Idiocy

I was yelling and screaming in my car today.

It was a good thing I was alone.

Listening to the news I heard President Bush say this:

"And years from now, when America looks out on a democratic Middle East growing in freedom and prosperity, Americans will speak of the battles like Fallujah with the same awe and reverence that we now give to Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima."

I could not believe my ears. Our President does not understand history, and he certainly does not understand what a mess he has made of Iraq. How could any thinking person make that comparison? What an insult to the Marines of The Greatest Generation! What a cavalier attitude regarding the Marines who have lost their lives or been maimed in the totally needless and frightfully mismanaged war in Iraq!

His continuous obnoxious attempts to compare World War II with his War on Terror are downright maddening. His immoral preemptive war in Iraq has made not only the Marines less safe, it has put the world and all Americans at risk.

November Surprise?

No, Rumsfeld's leaving the Defence Department is not a surprise. The surprise is that Bush saved it until the day after.

It is a good start. Now we will see if Bush can govern without majorities in Congress. Can you see the realities in front of you instead of stubbornly sticking to ideology and adapt Mr. President?

Memo to Democrats

Pulitzer prize winning columnist Leonard Pitts had some good things to say in his most recent column (also published in The Buffalo News).

We have suffered through a very divisive time in politics and we need some real change. Here are a few of my thoughts:

• The changes in the House of Representatives, Governors' Mansions and possibly in the Senate are a repudiation of Bush's disaster in Iraq. Get us out.
• Enough of the Red States, Blue States. How about some purple (or as Pitts writes, red, white and blue)? We need a sense of national destiny again. I never much agreed with Reagan, but he got "the vision thing."
• We don't want too many hearings. Don't waste time on the trivial. Keep it simple, find out who broke the law by lying to us about WMD in Iraq. Otherwise, move on and focus on healing our country.
• We need to repair our image overseas. We are the world's only super power, but can we please stop the arrogance?
• Close the gap between the rich and the poor that has grown so large during the Bush years.
• And, Health Care. Do something to fix our broken system. That would require political bravery.
• Social Security needs attention not partisanship.

Real leadership will require compromise. Compromise, but keep your principals with humility not hubris.

Family Values

That was Tom Reynolds wife Donna behind him and to his right at his acceptance speech last night. It was a brief speech and I think he thanked her.

But when he finished he turned around and walked right by her to shake hands with people on his right, turned and walked by her again to greet people on his left. It was as if she was invisible. She looked uncomfortable, slowly fading away off camera.

It was a remarkable moment to this observer. In the pursuit of power we can get caught up in the busyness of our lives and we can ignore the people who should be foremost. Remember, he had a plane to catch because he is the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Things were not going well for him across the country.

Probably it struck me because when I was younger the mother of my children, Grammy in Chief, used to say that she sometimes felt invisible in my milieu.

The Republicans bill themselves as the party of family values. Recent events have made it clear that includes a strong element of hypocrisy. But there is a real lesson too. Tom Reynolds' political legacy will be that he was a part of the power structure of the meanest most divisive administration in my lifetime. He is part of the clique that is the most incompetent in memory and gave us Iraq.

Hopefully Tom Reynolds can leave a more positive legacy with his four children.

Hindsight is 20/20

Tom Reynolds just left Buffalo. He had a plane to catch. During his victory speech he said that tonight he would celebrate his personal victory with his supporters, but that tomorrow he would deal with results for Congress as a whole.

Jack Davis thanked just about everybody in his concession speech. He thanked the Working Families Party and their workers. He thanked Len Lenihan, the Erie County Democratic Chair. He said that Len enrolled him as a Democrat and encouraged him to run.

Not to speak for Len Lenihan, but when he and his party endorsed Jack Davis, it was for a losing cause. No one last spring would have ever expected a real race for the 26th District of New York. So, it made sense to endorse a candidate who could spend more than $2,000,000 of his own money. Hey, spending that kind of money would at least make Tom Reynolds take notice.

Then came the Foley affair. Tom Reynolds knew about those emails last spring, but Len Lenihan did not. What if there had been a real Democrat running, one who actually got out and met the voters? Sure such a candidate would still have had to face The October Surprise, our devastating snow storm, and Tom Reynolds' power in Washington. Reynolds immediately brought $5,000,000 to Western New York, and eventually persuaded Karl Rove that the President had to declare a disaster which will bring many more millions.

Back to hindsight. Right now Tom Reynolds has about an 8,000 vote plurality. "My district has seven counties," Reynolds said tonight. What he did not say is that there are 44,000 more Republicans than Democrats in his district, the one he constructed. If there had been a real Democrat (yes, no one seems to know what that is these days) this is a district that could have been won. Tom Reynolds is a key member of the clique that gave us Iraq and tax cuts for the very rich at the expense of the poor and the middle class. The good people of those seven counties are sending him back to Washington because of an October Surprise and because no one could predict that he would be part of a scandal.

Don't Come Back This Time Roger

First Ballot Hall of Fame. No doubt about that.

But, it is time to hang up the spikes, Rocket. You have had a great career; been a dominating power pitcher even in your 40's. Many of your games are classics, including two with 20 strikeouts, still a record. Your place in the game is secure, don't sully it.

You are quoted today as saying, "Full season, half season or at all, I haven't even thought about it," "I just think it's too early to think about it. ... Right now, I don't have any thoughts of playing or not playing."

I have thoughts. The rules of free agency gave you an out this year. Houston failed to pick up your option and they could not talk to you until May. So, you came back in June and pitched well for mere mortals (7-6, ERA of 2.30). From what I saw you were good, but not great.

I have another reservation. The baseball season is long, 162 games, guys get dinged and play through pain. It is not good for the game to have a potential Hall of Famer get a pass for half the season. Play the whole season or retire. That is what everyone else did, it is time for you to live by those rules.

I have another more selfish thought. I want you to retire. I want to still be around to join you in Cooperstown at your Hall of Fame induction.

Can't Tell a Joke?

Senator Kerry need not apologize to me. I got the joke. If you don't pay attention in school, even joke that you were a "C" student in a graduation address at your alma mater, then you get us stuck in Iraq.

Maybe the trouble is that the 2004 Democratic standard bearer can't tell a joke without messing up the punchline. His family says he's a very funny man but you cannot see that when he's campaigning. Not a bad guy, maybe a good senator, but not much of a campaigner, especially when giving a speech in public.

Kerry did the right thing when apologizing to the troops, their parents and the country. But Democrats should not back off. This is no time to be intimidated by a dummy in the White House who refuses to hold his people accountable or take responsibility for his stupidity

Red Auerbach

It happened again; the death of a sports legend. Red Auerbach died at 89.

Was he a genius? Certainly he changed the game of basketball with his coaching and dealing. As a kid with deep roots in both New England and Philadelphia, I will never forget the epic battles between the great Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. With a gifted supporting cast that included Cousy, Heinsohn, two Joneses and Sanders, Red and Russell won most of the time.

As GM he brought Larry Bird to Boston at the same time that Magic Johnson arrived to play for the Lakers. Together with their teams they ushered in a golden age that fostered the NBA's growth and set the stage for the big money its current stars earn. The Celtics and the Lakers continued their phenomenal rivalry with great teams, classic games and unforgettable championship series.

Nine championships as a coach and seven as GM. He was a genius for his time and will be missed.

Thanks for the memories Red. Enjoy a cigar in his honor.

Who Was Marlin McKeever?

Life after 60. When I started this blog I promised that I would make that one of my topics. I am sure that everything I have written is colored by that, but I have written little about it directly.

Yesterday Marlin McKeever fell in his home. I saw the notice online.

Marlin McKeever was a football player, one of the best of his time. He loved the game so much that he played several positions, and played them well. At USC his last two years he was their leading receiver. He had even been a punter. I guess I first took note of him because his twin brother Mike played for USC too. Both of them were good. Tragically both of them are now dead because of head injuries.

When you are younger you lose people around you who die untimely deaths. Foremost in my life have been Sandy and Bucky, my cousins and like me the oldest children in their families. I also remember the loss of heroes and public figures; chiefly two Kennedys, a King and a Lennon. But when you get into your sixties headlines with names from the past jump out at you.

Marlin McKeever was a linebacker in the NFL, one of the best of his time. When I watch football, I key in on linebackers and how they play. The best were among my heroes including Chuck Bednarik and Dick Butkus.

I always enjoyed watching Marlin McKeever play. Thanks for the memories Marlin McKeever!

My condolences go out to your family.

The Little Pest

A true lead off hitter makes a pest of himself. He (she too, but not in the Major Leagues yet) fouls off pitches to frustrate the opposing pitcher, gets hit by a pitch occasionally and chokes up on the bat to slap a single. When he gets on, the lead off hitter motivates his team and makes something happen. Rickey Henderson was probably the best. No Red Sox fan will forget Wade Boggs, one of the two best contact hitters of his generation.

But the 2006 World Series MVP to a 5ft 7in lead off hitter? You bet! David Eckstein was the logical choice to anyone who knows baseball. In an era when the home run makes the highlights on Sport Center, he plays "small ball" with emotion and smarts, just the way the game should be played.

Is there any wonder that the kid has two championships? In the 2002 ALDS he drove the Yankee pitchers, especially Roger Clemens, crazy with his pesky approach to hitting.

Baseball needed an MVP who demonstrates that size, muscle and substances are not what makes an exciting national pastime.

More on Reynolds

A couple hours after I posted on The October Surprise I got into my car and heard a report that Tom Reynolds has a slight lead over Jack Davis in the most recent poll.

The October Surprise

There he is front and center on the front page of yesterday's The Buffalo News announcing that President Bush has declared Western New York a major disaster area. What does that mean? It means that Tom Reynolds, U.S. House of Representatives, Republican, 26th district New York State, has brought more federal dollars to our region hard hit by the "October Surprise" snow storm. (Really, that's what local media has been calling the storm that dumped two feet of wet heavy snow on Thursday and Friday, October 12 and 13.)

Clearly on the defensive just three weeks ago because of the Foley scandal, Tom Reynolds seems to be rebounding because of his swift response to the storm. Sure there has been criticism because he brought FEMA in for an extensive tour that included the wealthy suburb of Amherst (in his district) but not the city of Buffalo (not in his district). That criticism will fall on deaf ears for many of his constituents, the point is that he had the clout to make a difference where they live.

If you know Reynolds (full disclosure: I moved out of his district intentionally a couple years ago.) you know that he is a firm adherent to Tip O'Niell's mantra that, "All politics is local." He knows how to bring home the bacon.

When the Foley emails to a former congressional page surfaced, Reynolds was put on the defensive because all he did was report them to his boss, Speaker Dennis Hastert, Republican, Illinois. He seems to have known of the emails as early as last spring, reported them to Hastert, and done nothing more. As more of the scandal got out Reynolds felt the increasing heat. Initially he laid low, but eventually a downstate media expert put Reynolds in an ad for an apology to his constituents. The congressman looked very uncomfortable on camera. He spoke haltingly and seemed to be sweating as his face filled the screen.

Jack Davis, the Democratic Candidate aiming for Reynold's seat inched into a narrow lead. Now Mr. Davis may not really be a Democrat, and he certainly is not a politician. He is kind of a Johnny One Note; a businessman against free trade.

Then came the October Surprise, a snow storm. The paid political ad apologizing was bad; the ad running now is effective. Jack Davis was on a local radio show in the spring. He seems to be against federal pork and was also quoted as having questions about member items by The Buffalo News. Reynold's ad makes the point that Davis would not even bring home dollars for a fire truck for the local "first responders."

Stepping out against federal pork barrel spending (the multimillion dollar bridge to nowhere in Ketchikan, Alaska is an example of federal pork) is admirable for a politician. But it won't get you elected, especially if the people in the district are trying to figure who is going to pay for getting rid of all those downed trees and tree limbs.

Prediction: Tip O'Niell was right. All politics are local and barring another October Surprise, Reynolds will retain his seat. He should thank Mother Nature.

August Blues

Gone too long. Too blue to write.

Members of the Red Sox nation are all too familiar with the emotions of this past August. The Red Sox can be the hottest team in baseball in July, but reality returns in August. The hated Yankees spend more money (because The Boss and the team have more) at trade deadline. Injuries happen, and the team is not deep enough to bounce back. The bullpen fails. All these and cancer this year.

Then the Yankees came to town...

We'll be back next year!

50 Years Ago

As I gazed out the seventh floor window at UCSF Children's Hospital I saw a ship coming into San Francisco Bay. Riley was doing better and I had stepped out of his room. I gradually realized that I had been where that cargo ship was - fifty years ago!

We sailed from Manila, through Hong Kong, Nagoya and Yokohama with a rail trip to Tokyo. We visited friends in Tokyo and saw the big Buddha in Kyoto. This time it was a larger cargo vessel of the Pacific Far East Line, the Golden Bear of the Mariner Class. The ship carried Copra, Mahogany and frozen Tuna. A bigger ship was a dream to a teenager who had made the voyage to Manila on the much smaller Liberty ship the California Bear. Sailing the Pacific on a freighter was great. You got to know many of the crew and most of the officers. Regular access to the radio room and bridge and freedom to walk the deck in all but the most severe weather kept us busy while on the open sea. We bought binoculars in Hong Kong so I spent a lot of time scanning the sea and Dad and I often observed constellations in the clear dark night sky.

There were five of us; Mom, Dad, Len my younger brother and Paul who was an infant born in Manila. The meals on the ship were like daily banquets. We were often on a very tight budget during the four years we spent in the Philippines. Steak twice a week and turkey on Thursdays seemed like heaven. There were lemons and pears in our stateroom.

I clearly remember the building excitement in the hours before we saw land that day in March of 1956. We were up early scanning the eastern horizon. The harbor pilot arrived in a beautiful sailboat, teak decks gleaming. Soon we could make out the bridge.

I will never forget sailing under the Golden Gate. I looked up at those giant golden cables. I was home.

Welcome Home Riley

After Fontan surgery, three days of ECMO bypass therapy, maybe 25 chest X-Rays, two heart catherizations, a couple of echograms and being waked for vitals too many times to count, Riley Mackenzie Norton came home from the hospital. He was discharged from the University of California at San Francisco on April 27, 2006, after 37 days.

As I write he has been home 10 days. He is making steady progress regaining his strength. He is walking without stiffness, standing up by himself and eating better. At medicine time he struggles because some taste horrible and they upset his stomach. His medicines seem to affect his eating as does the lowfat diet he needs to be on until Thursday. Still, he continues to be brave and take his medicine.

Best of all he is increasingly himself with that beautiful smile, neat sense of humor and great personality. He plays with his cars and trains, spots every Prius on the road (his Grammy has one) and knows numbers and letters enough to startle people on elevators. In many ways he is a typical smart little 3 year old.

Fortunately he has little memory of when he was really sick.

We do, and I am so grateful to have him home and getting better. I am also incredibly grateful to friends, family and people I do not know for the prayers, gifts, meals and other support during a sometimes terrifying time. Thank you all.

A shout out and thank you to the heroes at the hospital who cared for Riley, intervened when he had a crisis, gave him one-on-one care in the Pediatric Cardiatric Intensive Care Unit and helped him regain the strength and health he needed to go home. I won't try to list the heroes because the names I might forget are the ones who were there during the most intense times.

Welcome home little man. You teach us so much each day. You make me a very rich Grampy.

Heart Surgery

The Red Sox, Bills and even politics are not as important as my grandson Riley's hospitalization. He has just returned home from an exhausting day of heart catherization and will have surgery on March 9th. So, I will not be posting for awhile.

If you want to follow Riley's progress see Riley's Blog.

Just Like Mom

Milk and Cookies. They served milk and warm chocolate chip cookies.

Yesterday I got upgraded to first class on a flight to the west coast. I had plenty of room for my legs and the service was great.

For desert they brought me a warm chocolate chip cookie and milk.

One of my foundest childhood memories is the smell of chocolate chip "Tollhouse" cookies fresh from the oven. Mom would pour us a glass of milk to chase them down.

Mom died a year ago today. We miss you Mom.

Matters of the Heart

My grandson Riley is scheduled for heart surgery on March 9. He was born with only one pump or ventricle. I am so grateful that modern medicine has the capability they do today. Dr. Karl and the staff at USCF have given us a bright little boy who brings great joy to his grandfather.

Riley’s Dad tells you more in his blog.

Bono Preaches to Bush

The entre of a socially engaged rock star is absolutely amazing.

Yesterday (February 2, 2006) Bono spoke at the national prayer breakfast.

You can read a transcript of his speech here (registration is required).

Does Bush Have a Tin Ear?

Are you listening to yourself Mr. President?

Does he have any idea how his arrogance sounds to those he has sworn to govern? Or was he posturing for the very rich and his fellow oilmen?

Why would you allow yourself to be quoted defending $36.13 billion in windfall profits for ExxonMobil this past year? Without his hubris, wouldn’t you think the smart thing would be to keep your mouth shut?

So, he is out of the closet, he has admitted that he is the President of the very rich; the working stiff and the poor be damned.

State of the Union?

“President Bush says, ‘America is addicted to oil.’” That was what I heard as I started my car this morning. I laughed outloud! I guess it was good that I was driving alone.

But it gave me an idea. What else did President Bush say in the State of the Union Address (SOTU)? What was true, what was spin and what hope, if any, can we take from his speech last night?

I am trained in biblical exegesis, so I know that you can take any quote out of context. I have supplied a link to the official version of the SOTU, see the context for yourself. What I would like to do is supply context to what he said, to give him props when I can, and to call him on things that make no sense.

“Today our nation lost a beloved, graceful, courageous woman who called America to its founding ideals and carried on a noble dream.”

Kind and well deserved words for Coretta Scott King who died on Monday.

“In a system of two parties, two chambers, and two elected branches, there will always be differences and debate. But even tough debates can be conducted in a civil tone, and our differences cannot be allowed to harden into anger. To confront the great issues before us, we must act in a spirit of goodwill and respect for one another -- and I will do my part.”

I hope that this signifies that the administration is turning the page. A truly civil, democratic dialogue would be refreshing and good for our country. Keeping Karl Rove around suggests that this is spin, but we shall see. Questioning Rep. Murtha’s patriotism is not exactly civil discourse, so there is need for change from the President, Vice President and others who work for him.

“In a complex and challenging time, the road of isolationism and protectionism may seem broad and inviting -- yet it ends in danger and decline.

“The United States will not retreat from the world, and we will never surrender to evil.”

Just who is the isolationist? The one who goes to war when most of the world is against it? And, why are there so few mentions of world affairs in SOTU? Aside from terrorism and countries that in the past he has labeled, “The Axis of Evil” he gives few concrete references. No mention of Latin America, where the Bush administration’s policies are failing. No specific mention of Africa? That sure cannot make Bono confident that Bush will keep his promises on debt and HIV.

Secretary Rice deserves credit for patching things up with Europe especially. She has made her mark and perhaps the last four years of Bush’s administration will be less isolationist. Of course, we could use a President who knew the world better and traveled a bit more.

“Along the way, we have benefitted from responsible criticism and counsel offered by members of Congress of both parties. In the coming year, I will continue to reach out and seek your good advice. Yet, there is a difference between responsible criticism that aims for success, and defeatism that refuses to acknowledge anything but failure. (Applause.) Hindsight alone is not wisdom, and second-guessing is not a strategy. (Applause.)”

“Strategy?” Hello! Was there a strategy in going into Iraq? Did anyone plan for the predicted insurgency? Were our troops given the proper armor and equipment? I heard an interesting presentation from The Commonwealth Club this week. It was apparently taped in December and featured several service men and women who had returned from Iraq. One, a woman, was there at the beginning. All she had was a Kevlar vest. She had to buy her own body armor. Their Humvees, she said, were about 20 years old and pretty beaten up. They were also not well armored. Another, a man, had arrived about 18 months after her. He said they had good equipment including, “Up armored Humvees,” which were pretty, “Robust.” Did the public outcry about armor cause the Pentagon to correct bad planning?

“The Palestinian people have voted in elections. And now the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism, and work for lasting peace. (Applause.)”

The results of the Palestinian election point to the failure of Bush administration policy, and bias toward Israel. We need a more balanced policy that calls for justice on both sides.

“Our work in Iraq is difficult because our enemy is brutal….Fellow citizens, we are in this fight to win, and we are winning. (Applause.)”

In some ways winning in Iraq is irrelevant. Are we winning the “War on Terrorism?” Iraq has been a diversion; have we caught Osama? Because we are in Iraq there are hundreds more terrorists, a decentralized command structure that will be harder to root out and we have provided a training ground in terrorist technology.

“It is said that prior to the attacks of September the 11th, our government failed to connect the dots of the conspiracy. We now know that two of the hijackers in the United States placed telephone calls to al Qaeda operatives overseas. But we did not know about their plans until it was too late. So to prevent another attack –- based on authority given to me by the Constitution and by statute -- I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected al Qaeda operatives and affiliates to and from America. Previous Presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have, and federal courts have approved the use of that authority. Appropriate members of Congress have been kept informed. The terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist attacks. It remains essential to the security of America. If there are people inside our country who are talking with al Qaeda, we want to know about it, because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again. (Applause.)”

The President came to Buffalo in April 2004. He lied to about 500 law enforcement officers. He said, “Any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires _ a wiretap requires a court order. "Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so." Why did he need to lie if he had the constitutional and legal authority to order wiretaps?

“Our economy is healthy and vigorous, and growing faster than other major industrialized nations. In the last two-and-a-half years, America has created 4.6 million new jobs -- more than Japan and the European Union combined. (Applause.)”

The President conveniently fails to note that this 1.5% job growth is low for comparable stages of economic cycles. He also fails to tell you that only the top 5% of families experienced any real wage growth on his watch. Are his tax cuts working? They are only if you are among the very rich.

“Tonight I will set out a better path: an agenda for a nation that competes with confidence; an agenda that will raise standards of living and generate new jobs. Americans should not fear our economic future, because we intend to shape it.”

OK! I am waiting for him to shape the economy in this world of global competition in ways that are fair to American workers. How is he going to help American industry to compete? Is his healthcare reform going to help?

“We must also confront the larger challenge of mandatory spending, or entitlements. This year, the first of about 78 million baby boomers turn 60, including two of my Dad's favorite people -- me and President Clinton. (Laughter.) This milestone is more than a personal crisis -- (laughter) -- it is a national challenge. The retirement of the baby boom generation will put unprecedented strains on the federal government. By 2030, spending for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid alone will be almost 60 percent of the entire federal budget. And that will present future Congresses with impossible choices -- staggering tax increases, immense deficits, or deep cuts in every category of spending. ‘Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security -- (applause) -- yet the rising cost of entitlements is a problem that is not going away. (Applause.) And every year we fail to act, the situation gets worse.

“So tonight, I ask you to join me in creating a commission to examine the full impact of baby boom retirements on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. This commission should include members of Congress of both parties, and offer bipartisan solutions. We need to put aside partisan politics and work together and get this problem solved. (Applause.)”

Thank God and some smart Congresspersons who saw that Bush’s plan to “personalize” Social Security did not solve the problem of solvency of the Social Security Trust. So, we need another commission? I hope it is truly bipartisan, has no one on it that is afraid of getting bounced from office, and has some guts. It is a good way to dodge the issue for a few more years. Forgive me if I don’t hold my breath.

“Keeping America competitive requires affordable health care. (Applause.) Our government has a responsibility to provide health care for the poor and the elderly,and we are meeting that responsibility. (Applause.) For all Americans -- for all Americans, we must confront the rising cost of care, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, and help people afford the insurance coverage they need. (Applause.)

“We will make wider use of electronic records and other health information technology, to help control costs and reduce dangerous medical errors. We will strengthen health savings accounts -- making sure individuals and small business employees can buy insurance with the same advantages that people working for big businesses now get. (Applause.) We will do more to make this coverage portable, so workers can switch jobs without having to worry about losing their health insurance. (Applause.) And because lawsuits are driving many good doctors out of practice -- leaving women in nearly 1,500 American counties without a single OB/GYN -- I ask the Congress to pass medical liability reform this year. (Applause.)”

Well they cut Medicaid. Medicare prescription drug plan is a disaster, good thing he did not brag about it in the speech. Medical insurance accounts. Give me a break! Does he have any sense of decency and understanding about the poor, the working poor, and the average American who works from paycheck to paycheck? We need real healthcare reform, and yes the poor need real protection as does the middle class family that can be wiped out with one hospitalization. Oh, tort reform, like that for the gun manufacturers that takes away all responsibility and gives them a free ride?

“America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.”

Who knew? How much are we paying this guy to tell us the obvious?

“To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest more in zero-emission coal-fired plants, revolutionary solar and wind technologies, and clean, safe nuclear energy. (Applause.) “Breakthroughs on this and other new
technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. (Applause.) By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment,move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past. (Applause.)”

Let’s see if we get some real proposals and the money to back them up here. I am no expert, but so far there is no such thing as clean coal. If we can make zero emission coal happen, we may have something. Nuclear? You have got to be kidding!

“Tonight I announce an American Competitiveness Initiative, to encourage innovation throughout our economy, and to give our nation's children a firm grounding in math and science. (Applause.)”

“Every Child Left Behind” gives me absolutely no confidence that Bush will fund any of his educational mandates. They have it so convenient in Washington; you pass a law, then fail to authorize the funding. You then brag about it for four more years.

“A hopeful society expects elected officials to uphold the public trust. (Applause.) Honorable people in both parties are working on reforms to strengthen the ethical standards of Washington -- I support your efforts. Each of us has made a pledge to be worthy of public responsibility -- and that is a pledge we must never forget, never dismiss, and never betray. (Applause.)”

Both parties are sinners here. Let’s not talk about lobby reform, let’s talk about congressional ethic reform.

"In New Orleans and in other places, many of our fellow citizens have felt excluded from the promise of our country. The answer is not only temporary relief, but schools that teach every child, and job skills that bring upward mobility, and more opportunities to own a home and start a business. As we recover from a disaster, let us also work for the day when all Americans are protected by justice, equal in hope, and rich in opportunity. (Applause.)"

Mr. President, talking about this after the disaster and in the SOTU is not enough. Put the money on the table. Your current budget proposals leave out 140,000 homeowners.

Another Outrage

Their neighbors knew. The New York Times knew. But it took four months for John David Allen’s parents to find out he was dead and to recover his ashes and those of his wife. They were about to be, “disposed of.”

Allen’s parents got no answers when they called the Red Cross; too busy with the living to list the dead. Worse yet, FEMA had, “no information,” for months. Finally Allen’s father asked, “Where do you take the bodies?” He was told to call the local coroner. He finally got an answer. The coroner’s office had known for two months. The bodies of John David Allen and Susan his wife had been cremated.

When questioned by the media about this shameful episode, FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney said it was the local medical examiner's job to call next of kin. If that does not work? They might have ''some discussion in the future of ensuring that the local coroner has the ability to do that.''

''We grieve with this family,'' he said.

Hello, is anyone home?

Why? With all the technology available today, why would the coroner and FEMA not have a central list? Why after being told that “Brownie” was, “doing a great job,” is there still so much incompetence in an agency that is integral to our response not only to natural disasters, but to terrorist attacks?

The Bush administration thought that FEMA was unimportant. Because of their radical ideology, they thought that disaster response was the work of faith-based (read churches) groups. Even after 9/11/2001, they downplayed FEMA’s work. They gutted the agency and replaced disaster professionals with political cronies. After all, Brown knew Arabian horses!

It is part of a pattern driven by the Bushies right wing ideology. Conservatives think that government is part of the problem giving us things like welfare fraud and lack of personal responsibility. To those who think I am a conspiracy theorist I offer a quote from a conservative guru, Grover Norquist. He says, “My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." So FEMA became one of their targets. What they gave us was shameful incompetence in the face of tragedy.

There is something ironic about this administration. They are social conservatives, even fundamentalists, but they are not true conservatives in the classic sense. They have not made government smaller and leaner. They have created bloat and deficits for as far as the eye can see. Don’t take my word for it; read George Will the columnist, he is fed up. Now there is a smart conservative!

Although the conversation may never be resolved, I welcome a discussion of the proper role of government. I get frustrated and indignant when the Bush administration cuts away at vital programs without public debate. Not that we should expect dialogue! This administration excludes alternative viewpoints and cordons opponents behind distant barricades whenever Bush appears.

What are proper government roles?

Faith-based groups have been nothing short of heroic in the face of the Katrina tragedy. My own brother was in the Gulf Coast region for about a week with a church group. There is a place for disaster response by churches, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and other charities.

However, they cannot provide the overall management that must be the responsibility of government, specifically FEMA. Each level of government; municipality, state and federal have their roles. When a major disaster strikes, someone should have a plan and someone should know who is in charge. FEMA has to know what the plan is and FEMA bears the burden of coordination. Only the federal government can bring enough resources to bear, both on the eve of impending disaster, and in the aftermath.

It seems to me that there are two issues here. First, we need a public dialogue about government roles. We could use the help of Congress here. Second, we need competence in government, not cronyism. Maybe we should hire some of the professionals who run their churches better than this crowd runs our government.

Now, if we could get the other party to see the light and provide a vision for change.

Take That Wal Mart!

Legislators in Maryland took a novel approach to Health Care reform yesterday. Both the Senate and the House voted (registration necessary) to require that an employer with more than 10,000 employees spend at least 8% of their payroll on health care for their workers. Absent the 8% the employer must make a contribution to the state’s Medicaid program.

Apparently Wal Mart is the only company known to meet the criteria of the bill. Legislators seem fed up with Wal Mart’s corporate policy to finance “Always Low Prices” on the back of low wage associates. As many as half must take Medicaid because their wages are too low to afford health insurance. “The taxpayers are giving a health-care subsidy to the largest retailer on earth,” according to Democratic Kumar Havre who voted for the bill. The vote on Thursday, January 12, 2006 provided an override of governor Robert Ehrlich’s May 2005 veto.

Certainly Wal Mart should be a better corporate citizen. Did they not once advertise that they sold “Made in America?” Now what they sell is made in China because they chase after the lowest possible price and they pay the lowest possible wage. One can hardly blame Maryland’s legislators for being tired of a giant who feeds off the public trough by forcing their workers to take Medicaid. Their shady employment practices have included denial of lunch breaks and mandatory overtime off the clock.

Is this law good public policy? Why should a person’s employer be responsible for her health insurance? True, union efforts led to health insurance coverage in many industries during the previous century. Union members are justifiably proud of contracts that include complete health care coverage and other benefits.

However, we live in a world of global competition and giants such as Delphi and their former parent General Motors are beginning to choke on the competitive burden of health care. Face it; health care in the U.S. is broken. Just this past week I visited a high-rise office building owned by a local health insurer. Each person in that building is part of our health care system, but not one of them is providing health care, either preventative or curative. Instead they are pushing papers and interfering in doctors’ lives:

"Above all, a large part of America's health care spending goes into paperwork. A 2003 study in The New England Journal of Medicine estimated that administrative costs took 31 cents out of every dollar the United States spent on health care, compared with only 17 cents in Canada." (Paul Krugman, NY Times Op Ed Columnist, April 15, 2005)

President George W. Bush believes that global competition is good, that it will engender jobs in the end. Low paying jobs, that is. No wonder he has admitted that he does not understand the struggles of the poor. He was born not only with a silver spoon, but also with a free pass to the oval office. It is time that our government did something to protect the American way of life and stop the shrinking of the middle class. Health Care must be one of the first priorities in this effort.

The American worker and her family don’t have time to wait for the federal government to fix health care. Krugman points to ideology and vested interests as the two barriers to real reform in the Washington of the Republicans. So, the Maryland approach to corporate leeches has one thing going for it. The fix must begin at the state level. Thirty other states are reportedly watching Maryland closely on this one. You could also look at Kansas where Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius recently unveiled CommunityRx Kansas, to make medications more affordable to lower income citizens. Like Maryland’s efforts these are just beginnings.

I am no expert on health care reform, but I am working on learning all I can. What I have learned so far follows.

First, we need to begin at the state level as Maryland has done. We may be able to bring change to Washington, DC but it will take too much time. I am a member of the Working Families Party of New York (see my links). The party has made health care reform in our state our focus for this year.

Second, and this pains, we will have to have some private sector involvement. My Aunt, who spent her life in health care and was married to a physician, would kill me if I called for single carrier coverage by the government. Nevertheless, I believe that the richest country in the world should not have 46 million uninsured, many of them children. So, given the current political climate, the pragmatic approach is to involve the private sector. One caveat, we have got to get the administrative costs down.

Third, there needs to be some incentive for individuals to control the costs of their own care. Choose generic drugs instead of pricey new pharmaceuticals and visit the doctor regularly but not too often. Such choices should be a personal responsibility and rewarded in some way to help keep costs down.

Fourth we can no longer put the burden of health insurance on the employer alone. Toyota is building a new plant in Canada at least partly because of the stability of health care there. Global competition is by nature an unlevel playing field. To protect the American middle class and care for those most in need, we need to view health care reform as a national priority.

We also need to be proactive and speak for the poor laborer in China to ensure human rights and equity in the global marketplace.

I owe some of these ideas, including the one about involving the private sector to the Progressive Policy Institute. If you are interested in further study, check out the link at the end of this post.

No Respect!

Rodney Dangerfield said, “I don’t get no respect!”

Jim Rice could say the same thing and occasionally did in his younger days. With 382 home runs, 2,452 hits, 1,451 RBIs and a .298 lifetime average, Rice missed the Hall of Fame today. He played in 2,089 games from 1974 to 1989. According Boston Red Sox historian Dick Bresciani, Rice’s numbers exceed all players active in his time frame.

In his rookie year (1975) he hit 22 home runs and batted .309 with an on base percentage of .350. We need some perspective here. The steroid-fueled home run totals of the ‘90’s cannot be compared. On any other team that went to the series (I am not going there) Jim Rice would have been MVP. Trouble was he arrived the same year another young outfielder did. Freddy Lynn was both Rookie of the Year and MVP with numbers a bit better than his.

Fred Lynn had a good career, but not near as good a career as Rice, who stayed with the Red Sox for the duration.

Today he received 64.8 percent of the vote. Each year he has gained votes keeping him on the ballot. But, next year Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken will be on the ballot. They will go in their first year.

There will also be a guy named Mark McGwire on next year’s ballot. He will have to await his fate.

Jim Rice don’t get no respect. He belongs in the Hall!