Maine Writer

Americans Need to Know: It's Likely Your Health Care Is Already Governnment Run- Any Complaints?

2009-07-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

If you're an American with health insurance, it's about a 40 percent chance you are enrolled in a government benefit plan. Beneficiaries of Medicaid, Medicare, Tricare, Veterans Health Care, Government Service (GS) workers like the US post office employees or other federal positions, the United States Congress, the executive and judicial branches of government, workers at the Centers for Disease Control, the Public Health Department and the National Institutes for Health (NIH), the disabled on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), people on kidney dialysis, and Native Americans living on reservations are part of the government run health care system.

Are these millions of beneficiaries complaining about their choice of provider, or the cost, quality and/or access to care in their health coverage? Of course not.

It seems to me, President Clinton and now President Obama missed their communications messages when they failed to point out how much of our US health care is already federally managed - which includes the management of the cost of care. Rather than consumers, it's actually providers and insurers who are terrified of a government run health care system. Why? Because the government can use the volume of services it purchases as leverage against costs. In other words, the more health care the government buys, the greater the influence over reducing the cost.

Physicians point out that Medicare reimbursement does not cover their costs. Nevertheless, most physicians continue to care for Medicare patients. Why? Because of simple multiplication. Although each patent's bill does not cover the cost of the care provided, the number of patients seen in a day multiplied by the payment for the total number visits in a day can generate a small profit margin in a well managed and efficient physician's office. Consequently, Medicare is parsimonious when looking at increasing physician reimbursement because the economies of scale compensates for the low per unit cost paid for a visit.

This is one example of how the government keeps costs under control.

There is no perfect health care system. A single payer system can easily become inefficient for lack of competitive controls. For example, if all health care is paid for by one source, i.e., the government, then providers in highly efficient systems risk being financially burdened by the less efficient systems receiving the very same reimbursement from the single payer. There must be incentives to providers who provide efficient care with demonstrated quality outcomes.

A universal health care plan offered by competitive insurers is a good idea if people can also choose a public option; but the cost of receiving a benefit plan must include the requirement for insurers to take high risk clients with expensive pre-existing conditions. On the other hand, if these high risk-high cost patients are offered the public plan as an alternative, then the tax payers will be paying for their expensive care. Nevertheless, this already happens with kidney dialysis patients. Insurance companies pay very little for kidney dialysis because these high cost patients are, generally, automatically eligible for Medicare regardless of their age. Do you think private insurance plans supported this humane rule for kidney dialysis patients to opt for a Medicare plan? You bet they did! They put the high cost-high risk patients clearly on the government health care benefit.

Health care reform is already costly. The scary figure of $1 trillion dollars to fund health care reform, recently calculated by the GAO, neglected to mention how this money is already being spent. It's spent in the cost of caring for the uninsured and charity care. Moreover, it's also spent in the profits private insurance companies make by taking your premiums and not paying for the care you received until months after you obtained services. How many hospital patients continue to receive bills months and years after being discharged from care? Lots. Where is this money you paid in premiums which is not going to the hospitals? It's in the insurance companies profit/loss reports, written in black ink.

Americans and our policy makers must get to the issue of health care as a right rather than a privilege. Of course, this raises another set of ethical issues not relative to this commentary.

Meanwhile, when it comes to the cost of a government run health care system, just look around you. Tag! It's quite likely you are it.

Burka Update

2009-06-22T10:41:00.000-07:00

Burka update: I posted a complimentary blog about our Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on January 18, 2007, regarding her sans burka appearance with the Saudi royal prince. I'm updating new and ongoing news regarding this symbol of feminine subservience and (in my opinion) passive violence toward women. Let me be clear, I am supportive of the right of women to wear clothing appropriate to their customs but the burka, in my opinion, goes well beyond custom - it's hideous.

Now, President Sarkozy of France has commented as per the BBC:Sarkozy speaks out about the wearing of the burka:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8112821.stm

Mr Sarkozy was speaking at a special session of parliament in Versailles
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has spoken out strongly against the wearing of the burka by Muslim women in France.

In a major policy speech, he said the burka - a garment covering women from head to toe - reduced them to servitude and undermined their dignity.

Mr Sarkozy also gave his backing to the establishment of a parliamentary commission to look at whether to ban the wearing of burkas in public.

In 2004, France banned the Islamic headscarves in its state schools.

'Not welcome'

"We cannot accept to have in our country women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity," Mr Sarkozy told a special session of parliament in Versailles.

"That is not the idea that the French republic has of women's dignity.

"The burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic," the French president said.

But he stressed that France "must not fight the wrong battle", saying that "the Muslim religion must be respected as much as other religions" in the country.

A group of a cross-party lawmakers is already calling for a special inquiry into whether Muslim women who wear the burka is undermining French secularism, the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby in Paris says.

The lawmakers also want to examine whether women who wear the veil are doing so voluntarily or are being forced to cover themselves, our correspondent says.

Mr Sarkozy's speech was the first a French president has made to parliament since the 19th century - made possible by a constitutional amendment he introduced last year.

Later on Monday, Mr Sarkozy was expected to meet the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah al-Thani.

In 2004, France banned the Islamic headscarf and other conspicuous religious symbols from public schools, triggering heated debate in the country and abroad.

Members of the French government have been divided over the issue.

The immigration minister, Eric Besson, has said a full ban will only "create tensions" while the junior minister for human rights, Rama Yade, said she would accept a ban if it was aimed at protecting women forced to wear the burka.

France's official Muslim council has criticised the debate.

"To raise the subject like this, via a parliamentary committee, is a way of stigmatising Islam and the Muslims of France," said Mohammed Moussaoui, head of the French Council for the Muslim Religion.

France is home to about five million Muslims.

Thursday, January 18, 2007
Sitting in Saudi Arabia Sans Burka: Condoleezza Rice

People who follow fashion and haute couture will get a fright-night scare by checking out this webpage: ttp://www.alhannah.com/cgi-bin/avg?a;niqab. Thankfully, our United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was not interested in the latest Riyadh designs for the all concealing "burka" or Islam veil when she sat side by side with her hosts and Arab peers during a recent televised visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Congratulations and a heart felt "thank you", Madame Secreatary, for making a magnificent presence in Riyadh sans berka.

In my opinion, the berka (or burka) is symbolic of everything that is wrong with the Islam culture and prevents me from understanding how any good can come of out of this world dominant and growing religious faith. Can the Islam civilization be considered civilized when, by religious custom and via the writings of its founder Mohamed, women are required to hide themselves? We are talking about at least 50 percent of the Islam population who are required to put themselves behind scarves. This custom or practice defies modesty. It is plain suppression.

Suppressed women cannot contribute to the conversation at any level. Therefore, I submit, the Islam nations of the world are only hearing from half their constituents.

I expect Condoleezza Rice was not shown on Saudi Arabian television sitting next to her peers without wearing a berka. No doubt, this news was either ignored altogether or heavily censored, at best. Indeed, I suspect the snippets we saw on American television were clandestinely filmed. Did anybody notice Condoleezza Rice without a berka? It is a very big deal for a woman not to cover her head in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, it's even a much bigger deal to sit at the big guys table without any veil. Berka, indeed! Madame Secretary, you looked magnificent. Although your statements were muted in the report I saw, you actually didn't have to speak at all. Your presence sans berka was enough for me. You are a liberating image to women who must, at times, wonder why most of the world finds the berka to be repressive, disrespectful and a symbol of violent sexual oppression, based entirely upon the fact that a human being happens to be born a female.

Although I've never publsihed a prophecy in my life, my first attempt at this mystic concept is this: When Islam women shed the berka, we will see peace in the Middle East.

Thank you Madame Secretary Condoleezza Rice for going to Saudi Arabia sans berka.

Post Script: March 4, 2007 - BBC News: "Iran Women Arrested After Protest"
(Seventy people were arrested at last June's demonstration)

Iran's authorities arrested more than 32 women activists protesting outside a courthouse in Tehran. The protesters were showing solidarity with five women on trial for organising a protest last June against laws they say discriminate against women.

The five were charged with endangering national security, propaganda against the state and taking part in an illegal gathering.

US pressure group, Human Rights Watch, urged an end to the prosecution.

It said the women were exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly.

The five are organisers of a demonstration last June which was violently broken up by the police and led to the arrest of 70 people, many of them innocent bystanders.

'Intimidation'

The BBC's Frances Harrison, reporting from the demonstration, says almost all the leaders of Iran's women's movement were arrested.

The women held up banners outside the revolutionary court, saying: "We have the right to hold peaceful protests".

The aim of the women is to draw attention to discriminatory Islamic laws on polygamy and child custody that often cause great suffering to women, our correspondent says.

When the five women on trial left the court building they were arrested again, along with their lawyer.

Parveen Adalan, one of those on trial, said her lawyer had not yet seen any of the evidence against her, although she has been questioned five times by the intelligence agencies.

"They didn't give them our documents to read, so we don't know what's happening," she told the BBC.

One of the women demonstrators, Nahid Mirhaj, accused the police of trying to intimidate them.

She said the police chief was "using obscene words and describing us as 'misfits'".

Our correspondent says police and plain-clothes security men chased away journalists and onlookers and then loaded the women onto a curtained minibus and drove them away.

The women believe the authorities are trying to intimidate them to prevent any kind of protest during International Women's Day on 8 March.

Labels: Condoleezza Rice, Islam Berka, Islam women, Saudi Arabia

Postscript: I received several comments about this burka post; but, due to the prevalence of perversity on blogs, I choose to block comments. Please send me your comments at e-mail: oneturkeyrun@suscom-maine.net - if you would like to be posted on this blog. All comments appropriate to the subject of the blog will be posted unedited.

Tea Parties in the Park

2009-04-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

National Tea Party protests took place in over 800 locales - but it's where they are held, on tax payers' property, that really gets me angry.

Most of these Tea Parties attract right wing extremists who are running out of good ideas about how to help America.

Rather, these people are going back to the future - the colonial times, to be precise. Too bad they can't come up with an original idea about how to move a grass roots effort forward. Instead, they are making a mockery of our democracy by plagiarizing colonial rebellion.

Moreover, these extremists are protesting in parks, in front of the Alamo in San Antonio, and places where nice people want to enjoy being outdoors - on tax supported public property.

They're taking over public places where American tax dollars are used to support the very tea parties where these participants are carrying on about taxes.

It's like saying, "Hey, Mom, I'm leaving home because you don't love me anymore," and going outside to sleep in the family car. You haven't accomplished anything.

In fact, where would tea party participants go if we stopped paying for public parks with tax money? It gets pretty cold sitting in the family car and it doesn't get you any attention, either.

These tea parties need to go where the problem really exists - on Wall Street. Otherwise, please, leave our tax paid for public parks out of the television cameras. You tea party extremists are desecrating our tax payers rights to enjoy the benefits earned by paying taxes.

In other words, tea party folks should quit whining - stop being hypocritical, just because you don't like who won the last Presidential election.

Iraq and AIG - If Only?

2009-03-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

Americans are finally united in outrage about something. We agree about the ridiculously obscene bonus money AIG corporate executives claimed at taxpayers expense. Indeed, the money should be given back voluntarily, but there's slim chance of this given the people who stole the funds have no conscious.

It's called bank robbery when ordinary people steal money from financial institutions. When corporate executives take money, the rules change and it becomes unethical or selfish. It's still bank robbery, nonetheless.

My question is more about how we arrived at the mess we are in today?

Americans should have been as united in outrage about invading Iraq in 2003, simply because we didn't like the dictator, as we are about AIG thieves today. We were lied to about the Iraq War, by our most trusted leaders. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We invaded a country without a reason to do so; and now this war is not winnable. It won't take long after American troops leave for the Iraqi government to become just as tyrannical as it was before we showed up. It's like Animal Farm 2009 - we wanted to make it better, but it's not going to improve when we leave. Unfortunately, the cultural forces in place during the time of the evil dictator are still present. They will rise again with different names.

My point is this. If we showed the same outrage at the invasion of Iraq as we have with the AIG bonus debacle, maybe we'd have billions of dollars less national debt and many thousands of lives saved.

Moreover, it goes beyond Iraq. If enough people were outraged in 2003, by the mention of invading Iraq, maybe we would have won a lasting peace in Afghanistan. Instead, we're re-fighting a war that was once won and is now lost. Instead, we invaded the wrong country to find the perpetrator of the September 11, 2001 attacks on our nation.

A perpetrator who is still hiding and at large as this is written.

If only we shared this AIG outrage with the invasion of Iraq, it is possible we could be a world more at peace than at war. It's a possibility.

Nevertheless, history won't save us from what is happening right now. AIG is the tipping point for an accumulation of misplaced outrages. Psychologists might say this is the classic defense mechanism of projection. "It's all the fault of AIG!"

Well, AIG is wrong for taking money that doesn't belong to them. Nevertheless, the root culprits are us. Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and they are us".

Our future must collect the best and brightest people in the world to fix our economy and our foreign policy. Although I have confidence in President Barack Obama, he is only one person who cannot possibly solve all of our global problems by himself. We need a new way of thinking about ourselves and the planet we live on.

Perhaps, Americans need to re-invent ourselves.

First, let's demand our tax money be returned from AIG - or the thieves go to jail (forget punitive tax laws). Second, let's help the Iraqi people to understand peace instead of war. Third, let's create an economy based upon opportunity and trust, rather than greed and avarice. Amen.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel - Thank You for Calling Pope Benedict XVI

2009-02-08T15:32:00.000-08:00

My husband's first cousin and WWII veteran Henry L'Heureux told me what he saw during the liberation of a Jewish Concentration Camp in Europe. He cried - I have this on audio tape - he cried when he told me, "Don't let anybody try to say this didn't happen".

Kudos 10 times over to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She called Pope Benedict XVI on his reticence, when the Pope was asked to pull support for Bishop Richard Williamson, who incredibly wants more proof about the Jewish Holocaust.

As a Roman Catholic, I can see where the Pope might revoke this Bishop's excommunication (I don't agree with it, but I understand this side of the situation). Nevertheless, how can the Pope continue to allow this man to call himself a Bishop? These are two separate issues - excommunication and the man's ordination as Bishop are mutually exclusive issues, in my mind. A Bishop takes a vow of obedience - he has no authority to ask for more proof about the Jewish Holocaust. One has to wonder if this Bishop also needs more proof about the Resurrection of Jesus?

I hope this call by Chancellor Merkel gets more than just a bold bullet story line on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/08/germany.bishop/index.html

Perhaps we can hear a transcript of this telephone call. I wish!

Marc Pembroke of Jackman Maine speaks eloquence about our economic "recesspression"

2009-01-31T11:42:00.000-08:00

Greetings to friends of MaineWriter about our nation's new economic climate and thoughts on the words "correction" or recession/depression:

Marc Pembroke says he follows discussions with interest, "...even though I do not often have time to intervene, but I would like to share a few thoughts...".

First, on the best new term for our new economic climate - let's call it a "recess-pression".

About a year ago, a few clear-thinking economists were still using the term "correction." I am old enough to remember when a "correction" was a good thing. It meant identifying an error and making it right, or changing direction so that travel was toward the intended destination. At the beginning of this crisis, we had far too much public and private debt. The average American spent more than his or her salary in 2007. We doubled our national debt from $5 trillion in 2001 o $10 trillion in 2008. Our banks were keeping less than 1% of capital reserves. When I took introduction to economics ages ago, every textbook on the market used to say that 10% was normal. Meanwhile, our housing stock was overbuilt and in many markets, overpriced. In other words, we created an irresponsible situation on many different levels. The situation was untenable, so we needed a major "correction." How about this for a solution? Maybe if we stop spending so much on imported geegaws and gadgets we don't need, eliminate government waste, and save a bit more of our salaries, we might be able to pay down some debt. That would mean shutting down businesses that don't deliver useful and necessary products at affordable prices.

Almost every pundit and elected official who chooses to comment on the issue says that doing nothing is "out of the question." Even so, I would ask, "Why?" I figure if the managers of a bank don't know how to run a bank, the bank ought to close so folks can go to a bank with competent officers. If we leant too much money to people who can't afford to pay it back, the solution is not to lend them more money. If the government would let the chips fall where they may, and raise interest rates to discourage lending, the market would quickly find the price for the unsold homes: that of the highest reasonable bidder. The prices would correct almost immediately. I have a son in California who recently bought a cottage with 1100sq ft of living space for the bargain-basement price of $360,000, down 40% from a year ago. I still find it high, but they can handle it. Suppose banks or Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc. didn't lend so much? The house would go for what the buyers had on hand. What's wrong with that, other than the fact that too many lenders were over-invested in housing at unreasonable prices. Whose fault is that, after all?

As to newspapers, the industry has always been "subsidized" by advertising dollars. In other words, businesses making a profit in other sectors use a portion of their revenues to place ads in newspapers circulating in their markets. If they could not make a profit advertising in print media, the journalists would have to find some other way to get paid plying their trade. We need not speculate on whether the print media is truly "independent" or "objective." I have my doubts, but that's a topic for another day.

The solution is to look at where high-quality reporting and writing functions in other sectors. Almost every skilled profession, interest group, and religious community produces its own journals, literature, or white papers for its leaders. My guess is that talented writers will find a home somewhere amongst them.

One more thought on the economy. Recently, we seem to be hearing more advisors telling us that inflation is really not such a bad thing, and we should have more of it. The Treasury department is apparently going to print up the $800 billion for the stimulus package, a guaranteed way to lower the value of the dollar. The thought seems to be that by jacking up inflation, wages will go up and the actual value of the current debt will become affordable. I suggest that we look at how well it works in Zimbabwe. If you owed $100,000 in the local currency last year, by now it would be cab fare for a week, or maybe the price of a can of beans (assuming there are any cans of beans on the store shelves). So, if you would like to save, I suggest that your local jeweler might be a better place to invest than your stockbroker or bank. Gold will hold its value even if the Fed and Treasury succeed in destroying the dollar and bankrupting the nation. I don't mean to sound partisan. The republicans guided us to the brink of collapse, but the democrats might just finish the job!

Marc

From MaineWriter: Are there any thoughts about how to get us out of this horrible recessionpression? Putting Wall Street Executive Bankers in jail for taking bonus money that belongs to tax payers, unfortunately, won't help. Nevertheless, after working within Medicare and Medicaid services for about 20 years, I was subject to a jail sentence in Federal prison if there were even a hint of fraud in my organizations - this is no joke. It didn't take much proof to put the likes of me in jail. Wall Street Executives should be treated with equal justice to Medicare and Medicaid administrators. But, even if justice prevails, I cannot see where this will help our economy.

Senator Caroline Kennedy - She Deserves a Chance (It Was Only for Two Years!)

2008-12-19T17:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I sure lost this blogging appeal for Caroline Kennedy. Too bad. She simply wasn't ready for the tumultuous political scene. Nonetheless, she has my support. I just wish the Governor of New York had given her a chance - it was only for two years, after all.

It's hard to believe the eloquent Caroline Kennedy is in a position of having to prove she can be a United States Senator. In fact, rather than question her credentials, the people of New York State should reach out and thank this dedicated lady for her interest in the job. Certainly, she has a very good resume and a humanitarian interest in taking a vacant job previously held by another competent celebrity, Senator Hilary Clinton.

Ms. Kennedy doesn't need the money this Senator's job pays; moreover, her prestige as Caroline Kennedy certainly doesn't need reinforcing. She inherited the blue blood of America's best and brightest political Kennedy family.

Let's give this brave lady a chance - she deserves our best wishes and support as her intentions must be purely humanitarian, certainly they are not overtly ambitious.

Thank you Caroline Kennedy for your willingness to continue the legacy of your father and all of his family who have worked hard, even dedicated their lives, for the cause of improving the human condition for all the people of the world.

Please allow me to be the first person to congratulate you as Senator Caroline Kennedy from New York. Maybe I'll have the honor of meeting you some day when I'll give you a congratulatory hug. Also, be sure to call on me if I can be helfpul.

Congratulations President Elect Barack Obama and Vice President Elect Joseph Biden

2008-11-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

Everyone I know is election weary. "I'm glad it's finally over," is the commonly stated relief statement. For myself, I'm actually most relieved for the past eight hellish Republican years finally being finished.

Moreover, the reign of conservative politics is over, as well.

Yes, indeed, it's finally over. All eight years building up to this election are now behind us and we can move on - but to where? Thank goodness President Elect Barack Obama is now calling on the successfully experienced people of the Clinton administration to allow his first term to begin designing a survival strategy for our nation.

Those pundits who say the Obama administration is a third Clinton term,oh well, that's perfectly OK with me. Clinton's presidency is a good guide to follow for the future years, when no one appears to have any idea what lies ahead of us.

As the NBC newsman Tom Brokaw said when President Elect Obama was finally declared the winner of the presidential race at 11 PM on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Brokaw said Barack Obama needs our support. Let's not waste time tearing our new president elect down. Rather, let's use this time of new energy to help build up the presidency of our newly elected national leader.

So, obviously, my family's heartfelt congratulations extend to President Elect Barack Obama, his wife Michael, his family and the same to Vice-President Elect Joseph Biden and his lovely family.

My family pledges to support the work you have ahead of you, to address the daunting responsibilities and challenges of the future. Thank you for running and taking these essential leadership jobs. Please accept your elections as a mandate from Americans to clean up the public policy disasters caused eight years of Republican led turmoil driven by greed, corruption, war and the lack of compassionate economic policies that put us all in this terrible dark economic cave.

We now have newly elected, enlighted leadership to lead our country out of the Republican dug cave and into an era of promise - we share Mr. Obama's Audacity of Hope.

Congratulations and best wishes.

ACORN and Voter Fraud - What Recent History Taught Us

2008-10-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

Republicans, sadly, are already trying to steal the legitimacy of a potential Democratic electoral sea turn in America by waving the specter of voter fraud.

Bearing the brunt of this negativity is ACORN, a voter registration group that just happens to be employing people to register voters.

Republicans have little else to do these days except to unbury the dead, finding ghosts of negativity they themselves exploited to great success in the past.

Except, this year, the ghost is their own making. To coin a phrase, "It's the economy they created, stupid". More ironic, the vulnerable people targeted by these fraudulent ACORN accusations are the very same ones who are more terrified by the state of our shaky US economy than they are by whether or not ACORN registrations are 1000 percent legitimate.

In Maine, where our state, oftentimes, seems to vote by referenda ballots rather than by legislative actions, there is never a registration where the opposition accepts the petition signatures as being 1000 percent accurate. Never. It's a question of the preponderance of the signatures rather than actual number of suspected fraudulent registrations. If a ballot initiative collects the correct number of signatures by just a few thousand names, then the opposition challenges the legitimacy of the signature gathering. On the other hand, if the signature gathering collects a substantial number of names which, by statistical analysis, would fall well outside the potential for fraud, meaning it really doesn't matter if some names are fraudulent, then the issue is left hanging without a formal challenge.

In other words, in a close popular vote, the ACORN accusations of fraud will raise doubts about the legitimacy of a Democratic election victory.

On the other hand, scare tactics about ACORN actually pale by what recent history already taught us about election fraud.

In the year 2000, the United States Supreme Court supported election fraud when they unvalidated thousands of votes in Florida because the time for counting had expired. If the votes cast and discarded had been actually counted, our world would be in a much different situation today because Senator and Nobel Prize Winner Al Gore would have won the presidency.

I speculate, the voter fraud executed by the United States Supreme Court in 2000, has caused the wasting of billions and billions of dollars in Iraq while Osama Bin Laden, the perpetrator of the September 11, 2001 attack in our country, is still on the lamb. It's a loose correlation, but certainly a plausible situation.

Of course, it's also rhetorical because, obviously, we will never know for sure what would have happened if the United States Supreme Court had not reviewed the Florida voter action and condoned abandoning the vote count.

Voter fraud knows no exceptions.

So, my point is, to terrify people about voter fraud by raising ACORN as the example, we must also, likewise, examine actions by the United States Supreme Court and its decision in 2000 to stop counting votes in the Florida presidential election. This fraud subsequently, in my mind, elected a precariously incompetent president of the United States.

Let's give voter fraud equal time to vent all the perpetrators of the crimes.

Thank You Senator John McCain

2008-10-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

Truly, if anyone in my blog's cyberspace world knows Senator John McCain, please send him my sincere gratitude for stopping an audience response of ugly proportions from becoming a fear tactic attack against Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

How is it that a woman in the town hall audience recently could be so misinformed as to ask Senator McCain to tell her that Senator Obama is an Arab? Who planted that pitiful woman in the town hall audience?

Thankfully, Senator John McCain, you are a patriotic human being. Unfortunately for Americans, your time for being elected president of the United States is past, due to circumstances beyond your control, like your age, the awful economy, your vice-presidential choice of a running mate selected to please the right wing of the Republican base. Nevertheless, your leadership and moral judgement in response to angry town hall audiences are as fresh as ever.

Writing as an American wife of a Viet Nam War Veteran who happened to be serving "in country", in Chu Lai, when you were a prisoner of war in Hanoi, I want to sincerely thank you for recently taking the microphone away from the audience member who was spreading misinformation about Senator Barack Obama.

This year, I am voting for the political party that deserves at least 4 years to change the direction of Washington DC; this, after 8 years of Republican leadership which took our country backwards, rather than forwards.

Racism and some degree of completely unjustified paranoia seems to underlie this year's election, like, as though electing a black man is somehow not American; or, wrongly, a bi-racial man in the White House will make us all socialists. It's balderdash stuff of the middle of the 19th-century. Gratefully, your actions, in support of Senator Obama's character at the town hall meeting, was the right thing to do for America. You helped to educate people who simply don't understand what this election is really about.

Please listen up, you Americans out there in cyberspace, who mistakenly believe we are voting about fear versus progress!

We are electing a change in leadership in Washington DC.

Fact two, there are only 2 choices on the table for the winning ballot; either one of whom will bring about change. In fact, the choices are both excellent men who have different ideas about how to bring about the change of direction our country needs with regard to foreign policy, the economy, health are, energy independence, the environment and national security.

Thanks you, Senator McCain. Your quick minded response to the wrong minded statements from angry Americans who are misinformed on the meaning of this year's election is sincerely appreciated by me and Americans who admire your patriotic service to our country.

Perhaps, somebody in cyberspace will send you this message with my heartfelt gratitude attached.

The New York Times - Palin's ABC Interview Visibly Scripted

2008-09-14T04:13:00.000-07:00

Gov. Palin’s Worldview - The New York Times Editorial Published September 12, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/opinion/13sat1.html?ei=5070

"...the first televised interviews she has done since she joined the Republican ticket was so visibly scripted and lacking in awareness."

As we watched Sarah Palin on TV the last couple of days, we kept wondering what on earth John McCain was thinking.

If he seriously thought this first-term governor — with less than two years in office — was qualified to be president, if necessary, at such a dangerous time, it raises profound questions about his judgment. If the choice was, as we suspect, a tactical move, then it was shockingly irresponsible.

It was bad enough that Ms. Palin’s performance in the first televised interviews she has done since she joined the Republican ticket was so visibly scripted and lacking in awareness.

What made it so much worse is the strategy for which the Republicans have made Ms. Palin the frontwoman: win the White House not on ideas, but by denigrating experience, judgment and qualifications.

The idea that Americans want leaders who have none of those things — who are so blindly certain of what Ms. Palin calls “the mission” that they won’t even pause for reflection — shows a contempt for voters and raises frightening questions about how Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin plan to run this country.

One of the many bizarre moments in the questioning by ABC News’s Charles Gibson was when Ms. Palin, the governor of Alaska, excused her lack of international experience by sneering that Americans don’t want “somebody’s big fat résumé maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state.”

We know we were all supposed to think of Joe Biden. But it sure sounded like a good description of Mr. McCain. Those decades of experience earned the Arizona senator the admiration of people in both parties. They are why he was our preferred candidate in the Republican primaries.

The interviews made clear why Americans should worry about Ms. Palin’s thin résumé and lack of experience. Consider her befuddlement when Mr. Gibson referred to President Bush’s “doctrine” and her remark about having insight into Russia because she can see it from her state.

But that is not what troubled us most about her remarks — and, remember, if they were scripted, that just means that they reflect Mr. McCain’s views all the more closely. Rather, it was the sense that thoughtfulness, knowledge and experience are handicaps for a president in a world populated by Al Qaeda terrorists, a rising China, epidemics of AIDS, poverty and fratricidal war in the developing world and deep economic distress at home.

Ms. Palin talked repeatedly about never blinking. When Mr. McCain asked her to run for vice president? “You have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission,” she said, that “you can’t blink.”

Fighting terrorism? “We must do whatever it takes, and we must not blink, Charlie, in making those tough decisions of where we go and even who we target.”

Her answers about why she had told her church that President Bush’s failed policy in Iraq was “God’s plan” did nothing to dispel our concerns about her confusion between faith and policy. Her claim that she was quoting a completely unrelated comment by Lincoln was absurd.

This nation has suffered through eight years of an ill-prepared and unblinkingly obstinate president. One who didn’t pause to think before he started a disastrous war of choice in Iraq. One who blithely looked the other way as the Taliban and Al Qaeda regrouped in Afghanistan. One who obstinately cut taxes and undercut all efforts at regulation, unleashing today’s profound economic crisis.

In a dangerous world, Americans need a president who knows that real strength requires serious thought and preparation.
More Article

Maine's Governor John Baldacci Has More Experience than Governor Palin - So Does Senator Susan Collins - Comments from Colby College in Maine

2008-09-13T15:25:00.000-07:00

Palin has less experience than Maine's Governor John Baldacci or our Maine city mayors - An Opinion Editorial from Maine's Kennebec Journal
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/view/columns/5401705.html

By L. Sandy Maisel Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 09/12/2008

Mr. Maisel is a professor at Colby College in Waterville, Maine

Didn't Sarah Palin give a great speech at the Republican convention? Aren't those stories about her daughter's pregnancy unfair? Hasn't she energized the Republicans? Isn't she charismatic, articulate, fearless? Won't she be a great running mate for John McCain? Won't she be a great vice president?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And absolutely not.

There's the problem.

The press has done an appalling job in covering Palin's nomination. McCain's choice -- far from being the act of a political maverick -- reveals crass political calculation and a frightening lack of judgment.

McCain's pick may be brilliant politically. But if it is, his success will come at the nation's peril.

Palin's nomination highlights the difficulty that politicians and journalists have in covering the campaigns of candidates who are personally attractive but whose performance does not match their appeal.

In an age of negative campaigning, but one in which candidate after candidate cries "Foul" in response to any criticism, how can a candidate expose legitimate flaws in an opponent without being charged with waging a personal, negative campaign?

Tom Allen faces that problem in running against Senator Susan Collins.

Collins is well liked, for good reasons. Her office has done terrific service for many citizens, as her ads point out.

But her record is not without flaws. Allen seems hesitant to take those on directly -- and he has asked independent groups campaigning against her, on her record, to cease their criticisms, because he does not believe such groups should be the ones to frame the campaign in Maine.

But Congressman Allen faces a dilemma. Since the Portland Press Herald, irresponsibly in my view, closed its Washington bureau, no one is left to give an objective assessment of the work in Washington done by our representatives and senators. Our electoral choice is thus compromised.

The case of Palin is parallel, only worse. Asked whether Palin was qualified to be president, McCain responded that the nation seems to love her, and they relate to her.

Is that a qualification to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?

McCain and the Republicans tout Governor Palin's experience. It is as if we were living the Hans Christian Andersen folk tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes."

She has no experiences that qualify her for this job. But it appears no one will say that directly to McCain. The media have allowed Republican spin on woefully inadequate experience to go unchallenged.

She was mayor of Wasilla, a town smaller than Waterville or Augusta, Maine. Does that qualify her to be president?

Think Paul LePage (owner of a Maine bread company) or Roger Katz -- with charisma.

Wait, at least LePage really runs a business and meets a payroll, far more experience than Palin has.

She is governor -- as McCain asserts daily -- of the nation's largest state. By size, not population. Alaska's population is about half of Maine's.

Think of Maine's Governor John Baldacci -- with charisma.

Only our governor has confronted much more difficult problems than has Palin. While other governors have had to pare programs and worry about the state of the economy, as the prices of gas and oil have risen, Alaska has benefited -- and Palin has been able to appear the hero.

She returned money to her citizens, because she has not had to worry about the Alaska state's budget. She knows one side of the energy problem. But there is no Palin program on conservation. She talks about alternative fuels, but her energy program in Alaska did not mention them.

In two years, there has not been a Palin education program, and Alaska's schools are among the worst in the nation. More than 100,000 Alaskans are without health insurance. She has not addressed the problem. The rate of teen pregnancy in Alaska is among the highest in the nation. She has opposed programs to deal with that.

When questioned about her national security credentials, McCain mentions that Alaska is next to Russia and that she has commanded the Alaska National Guard. McCain must know that when the National Guard is pressed into federal service, she cedes command-and-control authority. She has never made one decision with national security implications. Some interviewer should look McCain in the eye and say, "That doesn't pass the smell test!"

Palin got her first passport last year. She has not led overseas trade missions, as Governor Baldacci has. She is unprepared in every way for the international aspects of the job she seeks.

McCain should be faulted lack of judgment. It was not the inspired choice of a maverick, but a dangerous, politically calculated decision.

We deserve a better choice. Not a nicer person; a better choice.

L. Sandy Maisel is director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby College.

Sexy Voices Soliciting Votes - Campaign Commercials

2008-09-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

“I think the McCain folks realize if they can get this thing down in the mud, drag Obama into the mud, that’s where they have the best advantage to win,” said Matthew Dowd....(The New York Times 9/13/08)- see article below blog.
http://tinyurl.com/4fs53a

There's no end to the complaining about misleading messages in campaign commercials. Nevertheless, campaign ads continue to be the iconic images of each election. Whether it's the horrible lies about Senator John Kerry's Viet Nam War experience being tainted or the end-of-days imaging of a mushroom cloud in President Lyndon Johnson's commercial aired during the 1960's, there are simply no ethical benchmarks to measure the effectiveness of campaign commercials. They should be put before an ethics review board (ERB), just like other research projects. Unfortunately, the extraordinary money behind these contrived messages simply overrides reasonableness and good practice.

As low as these ads can go, the one I heard supporting Senator John McCain, using a voice over by a very soft spoken sexy lady, hits the rock bottom of the rotten barrel. This sex kitten voice over is the kind of seduction a person might pay bucks to hear on a 1-900 pornographic call made by a consenting adult; but please spare the well meaning voting public the double entendre in McCain's campaign ad.

For those delusional minions who swoon about Governor Sarah Palin and consider her as competent to be commander in chief; or those who overlook Sentor John McCain's reckless choice of Palin made for political gain - pleases listen up. Senator John McCain will not deliver. There won't be a sex kitten in every bedroom after this year's Presidential election - regardless of what the soft sex voice implies.

Rather, we need messaging to educate and lift the campaign rhetoric to inspirational levels.

Black voters are inspired when they see one of their own race, someone who would not be seated at most drug store soda counters 45 years ago, running for President of the United States. Likewise, this image inspires me to vote for him, the embodiment of the American dream.

But, lately, sexism has over taken racism as a campaign distraction.

Have you noticed how Cindy McCain wears deculte dresses when she stands behind Governor Sarah Palin? (It's like a take off from "The Music Man" - "Right Here in River City!") Mrs. McCain is a beautiful woman. It cheapens her classy image to wear such demeaning garments. Moreover, it's a double standard when Senator Hilary Clinton is criticized for the myriad of colored pants suits she wears, but not one word is mentioned about Mrs. Cindy McCain's revealing dresses. Say it ain't so - will people really vote based upon the subliminal sexual imagry? You betcha'!

So, what does Senator Barack Obama need to do to win against this sexual inuendo?

Are there enough reasonable people who will rise up against this low level of rotten campaign advertising, driven by sex and sexism?

Maybe, but maybe not. In retribution, given the nature of these low life ads, perhaps Senator Obama could use a very sexy man in his commercials - the kind of fellow every woman would love to invite to dinner. Would someone please suggest this tactic to Senator Obama? Although he's striving for truth, which he sometimes skirts as well as any politician, he might also look for a very sexy man to deliver his truthfulness.

By the way, Obama is nearly as good looking a man as the sexy voiced kitten is seductive.

In other words, it's okay with me if Senator Obama does more of his own voice overs, because he's pretty sexy just the way he is.

But, will Obama's message of change penetrate through the devious distractions and misguided imagery thrown at him in this year's election?

God willing Obama is our next President of the United States, maybe he will finally make campaign finance reform and ethics in campaign ads a public policy issue.

Check The New York Times article of September 13, 2008:
http://tinyurl.com/4fs53a

Harsh advertisements and negative attacks are a staple of presidential campaigns, but Senator John McCain has drawn an avalanche of criticism this week from Democrats, independent groups and even some Republicans for regularly stretching the truth in attacking Senator Barack Obama’s record and positions.

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Mr. Obama has also been accused of distortions, but this week Mr. McCain has found himself under particularly heavy fire for a pair of headline-grabbing attacks. First the McCain campaign twisted Mr. Obama’s words to suggest that he had compared Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, to a pig after Mr. Obama said, in questioning Mr. McCain’s claim to be the change agent in the race, “You can put lipstick on a pig; it’s still a pig.” (Mr. McCain once used the same expression to describe Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s health plan.)

Then he falsely claimed that Mr. Obama supported “comprehensive sex education” for kindergartners (he supported teaching them to be alert for inappropriate advances from adults).

Those attacks followed weeks in which Mr. McCain repeatedly, and incorrectly, asserted that Mr. Obama would raise taxes on the middle class, even though analysts say he would cut taxes on the middle class more than Mr. McCain would, and misrepresented Mr. Obama’s positions on energy and health care.

A McCain advertisement called “Fact Check” was itself found to be “less than honest” by FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan group. The group complained that the McCain campaign had cited its work debunking various Internet rumors about Ms. Palin and implied in the advertisement that the rumors had originated with Mr. Obama.

In an interview Friday on the NY1 cable news channel, a McCain supporter, Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, called “ridiculous” the implication that Mr. Obama’s “lipstick on a pig” comment was a reference to Ms. Palin, whom he also defended as coming under unfair attack.

“The last month, for sure,” said Don Sipple, a Republican advertising strategist, “I think the predominance of liberty taken with truth and the facts has been more McCain than Obama.”

Indeed, in recent days, Mr. McCain has been increasingly called out by news organizations, editorial boards and independent analysts like FactCheck.org. The group, which does not judge whether one candidate is more misleading than another, has cried foul on Mr. McCain more than twice as often since the start of the political conventions as it has on Mr. Obama.

A McCain spokesman, Brian Rogers, said the campaign had evidence for all its claims. “We stand fully by everything that’s in our ads,” Mr. Rogers said, “and everything that we’ve been saying we provide detailed backup for — everything. And if you and the Obama campaign want to disagree, that’s your call.”

Mr. McCain came into the race promoting himself as a truth teller and has long publicly deplored the kinds of negative tactics that helped sink his candidacy in the Republican primaries in 2000. But his strategy now reflects a calculation advisers made this summer — over the strenuous objections of some longtime hands who helped him build his “Straight Talk” image — to shift the campaign more toward disqualifying Mr. Obama in the eyes of voters.

“I think the McCain folks realize if they can get this thing down in the mud, drag Obama into the mud, that’s where they have the best advantage to win,” said Matthew Dowd, who worked with many top McCain campaign advisers when he was President Bush’s chief strategist in the 2004 campaign, but who has since had a falling out with the White House. “If they stay up at 10,000 feet, they don’t.”

For all the criticism, the offensive seems to be having an impact. It has been widely credited by strategists in both parties with rejuvenating Mr. McCain’s campaign and putting Mr. Obama on the defensive since it began early this summer.

Some who have criticized Mr. McCain have accused him of blatant untruths and of failing to correct himself when errors were pointed out.

On Friday on “The View,” generally friendly territory for politicians, one co-host, Joy Behar, criticized his new advertisements. “We know that those two ads are untrue,” Ms. Behar said. “They are lies. And yet you, at the end of it, say, ‘I approve these messages.’ Do you really approve them?”

“Actually they are not lies,” Mr. McCain said crisply, “and have you seen some of the ads that are running against me?”

Mr. Obama’s hands have not always been clean in this regard. He was called out earlier for saying, incorrectly, that Mr. McCain supported a “hundred-year war” in Iraq after Mr. McCain said in January that he would be fine with a hypothetical 100-year American presence in Iraq, as long as Americans were not being injured or killed there.

More recently, Mr. Obama has been criticized for advertisements that have distorted Mr. McCain’s record on schools financing and incorrectly accused him of not supporting loan guarantees for the auto industry — a hot topic in Michigan. He has also taken Mr. McCain’s repeated comments that American economy is “fundamentally sound” out of context, leaving out the fact that Mr. McCain almost always adds at the same time that he understands that times are tough and “people are hurting.”

But sensing an opening in the mounting criticism of Mr. McCain, the Obama campaign released a withering statement after Mr. McCain’s appearance on “The View.”

“In running the sleaziest campaign since South Carolina in 2000 and standing by completely debunked lies on national television, it’s clear that John McCain would rather lose his integrity than lose an election,” Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said in a statement.

At an event in Dover, N.H., a voter asked Mr. Obama when he would start “fighting back.” Mr. Obama, who began his own confrontational advertising campaign Friday, said, “Our ads have been pretty tough, but I just have a different philosophy that I’m going to respond with the truth.”

“I’m not going to start making up lies about John McCain,” Mr. Obama said.

The McCain advertisements are devised to draw the interest of bloggers and cable news producers — but not necessarily always intended for wide, actual use on television stations — to shift the terms of the debate by questioning Mr. Obama’s character and qualifications.

Mr. Sipple, the Republican strategist, voiced concern that Mr. McCain’s approach could backfire. “Any campaign that is taking liberty with the truth and does it in a serial manner will end up paying for it in the end,” he said. “But it’s very unbecoming to a political figure like John McCain whose flag was planted long ago in ground that was about ‘straight talk’ and integrity.”

The campaign has also been selective in its portrayal of Mr. McCain’s running mate, Ms. Palin. The campaign’s efforts to portray her as the bane of federal earmark spending was complicated by evidence that she had sought a great deal of federal money both as governor of Alaska and as mayor of Wasilla.

Ms. Palin has often told audiences about pulling the plug on the so-called Bridge to Nowhere, an expensive federal project to build a bridge to a sparsely populated Alaskan island that became a symbol of wasteful federal spending. “I told Congress, ‘Thanks but no thanks’ for that Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska,” she said this week in Virginia.

But her position was more like “please” before it became “no thanks.” Ms. Palin supported the bridge project while running for governor, and abandoned it after it became a national scandal and Congress said the state could keep the money for other projects. As a mayor and governor, she hired lobbyists to request millions in federal spending for Alaska. In an ABC News interview on Friday with Charles Gibson, Ms. Palin largely stuck to her version of the events.

Disputed characterizations are not uncommon on the trail. At a campaign stop this week in Missouri, Mr. McCain said that Mr. Obama’s plan would “force small businesses to cut jobs and reduce wages and force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.”

Jonathan B. Oberlander, who teaches health policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that Mr. Obama’s plan would not force families into a government-run system. “I would say this is an inaccurate and false characterization of the Obama plan,” he said. “I don’t use those words lightly.”

Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting from Dover, N.H.

A World View Many Americans Ignore

2008-09-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

Obama win preferred in world poll
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7606100.stm

People outside the US would prefer Barack Obama to become US president ahead of John McCain, a BBC World Service poll suggests.

Democrat Mr Obama was favoured by a four-to-one margin across the 22,500 people polled in 22 countries.

In 17 countries, the most common view was that US relations with the rest of the world would improve under Mr Obama.

If Republican Mr McCain were elected, the most common view was that relations would remain about the same.

The poll was conducted before the Democratic and Republican parties held their conventions and before the headline-grabbing nomination of Sarah Palin as Mr McCain's running mate.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the results could therefore be a reflection of the greater media focus on Mr Obama as he competed for the presidential candidacy against Hillary Clinton.

The margin of those in favour of Mr Obama winning November's US election ranged from 9% in India to 82% in Kenya, which is the birthplace of the Illinois senator's father.

On average 49% preferred Mr Obama to 12% in favour of Mr McCain. Nearly four in 10 of those polled did not take a view.

On average 46% thought US relations with the world would improve with Mr Obama in the White House, 22% that ties would stay the same, while seven per cent expected relations to worsen.

Only 20% thought ties would get better if Mr McCain were in the Oval Office.

The expectation that a McCain presidency would improve US relations with the world was the most common view, by a modest margin, only in China, India and Nigeria.

But across the board, the largest number - 37% - thought relations under a president McCain would stay the same, while 16% expected them to deteriorate.

In no country did most people think that a McCain presidency would worsen relations.

Oddly, in Turkey more people thought US relations would worsen with an Obama presidency than under Mr McCain, even though most Turks polled preferred Mr Obama to win.

In Egypt, Lebanon, Russia and Singapore, the predominant expectation was that relations would remain the same if Mr Obama won the election.

The countries most optimistic that an Obama presidency would improve ties were US Nato allies - Canada (69%), Italy (64%), France (62%), Germany (61%), and the UK (54%) - as well as Australia (62%), along with Kenya (87%) and Nigeria (71%).

When asked whether the election as president of the African-American Mr Obama would "fundamentally change" their perception of the US, 46% said it would while 27% said it would not.

SEE FULL POLL RESULTS

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The US public was polled separately and Americans also believed an Obama presidency would improve US ties with the world more than a McCain presidency.

Forty-six per cent of Americans expected relations to get better if Mr Obama were elected and 30% if Mr McCain won the White House.

A similar poll conducted for BBC World Service ahead of the 2004 US presidential election found most countries would have preferred to see Democratic nominee John Kerry beat the incumbent George W Bush.

At the time, the Philippines, Nigeria and Poland were among the few countries to favour Mr Bush's re-election. All three now favour Mr Obama over Mr McCain.

In total 22,531 citizens were polled in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, the UAE and the UK. A parallel survey was conducted with 1,000 US adults.

Polling firm GlobeScan and the Program on International Policy Attitudes carried out the survey between July and August.

Story from BBC NEWS

Who is the New John McCain? Blog Response from Don in Madawaska, Maine

2008-09-07T13:37:00.001-07:00

Hi Juliana, (September 3, 2008)

I've been a registered Independent since I first registered to vote over 40 years ago.

Two years ago I would have voted for McCain over anybody else. But that John McCain is AWOL. This new McCain is Bush-lite. It is really quite an odd thing to witness - a principled and honorable man publicly and shamelessly selling his soul for power.

This new McCain has made what I think is a most cynical political choice in selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate. As if women are simple-minded and single-mindedly sexists.
It is also quite an irresponsible choice, given his age and his health. This is not something the John McCain of only a few months ago would have done. It's very sad, disappointing and disillusioning.

It is also quite disturbing that tough questions concerning Palin's qualifications will not be addressed. This, too, is incredibly cynical and, at the very least, anti-American.
And all this while declaring war on Michelle Obama. It is beyond hypocrital.

And it also demonstrates a disturbing lack of respect for the first amendment that the new McCain seems to answer all questions by spouting talking point after talking point.
And it does not bode very well for a free press in this country that we are so easily cowered and manipulated by political operatives.

I am trying to watch the Republican National Convention on TV but I keep switching back and forth between it and America's Got Talent because I cannot bear the hypocrisy of the GOP speakers promising to balance the budget and blaming the Democrats for the deficit. They are promising affordable health care and now they're also Green, of all things. The crowd is eating it up. What's wrong with those people? Where have they been for the past 8 years? So, I'm switching back and forth because I just cannot take the bs in bigger doses. America's Got Talent is really stupid but at least the freaks are sincere.

It's almost as if the GOP has absolutely no sense of irony.

Haiti - Americans Must Act and Care About What Happens to Haitians

2008-09-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

See one comment below:

The Jerusalem Post is headlining the tragedy of floods caused by Hurricane Hanna in Haiti. Where is the American mainstream media on this story? They're no doubt watching election polls.

http://tinyurl.com/55ykuy

Dateline Jerusalem Post and Associated Press September 6, 2008

"Floods caused by tropical storm Hanna claim 529 lives in Haiti
By Jerusalem POST STAFF AND Associated Press

Death tolls reached 529 in Haiti, as more bodies were discovered on Saturday when Hurricane Hanna flood waters continued to recede.

Hanna weakened to become a tropical storm after hitting Haiti.

UN peacekeeping troops began handing out food and water to famished Haitians on Friday after the first shipload of aid sailed into a crumbling port on the outskirts of this flooded city, where tens of thousands were stranded in the wake of Tropical Storm Hanna.

But the respite was expected to be brief. Hurricane Ike, a dangerous Category 3 storm, was forecast to pass just north of Haiti on Sunday. Even if Haiti avoided a direct hit, Ike was almost certain to bring rain to the fertile Artibonite Valley, whose rivers funnel into Gonaives, Haiti's fourth-largest city, and the surrounding flood plain.

On Friday, the European Union promised US$2.85 million to provide storm victims with food, water, shelter, basic medical care and household equipment."

Americans are so consumed with news about us, the "US", and are therefore media-oblivious to the enormous tragedy happening to people living poverty in our hemisphere.

Now Hurricane Ike is likewise going to affect these same desperate Haitian people.

Can Americans do as least as much as the European Union, by reaching out to these afflicted Haitian people with money, health care and emergency food?

Hopefully, America will quickly rise above our political angst right now, to care for the poor vulnerable people in a suffering Haitian population.

And, we must pray for them to have the strength to endure.

Response from John in Salem New Hampshire:
Dear Julie,
You might want to check the Catholic Relief Services web-site for what CRS and its partners are doing in Haiti and elsewhere.
Peace in the Lord Jesus,
John, SJ

Thanks to John, I found this helpful information from: http://crs.org/haiti/

"With more than 50 years of experience in Haiti, Catholic Relief Services is now one of the largest U.S. humanitarian organizations working in the country. Our annual budget of about $20 million makes the Haiti program CRS' largest country program in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean. Serving some 200,000 of the poorest and most marginalized Haitians, our projects provide assistance with health and nutrition, education, water and sanitation, HIV and AIDS, agriculture, peacebuilding and migration."
http://crs.org/haiti/

Labels: Haiti, hurricane

Change - A Clarion Call for Who?

2008-09-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

This year's presidential election may be one of those times when Americans must decide if they really want change. There couldn't be a clearer or more visual choice for Americans to make, if we're really intent on change.

Looking retrospectively at the concept of change, it's easy to see when it happens, what the key catalysts were, the clarions for the causes where change meaningfully occurs.

It's "a day that goes down in infamy" clarion call of Franklin Roosevelt or "the torch has passed to a new generation" of John F. Kennedy, and, of course, "I have a dream" by Martin Luther King. It's easy to see it in retrospect - you can point right to it - "that's change". In the Bible, it's the angels who set the stage for change. They arrive just before something unbelievable happens - like the nativity or meeting the Apostles in the tomb of Jesus after the Crucifixion and a new religion is formed.

But, when so few Americans today understand history, or can even define what they mean by change, it's completely impossible to transcend these pivotal moments of the past into a sense of future. We need a clarion call for the future.

I believe Sarah Palin became that clarion call for the Republican Party. Think of her unqualified candidacy what you will, as I have, but she's now the angel of change for the Republicans. Unfortunately, her clarion call is one of regression. "Let's change. We need to become more like me!," she seems to screech to me in her hammering speeches (she doesn't give interviews yet, so we don't really know what her real voice sounds like). Is that change? Well, for the millions of people who think Sarah Palin is just like them, they must want change to be like vanilla ice cream - predictable and refreshing.

Democrats, obviously, have their clarion call in Barack Obama. He represents youth, intellect, a face for the world to look at and say, "he looks a lot like me", because, after all, most people on the earth do, look a lot like him.

So, when American voters go into that polling box on November 4th, 2008, they will enter a very low profile cubicle which hardly stands up to a day of intense in-and-out traffic. Nevertheless, by the stroke of a simple pencil, an act performed in a humble square stand up box, they will collectively create a profound statement about change.

And the clarion choices for change are:

(1) A vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, who, like the Old Testament Sarah, wife of Abraham, gave birth to a son in her old age, and will bring new life to the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln; or

(2) A Presedential candidate Barack Obama who, when elected, will lead our idealistic American nation into being an energizing change agent for the world - because, he looks a lot like all of us to the entire world. He represents the fullfillment of The American Dream.

Well, Americans don't vote, or much care, for what the world thinks. It's a problem we need to change, because the world simply isn't about "us" in the US anymore. Rather, Americans must learn to become universal change agents, supporting a world of peace and prosperity, consistent with our core American values supporting freedom, love of God and self worth.

Meaningful change, however, always begins with the the youth. This year's primary election rallied hundreds of thousands of young people who actually registered to vote. Of all the socio-economic demographic groups in any generation, it's the youth of their time who absolutely "get it", when it comes to change.

And, I believe, Barack Obama looks a lot like them.

Friends Send Comments - John in Salem New Hampshire

2008-09-04T13:45:00.001-07:00

Never before have I received more comments than the ones in response to Governor Sarah Palin's pick by Senator John McCain to be his unqualified vice-presidential nominee. (Check blog "Palin is a Karl Rove Trick")

Indeed, I qualify Ms. Palin's choice for Vice President.

It's my blog and that's how I really feel.

Some friends, however, don't agree with my zealous outrage.

John in Salem New Hampshire had several thoughtful comments he permits me to post here:

September 3, 2008:
Dear Julie,
You really are rather harsh in calling her (Palin) a Karl Rove creation. No, I think that she is a John McCain choice. He is not a big fan of Rove, nor Rove of McCain. McCain admits that he often makes quick choices and then lives with the consequences. That is refreshing for neither George W. Bush nor Ronald Regan would admit that they were ever wrong, let alone want to bear the consequences of their mistakes.
You are right in saying that she is quite under qualified to step in if McCain should die in office. On the other hand, she is not some bimbo or Barbie Doll. She is what she is, a one-term governor of a rural, but rich, state, a mother of five and a wife, and a reformer in the McCain mold. As the Europeans say, anything is an improvement over Bush/Cheney.
Peace,John,

September 4, 2008:
Dear Julie,
Given the church that she (Palin) attends and one of her statements, she probably is a creationist. That is sad, but as long as she doesn't foist that view on others, she is not dangerous. I don't think that McCain would take that position. As far as her being a secessionist, the reports that I have read say that it was her husband who was part of such a group, not her. Surely you wouldn't want a woman to be tarred by her husband's mistakes, would you?
Right now, I may find myself in the same position that I did four years ago, which is that there is no one that I can support for president. Do we kill a million unborn or do we kill 100,000+ Iraquis, let the poor go hungry and the uninsured die early, and reward greed and lies? What is the lesser of two evils? As an American, I an insulted by the choices that I have. We have a Republican party that is sold to the business and military industrial powers, and we have a Democratic Party that is sold to business interests, to certain unions, and to post-modern morality. Where are the Eisenhower, Scranton and Rockefeller Republicans? Where are the Jimmy Carter, Bobby Kennedy and George Meany Democrats? I wish that I were in Pennsylvania where at least I could vote for Bob Casey, Jr. for senator (actually not for another four years).
Peace, John

The Duty of the Free Press - Patriotism

2008-09-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

John McCain whined all over the media today about the harsh treatment he says his unqualified vice presidential running mate is receiving. This candidate is a sympathetic figure who is intent on running on stereotypes rather than on the merits of her experience.

Is this the media's fault?

I believe it is the media's moral obligation to uncover all there is to know about Ms. Palin because this is exactly the same and equal treatment all other candidates received, especially Hilary Clinton. So, Ms. Palin, if you want to be equal to all other women, then stand up and take the heat like a Mrs. Clinton.

In countries less free with rampant censorship of the press, journalists find places to hide out for the sake of getting to the truth. Think of the French Resistance during World War II and other brave journalists who risked their reputations and lives for the sake of truth. We need journalists to ask Ms. Palin the right questions.

My two questions are these. (1) Did Ms. Palin engage in supporting a secessionist movement in Alaska? and (2) Is Ms. Palin a creationist - person who believe God created the world in 7 days?

Can somebody in the free press please tell me how to get Ms. Palin to answer those two questions?

If Hilary Clinton had participated in a secessionist sect as First Lady of Arkansas, would it be something the media would investigate? If Hilary Clinton were a creationist, would she be drilled about her views? Hell, yes!

So, forget about sexism. We're talking about equality here.

It's the responsibility of all the media, including all bloggers, liberals, conservatives, independents, socialists and creationists, too,- to ask the tough questions. Most important, it's John McCain's job to stop whining but, instead, tell us why he should be president of the United States and how qualified he believes Ms. Palin is to take over his job in the event of his death while in office.

A leader of patriotic intentions should care enough about America to leave a competent succession plan for the country he loves.

Independent Voter - Responds from New Jersey - Giving Thoughtful Consideration

2008-09-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

To Julie from Al, Esq., in New Jersey:

I am registered with one of the two big parties, but I think I vote
independently. I think I am one of those independents, who are mentioned in
the media as being important to the outcome of elections.

I was concerned about Obama's lack of experience. I wondered
whether he just made a good calculated guess in saying he was against the
Iraq war at the outset or really wise. I analogized his taking that
position to the doctor who writes "boy" in his chart when he sees his
pregnant patient but tells her it will be a girl. Then when the baby boy is
born and the patient questions the doctor, the doctor says, "I didn't say it
would be a girl; I said it would be a boy. I even wrote that in my chart."
If it was a girl, the patient would happily say, "My doctor said it would be
a girl!" If the war had been swift and successful, would it have mattered
what Obama had said early on?

Then this past summer Obama came out against releasing oil from the
reserves when both McCain and Clinton said oil should be released to deal
with the oil prices. I began to think that Obama is a wise man and the
position he took on the Iraq was not a lucky guess.

I watched his entire speech (actually the re-run at 2:00 am because I
had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for the speech to come) and thought
he did a superlative job in all ways. I pretty much decided that I will
vote for Obama, barring something crazy (I am still an independent).

I don't think the political pundits know anything. 50 out of 50 (not 38
or 42 out of 50 . . . all 50) said that Dewey would beat Harry Truman. The
Chicago Tribune even printed the results that way after the voting was
fairly complete. But Harry won handily. It was not a result of sitting
back and waiting for the election. It was the result of campaigning
tirelessly, giving 10-12 speeches a day to everyday people.

That's what Obama has to do. His thoughtfulness, wisdom, clear thinking,
forward thinking, apparent leadership ability, ability to inspire, etc. will
shine through.

My biggest problem is with the notion of national "guaranteed" health
care. It is too complex a matter for the federal government to mandate to
all. I am very concerned about the cost. I wish it were otherwise, but if
everyone has a "right" to health care, is it the Chevy version or the
Cadillac version? Everyone thinks its the Cadillac to which they would be
entitled. But Cadillacs are very expensive.

I like Obama. I am concerned about the Democratic party. Not that I
like the Republican party either. I like the good candidates. Not the
parties, I guess.

No pollsters have asked me yet what I think about the candidates.

Al

Winning Elections by Not Making News

2008-09-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

Let's get the real issue into the news!

Today's CNN web page (Sept. 1) runs a startling news story about how Senator Barack Obama received no bump out of the hugely successful Democratic National Convention in Denver CO. This astounding fact was backed up by a CNN poll of about 897 people with a margin of error or about 3 percent.

Obviously, I was flabbergasted by this fact, as I hope everyone who kindly reads this blog is, as well.

What could cause such a phenomenon? By most all accounts, Senator Obama's acceptance speech in Denver's Invesco Mile High Field received high marks. Likewise, his choice of Senator Joe Biden to be his competent and experienced Vice-Presidential running mate is getting equally high marks. All good news, but apparently not good enough.

Political differences notwithstanding, I submit the way to win this year's Presidential election is to make no news at all.

If the 897 people in the CNN poll are right, the race for the White House is again "neck and neck", despite Senator Barack Obama doing everything right.

Is it possible many of those in the massive television audience who watched the Senator's acceptance speech were really tuned in to watch him fail?

Is it possible it was not the historic moment, rallied by Senator Obama, who spoke about patriotism, using the word "America" compulsively counted XXX number of times?

Rather, this lack of "bounce" suggests, to me, many viewers were led to watch because they were driven by bigotry, looking for a mistake, something to hang their opposition hats on, other than their own racism.

Let's stop this conversation for the sake of not making news. If Senator John McCains' 72 year age is not an issue because it's simply "old" news; if Senator John McCain's history of repeat episodes of melanoma are no longer issues because, apparently, some think he will escape the fatal statistics associated with this cancer; if the choice of Governor Palin who leads a state with a population of less than 700,000 people and cuts taxes because, in oil rich Alaska, she can; and if succession to the role of Commander-in-Chief is not a newsworthy issue - therefore, and therein - I respectfully submit - to win an election in 2008 the candidate must make no news at all. Because, news presents facts which clearly threaten people who cannot make informed decisions outside of ideology.

If Senator Barack Obama must be perfect to maintain a voter lead while Senator John McCain maintains his base by making mistakes, then we should just get the news stories out of the way of ideology. Let's save every body's time and oodles of money by simply marking off the calender until November 4th.

On the other hand, thoughtful people, like you reading this blog, obviously believe in debating unfiltered information and the evaluation of a candidate based upon performance.

Let's ask our colleagues who don't share our views to explain their reticence about Senator Obama's candidacy, based upon facts? They can't.

I'll bet the reason is bigotry. It's a brutal conclusion.

Therefore, I suggest Senator Obama should simply stop making news. It's a safer road less traveled, but one seemingly at work for John McCain who languishes in the bushes, while Senator Obama rides heroically into the sunset, praised but saddled with the weight of bigotry.

If we are to look back on the 2008 presidential election, without a Supreme Court intervention (please God!), and say - "Senator Obama did everything right", but still came up short -then I say, it will be a victory for bigotry.

This sad news simply can't prevail.

G. K. Chesterton said "It's not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong".

Let's get the bigotry concept into the news; and standby to see who can accept Chesterton's challenge.

Republicans and Hurricane Gustav

2008-08-31T09:40:00.000-07:00

Three years ago the world witnessed the cleansing of America's big black secret - poverty. We watched poor black people of New Orleans driven from their flooded homes because of corporate greed - not because of Hurricane Katrina. Louisiana's levees failed three years ago because too many tax breaks given to the rich left precious little to pay for infrastructure decay - IE., the levees.

Today, the US Labor Day weekend holiday and the eve of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis,Minnesota, we're bracing for a deja vu experience.

People are evacuating and reminding us of those broken levees - metaphors of economic promises broken.

It's not because of Hurricane Katrina - a devastating natural disaster in its own right. It's because the inept Louisiana levee system didn't work three years ago. That's why we're mourning today, waiting for Hurricane Gustav to hit in an unprecedented repeat tragic performance. What happened after the Katrina impact caused the tragedy we relive this Labor Day weekend. Government failed to act both pre and post Katrina.

And so the Republicans are, likewise, reliving their greedy experience with failed leadership. Now, the Republicans are scrambling to show sympathy, organizing fund raisers to help the victims of Gustav before the storm actually hits Louisiana.

A a Roman Catholic woman, I call this penance. Instead of Republicans getting their message out this week during the convention hoopla, they're expressing regret, calling for prayers, figuring out how to reschedule events, organizing support efforts and being appropriately sad.

"Dear patriotic Republicans, this penitential response is a spiritual way to remember how government allowed those Louisiana levees of three years ago to fail; because tax money was unavailable to fix them before the devastating Katrina hit."

Republicans would not be in this humility response if Louisiana's levees worked three years ago. It's not about Katrina, it's about greed - people before corporate earnings - levees before tax cuts. As Mr. Barney Smith said addressing the Democratic National Convention in Denver, he wants a president who looks out for Barney Smith, not "Smith-Barney" - getting a five star rating on U-Tube.

So, dear well intentioned Republicans in Minneapolis, you're really good Christian Right people after all- justly doing penance for social neglect three years ago this week.

Ms. Palin - You are a Karl Rove Trick

2008-08-29T11:58:00.000-07:00

Read 3 responses at end of blog - Quebec, Canada, Bangor, Maine and Virginia and follow up story from BBCNews
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7592636.stm:

Dear Ms. Palin, Forget about your near win as a beauty contest winner and your stellar credentials as a devoted mother. Governor Palin, with all your beauty, reformer intentions and compassion, you are simply unqualified to be our American Commander in Chief. If your resume came across my desk for the position of Vice-President of the United States of America, I'd write you a polite rejection letter with the stamp "unqualified" on the return address label.

Is Ms. Palin actually a Trojan Horse candidate? Is she really a Karl Rove trick? Say it ain't so, John. By creating a sympathy candidate for Vice-President of the United States, a Barbie Doll mirror image with brown hair to Ms. Cindy McCain, I'd say, "Watch Out". It looks to me like the Trojans are going to sneak out in the middle of the night and steal away the thoughtfully serious intentions at risk in this November's election.

Senator John McCain talks a lot about patriotism and loving this USA but he picks a Vice-Presidential candidate who is totally unqualified to be our nation's Commander-in-Chief.

Talk about who has better judgment? Maybe Senator McCain should have a psychological test run along with all those cancer screenings he regularly has for his Melanoma.

Perhaps Ms. Beautiful Palin will be well qualified to be the Vice-President of the United States of America. Yeah, some day. But, if she is a serious candidate for this powerful position today, she must do better than nearly win a beauty contest, show leadership on a city council in a place with about 6,000 people and be the default first term governor of Alaska.

Shame on John McCain for co-opting the Presidency by putting this unlikely woman candidate's gender before country.

From Rita Drouin in Temiscaming in Quebec, Canada - She asks, "What About Powell?": "From way up here in Quebec, Ms. Palin looks very token; and doesn't McCain looked subdued next to her? Not his choice, I'm sure and he's certainly not comfortable next to her. Not a ticket made in heaven. Still, I'm wondering if it will satisfy the Dem Feminists????? Moreover, Ms. Palin was chosen for one reason only. To reassure the Republican's a VICTORY. But, it will not help him. He needed the backing of an experienced and strong vice president due to his age and health history of cancer. Colin Powell would have been the best and would have reassured the Republicans a victory."

From Caroline Hartzler in Virginia: "Governor Palin's success in local politics for ten years is limited to small town. Perhaps someone will report her accomplishments since she was elected governor. John Podesta in a letter to the Washington Post described her well today: 'A potential vice president with the ideology of Dick Cheney and fewer qualifications than Dan Quayle should send arctic shivers up our spines.'"

From Joe Pickering in Bangor, Maine: "Frankly Julie...I am damn tired of hearing about the need for a Commander in chief from any party. I want to vote for a President who will observe and not warp the U.S. Constitution....sure one part is
Commander in Chief and the other is to Promote Domestic Tranquility...and allegedly only Congress can declare war..and they have been doing a damn poor job of that along with the President. Joe"

From Andrea Imbriaco in Massachusetts: Sarah Palin is an interesting choice...shortsighted though, I think. I really question, as many, her level of experience. If she's lived in Alaska her entire life, how many times has she been to NYC, Boston, Miami, and out of our country? Why is it necessary for us to know about her high school basketball career or that she was a beauty queen. Is that the best they can do for resume filler? Is McCain and company foolish enough to think that women will vote for just any woman? Hillary, she's not. Regarding her daughter, Bristol...my heart goes out to that 17 year old girl. She never asked to be on the national stage. Either Mom was too naive to think her daughter wouldn't be front page news...if so, wake up girl, this isn't Kansas anymore...or she put her own personal ambitions ahead of her daughter...that, I think is shameful.

Keep writing!
Andrea

Palin's teenage daughter pregnant - from BBCNews (note from Julie - here's the first brigade out of the Trojan Horse - go after those trailer park moms.....go gettem, giddyup, Karl! They're waitin' for ya! It's a real ho-down!)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7592636.stm

Sarah Palin with daughter Bristol and husband Todd, 30 Aug
Mrs Palin has brought her family on stage for several campaign events

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, newly picked as Republican John McCain's running mate, has revealed that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.

Mrs Palin, a social conservative who is opposed to abortion, said in a statement her daughter Bristol would keep the child and marry its father.

The Alaska governor, a mother-of-five, was presented three days ago as her party's vice-presidential candidate.

The news comes as the Republicans' national convention is about to begin.

The McCain campaign and Palin family asked for respect for the young couple's privacy.

Mrs Palin and her husband Todd said in a statement: "Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realise very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family."

Bristol is reportedly five months pregnant and is due to give birth in late December.

Advisers to the McCain campaign said they had known about the pregnancy before offering Mrs Palin the vice-presidential nomination.

"Senator McCain's view is this is a private family matter," said McCain spokesman Steve Schmidt.

As parents, [the Palins] love their daughter unconditionally and are going to support their daughter. Life happens."

The announcement of Bristol's pregnancy followed rumours on internet blog sites over the weekend suggesting that Mrs Palin's youngest child, Trig, born in April, had actually been born to Bristol. The boy has Down's Syndrome.

The National Journal reported that a spokesman for Mrs Palin had also confirmed that her husband had been arrested for driving under the influence in 1986.

Talking point

The BBC's Justin Webb in St Paul, Minnesota, where the Republicans' national convention is taking place this week, says the news will certainly be a talking point but may not damage Mrs Palin's standing.

She was brought on board to appeal to social conservatives, our correspondent says, and they may respect the decision by her daughter to keep the baby and to marry the father.

However, some people in the party who already had concerns about the lack of knowledge about Mrs Palin's record may fear what other revelations lie in wait, our correspondent adds.

The party's four-day convention opens on Monday but its schedule has been curtailed because of the threat of Hurricane Gustav to states on the southern US coast.

Mrs Palin is due to be formally nominated by delegates as the party's vice-presidential choice later this week.

She was elected governor of Alaska in 2006 and before that was mayor of the small town of Wasilla, Alaska.

Michelle Obama Speaks to Military Families: I'd Like to Join Her

2008-08-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

As a military wife for 13 of my husband's 23 years as a US Navy veteran, I can unequivocally say Mrs. Michelle Obama is doing something no one like her has ever done before.

Mrs. Obama is a beautifully high profile, potential fist lady to a President, who is visiting with military families and listening to them - really listening - to their stories. This is amazing, because life as a military wife means obeying. Knowing someone is actually listening, indeed, is rare.

Mrs. Obama's military families listening tour is hardly noticed by the big money media markets. Although support for veterans, especially during a time of undeclared war in Iraq and Afghanistan, are all the buzz, it's not very challenging to listen to their families speak about recurring hardships. Low pay and constant change are the least of the hardships. Oh yes, there are the Navy Relief societies and chaplains. While those resources look great in the chain of command, they are actually desperation charities. Really impoverished families use them for the purposes of support. Ordained and commissioned chaplains are primarily focused on the active duty military person, providing token attention to the daily plight of families outside of Sunday services. Having someone listen to pleas for support from families is almost non-existent in the military.

I discovered Mrs. Obama's round table discussions by accidentally catching a C-Span forum held in Norfolk, VA. Her attractive attentiveness to everyone who spoke was noteworthy.

Ironically, my husband and our family lived in Norfolk VA for 6 of our Navy years. My husband was stationed aboard the USS Intrepid (CVS 11) - yes, it's the aircraft carrier now museum that will hopefully return to its place in New York Harbor some day soon. Additionally, my husband was also stationed with HC-6, a helicopter squadron; and he was a US Navy corrections counselor at the infamous brig when the low morale of active duty Vietnam War Veterans were filling the bleak cells of the old military prison.

So, I know what it's like to be a military wife in Norfolk VA. It's lonely. In spite of a warmly cordial civilian population in Norfolk, the multitude of various military commands are confusing and perennial lifestyle changes are considered normal. A spouse is on shore duty; or on sea duty; or is promoted; or is not promoted so, therefore, must move; or on temporary duty someplace else while the family stays behind; or, on weekend watch, or living on base or must move off base. Changes never end. Everybody accepts change as being ho-hum. Except, it isn't, especially for children.

Wives never know who their pediatrician or obstetrician will be when they see a physician. Medical records get lost. Civilian housing is expensive. Waiting lists for base housing contain so many rules, one never knows how long of a civilian lease to sign. Consequently, families pray for any housing opening to save money, regardless of the neighborhood. Moreover, during a time of war, the lives of families are burdened with the additionally anxiety of safety. Thank goodness for e-mail, because, when I was a military wife, the snail mail only arrived whenever the ship happened to get it to a port where there was a post office. Families of submarine sailors and officers hardly ever received mail.

As a result of the stress caused by separation hardships, I was not at all surprised by the focused reception Mrs. Obama received from her forum audience - who were both officers and enlisted families, Marines and Navy.

This was was absolutely not a campaign rally. Walls were barren of campaign posters; flashy buttons did not appear. There were no prepared speeches. People who attended, nearly all women, sat quietly until they were motivated to speak. Mrs. Obama responded with intelligent sensitivity to every speaker.

"Few sacrifice more to serve their country than you, and I know that too often it seems like you're doing it on your own,” Mrs. Obama told participants in a round table discussion of military families at Norfolk Virginia's Old Dominion University. (Reported by The Washington Times
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/07/michelle-obama-courts-vital-military-families/).

My life as a military wife ended in 1981, but the plight of the families has not changed much over time. In fact, the stress is worsened by an additional factor I never experienced. Many of the families spoke about caring for the parents of the active duty members while they are deployed. In other words, a wife must care for a mother-in-law while the son is absent. So, this is an additional stress. A spouse cares for a home, keeps a budget, raises children; plus, often, cares for aging parents. This is likely because the parents of military personnel are living longer and therefore requiring long term care. A sandwich generation of military families is an entirely new and stressful (not to mention expensive) generational development.

To say, "Thank You Mrs. Obama" for your support for military families is an understatement.

In fact, if it were possible for me to join her, believe me, I'd be there in a heartbeat. Indeed, Mrs. Obama, if you or somebody who knows you reads this blog, please contact me so I can participate in your listening tour. I'd just like to be a reporter on the beat or the person who passes around the microphone.

More important, I'd like to journal all the heartfelt stories we'd hear on this tour.

So, if anybody is listening to me, a military wife 25 years removed, please do me the honor of asking for my help. And, of course, thank you Mrs. Obama for finally giving our nations military families the listening respect they rightfully deserve.

Burma's Cyclone Tragedy: A Government Without Oil

2008-05-09T18:12:00.000-07:00

"Burmese government did not have the capacity to run the relief effort required, adding that the impact of Cyclone Nargis could be worse than the effect of the Asian tsunami on Sri Lanka and Indonesia." Quotes from BBCNews

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7393270.stm

TinyURL.com/6gohbu
(see Military.com news story following Blog comments:
"US Pilots Get Hero's Welcome in Myanmar")

Comments on this blog are from Don Levesque in Madawaska; from Marc Pembroke in Jackman, Maine; and from Caroline Hartzler in Lansdowne, Virginia.

Where's the oil?

Would the world just stand by and watch the pitifully poor Burmese people starving, while the bodies of their family members and neighbors rot in the tropical sun, if their isolated country was oil rich*? (Read note from Marc Pembroke below.)

I truly don't mean to make a political statement out of the horrible plight of the Burmese people during this time of mass disease and human suffering, caused by an inept government. Nevertheless, watching these poor people, their desperate images, without being able to help them, raises ethical questions in my mind. How can we let this happen? Let's override those stupid and evil general's who claim to be the Burmese leaders. Why not invade Burma, and take the heinous government out, like we did in Iraq?

Of course, the obvious answer is that a hostile reaction might make a horrible situation even worse for the Burmese. But, I recall the US invasion of Iraq did the same thing. We took out the dictator Saddam Hussein and let Al-Quida terrorists come into the country's side door.

I'm sympathetic beyond words for the plight of the beautiful Burmese people, who deserve much better than what they're getting from their useless government.

Moreover, the powerlessness of the US, along with Burma's neighboring countries and the United Nations, who want to help, are compounding the frustrations. We are watching an entire generation of people die for lack of decisive action.

Maybe, we can dump barrels oil out of the stomachs of airplanes, along with rice and food, in an effort to bring value to the urgency of the powerless Burmese people.

I pray for the poor and fragile Burmese people. It appears the help they urgently need won't arrive in time to save them from the evil people they are subject to.

Comment on May 10, 2008: from Don Levesque of Madawaska, Maine and the St. John Valley: What a sad world this is becoming.

Those poor victims in Burma.

Poor people are always the victims of tragedies and war.

You know, a lot of people still feel pretty much the same way about Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (I think it was called) which left people on our Gulf Coast struggling to survive unimaginable horrors while the corpses of their families, friends and neighbors were left bloating in the sun while an inept government did almost nothing right for way too long. Even today, various government agencies still haven't got it completely right there.

I guess nobody's immune from inept governments.

And, speaking of unimaginable ... hungry poor people around the world are rioting because they can no longer afford rice or cereals. I have trouble getting my mind around this. It is beyond science fiction.

It's very hard to be hopeful and optimistic when power seems to trump compassion almost everywhere.

Thank you for listening, doctor.

don

Comment from Marc Pembroke of Jackman ME dated May 11, 2008

"One might wonder whether the same outcome would occur if Myanmar were an oil-rich nation. However, I am not sure how much of a difference it would make. In fact, Myanmar was one of the oldest oil-producing countries. Its first exports date back to 1853. In 2004, it signed agreements with 9 foreign oil companies for exploration. It produces about the equivalent of 170,000 barrels of oil and natural gas a day (when its systems are operational, of course). That is small compared with Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, but oil companies are interested in the country. My guess is that any offshore rigs would probably have been destroyed, and the infrastructure within the country is probably in no shape for now. In this case, I don't think oil is a sufficient factor to explain the problem.

Let's continue to pray for a resolution to this crisis.

Best wishes,

Marc Pembroke"

US Pilots Get Hero's Welcome in Myanmar: News Article from the Military.com
May 13, 2008
Associated Press
TinyURL.com/6gohbu

UTAPAO AIR BASE, Thailand - Flying into Yangon, U.S. Marine Cpl. Bryan Hampson looked out the windows of his C-130 cargo plane at an expanse of marshland covered with a thick, brown blanket of water.

As the plane broke through the clouds, the crew member didn't know what to expect. His flight Tuesday was only the second one that Myanmar's ruling military junta - often hostile and suspicious of outside interference - had allowed the U.S. military to fly into the cyclone-devastated country.

What awaited was virtually a hero's welcome.

"They kept telling us thank you and shaking our hands," he said of the 40 Myanmar people who unloaded by hand the 19,900 pounds (9,025 kilograms) of emergency supplies on board. "They were really friendly toward us. They were excited to see us."

After strong appeals from Washington, Myanmar allowed the second and third U.S. military flights in on Tuesday and appeared to be willing to accept more, said Marine Lt. Col. Douglas Powell.

Powell said the first flight Tuesday carried blankets, water and mosquito nets. The second took in a 24,750-pound (11,225-kilogram) load. The two flights come after Myanmar allowed an Air Force C-130 cargo plane into Yangon, its main city, on Monday.

"They were very polite, very professional," Capt. Mark Hamilton, the pilot of Tuesday's first flight, said of the Myanmar officials who met the plane. He said a Myanmar air force officer even came aboard the plane and took snapshots of the cockpit.

"But the military mostly stood off to the side," he said.

Hamilton, of Becker, Minnesota, said the Yangon airport was in good condition, although rain fell as the plane was unloaded.

"They could fit quite a few large planes in there," he said. "The only issue is the offload."

Powell said a Boeing 747 aircraft arrived at Utapao Air Base in Thailand on Monday night to replenish the supplies available to fly in to Myanmar. Though the flights are military, the aid aboard them is being provided by civilian relief authorities.

The U.S. has pushed hard for the ruling military junta in Myanmar to let U.S. troops play a big role in relief operations in the aftermath of the cyclone, which has killed tens of thousands and severely affected an estimated 2 million people.

The U.S. military, which has already brought forces to the region for its annual Cobra Gold exercise, has 11,000 troops, at least four ships and potentially dozens of cargo planes nearby that are ready to start assistance operations.

Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Forces, flew into Myanmar on the initial aid flight Monday to try to persuade the junta to relent.

Keating said the U.S. military could provide 200,000 pounds (90,720 kilograms) of supplies a day, which would be a massive boost to the lagging relief efforts. The military could also ferry aid workers to the hardest-hit regions, which remain hard to reach.

But Myanmar state television said navy commander in chief Rear Adm. Soe Thein told Keating that basic needs of the storm victims are being fulfilled and that "skillful humanitarian workers are not necessary."

The operation, named Joint Task Force Caring Relief, will not go ahead without the approval of Myanmar's military rulers, who have so far refused a broad range of help offers because they fear foreign meddling in their domestic affairs.

That stance - as bodies remain scattered around the countryside and hundreds of thousands of refugees are in need of food and shelter - has generated howls of criticism from around the world.

"I wish their government would accept our aid more than they have already," said Hampson, of Bedford, Pennsylvania. "We'll come in and give them the aid they need to help their people, then we'll leave."TinyURL.com/6gohbu

From Caroline Hartzler in Lansdowne Virginia - American who lived in Burma:

I was fortunate to meet a Burmese woman while I lived in New Haven. I maintained a friendship with her until she returned to Burma in the 80's. My two children were young then, but they have always remembered Daw Tin Tin. She taught me how to grow African violets and to this day I think of her as I see my flowering violets.

Burma was a mystery to me when I first went to (live in) Rangoon, but it was a country rich in a refined culture. The tenets of Buddhism were practiced by most of the population, except for the areas which had been more influenced by the Christianity of missionaries.

Unfortunately, the attitudes of the many military generals who have grabbed power in Burma since 1962 is not inclined toward the welfare of the population. It is uncivilized for them to deny the vigorous efforts of their neighbors and the rest of the world to come to their aid.

Caroline (from Virginia)