on more troops and new technology to fight the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Recently, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska insisted, that defense cuts are a sign of weakness. Thereby, she joined Dick Cheney, Rudy Giuliani and the Republicans in Congress in falsely mischaracterizing, the shifting of priorities, as making cuts to the military’s budget. In the final year of the Bush administration, the defense budget was $513 billion; in fiscal 2010, it will be $534 billion. That is an increase of $21 billion, which is not a cut.

Either these politicians are being dishonest, or they are not very good at math.

Disgraceful Failure

2009-06-23T00:58:00.000-07:00

In a book entitled: “The Twenty-Five Year War, General Bruce Palmer observed, “With respect to Vietnam, our leaders should have known that the American people would not stand still for a protracted war of an indeterminate nature with no foreseeable end to the U.S. commitment.”

We again find ourselves mired in a “protracted war of an indeterminate nature with no foreseeable end to the U. S. commitment.” The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in our military accommodating the enemy by fighting on their terms. The purpose of our continued involvement in these protracted wars has become increasingly difficult to discern. Apparently, avoiding the humiliation of disgraceful failure is the primary motivation.

We face the prospect of perpetual conflict, because the present generation of senior officers have forgotten the lessons of Vietnam, and instead embraced open-ended wars. Regarding Iraq Gen. David Petraeus has asked: “Tell me how this ends.” Unfortunately, no one has the foggiest idea how it will end, and for the American soldiers there is no end in sight.

There is a notable difference from the last time we found ourselves mired in an endless war. During the Vietnam era, many young Americans fought against the war itself. In the 1960s, the war created a climate of intense political engagement, but nearly 50 years later the prevailing mood of the country is a dull acceptance. Most Americans have accepted the prospect of wars that go on and on, because there is no draft and few of us have an immediate personal stake in this conflict.

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April 1971, a young John Kerry reflected the views of other Vietnam veterans who had turned against the war in which they had fought, by saying: “we are probably angriest about all that we were told about Vietnam and about the mystical war against communism.” Kerry concluded by asking: “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”

It’s a disgraceful failure, that Congress continues to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bold Vision

2009-06-22T00:25:00.000-07:00

On April 5th, President Obama laid out a bold vision for a world free of nuclear weapons and a compelling plan to make that vision a reality. He called for dramatic changes to the nuclear weapons policies of the United States and for taking steps to eliminate dangerous, Cold-War nuclear arsenals – steps designed to increase American and international security.

The response from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress has for the most part been silence. Obama will need strong support from both sides of the aisle to promote his agenda, as well as a two-thirds majority in the Senate for ratification of any international treaty. Among the few Senators, who have come out in favor of Obama’s courageous approach to nuclear weapons reductions is John McCain.

Speaking on the Senate floor following a ceremony honoring President Ronald Reagan, Senator McCain pointed out, that in a speech, before the Japanese Diet on November 11, 1983, President Ronald Reagan said: “The only value in possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they can’t be used ever. I know I speak for people everywhere when I say our dream is to see the day when nuclear weapons will be banished from the face of the Earth.” Sen. McCain added: “That is my dream, too, and it is one shared by many of our most distinguished national security practitioners.” Other Senators who have spoken out include Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold and Oregon’s freshman Senator Jeff Merkley, but those three Senators are not enough.

Vital nuclear weapons issues are forthcoming, on the floor of the Senate, such as a new nuclear reductions treaty between US and Russia, as well as, a vote on the treaty to ban nuclear weapons testing. Therefore, it is more imperative now than ever before that we insist that our Senators and Representatives in Congress support Obama’s nuclear policies.

North Korea’s testing of nuclear weapons and missiles and Iran’s uranium enrichment program have proven that this is a critical time for global cooperation on nuclear non-proliferation. It’s also a critical time for our representatives in Congress to demonstrate statesmanship instead of political gamesmanship.

The Real Fight

2009-06-21T00:11:00.000-07:00

President Obama pointed out: “The easiest way for reactionary forces inside Iran to crush reformers is to say it’s the U.S. that is encouraging those reformers. So what I’ve said is, look, it’s up to the Iranian people to make a decision. We are not meddling, and, you know, ultimately the question that the leadership in Iran has to answer is their own credibility in the eyes of the Iranian people. And when you have got 100,000 people who are out on the streets peacefully protesting, and they’re having to be scattered through violence and gunshots, what that tells me is the Iranian people are not convinced of the legitimacy of the election.”

Some Democrats and Republicans have been critical of the following statement by Obama: “I think, first of all, it’s important to understand that although there is amazing ferment taking place in Iran, that the difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised.”

Our President is correct, because either way we are going to be dealing with an Iranian regime that has historically been hostile to the United States, one that is pursuing nuclear weapons and has caused problems in Middle East.

Former CIA field officer, Robert Baer concludes: “I think the real fight doesn’t even include Mousavi and Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad is president, but his powers are limited. What this is really is a power struggle between Khamenei, the spiritual leader, and the old line guard that came with Khamenei, in particular the former president, Rafsanjani.”

According to Baer, Khamenei is not actually an ayatollah. Therefore, has limited legitimacy in Iran. He does controls the military and secret police, and if the elections were rigged, it was Khamenei who rigged them, not Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad might be sacrificed, but the real prize is Khamenei’s position as the spiritual leader. There are rumors that former president Rafsanjani is in Shiite Islam’s holy city of Qom, planning to overthrow Khamenei.

Few Americans actually understand the nuances of the demonstrations in Iran or what is really at stake. If these demonstrations continue, Khamenei could fall and this would mean, that there are significant internal divisions.

Very Careful

2009-06-20T01:18:00.000-07:00

Regarding the disputed election in Iran, Obama said: “I do believe that something has happened in Iran where there is a questioning of the kinds of antagonistic postures towards the international community that have taken place in the past and that there are people who want to see greater openness and greater debate and want to see greater democracy. How that plays out over the next several days and several weeks is something ultimately for the Iranian people to decide.”

Robert Baer was a field operative (spy) for the CIA. He authored: “The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower,” and has been covering the elections in Iran, for many years. Baer’s reacted favorably to Obama’s statement by saying: “We do not want to get in the middle of Iranian politics, which we barely understand. And if the President were to come out and support Mousavi, the democratic opposition leader, it would be fatal for them. We want to keep to the sidelines, worry about the violence, point to the government, saying, you’re doing the right thing by doing a recount, but definitely don’t get involved. Iran is still a very xenophobic and paranoid country. And having the United States in the middle of its politics would really hurt.”

Obama’s comment that Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of Iran, is concerned enough about fraud in the election that he has asked for an inquiry, was very smart. It’s not confrontational, but is supportive of the people, because Obama needs to be very careful not to appear to meddle in Iranian politics. If he does that, he gives the mullahs a perfect target, and discredits the brave people who we are watching in the streets.

This is the most amazing series of events, that we have seen in Iran since the revolution, but America can really mess it up by putting itself in the middle of the story. This is one of the rare times in our history where we’re watching something like a democracy develop. Iranians have a deep fear, that their history has been written by others. In 1953, we staged a coup to installed the shah on the “Peacock Throne.” Before that, Iranians felt that the British were steering their destiny. Today, there are people in the streets who want to write that history themselves and we need to express solidarity with them but, it won’t be lasting unless they do it themselves.

Extremists

2009-06-19T00:09:00.000-07:00

"Hate is like acid. It can damage the vessel in which it is stored as well as destroy the object on which it is poured." Ann Landers

First the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-choice extremist. Now the murder of a security guard at the Holocaust Museum by a white supremacist.

Scott Roeder, who is being held for the murder of Dr. Tiller served 16 months in prison for carrying explosives, and threatened violence against abortion providers a week before he allegedly shot Dr. Tiller.

James W. Von Brunn served over 6 years in prison, for attempting to storm the Federal Reserve Bank in 1981. He is alleged to have killed a security guard at the Holocaust Museum. On a white supremacist website in 2007, Von Brunn urged: “Take action. Target. Swarm across the landscape. You know their murderous intent. You know who they are. Do it.”

Mr. Von Brunn spent more than 40 years in the white supremacist movement. Now, he sees a black president in the White House, who is doing things, that he can’t accept. Some suggest, that his intent may have been to become an Aryan hero. Younger people in the white power movement looked up to Von Brunn. They respected him, because he had distinguished himself by serving time as a POW. The white power movement considers any white person, that is sent to prison for a racial hate crime a prisoner of war.

Extremist believe there is a racial holy war going on, which they call RaHoWa - short for racial holy war. Since, Obama became President, they believe that the America, as they knew it, is dead and never coming back. Consequently, these extremist feel corner, and they’re act out with violence against anti -semitic targets.

Many perpetrators of anti-abortion and anti-Semitic violence are lone wolves and not part of an organized group. Often, we don’t know about them until an incident happens, which can be trace back to their extreme hatred.

A Public Option

2009-06-18T00:18:00.000-07:00

A single payer system won’t make it through the Senate, because of the cost. Furthermore, it could put thousands of people that work for insurance companies out of a job immediately. Consequently, our leadership in Washington is saying, that any health care reform must include a public health insurance option.

Opponents of reform are trotting out weak half-measures and calling them public plans, with the goal of leaving us with a public health insurance option in name only. The latest is a proposal for “co-ops”, i.e. small, regional insurers that would be too weak to bring costs down or compete with existing private insurance.

We have to send a clear message by demanding a strong public health insurance option, one that is available to everyone, national in scope, with real bargaining clout, and ready to go on day one. Let’s write letters to the editor of newspapers, about how important it is to include a strong public health insurance option. If you’ve never written a letter to the editor before, now is the time to send your first. The letters page is one of the most widely read in local newspapers. Members of Congress and their staffs read it to understand how their constituents are feeling. And the media read it as feedback on their coverage.

Here are a few key points as to what a strong public health insurance option should look like:

* A strong public health insurance option should be available to anyone who chooses to participate. If you like your current plan, you can keep it; if you want to participate in the public health insurance plan, you can choose to do so.

* In order to truly control costs and compete with private health insurance plans, a strong public health insurance option must be available nationwide.

* Every day we wait on real reform, health care costs continue to rise. A strong public health insurance option as soon as possible is key to building a competitive program that will help control costs.

* To ensure it’s held to the highest standards of accountability, a public health insurance option must be accountable and transparent to Congress and to voters.

A powerful public health insurance option is the lynchpin of real reform that will help bring costs down and provide coverage for all Americans. If thousands of us write to our local papers, we can make sure our representatives in Washington understand how crucial it is to voters like us.

The FACE Act

2009-06-17T00:26:00.000-07:00

Immediately after Scott Roeder was pulled over by police, local TV footage from KMBC captured a glimpse of a small note that was on the dashboard of Roeder’s car. The note read “Cheryl Op Rescue,” and it had a phone number on it.

Cheryl at Op Rescue, is Cheryl Sullenger, who is employed by the extremist anti-abortion group as their senior policy advisor. She has admitted to having multiple phone conversations with Mr. Roeder before Dr. Tiller was killed, and that those conversations were about Dr. Tiller. Before, Cheryl Sullenger became Operation Rescue’s senior policy advisor, she served almost two years in prison for conspiring to bomb a California abortion clinic.

Operation Rescue maintained something that they call “Tiller Watch” on their web site. Allies of Dr. Tiller in Kansas say that until recently, Operation Rescue posted online the doctor’s home address and the address of his church, which is where Dr. Tiller was allegedly murdered by Scott Roeder.

Congress gave our executive branch of government extraordinary powers by passing the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act). According to investigative work by reporter Daphne Eviatar at “The Washington Independent,” under Clinton, federal authorities enthusiastically enforced the FACE Act. Eviatar reported that the Clinton administration prosecuted 17 defendants for violations of the FACE Act in 1997 alone, and on average of about 10 per year since the law was enacted.

However, prosecution of FACE Act violations nearly disappeared under the Bush administration. Reportedly, “The Bush administration brought about two criminal prosecutions per year in the entire country under the FACE Act and never more than four in any single year.”

All of those responsible for enforcing our laws have pledge: “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

Facts to Consider

2009-06-16T00:09:00.000-07:00

Pertinent information for understanding the current economic crisis includes:

Billionaire Warren Buffett warned: “The rich people are doing so well in this county, I mean we never had it so good... It’s class warfare, my class is winning, but they shouldn’t be... Corporate taxes as a percentage of total taxes raised are very close to the historical low.”

Buffett cautioned, that Republican Sen. Phil Gramm’s amendment to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act enabled the setting up of a shadow banking system, which allowed the creation of financial “weapons of mass destruction.” That amendment directly contributed to the current mortgage foreclosure crisis, because all the protections in the Glass-Steagall Act were stripped away and big banks and insurance companies were allowed to merge. Immediately thereafter, Bush became president and hired regulators who weren’t interested in regulating Wall Street. Republican Congressman Bob Ney, blocked efforts to let the victims of predatory lending sue everybody who profited from it, which left Wall Street executives with virtually nothing to risk.

Economist Jeffrey Sachs wrote in “Fortune” magazine: “America can pull through the current economic crisis with a dose of political maturity and a bit of luck. Success will mean the end of the Reagan era, of an ideology that has brought the country to its knees.” When Reagan became President, we were the largest exporter of manufactured goods, the largest creditor and the largest importer of raw materials on the planet. As a consequence of Reaganomics we’ve become the largest importer of manufactured goods and exporter of raw materials.

Republicans have not produced a president in the past 34 years that has balanced a budget. Of the past 12 presidents the top six in terms of job creation were all Democrats. Clinton led the country in the direction of creating more jobs, significantly reduced unemployment and brought about a budget surplus, which Bush squandered on the way to creating a record deficit.

In “The Three Trillion Dollar War,” Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimated that the true costs of the quagmire in Iraq will eventually be more than three trillion dollars.

Agenda of Violence

2009-06-15T00:56:00.000-07:00

William F. Roberts wrote, that some “intend to deny these rights by would-be theocrats and other totalitarians among us.” In order to deny women the right to an abortion some extremist have been resorting to murder for decades.

Since the early ‘90s, there has been an organized network of extremists, who advocate the murder of abortion providers. They’ve come to the conclusion that the only way to stop abortion is to murder providers. They recruit people to engage in acts of violence and they celebrate the violence that takes place.

The National Abortion Federation, sent out a security alert to abortion providers after the November election, because in tracking abortion violence they’ve noticed an increase of activity outside abortion clinics, after they’ve lost an election. Obviously, anti-abortion extremists resorted to violence, whenever they don’t see themselves winning legislative or judicial battles.

Following, the heinous murder of Dr. Tiller, our Attorney General, Eric Holder responded by providing Federal Marshal protection to the most vulnerable physicians, who the National Abortion Federation thought might be targeted. He instructed the FBI to contact each of the clinics in their areas and assess their threat levels, security risks and to work very closely with the clinics, to make sure that we don’t see more violence.

Not unlike al Qaeda, it’s very hard to predict where violent extremist will strike, and by what method. There was a decrease in anti-abortion violence after the murder of Dr. Slepian in 1998, due in part to a strong law enforcement response, and the conviction of the three anti-abortion terrorists, who were on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list. Two years ago, a bomb outside a clinic in Austin, Texas malfunctioned. Clinic staff found it and called the ATF, who were able to detonate it without a loss of life.

In a civilized democratic society, we can’t allow people to use violence to advance their anti-abortion agenda to stop abortions from taking place in the United States. I've read that the only difference between the American anti-abortion movement and the Taliban is about 8,000 miles.

Make Allowance

2009-06-14T01:20:00.000-07:00

Whenever, a letter writer disagrees with my informed opinion, by resorting to personal attack, I recall a verse from a poem by Rudyard Kipling.

“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too; ”

Barack Obama’s thoughtful speech at Notre Dame provided an important message for all of us. Obama pointed out: “Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions.

“So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term. Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women.

“Understand - I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. No matter how much we may want to fudge it - indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory - the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.”

Obama’s speech sought common ground, but it’s impossible to find common ground with hate filled fanatics, who intend to carry out the ultimate personal attack by killing health care providers.

Murders Praised

2009-06-13T00:33:00.000-07:00

When Dr. David Gunn was murdered in 1993, the militant anti-abortion movement made a hero out of his killer. At least six of the people, who publicly declared themselves supporters of Dr. Gunn’s killer, by signing a public declaration praising that murder, went on to do time for anti-abortion violent terrorism, including two murders. Within two years of Dr. Gunn’s murder, seven more people were wounded at abortion facilities, and four more killed. The same radical fringe is calling Scott Roeder a hero and praising him.

Steve Deese, a radio talk show host on WHON in Ohio asked: “Are babies in Kansas safer today than they were yesterday while George Tiller was still taking in oxygen? Yes—is the answer to the question. Maybe the fact that we have a lawless society that has not protected these babies from this infanticide created the Scott Roeders of the world, who in very John Brown-like fashion, illegally took matters into his own hands, saying if the system will not deal with an evil then to hell with the system.”

David Leach, who publishes a newsletter called “The Prayer and Action News” to which Scott Roeder submitted articles. Mr. Leach told The Associated Press, that: “He will be the hero to thousands of babies who will not be slain because Scott sacrificed everything for them.” Leach told the Iowa Independent: “So far, the Bible discussion I have seen overwhelmingly supports anyone willing to sacrifice everything in order to physically stop an abortionist from killing thousands of babies.”

The Prayer and Action News web site stated: “So far, the only way to save hundreds, arguably thousands of unborn lives now has been to destroy abortion buildings or kill abortionists.”

Regina Dinwiddie is a longtime anti-abortion militant told CNN, that Tiller’s murder was: “absolutely justify,” and told The Associated Press that she’s glad about Dr. Tiller’s death saying: “I wouldn’t cry for him (Dr. Tiller) no more than I would if somebody dropped a rat and killed it.”

Dan Holman, a member of anti-abortion group in Iowa called “Missionaries to the Preborn,” told CNN, that Dr. Tiller’s death was something to cheer, and that he thinks abortion would justify assassinating the president, who Holman considered, “Deserving of death.”

A reign of terror has existed for over 30 years. There have been eight murder, seventeen attempted murders, forty-one bombings, and one hundred and seventy-one arsons.

“Choice”

2009-06-12T00:17:00.000-07:00

Freedom of choice provides women the opportunity to decide what is right based upon their own ethical, moral and religious beliefs. I’ve read that it shouldn’t be called pro-choice and pro-life, but “pro-choice” and “no-choice,” because that is what anti-abortionists are aiming to achieve.

Policing the anti-abortion terrorist movement is a federalized law enforcement responsibility. After Dr. David Gunn was gunned down in Pensacola, Florida, Congress passed a law that made it a federal crime to use force to intimidate or to physically obstruct individuals from entering reproductive health care clinics.

Six murders later, Clinton’s Justice Department established a national task force on violence against health care providers. That task force was supposed to reinvigorate federal involvement in the fight against violent extremist. Our federal government began training local law enforcement, coordinating investigations and prosecuting anti-abortion violence.

The Justice Department task force was expected to focus on connections that may exist between individuals involved in criminal anti-abortion activities. It serve as a clearinghouse to collect information relating to acts of violence against abortion providers, and coordinate data identifying national trends related to clinic violence. That includes data like attempting to glue-shut the doors of abortion clinics, threats of violence on anti-abortion web sites, publishing articles in newsletters, that argue killing doctors who perform abortions is justifiable homicide.

The task force was aware that Dr. George Tiller’s alleged killer Scott Roeder had served 16 months in prison for carrying explosives, but they were unable to prevent Tiller from being assassinated.

Apparently, the only difference between the American anti-abortion movement and the Taliban is about 8,000 miles.

Domestic Terrorism

2009-06-11T01:11:00.000-07:00

Scott Roeder has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault for murdering Dr. George Tiller. Dr. Tiller’s assassination was not the act of an isolated, single nutcase guy, who just decided to go into some church and blow somebody away. It was the inevitable result of 35 years of constant, relentless anti-abortion fanatics offering hate speech, violence, intimidation, assassinations and the message that it’s OK to kill abortion providers.

In April of 1996, Scott Roeder was arrested in Topeka, Kansas, when authorities found bomb-making materials in his car. He served 16 months in prison for that offense, and the judge called him a “threat of danger to the public.” In 2007, Roeder posted the following message on an anti-abortion website: “Tiller needs to be stopped. Sometime soon, it would be feasible to organize as many people as possible to attend Tiller’s church—inside not just outside—to have much more of a presence.” The day before Dr. Tiller was murdered, Roeder was spotted at an abortion clinic trying to pour glue into the facility’s locks. Employees chased him away, wrote down the license plate number and reported the incident to the FBI.

The 1994, President Clinton signed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which makes it a federal crime to injure, intimidate, or interfere with those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health care services. That includes not just murder, assault, arson, and property damage, but also death threats, burglaries, harassing phone calls, hate mail, and blockades. The FBI was to investigate these crimes, working closely with a variety of law enforcement partners and the Department of Justice.

Republicans pulled the plug on that legislation after they took control of Congress by cutting its the funding.