What I Think This Election Is About

I had several things in mind for blog posts this past weekend... especially some questions on California ballots... but as I tried to write them it kept coming to me that, although they are critically important to Californians, I'm not going to be here when it's time to pay the piper, and if the ones who are going to be here sleep through this election then shame on them.
The Administration's braying about Saddam Hussein's guilty verdict and sentencing haunts me. I keep remembering that picture of Donald Rumsfeld and Saddam Hussein shaking hands in December, 1983.
Hussein is convicted for the deaths of 148 Shi'ites in 1982. Mr. Rumsfeld says in 2002 that he spoke to Hussein about the use of chemical weapons at their meeting... although contemporaneous reports do not support that... and the U.S. continued to support him.
This midterm election is not about the Foleys or the Haggards or the DeLays. This election is about what it ultimately means to be an American.
Who are we? In what direction does our moral compass point? Do we have a moral compass? Do we stand for anything?
We talk about gay marriage, but we let complicity in ongoing crimes against humanity go unchallenged. Who explains this to the grandkids? Is this where we just say, "It's complicated?"

On the Subject of the American Economy

Maybe it's just me, but I think it's disingenuous to hold up the performance of 30 of the largest multinational corporations (the Dow-Jones Industrial Average) as a measure of the performance of the American economy.
Personally, I'm a lot more interested in the net income in my apartment than I am in the stock price of Exxon, GE and GM.
That's just me, and I don't claim to speak for anyone but myself... but my economy hasn't gone anywhere good for awhile now.

An Aside About a Foregone Conclusion

I know he's going to win reelection, but I have to say something about this.
I know there's a word for the guy who was looking to gut public employee pension and benefit programs just last year now eulogizing the firefighters killed in San Bernardino County on Thursday. Arnold, if the Democrats had run anyone but Angelides, you'd be an outgoing governor in a few days.
When he was elected governor, Arnold promised that if the public employees would just work with him in the first year and let him "borrow" their funding he'd make it up to them. In his second year Arnold set about making it up to them by going after the public employees and their unions and challenging longstanding public funding apportionments for essential public services. California voters pretty much kicked his ass last November.
Now, in his third (reelection) year, Arnold has effectively muzzled public employees and even most political opposition by touting "the largest education budget in California history," and $38 Billion in pork funded by bond issues ("No new taxes"... until the bonds are sold and the debt service starts).
California teachers have every reason to say that they don't trust Arnold. It is entirely reasonable to ask which Arnold will appear in Sacramento in 2007 through 2010. Since he's not running for reelection, I am expecting the return of 2005 Arnold advancing the agenda of his conservative handlers. That's just me.
The thing that gets my goat is Arnold's crocodile tears over the four dead firefighters and one in the Arrowhead burn unit whose pay, pension, and survivor benefits he wanted to cannibalize a year ago. The transparent insincerity is just wrong.

For California Voters

It's too late to register to vote in the November 7th election. California requires that you be registered fifteen days before any election.
Concerns have been expressed about the nature and quality of accountability for the accuracy of electronic voting. Voting machines have been hacked and jiggered before, and if the people in charge of an election felt threatened...
According to the Secretary of State's website, applications for an absentee ballot "must be submitted to the county elections officials no later than 5 p.m. on October 31, 2006."
An application is attached to the "Official Sample Ballot and Voter Instructions" and is also downloadable as a PDF from here or from the Secretary of State's website.
California "County Elections Officials" locations are listed here or on the Secretary of State's website.

Let's not let this opportunity get away from us. We don't know when we'll get another like it.

A Few Words for Hospitalman Charles O. Sare

Hospitalman Charles O. Sare, 23, of Hemet, Calif., died Oct. 23 from enemy action while conducting combat operations in the Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Doc Sare was assigned to Naval Ambulatory Care Center, Port Hueneme, Calif. and was currently serving with Multi-National Corps – Iraq.
Semper Fi

I say "Semper Fi" at the end of these posts for a few reasons... to honor the Corpsman's ultimate sacrifice... to honor the Marine Corps with which he was serving... and to mark his loss in the way I approach my responsibility to him and to those who follow him... I made it through and he didn't and I owe him.
I object to this new practice of saying he died while serving with a "Multi-National Corps." He died while serving with the United States Marine Corps. He died while he was supposed to be on shore duty in Southern California able to have a beer and walk the beach after work, and to go home on a long weekend to see his folks. Instead of that, George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld sent him to Iraq to be killed or maimed in my place as an American, and there was nothing multi-national about it except for some nominal allies they've been able to pay to share the blame.

Where Will We Be in Two Weeks?

At one point during the Elderblogger PhoneCon today the question was raised about why Karl Rove was so optimistic that the Administration wouldn't lose their hold on Congress. Actually the question was why Dubya was optimistic, but he could just be delusional or clueless. Karl Rove is scarier.
One issue that came up was the new electronic voting systems that are coming online this year. MSNBC has a story from Reuters today on potential voting problems next month which include the unproven technology of the Diebold voting machines. There is also an AP story of a Princeton University professor and a couple of grad students who were able to upload viral software onto a Diebold machine that was capable of spreading to linked machines.
Paul DeGregorio, the gentleman who heads the Election Assistance Commission was appointed by Dubya in 2003. The EAC was established to support the improvements in election processes called for in the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
The guy who took the election in 2000 signs a law to ensure that the unfortunate irregularities that may have put him in office do not recur, and appoints the guy who's going to help implement those changes... "Trust me... I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."
In California, an application to vote by mail must be received by Tuesday, October 31. The precinct in which I vote uses a paper ballot anyway.

One can hardly overstate the importance of voting in this election... at your polling place or by absentee vote or at the registrar's office.
Unless you happen to be among the... 19%?... who continue to believe we're right where we need to be, you must see that it is important that this Administration not enter its final two years with control of both Congressional bodies as well as the Judicial Branch. Someone needs to be in the position to challenge presidential signing statements, and the deconstruction of the Bill of Rights. These are not trivial issues.

It's Our Election and We Get to Choose

Gerry Prosser commented in Nobody Asked that it was frustrating that there was little to choose between Republican and Democrat. One hears this a lot, often from people trying to excuse not voting (which Prosser says he does); and it is disturbing to me.
For whatever reason, and I'm sure there would be many offered up, Americans have tuned out of government. We make up our minds on the basis of 15-second sound bites from paid ads or corporate "news" media, and vote (or not) for A or B.
I've mentioned my disappointment at the consistency with which I heard "sure, McClintock would make a better governor, but Arnold is going to win so I'm voting for him." As if it's all about voting for the winning team? I am disappointed, but not at all embarrassed, to say that my candidates haven't usually won.
In California, there are six candidates on the ballot for Governor; six for Lt. Governor; six for Dianne Feinstein's job. The election will probably go to Arnold, McClintock (Tom, I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you for doing this), and Feinstein; but I ain't voting for any of them... or for any Democrats either.
If I can't come up with a "best candidate" I can vote "for," I'm going to write myself in. My write-in won't count? Helloooooo! I don't expect to win!
My point is that we don't have to accept just A or B. We have choices. We have the opportunity to make positive choices, instead of selecting the lesser of evils.
If enough of us would put the effort we spend into choosing clothes or cars into choosing government it just might make a difference. We don't have to wait until 2008.
This year, if the Republicans lose enough seats and non-Democrats pick up a few of those, we could return to a multi-party representative democracy. We don't have to choose between a government of the 20% to the right or to the left. We do have to choose.

A Few Words About a (Apparently) Decent Lawyer

It's as simple as recognizing that you can try to retain "the best and the brightest" or you can surround yourself with "yes men" but not with both. These are mutually exclusive qualities in a person.
LCDR Charles Swift was given an assignment which he carried out to the very best of his ability, and for his successful efforts he is being forced to leave the Navy. He was tasked with defending detainees charged... where they have been charged at all... with trying to kill him. He successfully got the Supreme Court (that put Dubya in the White House in the first place) to grant detainees some semblance of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution he... and this Administration... swore to defend.
It wasn't always like this. In my time there were moments when I had to question whether the speaker had actually said what I thought I'd just heard. In only one instance was this not accepted in the spirit in which it was done. In my experience, the best have not felt threatened by a legitimate question. People committed to doing what is right do not object when what is right is revealed to them.
These are sad times indeed.

"The 1 Plan to Rebuild California"

"The 1 Plan to Rebuild California" is touted as "supported by people who don't usually agree on anything." I wouldn't say that's entirely true, because they're all career politicians and special interest groups. They want work for their constituents paid for by the state without having to ask for tax increases (especially) during a general election year.
The "Plan" is being marketed as a single bloc of votes: "Vote Yes on the Ones," which may be unfortunate because it lumps Prop. 1A with debt-financed spending programs.
I wrote a bit about Prop. 1A the other day.
Proposition 1B would authorize $19.9 Billion from general obligation bonds for state and local transportation construction. The only identified highway is SR-99. One half of one percent would go toward port and harbor security.
Proposition 1C would authorize $2.9 Billion from general obligation bonds; about half to continue funding for existing programs and the rest for "development programs" (pork).
Proposition 1D would authorize $10.4 Billion from general obligation bonds for education facilities construction and improvements. Not to open or operate them... just to build them.
Proposition 1E would authorize $4.1 Billion from general obligation bonds for "flood management" projects... okay, primarily one project: $3 Billion for the Central Valley Flood Control System.
If my math skills haven't failed me again, Californians are looking at borrowing about $37.3 Billion almost all of it (except for about $1.5 Billion in homeownership loans) to be repaid... with interest... about $63.3 Billion over 30 years... by taxpayers!
$37.3 Billion to rebuild California "without increasing taxes!" There ought to be an asterisk and fine print somewhere that says "this year." This single issue, assuming no new bond issues in the future (AS IF!!), is expected to push California's debt service ratio to 6% in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise opened their article on Proposition 1B with:

"Local transportation leaders say they expect plenty of money to flow to
Riverside and San Bernardino counties... even though it does not include
specific projects in the Inland area."

Riverside and San Bernardino counties are populated by people who can't afford to live in Los Angeles County and managed by people who wanted their same jobs in Orange County. These people are notoriously nuts (in my humble opinion)... incurably Republican. Mary Bono is still representing them in the House.
I am encouraged that it looks like support for "The 1 Plan" is dropping, I am not optimistic that my fellow voters are going to (a) read through a 192-page Voter Guide before they (b) VOTE.

CA Prop 1A - Transportation Funding Protection

Proposition 1A on the California ballot puts into the state constitution that a) the sales taxes levied on gasoline must used for transportation and not dropped into the General Fund; and that b) if the state does have to "borrow" that money, it must be returned to the transportation fund within three years.
Presently these measures exist in state law, except that the state law doesn't specify when, if ever, transportation funds must be replaced.
My objection to the status quo is simple: levying extraordinary taxes on gasoline to pay for state transportation expenses and then routinely keeping that money in the general fund is dishonest. It also results in a woefully inadequate transportation infrastructure, but the bigger issue is the accepted practice of robbing Peter to pay Paul instead of dealing with budget issues in a straightforward manner.
Anyone who remembers... if anyone remembers... Schwarzenegger's second year as governor when all of the money he "borrowed" in his first year couldn't be repaid should know what I'm talking about here. In fact, one hardly needs to look further than Propositon 1B for a $19.9 Billion bond issue for state and local transportation improvement projects.
California voters accepted higher gasoline taxes to fund transportation. What is the question?

Robin Would Have Been 59

Robin and I were a couple of ugly ducklings at Davenport Central in 1962... I think the technical term is "Nerds." Whether it was gravity or whatever, in a sophomore class of more than 300, Robin and I always had at least one class together, two in that first year. We talked and talked and talked... we each thought at the time that we had talked about everything there was to talk about.
During the summer before our senior year I dropped several pounds of baby fat and got my head turned by Donna, and that was it for Robin and me.
In the fall of 1995 Robin tracked me down on AOL and sent me an e-mail. We corresponded sporadically thereafter (you know how I am about writing).
Robin had hit a couple of speed bumps on the road of life, but enjoyed more than twenty years as a speech therapist for a rural school district in eastern Kentucky before retiring with a disability. I got it into my head to go for a drive in 2004 and, since I was going to be going through Kentucky, I planned to stop by and see her.
I had to pull her out of a nursing home to take her to dinner. Just six weeks earlier she'd been hospitalized up in Lexington, narrowly surviving major abdominal surgery, and she still had an open incision.
It turned out that for all the time we'd spent talking forty years earlier, I had not known that she'd been adopted or that she and her "step-mother" were both being beaten. She hadn't known that I'd been in foster care for seven years. She didn't know that she'd been my first date, the girl I gave my first corsage to. We talked at the SNF for a few hours, and then we joined two of her friends, Mark and Sally, for a bite to eat.
The classic "Robin" moment was when I came back to pick her up for dinner. She looked at me, there after forty years to pick her up for our second date, and exclaimed, "Are those the only shoes you have?" You had to have been there.
I didn't realize when I kissed her goodbye that that was the first time I'd kissed her.
After that we talked on the phone a few times... a few more e-mails... and then Robin was gone. She'd told Mark and Sally on Friday that she wasn't feeling well and was going to stay in bed so they shouldn't call. When they checked on her Monday they found that she'd passed over the weekend... just days before her birthday.
I think about Robin, adopted from a foundling home, her adoptive mother dying and leaving her with an abusive father figure, a non-starter in the teen popularity wars... because she'd already learned to keep so much of herself so well hidden? She pulled herself up. She did a lot of good for a lot of kids. She was bright, and funny, and for a few hours in late May, 2004, she said she reconnected with a moment forty years earlier.
Robin would have been 59 yesterday.

Trip Notes

I really enjoy driving. I don't care so much for travel per se, but I do enjoy driving. I am mindful of the waste... especially the fuel consumption... but the roads sing to me. This year I used as my pretext the need to drop some things off at Carmen's, and then to eyeball the area around Waynesville, NC... and, of course, I had to meet my grandson in person.

Some observations...

From my apartment to Carmen's was 1573 miles (mostly) on Interstate 40. From little HC's home to my apartment was 1402 miles on Interstates 20 and 10. The northern leg has never failed to invigorate me while the southern leg has never failed to enervate.I have two theories about this. The southern leg has always been the return leg so far, so I'm going to plan on going out that way next time to see if it's only that I've been tired of being out. If that doesn't work for me, then it might just be that the southwestern deserts don't sing to me.

I need to reflect on what the trip meant for Max. I have a sense that Max didn't enjoy the experience as much as I did. For myself, it was great to have him with me; but he seemed to me to be disoriented, not taking food on the road and not taking enough water, and being required to sleep in his crate in motel rooms. I wonder, if I could have put the question to him, if he would have chosen to come with me or to stay at Alex' house instead.

There were no particular breathtaking moments such as last year when Carmen and I saw the full moon perfectly cradled into a cup in the mountain tops, but there was beauty... and freshness. I "missed" the fall color: many of the trees had a discernible blush of color at the very tips of their leaves, but the big change was probably at least a week away. Still, green is a color not seen enough in SoCal. Perhaps the day will come when I'll crest a hill and look down without appreciation for the lush hills rolling toward the mountains before me, but I'm not looking forward to that.

Road rage seems to me to be mostly reflexive. Four hundred miles into a road trip expected to be at least twelve times that, and when I encounter two big-rig trucks going up a hill side by side at 65 mph I feel anger... because I had to disengage the cruise control? I'm in such a hurry to get to Gallup? Living in SoCal, I have practiced putting traffic issues into a context I can deal with... I try to keep good thoughts for the person or persons at the front for whom something bad has happened and appreciate that I'm fortunate enough to be at the back with no harm done to me. Truckers are at some risk to get their loads to their destinations on time, and I'm just out for a drive.

I have a sense that I have more to do. Going up through the National Park from Gatlinburg (hairpins, drizzle, fog), I lost traction on the rear end... I'm not sure why... and fishtailed, but I didn't go over the side, and the guy coming down missed me by a comfortable margin. I'm not a religious person, but I am mindful that I have been the beneficiary of what might be referred to as near-misses in my life. I feel a need to respect that.

The people I met in Waynesville... pretty much everywhere, but I was checking out Waynesville... were just great. I'll speak more to my experiences of the people later.

Moral Ambiguity and Changing Seasons

This morning as I was reflecting on the President's apparent abandonment of the Golden Rule... I'm not aware of an exception clause that allows for the torture of non-citizens with dark skin tones... I surfed over this piece from Kurt Vonnegut which seems to have a little something for several of my hot buttons. I hope you have a moment to read and reflect on it... and vote in November.
I'm off for two weeks. I promised Max I'd show him autumn in the Smoky Mountains, and I need to introduce myself to my grandson.
I will have my laptop so I may comment if I find somewhere to plug it in, but I haven't been very good about posting on here even without an excuse.

"May no fears affect you.
May no illnesses afflict you.
May no dangers come your way.
May you enjoy good health and long life."

A Reflection on the 5th Anniversary

I was at the 24HourFitness. I was on my way to work on reducing my considerable paunch after running on the treadmill when I passed by a TV showing one of the WTC towers burning. I remember thinking, "How do you accidentally hit the World Trade Center on such a clear morning?" In moments, a plane appeared in the screen... a multi-engine plane... which made a slight correction and flew into the second tower. I said to the attendant, "We're under attack.
"Thirteen months later I lurched past the Pentagon during the Marine Corps Marathon, and I noted the mobile anti-aircraft positions and the repairs on the building. To be honest, I was a lot more conscious of the recent capture of the DC sniper(s) than I was of the possibility of another attack by al Qaeda.
FDR, in his first inaugural address, said "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." My theory has always been that terrorists don't expect to "win" in the sense that they'll be eating in the White House anytime soon, but they hope to disrupt the status quo... our way of life... make us think twice... make us look over our shoulders.
We've surrendered a lot of what it meant to be American over the past five years on the possibility that a handful of international terrorists might strike at us again. How'd they do? How're we doing?

A Word About HM2 Christopher G. Walsh

Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher G. Walsh, 30, of St. Louis, Mo. died Sept. 4 while his unit was conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Doc Walsh was serving as a corpsman with Multi National Corps Iraq. He was assigned to the Navy Reserve 3rd Battalion, 24th Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Bridgetown, Mo.
Here is a piece the St. Louis NBC affiliate did on him and his background.

Semper Fi

Somebody in the World has a Fascist Agenda

I've had it up to here with these people. I want my language back.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, fascism is "a system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism."
If one considers motive, means, and opportunity, it is much more likely that the Bush administration is guilty of fascism than a bunch of guys in caves in Afghanistan or wherever.
For sixty years the United States has stood solidly behind and given unflinching support to Zionism and the State of Israel. Recently people who oppose our position have begun to explore ways take more direct action against us. I'm not saying we've been wrong. I'm saying that it's just a tiny bit disingenuous for us to act like we've never given anybody in the Muslim world the least bit of provocation. Apart from destroying Iraq for no apparent reason, what is the last positive thing we did for them?
Terrorism is a very real issue in the world. It should not be used as a pretext for transforming our republic into a police state.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the President is said to be trying to push through more of the same judicial nominees before he loses control of the Congress.

Update: See Keith Olbermann's response to Rummy's questionable assessment of reality.

A Word About Hospitalman Chadwick Kenyon

Hospitalman Chadwick T. Kenyon, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., died Aug. 20 of injuries suffered when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in the Al Anbar province, Iraq.
Doc Kenyon was assigned to the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Update: The Corpsmen I mention on here came from somewhere... were loved by someone... and each of them will be missed. Here's a piece in the Tucson Citizen about Doc Kenyon.
Semper Fi

Speaking of Morality and Immorality

I saw on MSNBC this morning that Tamara Hoover agreed to resign under a settlement agreement. I'm disappointed but I respect her decision.
Briefly, she's a high school art teacher in Austin whose partner posted a lot of pictures of her on Flikr, a few of which were nudes. A student came across them and pointed them out to another teacher who was not well-disposed toward Ms. Hoover. School administration wanted to terminate her for immorality.
It defies logic that nudity should be considered immoral prima facie... obviously by the same people who consider breast feeding immoral; but I wasn't in line to share the consequences if she'd lost. This is one of those moments when it's a embarrassing to be part of 21st century American society.
I hope that ultimately this works out for her. I trust that the people who came after her will eventually get what they deserve as well.

Happy Birthday, Millie!

A quick shout out to Millie Garfield of My Mom's Blog today on her 81st birthday!
Happy Birthday, Millie; and sincere best wishes for many more years of good health and great happiness!
You're a hero to Elderbloggers everywhere!

Thank you, Ronni at TGB.

Who's Really Calling the Plays?

I want to say a few words on what may be a hot button issue... I'm talking here about the Israeli response to attacks by terrorists... or the U.S. response for that matter, but today the Israelis.

Most of the world got its collective knickers in a serious twist over Zidane, the French soccer player who succumbed to verbal taunts to get himself thrown out of the World Cup final. France lost the game, of course, after the best soccer player in the world took himself out of the game.

In the context of mid-east politics, I don't get that anyone in Hamas or Hezbollah seriously expects to "win" against Israel in the field. Their game is to foment mistrust and hatred of Israel and to gain sympathy, if not support, for their position. I think Israel is playing right into their hands.

I appreciate that Israel has a right to defend itself, but I seem to remember a time when Israel was able to do that with some finesse; when a move against Israel was an invitation for the Mossad to eat your lunch. Now a comparative handful of people can send a couple of rockets into Israeli territory and provoke a massive retaliation. They know they can do this, and they can do it over and over and over again.

An Israeli dies and Israel kills ten... apparently any ten will do. To what extent do you suppose this is going to improve Israel's position in the midEast?
Who is really in control?

Of course I can understand why Israel is reacting as it is... for the same reason Zitane head-butted Materzzi. Now Israel has been drawn into bombing columns of refugees while violating Lebanese sovereignty. Who thinks Israel has fewer enemies this week than two weeks ago? Who thinks they have more?

Maybe it's just me and I'm missing something important, but it seems to me that if you're a victim of a crime you call a cop. You don't call the army... especially when that's what the criminals are hoping for.

On Things They Didn't Teach in Civics Class

Joared raises the question of the extent to which apparent voter apathy can be attributed to their lack of understanding of the political process. I think that's an excellent point.
I have always thought of myself as politically involved and aware, and I enjoy exploring the social sciences as much as anyone. Yet it was not until this spring that I became aware of the roots and extent of our two-party system of government and of Presidential Signing Statements.
I don't expect anything I say to drag a single viewer away from the World Cup, but a President who enjoys the confidence of less than 40% of the electorate writes his own law and the opposition party, led by Howard Dean, is running Bob Casey for Senate... Bob Casey who is more conservative than Rick Santorum.
I would encourage readers to check out John Dean's article on Presidential Signing Statements. This guy was inside the first neo-fascist administration, and he knows how things work.
I don't know why these things aren't explored by the time one graduates from high school... although I suspect it's never been a high educational priority for either party... but, even at its best, good government demands the participation of the electorate. If everyone who found Namibia on a map or who now knows what "Suri" means in Hebrew could just take a minute to find out what their legislative representatives did last week. If you've read this and know the score of yesterday's game between Germany and Argentina, you have the time.

On a Much Lighter Note...

Friday was, of course, Take Your Dog to Work Day.
Max and I are about halfway through an obedience training course I enrolled us in because he likes to run up to people, dogs, whatever, and jump up on them in greeting. Of the seventeen people - other than myself - in the suite yesterday, two were averse to touching Max and the other fifteen all encouraged him to jump up on them rather than bending over to pet him as he sat.
To the kids in my apartment complex: I'm sorry but this is going to take a little longer than I planned.

I Have to Say A Few Words About...

the shootings in Hamdania, Haditha and Salahuddin.

I am heartsick that a Hospital Corpsman is among the accused in the Hamdania murder. I am sickened that any eight guys would engage in what was - apparently - a lynching, but for a Corpsman to be involved is a blow. I hope against hope that he, at least, will be exonerated... not an Ollie North slide on a technicality but exonerated.
There was probably a Corpsman with my great-uncle when he fell at Belleau Wood... there is a Corpsman depicted in the Marine Corps Memorial... there was a Corpsman on the roof with the Marines in Khafji in '91. I don't even want to think about a Corpsman complicit in a murder dishonoring both the Marine Corps and the Hospital Corps. I hope it ain't so.

Unconventional warfare eats at the soul. Thinking about it, it's like the Katrina of war... totally disruptive. You can do absolutely everything right and still get blown up, and it makes people nuts.
That's why the military has NCOs. When the folks start getting a little squirrely, someone is supposed to tell them to get back into their HMMWVs and carry on with the mission. The expectation is that the man in charge will be in charge, and keep his people on task. There are... to all appearances... three NCOs who were at least seriously derelict in their duties.

I don't really have a point to make here. I'm just sick that a Corpsman has been charged, and I'm ticked at the senior NCOs who failed their troops, their service and their country.

A Word About Hospitalman Zachary M. Alday

Hospitalman Zachary M. Alday, 22, of Donalsonville, Ga., died June 9 from injuries sustained earlier in the day when the vehicle in which he was riding struck a land mine. His unit was conducting combat operations against enemy forces in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq.
Doc Alday was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 7th Regimental Combat Team, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), Camp Pendleton, Calif.
With nearly all of the Corpsmen I've mentioned in here there has been an untold back story. I'm struck by the fact that Doc Alday's guestbook at Legacy already runs to five pages, and WALB, his local NBC affiliate station, did a piece on him.
The President and others say things like we can't let these deaths have been in vain. Well, they either were or they weren't, and there's nothing to be done about that now except to mark their sacrifice.
Semper Fi.

Things They DIdn't Teach Me in Civics Class

I haven't posted in awhile so I thought I might share what I've learned about the institutionalization of the two-party political system.
I personally feel that partisan politics is poison to any version of democracy. It has been my experience that at some (early) point in the life of any organization the organization will begin to put its own interests over those of their former constituents. I don't care what "club" my representatives belong to. My concern is whether or not they will represent my views in the legislature. In American politics it is all about which "club" the representative belongs to, the Republicans or the Democrats. I was particularly struck by my reading that Sen. Jim Jeffords, following his switch from Republican to "Independent" had to make the Deal to align himself with the Democrat's Senate Leader in order to retain his committee assignments. In effect, any truly independent candidate sent to Washington (or Sacramento) would also have to make the Deal if she were to have any power in the legislative process.
The two-party system was institutionalized in the Senate in the 1920s. The Majority and Minority Leader positions have existed in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1899. The rationale for these positions, which have no Constitutional basis, was that governance had become so complex that legislative leadership needed to be defined and consolidated.
It's kind of sad. In 1854 the Republican Party was formed and received more than 30% of the votes in 1856 (John Fremont was considered by many to be too soft on immigration). They elected Lincoln in 1860. That's unlikely to ever happen again.
In other modern governments... the U.K. and Israel to name two... it is not uncommon that no party wins an outright majority in the general elections and collaboration and compromise are called for to form an effective government. Here we have A or B, chocolate or vanilla, and that's effectively it.
The voters have all of the power to take control back from the Republican and Democratic Party fundraisers, but apparently have little interest in doing so. In California only 34% of registered voters cast a ballot in this month's primary election. The Party-backed candidates all won nomination. Once again potential change-agents stayed home in droves.
It's hard not to get discouraged. From now until November I'll hear why Schwarzeneger is a better or worse choice than Angelides, and neither one of them has any interest or intention whatever in representing me.

Exasperation Day

Yesterday I was talking with a co-worker who told me that she never voted in the primaries... only in the general elections... because all they do in the primary is choose who will run in November. She was serious. I tried to get through to her that this was exactly the reason the primaries were so important. The primaries are where change happens!
The institutional Democrats won again in California. The opportunity for change has passed. Angelides apparently won by less than five percentage points... Garamendi and Brown (Brown? Governor Moonbeam for Attorney General?) by wider margins.
All that's left for November is to once again choose between the lesser of two evils.
No... I need to start looking at third party slates.

My Political Rant for the Primaries

Lest I bury the lead, I want to give props to Ronni at Time Goes By for pointing me to Unity 08. Their aim - to identify, nominate and elect national leadership not on the basis of their nominal party affiliation, but on their positions with respect to issues the voters have defined - may seem like an impossible or at least unlikely dream, but I've said before that no more than 30% of voters are defined by their party affiliations which leaves 70% of us who have become enured to the prospect of choosing the lesser of two evils. It could happen.

The California primary election is this Tuesday. The partisan political process is simply mind-numbing which some pundits are saying may be by design.
Phil Angelides is the Democratic Party's choice for Governor which gives him two strikes on my card. His earliest ad began with "Sen. Feinstein, Sen. Boxer... and others you trust..." All I need to know about Dianne Feinstein is that she just voted to confirm Gen. Hayden to lead the CIA. My earliest awareness of Sen. Boxer had to do with her unwavering opposition to all things military. I don't know if Steve Westly can beat Angelides, but so far he hasn't lied so that I've caught him at it.
John Garamendi has been in Sacramento or D.C. for thirty years and wants to be Lieutenant Governor this time.
Jerry Brown (Jerry Brown? Again?) wants to be Attorney General... What?
Charles Calderon... he was in the Assembly, then he moved up to the State Senate but got term-limited, and now he wants to go back down to the Assembly.
Once again I go into the booth to vote against the least palatable alternative.
Pundits point out that the voter turnout in Anbar province was higher than it will be here on Tuesday. In Anbar province there are more than two parties. I know there are more than two parties here, too; but given our legislative structure it comes down to only two.
Maybe... maybe if we can win one... if we can vote for and elect a President in 2008... maybe then we can tackle the two-party system in the legislative branch.
That would be a hoot.

Other Points of View I Don't Get

Is there a class in liberal economics somewhere that I could take? I ask because I'm obviously missing something, and when I ask people about it they just look at me like I'm speaking Croatian.
Phil Angelides is running for the Democratic slot in November's gubernatorial election, and his platform seems to consist in large part of "making the multi-millionaires and large corporations pay their fair share." I can see why that sings to voters, but I have no idea why anyone would give it any credence.
I try to point out that corporations do not pay taxes, that corporations are not people, that consumers pay the taxes levied on corporations. I point out that the last two airliners that will ever be built in California have just been flown out to their buyers. Corporations and their multi-millionaire corporate officers and investors can live anywhere while having their product (to the extent that we still create products) manufactured anywhere. If I win the Lotto I can buy a condo in Nevada for residency purposes and still enjoy the California lifestyle.
I'm also having an issue with the people whining about the "farmland" in South L.A. Los Angeles takes 14 acres to build a trash-to-energy plant, but the environmentalists blocked that. (Way to go, guys. Still have the trash and no new energy sources, but what the hey.) The courts tell L.A. to give the owner his land back, but now there are squatters gardening there. The owner agrees to sell to them, but they can't afford to buy so now we have Joan Baez, Daryl Hannah, and a couple of tree-sitters protesting. I am mindful of last year when we were all ready to tar and feather Justice Souter for ruling against propery rights. I still believe the Supreme Court was wrong then, and that the squatters have no legal claim now.
So... what am I missing?

A Word About Sen. Lloyd Bentsen

I'm experiencing a personal sense of loss with the news of Sen. Bentsen's passing.
There are so very few remaining in national politics who engender any feeling of respect, and - for me - he was certainly one of the few. He put me in mind of Jimmy Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
Rest in peace, Senator.

A Word About HM3 Lee Hamilton Deal

Petty Officer Third Class Lee Hamilton Deal, 23, of West Monroe, La., died May 17, as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was operationally assigned to Regimental Combat Team-5, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), and permanently assigned to 2nd Marine Division Fleet Marine Force Atlantic, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
HM3 Deal had a life... and he might have had a good life.

Semper Fi

Too Many Alternatives

So much to talk about and so little time... There are so many offenses at so many levels and I can choose only one at a time to explore.

The President's nomination of Gen. Hayden to head the CIA is a natural for me. Mr. Bush, in clear violation of FISA and the "Patriot Act," sets the NSA on a program of domestic spying; and now he nominates his director of that program, an officer of the U.S. Air Force sworn to defend the Constitution, to head the CIA. On the other hand, the neo-fascists have done their preparation well, and more than 60% of Americans are more in fear of their "enemies" than of losing their civil liberties.

I'm leaning toward state or local stories.

A Bay-area judge has suspended the California high school exit exam because it discriminates against... well, basically kids who can't pass it. His points are well-taken, that English-learners and the poor have a harder time passing the test. In my opinion, it is this kind of thinking that has made a high school diploma worthless. The exit exam tests English and math competency at the ninth grade level, and if a "graduate" can't pass that then how on Earth can I give him a job? How does he break out of the cycle of poverty?

The California Governor contest exemplifies why I stopped working on campaigns. Steve Westly appears to be a fiscal conservative who sings to a majority of voters in the polls, but Angelides is getting the Democratic Party endorsement apparently because... in the tradition of Gray Davis and Cruz Bustamente... he's next in line, works well for or with public employee union leaders, and has a ton of money from his real estate developer connections.

Meanwhile, Arnold, whose only virtue was that "his heart is in the right place," has also suddenly found a ton of money for next year's budget to pay off/pay back the money he "borrowed" from public programs during the first two years of his administration. The poorest and most disadvantaged? Well, they need better connections, don't they?

Both parties are stumping for the ultimate election-year lie: the $37 Billion building program with "no new taxes!" Why is California's bond rating right down there with Louisiana's? Could it be because Californians... as many Americans... don't recognize that debt must eventually be repaid? "Win-Win" my ass. It's at least 30 years of debt-service (interest), and hopefully an eternity of refinancing so you never have to repay the principal.

P.S. I didn't mention that the levee repairs at New Orleans won't be ready by June 1st after all.
When you see people such as Secretary Rumsfeld complaining that criticism of the Administration is damaging the U.S. position overseas you just want to scream: "Then stop lying! You are accountable to us! We're supposed to challenge you! That we catch you at it is your fault!"

Where to start...

Speaking of Really Bad Ideas...

I know that I need to work on not just wildly ranting here if I care at all about anyone ever reading this, but in 2006 with not one but two dumb-ass wars going on, massive Reagan-esque deficits, and millions of Americans reduced to planning their lives around oil company profits I learn that Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) wants to usurp a national park to open a recreational killing field for military personnel.
I lived in Mr. Hunter's gerrymandered district for a number of years. He does have a distinguished military record, but every once in awhile you see him in the Alec Baldwin role in Mercury Rising.
I don't presume to speak for all veterans... or for any veterans other than myself... but it strikes me as a little... more than a little... sick to expropriate one of the beautiful Channel Islands from the National Park system, transport populations of non-native deer and elk onto it, and then to invite people... even military people who arguably deserve recreational opportunities... to kill those populations just for the hell of it.
Geez, Duncan, call the animal shelter in El Cajon and maybe they'll let you gas some puppies or something. Better still, get some help.

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm

Yesterday my boss and I had a rare conversation that didn't involve work, and we got to talking about the immigration demonstrations taking place. I can't say that I was completely surprised by her attitude because she did vote for Bush-Cheney twice and for Arnold, but still...

Her position on illegal immigration was that life could be hard and that was a shame, but that Mexican economic issues were Vicente Fox' problem and not ours. I pointed out that there did seem to be some degree of bias in the emphasis on the southern border, and she said she didn't really have a problem with that. I asked her if she had any thoughts on the proposal to make illegal immigration a felony and she just dismissed that out of hand saying, "It'll never pass." Then it got a little surreal...

I asked how she could maintain such unsympathetic views given that her first language was Spanish. She responded that these migrants were different, not like her grandparents when they came across in 1940. These migrants, in her view, weren't committed to the U.S., but to providing for their families in Mexico and returning to Mexico at the earliest opportunity. Why, they don't even have established businesses and phone numbers. They only have cell phones, and can't be found from one year to the next if she wants them to do more work around her home.

She also mentioned that migrant families received more services for her tax dollars than she did, especially because she had to pay all those taxes for schools and her daughter goes to a private school. She acknowledged that this was generally true of all poor people though and not just migrant families. You've got to feel for those Republicans.

Okay, I admit that I have issues with the flags. Display the American flag right side up, and don't display the flags of other countries at all. I'm a huge fan of the freedom of speech, but I get this visceral response to disrespect of our flag.

Other than that I personally think we're overdue for recognition that the migrants are here, they've always been here, and we don't really and truly want them to go away. Deal with it.

Doing What's Right

Someone... okay, it was Joared... asked if I had any thoughts on the stories about Wellpoint's Blue Cross of California and Blue Shield denying coverage to beneficiaries.
This item in the April 26 L.A. Times (registration required) presents information given by Blue Cross employees during depositions. This second item in the April 28 L.A. Times reveals that Blue Shield has also been named as a defendant in three similar suits.
Let me just say at the outset that... to me... this stinks. Maybe it's just that no one has ever loved me as much as Mr. Shernoff, the attorney making his living from these cases and similar cases over the years, apparently loves his clients. Maybe it's that I deal with temptation pretty regularly since I now have a history of cancer that makes applying for life insurance... problematic.
The plaintiffs, bless their hearts, have purchased individual coverage policies all of which require a detailed medical history and most of which offer limited coverage for pre-existing conditions. Mr. Norris, one of the plaintiffs, would have the reader believe that he had no idea that disclosure of his son's history of ear aches and speech problems was important for the application, and is aghast that Blue Cross has denied coverage for the $15,000 surgery to remove the child's adenoids.
Listen I know why people do it... and I know why insurance companies have become suspicious when chronic disease suddenly and acutely rears its ugly head immediately after the insurance coverage kicks in. The plaintiffs probably aren't bad people... they are people in need. The insurance companies may very well be run by bad people, but they aren't in business to lose money; and if they don't catch fraudulent (or "oops" or whatever) applications at the front end then they have to raise all of our premiums to cover the losses. Consumer needs versus corporate fiduciary duty... or greed.
What we need is Universal Health Coverage. Until we get that these stories are going to go on and on.
Oh, and I'm happy that Mr. Shernoff and Mr. Flanagan got their names in the paper. Way to go, guys!

Woman, 82, Get Ticket for Slow Crossing

I saw this story on the news last night...
I live where I live and I can't speak to how things are elsewhere, but there is something fundamentally wrong with a society that is in such a damn hurry that it can't wait for a person to cross the damn street.
Yeah,, they picked the lady with the unusual attire and walking staff to headline and interview on camera, but she's not the only one to get a ticket and I'm not sure I could have sprinted across Foothill Blvd. up in the Valley even before I broke my leg a year ago last Sunday. Five lanes in under ten seconds? Even less after you wait for the red-light runners to clear the intersection.
Some of us have some explaining to do when we come to judgment for the way we treat people.

A Few Words Regarding HM3 Marcques Nettles

Update: Petty Officer Nettle's body was recovered last Sunday, April 16.
It may seem a little thing to some that his body has been found... that now he can be properly laid to rest.... but it is important. He died in the line of duty, and he deserved better than a DUSTWUN designation. He deserved, at least, to come home.
Semper Fi

Getting killed has to suck. A catastrophic injury might suck even worse. On April 2 a bunch of Marines and Doc Nettles in a 7-ton truck got swept off the road in a flash flood in Iraq. Six Marines were killed and their bodies recovered. Doc Nettles and one of his Marines haven't been found yet... "Duty Status - Whereabouts Unknown." That just might take the prize.
I keep thinking if Buford was over there... missing eight days... knowing that can't be a good thing... lost in the muck in some crap stream bed in Iraq... and my heart goes out to the families of Petty Officer Nettles and the missing Marine, and to all who care(d) about them.

Happy Birthday, Ronni!

There were two blogs that pushed me to start mine, and Time Goes By was one of them.
If you haven't already, please pop in on Ronni and wish her a well-deserved Happy Birthday!

A Shameful Moment of Pettiness

Okay, listening to this story as I type this...
is anyone else wondering who really asked for all of that data from Google and what they wanted to use it for?

In Memory of Hospitalman Geovani Padilla-Aleman

Hospitalman Geovani Padilla-Aleman, 20, of South Gate, Calif., died Apr. 2 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.
He was permanently assigned to Bethesda Naval Hospital, USNS Comfort Detachment and operationally assigned to Third Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment, 2/28 Brigade Combat Team.
Semper Fi

Thoughts on Perspective

I wish I could remember who pointed me to this:

"If we divide into two camps--even into violent and the nonviolent--and stand in one camp while attacking the other, the world will never have peace. We will always blame and condemn those we feel are responsible for wars and social injustice, without recognizing the degree of violence within ourselves. We must work on ourselves and also with those we condemn if we want to have a real impact." - Ayya Khema, "Be An Island"

When I reflect on issues I like to superimpose them onto a three-inch marble I keep on my desk. We live on a sphere in an unbounded universe. Earth rotates on an axis so I must admit there are poles and an equator. Early explorers, living in one hemisphere, drew their maps with their hemisphere on top. East and west are entirely relative, and borders exist only to the extent that we believe that they exist. There is one atmosphere, one sea, and one human race.
The propagandists would have us believe that the issue is illegal immigration, as if sealing our borders against the other five billion people would keep the three hundred million of us safe, happy and secure... as if American consumers would pay two to three times more for fresh produce... as if international business wouldn't immediately outsource America's last means of production - our agricultural capacity - to offshore suppliers rather than pay minimum wages and benefits for unskilled labor.
The other day I saw this article by Bob Sullivan for MSNBC which speaks to, and expands upon, some of my thoughts on the whole issue of "illegal" immigrants and their status as taxpayers. The only people who come to my mind who have been harmed by undocumented workers are those who are dependent on the government financing of social service programs... uncompensated health care comes to mind. For those folks, increasing the pool of people in need without a corresponding increase in funding represents a loss of benefits. What if the taxes being withheld for which no returns were filed were applied to providing social services instead of... let's say the Global War on Terrorism?
For how many years and in how many countries have governments been blaming their mistakes and malfeasance on powerless minorities instead of simply stating and dealing in truth? Why does it still work? Lucy sets up the football, and Charlie Brown comes tearing up to kick it over and over and over again.

We Ought to Call Things by Their Proper Names

Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breath
free,
the wretched refuse of your teeming
shore.
Send these, the tempest-tossed to
me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden
door!
-Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus"

This week the U.S. Senate is set to begin consideration of S.2454: Securing America's Borders Act, sponsored by Sen. William Frist. This, of course, is the Senate version of H.R. 4437. I know all this because about a half million people were concerned enough about it to take to the streets this weekend in Los Angeles.
One could be forgiven for thinking that the "Securing America's Borders Act" had something to do with security, but it doesn't. I'm pretty sure there hasn't been a cross-border raid from Mexico in about ninety years, and this is entirely about the US-Mexican border. This is all about keeping Latinos out.
I'm thinking that it has to be hard to be a Republican legislator in 2006. Your financial interests are with the corporate donors who are sending jobs offshore as fast as they run out of ways to cut American wages and benefits. Your red-state voter base seems to be made up of otherwise God-fearing people whose wages and benefits are being cut. Your best chance at reelection might appear to be to blame immigrant labor for the low wages and benefits... maybe higher taxes, too. Of course, it's a lie and it's racist, but it could work.
Do you know why the "Securing America's Borders Act" doesn't call for building a wall along the US border with Canada? Can you even imagine such a thing?

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

This morning as I was leaving for work I saw this story on Good Morning America, and it's been on my mind. I recognize that participation in a message board as well as attendance at one of Mr. Bush's performances is not a statistically sound sample of the population, but still...
My issue is this: that if the airwaves were filled with stories about the good efforts of American servicemen and women to rebuild the lives of Iraqis it would not exonerate our invasion of Iraq and the destabilization of the region. This war did not have to happen, and should not have happened. That's the story.
When that amphibious ready group was turned around to help pick up the pieces after the tsunami I said that I thought the guys, if asked, would have volunteered to turn around. 35-40 years ago we reached out to the Vietnamese because the government had delusions of winning "the hearts and minds" of the people. Okay, it was a bullshit program, but some of the connections were very real. For the most part, the military is made up of really great people who want to do the right thing. Ask us to give up a day of our liberty to paint a school and we're all over it, and we don't much care whose school it is.
I'm kind of mellowing toward Mr. Bush personally... he's starting to look terrible, and I worry that all of that lying is starting to rot him... but I still don't want him or his administration to be given any credit for the tireless efforts of men and women he sent to Iraq to rebuild infrastructure that he had us blow up. That's right up there with OJ expecting recognition as a single father.

There was a moment... but it passed

I allowed myself a moment of optimism at the end of last month. It passed, of course, as moments do; but for that moment I could conceive of politicians acting according to their conscience and in the best interests of their constituents... their voter constituents.
It came to me in that moment that Congress might step up and reassert the primacy of the people over a corrupt administration with no political future and bills to pay to their multi-national corporate backers. At 58, I can still dream.
Instead I saw both California Senators... Democrats, by the way... vote to permanently reauthorize the "Patriot" Act.
Instead I saw the entire Congress distancing itself as far as possible from actually censuring the President for authorizing the NSA's domestic spying program.
How high up the ladder in British Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell, or Halliburton does a person have to be to catch a break from these people?
And the public? Have you ever watched a bad horror movie and wondered why the guy just stood there and let the vampires bleed him dry? That'd be us.
We absorb the information that the President has decided to ignore the formality of a retroactive warrant to wiretap in clear violation of a law he pressed for, and eventually we convince ourselves that it's really okay because the guy... who has lied to us how many times before... says "trust me, I'm only doing it to suspected terrorists."
Okay, people, once again, one is presumed innocent until proven guilty. A lawbreaker telling you that he thought the other guy was a lawbreaker too does not make either of them any more or less of a lawbreaker.
If you haven't already done so, pop over to PureLand and read his post on macroeconomics.

It's so hard to know exactly where to start

Did the U.S. (i.e. this Administration) just agree to let an Arab company manage security for major U.S. ports?
I tend toward internationalism myself... I don't ask what ground my oil was pumped from or where my clothes were made or where my winter fruit was grown... but I can understand those who feel that there are some things that are so vital to our national interest that we need to keep it within our borders.
I thought it was kind of funny when the U.S. Army went to the black berets made in China. (Berets made no sense to me, but buying them from the PRC was a nice touch.) Employing any offshore company to manage security in U.S. ports is not so funny... in fact it's stupid.
Michael Chertoff reassures us that this company, Dubai Ports World, has been vetted. If Michael Chertoff had any credibility left at all after the 2005 hurricane season, that might count for something. I am not comforted that the people who said that Michael Brown was doing a heck of a job after Katrina now say that Michael Chertoff is doing a great job. In any case, I think the nationality of any non-U.S. company overseeing U.S. port security is beside the point.
We need a rule that says that if it's really and truly important to our national defense... or homeland security or whatever we're calling it today... we don't outsource it.

A Quick Note to the President

"By amending our mistakes, we get wisdom.
By defending our faults, we betray an unsound mind."
-The Sutra of Hui Neng

In Memory of HM3 John T. Fralish

Petty Officer 3rd Class John T. Fralish, 30, of New Kingstown, Pa., died Feb. 6, when enemy forces opened fire on a U.S. patrol northwest of Methar Lam in Laghman Province, Afghanistan.
Doc Fralish was assigned to the 3rd Marine Division Detachment, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe, Hawaii. He had previously served two tours in Iraq.
Semper Fi

A Quick Observation

I had to pop in this morning to add this from an article by Allan Sloan on Ford's $250 Million tax reduction claimed under the "American Jobs Creation Act of 2004."

"The bottom line: When you see a piece of legislation carrying a name that sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true."

Now about the "Patriot Act"....

With Mr. Bush Defending Us, Terrorism Isn't Our Biggest Problem

I've been doing it again... I've been dithering over how to make this a "good" blog post instead of just writing the damn thing... and I need to get this out.
It has come to me why it is that I am so opposed to any continuation of the "Patriotic Act." It is that I can't believe a word that comes out of this President's administration or the Congressional leadership.
They crafted and approved the "Patriot Act" with a requirement for a warrant in order to wiretap... they even addressed the urgency issue by saying that the warrant could be issued up to three days after the wiretap. The President told people that this was the case, which to my mind would affirm his understanding of the law.
This country was founded by people who had lived their entire lives under terrorist threat, tyranny and oppression. They formed a government of checks and balances dividing power among the executive, legislative and judicial branches specifically because they did not want a strong executive. Mr. Bush' administration has perverted the intention of Congress in authorizing the "Patriot Act" and has cut the judiciary out of the review process entirely. I am assured that the Justice Department (Executive Branch), headed by the guy who wrote the book on how to get away with the torture of prisoners, and... I heard Bush say this morning "all kinds of lawyers" are monitoring the illegal program to make certain that our civil rights are preserved. I am not comforted.
The first Republican President, Mr. Lincoln, described ours as a government of, by and for the people. This President has stood that premise on its ear. The only one of the three branches of government less representative of the people than the executive branch is the judiciary and Mr. Bush is getting ready to seat his second Supreme Court justice... although in his world judicial review isn't a requirement.
There may be another terrorist attack here in the U.S. someday. There's no way of knowing for certain, but there is that possibility. Of more immediate concern to me is the certainty of my belief that George W. Bush and his administration are attacking the institutions of the United States and doing irreparable damage to them each and every day they are in office. With friends like them who needs enemies?

An Observation Regarding Samuel Alito

I don't want to knock Ronald Reagan from the fast track to sainthood so many seem to feel he deserves. I'm just saying that having Samuel Alito come up through the Reagan Justice Department through the years of the Iran-Contra affair... and now he's been nominated to the Supreme Court of the U.S. by an administration populated with rehabilitated names from the Iran-Contra affair... Poindexter and Abrams come to mind... and some of the briefs that he is acknowledged to have written during those years to argue cases before the Supreme Court.
Today he is saying that, as a judge, he doesn't "give heed" to his "personal views," but that he just interprets the law. Given that he will probably win the Senate's consent and sit on the Court I would really like to believe that. I would. Really. I would like to believe that a guy who came up representing the Iran-Contra administration could sit on the highest court in the country and give a fair hearing to arguments against... domestic spying?... civil rights of "suspected" terrorists?... malfeasance and fiscal improprieties by members of Congress and lobbyists?... and interpret the law fairly. I would also like to believe in Santa Claus.

An Opportunity to Do the Right Thing

I don't really have a post today, but I want to try to say a few words about doing the right thing... and to point out that I've added Kay's Thinking Cap and Craig's Donkey Path over to the right.
I am often troubled by the mindless pigeon-holing of significant issues as conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, etc. At the extremes there are "every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost" and "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." Nearly all of us stand somewhere between those two extremes. Generally I believe that, if we would stop to reflect, we would see that our differences are, for the most part, differences of degree.
Ronni Bennett has proposed that we make Universal Health Care a litmus test issue for 2006. It is an easy thing for a politician to say that they respect the Golden Rule, but it is another thing entirely to provide the healthcare for all of our fellow Americans that we would move heaven and earth to provide for our own families.
Is it socialized medicine? Would necessary services be rationed? Would there be an issue with a lack of participating physicians? Those are some of the typical hysterical responses. One might ask if any of those are true of Medicare. Ronni has better citations and statistics, but from my reading it would be a near-immediate economic blessing to all of us... particularly to anyone whose care might have been denied or delayed due to restrictions on pre-existing medical conditions. Wouldn't that be something if the humane choice was also a sound business decision?
The bottom line, to my mind is that it is the right thing to do. We don't try to do the right thing by people because of who they are. We try to do the right thing by people because of who we are. Even if Universal Health Care wouldn't immediately break even or result in substantial savings, if we can return 54% of the Bush tax cuts to date to the top 20% of income earners, $230 billion, while spending another $230 billion on the war in Iraq can we not provide healthcare to our citizens? Who are we?

We'll Call It "The Global War on Terrorism"

The headline jumped right out at me this morning: "U.S. to cede duties in rebuilding Afghanistan."
Let us bear in mind for a moment that the United States actually has been attacked... repeatedly... by terrorists. One who immediately comes to my mind is Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda who has given aid and comfort by the Taliban for a number of years.
According to the Post, this summer we will hand over "control of the volatile southern region -- plagued by persistent attacks from Islamic militias."
"The shift will allow the Bush administration, which has spent more than $47 billion on military efforts in Afghanistan since 2001, to cut the U.S. troop presence by 13 percent, from 19,000 to 16,500."
The Afghan defense minister points out that "the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. support after the decade-long Soviet occupation ended in 1989 precipitated a civil war that culminated with the Taliban movement taking power."
The U.S. is "is pinning its hopes on Afghan provincial governors to eradicate poppy fields" which account for a third of Afghanistan's GDP according to the CIA. We're planning to provide them with $600 million in aid in 2006.
At the same time we are committed to "stay the course" in Iraq until terrorism has been eradicated, insurgency suppressed, and that country is back on its feet. So far it's only cost us $231 billion as I write this.
I leave it to better minds than mine... is this about a war against international terrorism? Leaving the Taliban in the field and al Qaeda in the mountains of Afghanistan? $47 billion... $231 billion...
Hint: There is no money/oil in Afghanistan... just the guys who planned and directed the 9/11 attacks.

"Trust Me, I Lied But Your Own Good."

Okay, here's the deal as I understand it.
In April, 2004, the President said, "Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order." This is true, by the way, even though the order could be requested and executed after the wiretap and now he denies that it requires an order at all.
Now he's arguing that he needed and continues to need to be able to wiretap without judicial review because "We've got to be fast on our feet, quick to detect and prevent," which may make some sense in an alternate reality where getting no warrant slows you down less than getting one three days after the fact.
Mr. Bush has clearly acted outside the scope of any existing law, even outside the scope of the "Patriot Act," and yet he says, "I want to make sure the American people understand, however, that we have an obligation to protect you, and we're doing that, and at the same time, protecting your civil liberties."
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas says that "none of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead." This is from a U.S. Senator who has supported putting more than 130,000 young Americans out there ostensibly to defend and extend those civil liberties. It all begs the question: is there a non-negotiable principle left in this country?
You know... just a few years ago a President was impeached for lying to us about an extra-marital affair. What on earth is wrong with the forty four percent of you who continue to support this Administration?
Is it that he's a "wartime President?" He made the war up! We executed Timothy McVeigh six years and 53 days after he blew up the Murrah building, and we don't even have Osama bin Laden in custody. We don't need a war on terror. We need a war on malfeasance! Instead, the Justice Department is opening an investigation into how we found out about the domestic spying program.
These people are shameless, and forty four percent of you still approve of them. Get some help.

Happy New Year!

"May no fears affect you.
May no illnesses afflict you.
May no dangers come your way.
May you enjoy good health and long life."

Through the Looking Glass

I know... believe me, I know... that I've been horrible about blogging. I wish I had a better handle on why that is, but there are moments when I have to say something or spend years telling myself that I should have said something.

Today I awoke to the news that TSA was putting federal agents - air marshals - on Los Angeles' Metrolink. This is being marketed as "test" but the public is reminded that the 'T' in TSA covers all forms of transportation. This is apparently a "test" being conducted across the country.

This is one of those incremental changes that people say I overreact to... Like when I-5 and I-15 were blocked by Border Patrol checkpoints on the San Diego County line at least 75 miles north of the US-Mexican border. The one response I got was that they were successfully catching "a lot" of drug smuggling activity.

For forty two years I was taught that totalitarian government was the antithesis of liberty. I was employed for twenty years in the defense of that concept. The very idea of a central Department of Homeland Security brought to mind nothing so much as the Soviet KGB. Now I am forced to accept that federal surveillance and intervention is acceptable to protect us... not from (other) totalitarian governments but from common criminals.

I am mindful of the quotation attributed to Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

For the record, I object to federal interference/intervention in the internal affairs of the city and county of Los Angeles and the state of California. If TSA wants to ride Metrolink, make them buy a ticket.

P.S. While I have the soapbox out, Mr. Bush did not take us to war in Iraq on the basis of faulty intelligence. He took us to war in Iraq on the basis of manipulated intelligence, and he damn well knew it.