Democratic Advocacy

The Day the Earth Stood Still

2011-03-19T17:09:00.002-05:00

The title of this essay comes from a 1951 movie of the same name starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal. I caught bits and pieces of a 2008 version on an airplane (without sound) that looked like a very poor imitation of the original. Although the older movie was released several years prior to my birth, it was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I say ‘favorite’ with some mixed feelings since it also scared the heck out me. I realized even at a very young age, that we now had a problem of a new magnitude on our hands – nuclear technology.

I didn’t get much of a chance to forget about the problem. In October of 1962, our nation experienced what is now termed ‘the Cuban Missile Crisis.’ For a few days, nuclear war with the Soviet Union seemed almost imminent. As one exercise in caution, my Long Island, New York elementary school classmates and I were ushered into asbestos filled school basements and there experimented with hiding under desks in a makeshift fetal position.

A key milestone in the development of nuclear technology was July 16, 1945. On that day, a plutonium bomb was exploded at Trinity, New Mexico. Twenty-one days after that test, a uranium bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. A bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan three days later. The bombs killed approximately 150,000 people upon impact.

On March 11, 2011 an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Those events and resulting power outages caused a disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Japan has been battling a potential catastrophic nuclear meltdown since.

We have truly unleashed the genie from the bottle. If human society dealt with such capabilities and threats in an intelligent, long term, planned manner; we would be just fine. This time however, it may very well be the death of us. It’s rather sad, that I had that understanding even as a second grader.

The Pursuit of Happiness

2011-03-08T20:15:00.000-06:00

The Declaration of Independence states: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government"

My pursuit of happiness is based upon 'Primum Non Nocere' - do no harm. I will not be happy unless the world that I leave my children and their children and their children ... has hope of being at least as good as the world that I experienced. Preferably the world would be better, but I suppose that's step two.

Logically, we could stop damaging our world and even improve upon it. But reality is another story altogether. We have the intellect, the technology, the information, to solve or at least remediate our major problems. But that is not the path that we are embarked upon. And if we don't change that path, which at this point seems probable, our species itself will face serious decline and perhaps even extinction.

I would like to direct your attention to the work of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment - http://maweb.org/en/Index.aspx. You might start with the 'Statement of the MA Board.' The MA has involved the work of more than 1,360 experts worldwide. They are careful to not hold accountable the forces that are responsible for our decline. I imagine their funding would then dry up in a heartbeat. But the message is still very clear. Here are a few of those messages:

"At the heart of this assessment is a stark warning. Human activity is putting such strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted."
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"Nearly two thirds of the services provided by nature to humankind are found to be in decline worldwide. In effect, the benefits reaped from our engineering of the planet have been achieved by running down natural capital assets.

In many cases, it is literally a matter of living on borrowed time. By using up supplies of fresh groundwater faster than they can be recharged, for example, we are depleting assets at the expense of our children."
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"More land was converted to cropland in the 30 years after 1950 than in the 150 years between 1700 and 1850, and now approximately one quarter (24%) of Earth's terrestrial surface has been transformed to cultivated systems."
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"Some 12% of birds, 25% of mammals, and at least 32% of amphibians are threatened with extinction over the next century."
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"Only 4 of the services were found to be increasing their ability to benefit human populations, while 15 were in decline. Five more were found to be in a stable state overall, but in trouble in some parts of the world.

On the credit side, three of the improving services reflect the worldwide efforts to keep food supply ahead of the increase in population - total food production increased by about two-and-a-half times while the number of people in the world doubled from 3 billion to 6 billion between 1960 and 2000."
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This far-reaching, comprehensive report paints a pretty clear picture of our probable future. Is there anything that we can do to prevent that probable future? I don't know, probably not. Is there anything that I can do about it? I'm still thinking about it. Let me know if you have some ideas.

Reverse, Upside Down, Inside Out Discrimination

2010-11-27T09:39:00.000-06:00

On Monday morning October 25th, I voted early at the DeSoto Town Center. Several African-American workers were carrying campaign literature, but they ignored me entirely. That has happened before as well. Having been an election judge and activist in far southern Dallas County, I think I knew what they were thinking. Voting down here primarily, but not totally, follows racial lines. African-Americans mostly vote Democratic and Whites mostly vote Republican.

But that is not the case with me. My father still jokes that when I started crawling, I crawled backwards. That’s been the case ever since. Mr. Opposite ‘Mopposite.’

Let’s take the story back about three years. About 50 feet from where these workers were waiting, I had single-handedly erected a ‘DeSoto Democrats’ booth at the annual city festival. My good friend Gordon helped me that day. But few others were interested.

By that point in time, I had studied and even written essays on the three major Democratic candidates for President – Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama. I had given my endorsement to Barack Obama after considerable research and thought. But that day at the DeSoto City Festival, I was a lone voice. I remember discussing the topic with several African-Americans. They argued vehemently that Clinton was the more practical choice. I stood my ground.

A few months later, I attended the first Dallas County Obama organizational meeting. And numerous meetings, events, and most importantly voter registration drives after that.

Fast forward to the March 4, 2008 Democratic Primary. What a mess. I was the election judge for three Democratic Precincts. It looked like I would also be responsible for three Precinct Conventions. Ordinarily that would be no big deal. At the previous convention, only me, my wife, and my oldest son showed up. But that was not to be the case this day. The DeSoto African-American Democratic citizens of these three precincts were very, very energized. I have written about this day and evening previously so will not bore you with the details again. But I will say one thing. Although I was probably the most committed Obama evangelist there, I did not dare to try to become an Obama delegate to the Senate District Convention. To put it politely, I was not feeling a whole lot of warmth toward me that day. Things were so bad at one point that I considered dropping to my knees and praying.

Our society has come a long way since the 60’s. But not far enough.

Richard’s Assessment

2010-11-24T21:17:00.000-06:00

So what happened on November 2nd? As anticipated, the Democrats did poorly. The Republicans and the Tea Party did well. They now control the House as well as a greater share of Senate seats. And the entire progressive agenda and certainly the progressive momentum is in jeopardy.

The battle for November 2, 2010 actually began on November 4, 2008. In reality, it started even long before that. But we will use November 4, 2008 for the purposes of this essay. By November, 2008 the conservative machine was positioning itself to make a comeback in 2010. Even they acknowledged by then that the Bush mess spelled disaster in 2008, but they optimistically had hope for 2010. Their hope and hard work paid off well.

What went wrong? How did progressives go from a position of power and popularity to one of defensiveness and excuses in just two years? Like everybody else who has spent some time studying this issue, I have my opinion. I will focus my comments on Barack Obama and senior Democratic leaders.

As you probably know by now, I am a strong Obama supporter and was active even in the early stages of his campaign. I was thrilled that we would finally have a President who thought things through and explained them to us in clear, logical terms.

Obama did not have much of a honeymoon period with the American people. George W. Bush and his leadership handed Obama an enormous mess - an imploding economy, two wars, intense political polarization, and a host of other serious problems such as a cancerous national budget deficit. The first priority was the economy which was in total free fall as the Obama Administration took office.

The decisions on the economy were a tough call. I was dismayed that we were greatly expanding the national debt to stimulate the economy. The national debt was already out of control, the additional stimulus puts it in the realm of make believe. Does anybody really have a plan to address the runaway national debt? Does this just put us in a more impossible situation? Just leave it for future generations to clean up our mess and pay for our excesses?

However, the calls were made by both the Bush and Obama Administrations to stimulate the economy by accruing further debt. If the economy was the top priority - and I certainly think that it was - then the follow through should have been also treated as such. Most importantly those greedy bastards that got the economy into the mess should have been and should still be held accountable - to the fullest extent of the law. And with a consistency and persistence rarely exercised by government. The problem has been patched, but the greedy bastards are still out there waiting for the next opportunity. And they have proven that capitalism has a serious Achilles heel.

So was the economy the top priority or not? If it was and is, then everything else should fall in line behind it. That includes health care, the foreign wars, immigration reform, and even the environment. Each of these matters is too complicated to solve without complete focus. When the economy is tanking, nobody pays attention to anything else. And it gave the Republicans a huge opportunity to change the tide again.

All is not lost, but it is certainly in dire jeopardy. The progressive agenda will again be gridlocked by the Republicans. If we don't start fighting back and organizing more efficiently, then we might as well start praying for a miracle.

Risky Behavior

2010-10-28T18:46:00.004-05:00

I have always been rather non-confrontational. That may have been my greatest weakness as a Manager for so many years. That non-confrontational behavior permeated my professional and personal lives. For example, my wife was the primary disciplinarian for our three sons.

Part of this behavior is my psychology and part of it is my nature. The psychology part has been that I have felt uncomfortable with many confrontational situations. Sometimes I just avoided them. The nature part is the way I think. I don’t think that confrontation is usually a winning strategy. It immediately sparks defensiveness in the other party. Then nothing gets accomplished or things even get worse.

Don’t get me wrong. When I get wound up enough about something, I will confront. For example, while still in High School, I defied the town school board and precipitated the early termination of the board meeting. The issue was my insistence on better information about the Vietnam War and related military recruitment efforts at the High School. Not too many years ago, I organized and participated in a humble protest against Karl Rove and his supporters. Rove was speaking at Union Station in Dallas.

Something happened about two years ago that I just can’t quite identify. Did you see the 1997 movie “Liar Liar” with Jim Carrey? Carrey plays an attorney that by a strange twist of fate can no longer lie. His life becomes very, very interesting. I certainly have not taken truthiness to the level that Carrey’s character did in that movie. But I seem to have passed a number of hurdles in that direction.

When people ask me a direct question, I give them a direct, honest answer. Can you imagine? For example, my sister recently said that she hoped if we have problems to discuss in our relationship, that we would discuss them. I said OK, there is something that is bothering me quite a bit and this is what it is… Perhaps it’s coincidence, but I have not heard from her since.

Deceptions, misinformation, political correctness, and just plain lying have become standard fair for modern communication. I will stand by the opinion that despite all the new and innovative communication channels that we now have, real human communication has generally deteriorated.

I’m not sure where this new path will take me. But I do know that it is my destiny. Will my family accept this? Will my friends think that I am even weirder? Will my superiors at work castigate me? Will the readers of my essays ridicule me? Truth is indeed a risky thing.

A Jury of Your Peers

2010-10-27T09:19:00.001-05:00

Last week, I had jury duty. Jury duty is an important civic responsibility so I did not try to get out of it. However, I was hoping that it would end early so that I could run some errands or even go fishing. No such luck that day.

Even in the best circumstances, jury duty can be time consuming. I always bring at least one book. That day, I was able to read about one-third of What's the Matter with Kansas by Frank Thomas. That book has been on my to-read shelf for about six years. I'm whittling down the books on that shelf since I'm not working all the time now.

Mid-morning, I got selected as part of a group of 75 for a murder trial. While we were waiting to enter the courtroom for 'final' jury selection, a lawyer knocked against me while I was reading, yet offered no apology. Despite having a good book, I was getting cranky. Before lunchtime, we got some basic instructions from the judge and then we were dismissed for lunch.

After lunch, our assigned seats within the courtroom had changed. I was in the jury box with 11 others. Everybody else sat on the hard spectator benches. As I am apt to do, I tried to draw correlations with the other 11 people in the jury box. We were a pretty diverse group, as was the entire group of 75. African-American, Hispanic, Oriental, White, young, old. I don't know for sure since I did not speak with any of the others that day. But I would guess a mix of liberal and conservative as well.

The judge spoke for some time about the nature of the trial, the indictment against the defendant (who was there), and our responsibilities as potential jurors. He asked us a few questions about our commitments and availability and health for the next couple of weeks.

There were two prosecutors. One spoke for quite some time and proceeded with the Voir Dire. That is the process to ferret out potential juror biases. She asked the jurors a number of questions and the other prosecutor, the defense attorney, and sometimes the judge took notes about specific individuals. Then the defense attorney had his turn and asked us more questions with the resulting note taking.

By 6:30 PM, the potential jurors were dismissed. Apparently, the attorneys could not come to agreement for the minimum number of jurors and alternates and such that they needed. So they had to repeat this process the next day with a different cast of potential jurors.

The main impression that I have retained from that day is how seriously everybody in that courtroom took their jobs - the judge, the attorneys, and particularly the potential jurors. When informing outside people that you have jury duty coming up, they will give you suggestions on how to be eliminated during the juror selection process. It's standard fair for such conversations.

I listened throughout the afternoon and evening very carefully. I never got the impression that a single one of our 75 had employed this tactic. It astounded me how open and honest people seemed to be. There was not really a single egregious instance of a statement that could be grounds for clear dismissal. People even said things like 'I'm not sure that I have the attention span for such a serious trial that would last so long.' Or 'I don't really feel comfortable with the potential of committing a person to life in prison.' Or 'I was held up at gunpoint in the past, but I think that I can be fair on this jury.'

It was a very long day and I obviously never made it to a fishing hole. But it was a bright spot in this cynic's routine. It was a rare time that I felt a lot better about my average fellow citizens.

Packaged Cynicism

2010-09-02T15:18:00.001-05:00

My wife is not feeling well. But she has gone to work all week since this is the first week that kids are in the library. After work yesterday, she went to the supermarket and got our needs for the week (I offered – really). But she forgot apples and cucumbers. No big deal, I’ll grab some tonight on my way home from work.

But I had no fruit for my lunch today. And being a person of habit, I needed a piece of fruit. I thought about stopping at the supermarket on the way to work and picking up the missing apples and cucumbers, but ran out of time. No big deal, I have seen apples and bananas at the coffee booth in our cafeteria. I work at a major university medical center.

I went down to the cafeteria early so that I would not be stuck with the passed over apples and bananas. Unfortunately, the coffee cart had no fruit. Well, they did have a cup of chopped melons and grapes for $2.75. I already had a hard time with the thought of a $1.25 apple so the fruit cup was out. Hmmm, I walked around the cafeteria and a few of the vendors were open. I must admit that it was still breakfast time, so perhaps fruit is available for lunch. However, I could find nothing.

Hold it, what that? Over by the Subway counter. It’s in a small plastic container – no that’s the display product. Behind that. It’s apples in a plastic bag. Sliced apples – 2.4 ounces worth – in a plastic bag. That my friend was my sole option. $1.40 later, and the 2.4 ounce bag of apple slices were mine.

It would be hard to criticize Subway for this. After all, at least they had fruit – even if it was sliced and packaged. I think that it is more of a reflection on our culture. Did you read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.? It’s an absolutely brilliant book and Ms. Kingsolver is a wonderful writer as well. It tracks a year in the life of food by her family farming for a year in Virginia.

Anyway, back to the apple. We take one of God’s most perfect products- the apple – perfectly packaged already and delicious. Then we slice it up and add some Calcium Ascorbate. Then it goes in a plastic bag. All 2.4 ounces of it for $1.29 plus tax. I enjoyed the apple slices – but I can only shake my head and mutter.

The Liberal Media

2010-08-27T21:02:00.001-05:00

I have not indulged in reading a newspaper or online news in at least two weeks now. Occasionally, I will read the comics or the sports section or research an item of particular interest, but that's pretty much it.

After September 11, 2001; I became a news junkie. I read everything from CNN to Al Jazeera English version to the Neshoba Democrat. However, my growing cynicism has led me to re-think this habit.

On a similar note, I rarely watch television. It's been that way for years. If my TV is on, it's probably because there's a tornado watch; or a son home who wants to watch a game; or my wife wants to watch a BBC or similar special.

There's so much negativity in the news today. And it seems like it's been that way since I can remember. When I was in grade school, it was the body counts from Saigon. So what really is the point? I can check my volatile retirement fund via other sites. I can learn about the things that I'm interested in from other sources such as books, magazines, or content-rich websites. So again, what is the point?

I saw a bumper sticker a few weeks ago that declared "I don't follow the liberal media." This is yet another non-truth promulgated by right-wingers, Tea Party activists, and other blatant ignorati. In fact, the Fairness Doctrine was revoked by Reagan and Fowler in the 1980's. The Fairness Doctrine had tried to ensure honest and balanced reporting since 1949.

Since the revocation of the Fairness Doctrine, news has increasingly become another product of our corporate-ocracy - not a source for honest and balanced information. We can regulate and encourage honest and balanced reporting if that's what we want. It's certainly what I would like. But it was Reagan and such conservatives that dismantled it - not Clinton or Obama and similar people who encourage the flow of balanced information and the resulting decisions.

Self-propagating Failure

2010-08-09T15:40:00.001-05:00

Of course I'm not in the best frame of mind. After all, it's August in Dallas, Texas and it's around 100 degrees each day. The high temperatures for the rest of the week are all over 100. However, I have actually been thinking about this topic for some time. Indeed, I have written about it before.

This essay is on the topic of money and the American political system. When I ponder the problems of our political system and the potential solutions, the clues often lead to money. Money and politics is not the only problem, but it's a big one.

What do I mean by money and politics? I mean that the two have become totally interlinked in our current system. The average politician spends a good part of his average day fundraising or otherwise being sensitive donors. His office(s) is a waiting room for corporate and special interests. Running for office in this country has become a very expensive proposition. In many cases, it's a sport for the rich only.

Let me be clear. The average politician requires a fortune to retain office or to run for office. In office, he spends most of his day being responsive to moneyed interests.

Is this the system that our founders envisioned? Is this the system that you and I really desire? I think not. Not only does it discourage good, balanced critical thinking and decision-making, it actually prevents it.

A policy decision or appointment or other governmental related decision should be based upon data, discussion of the issues, and its long-term impact on the citizenry. Not who might be affected and the size of their checkbook.

I'll bet you think my statements are quite naive. After all, how will the system change when those most indebted to the status quo make all the decisions? Well, the system probably will not change until it totally collapses.

However, a continuation of corporate and special interest lobbying and political donations will pretty much guarantee that our system continues to respond to the highest bidder and the most corrupt. That’s pretty much the system that has evolved today.

Hard Core Cynicism

2010-07-06T11:04:00.001-05:00

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) describes the characteristics of a cynic as "surly, currish, misanthropic, captious; now esp. disposed to disbelieve in human sincerity or goodness; sneering." Merriam-Webster has a similar definition "a faultfinding captious critic; especially : one who believes that human conduct is motivated wholly by self-interest."

These definitions are a bit harsh for the concept that I am looking for. However, I cannot think of another word that will do the concept justice - so we'll stick with 'cynic.' Perhaps 85% cynical would be a better way to phrase it.

Perhaps I was born a cynic. My mother likes to tell the story that I would sit back and evaluate the situation even as a small child. But a man who has a beautiful, intelligent wife can't afford to be a hard core cynic. Especially when you add three good sons and a mortgage to the mix.

But here I am still. A guy that has searched for hope in many corners of America. Back to cynicism. Don’t get me wrong, I'm not proud of it. I often wish that I was constructed to 'carpe diem,' but that's just not the way it is.

So let's get on with the story then. One of the ingredients for my cynicism was certainly the re-election of George W. Bush as President in 2004. That's how shocked I was that a man so unsuited to the Presidency was re-elected. That caught my attention about the wisdom of the American citizenry.

Another key ingredient transpired on March 4, 2008 at DeSoto High School in DeSoto, Texas. Turns out that I was the election judge and precinct caucus facilitator for three Democratic Precincts. I did have several election clerks and they were a great help. But I was the only one that had any idea of how the details of the election and the caucus actually worked. Then there were the 1,000 to 1,500 suddenly and temporarily inspired citizens who showed up for the precinct conventions after voting ceased. Things were so bad at one point, that I literally considered going down on my knees and praying for divine help. I wish that I had.

I'll add just one more ingredient for this soap box entry. One that I have written about before. The great American laboratory - our roads and highways. Every day I'm out and about on these roads. Any hope for a kinder, gentler fellow citizenry is usually eliminated within a mile or two of my home. It's stay out of my way now out there.

Throw in a few more spices - the oil spill, money-driven politics and government, low standards, global warming, right wing extremism, obesity, OCD consumerism, on and on and you have quite a bouillabaisse of discontent.

Back to hope. Barack Obama is hope. Michelle Obama is hope. My wife is hope. My kids are hope. DeSoto, Texas is slipping, but is still hope. Strategic planning is hope. Fly fishing is hope. Perhaps today, I will try to concentrate on those things...

Thingamajig or Whatchamacallit

2010-06-24T15:26:00.001-05:00

One of my two book clubs just finished "Threshold: The Crisis of Western Culture" by Thom Hartmann. There were a number of interesting parts to the book, but the one item that really caught my attention was the theory of ecolonomics and the Institute of Ecolonomics founded by Dennis Weaver in 1993. When I researched this concept I found that it never seemed to quite take off and gain popular appeal.

It is related to an economic concept called 'externalities.' Externalities are benefits and costs of goods and services that are not reflected in its market price. I had forgotten this term since my study of business and economics year ago, but it precisely articulates the concepts that I am after.

There happens to be a timely event which can help to better explain the concept. That event is the Gulf Oil Spill. I will pay $2.49 per gallon for gas this evening. But what does it really cost? What about the $20 billion fund that BP is setting up? What about the cost of catalytic convertors for our cars and air pollution? What about the permanent damage to the gulf fisheries?

Here's another example. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has an open meeting this evening in Arlington, Texas. The meeting is motivated by the DFW area flunking federal clean air requirements. As I ride my bike through very southern Dallas County and Northern Ellis County, I can see the smoke billowing from the cement plants in Midlothian, Texas. Sure, there's the cost of the cement. But who pays the health costs of the people of Midlothian and neighboring areas (like mine)? Who will pay for the cleanup of the remnants of toxic waste that are also burned in the cement plant incinerators?

Somebody will pay sooner or later. Since the Vietnam War, the answer has been later rather than sooner for us Americans. Now we have taken this strategy to an absurd extreme. We have pushed the national debt to countless future generations. We have pushed the cost of countless negative externalities to future generations. Call me old fashioned, but I think a person, a company, a nation should pay their way. Not take all the benefits and then leave the burden for others.

What a Waste

2010-06-11T16:58:00.001-05:00

My wife and I are avid recyclers. The City of DeSoto makes it very easy to recycle and we fill the recycle bins up every week. We will go out of our way to clean or pull things apart so that they can be recycled.

As easy as it is, only about 25% of the people in our town recycle. A neighbor might have a party with 30 people with the result being bags and bags of glasses and cans. But most of them will just send them to the landfill. I don't understand this degree of laziness and waste.

I can't really help myself anymore. It seems sinful to throw away the smallest item that could be recycled. But the other day I got to thinking. Take an event like the BP gulf disaster. A thousand, a million people like me could recycle everything possible for their lifetimes. Still, with the stroke of a pen; a company or government can do more damage in an instant than a million do-gooders. It does make you feel sometimes like your contributions don't really add up to a 'hill of beans.'

Driving Me Crazy

2010-06-10T12:33:00.001-05:00

Thomas Hobbes, John Lock, Karl Marx, Niccolo Machiavelli had one huge disadvantage that the modern thinker has at his or her disposal. Driving a car from point A to point B. Even a short trip in an automobile is enough to extract the major characteristics of human nature. A long trip pretty much seals the deal.

It's a perfect real-time, ongoing experiment. Each of us encased in a steel shell by ourselves or perhaps with others of our circle. The environment is tuned to our preferred temperature, music, level of comfort, color, and size. And now we have a complete communications center at our disposal as well with iPhones, GPS, and perhaps even televisions or DVD players.

A perfect experimental environment. Of course, there are some variables beyond our control. We drive within the general context of the state's laws. Some more than others. We also must react to our environment. For example, crossing guards, stray animals, flooded roads, etc.

But undoubtedly this is the stage for the greatest human experiment. You can observe, study, and test the real nature of man (or woman). Do we motor with the utmost deference and respect for our fellow man? Or do we drive on the edge, push the limit of the law, and take every advantage that we can?

The results of course are somewhere in between. But that's a pretty wide spectrum. My usual experiment is driving in my home town of DeSoto, Texas. Or driving from DeSoto to Dallas and back for work. DeSoto is a Christian environment with about 60 churches of many types. The town has become increasingly Democratic as the Conservative Whites fled further out from Dallas. Just this year, we moved from dry to wet. We have allowed beer and wine sales for the first time in our history.

So what do I observe? Usually within three or four blocks another car is tailgating me. I interpret tailgating as driving less than about one car length behind me for each 10 mph of speed. Perhaps that's my old-fashioned education and view of driving. It's really mostly a perception issue. Although I will vehemently argue that the best prevention for accidents is space between you and all else.

What about the issue of opportunism? Do other drivers allow me to go first or do they jockey for the best position? Usually, I move to the right lane as soon as possible to get out of the way of other impatient drivers. Note that it's rare that I actually drive below the speed limit. The problem with getting out of the way is getting back in the way. If I need to make a left turn - at some point I will need to merge back into the left lane. This is often a problem to the drivers in that lane.

What about the vehicles themselves? What do they say of their owners? The automobile companies have tried very hard for decades to convince us that our egos - our sense of self - are tied to the car that we drive. They have spent countless millions and have been very persuasive. Are our vehicles practical, efficient tools for transport? Or are they expression of some greater sense of ourselves? From driving around DeSoto, I would say that there's a pretty high percentage of Mercedes, BMW's, Lexus's, large SUV's, and large pickups. Perhaps these are just the best matched practical vehicles for their owners? Or maybe that's largely beside the point.

On Monday mornings, I sometimes wonder about all of the other drivers. The churches were full just a day ago. Surely, they must realize that there is some relationship between the lessons they learned in those two hours on Sunday and their behavior in the real world?

The Spill

2010-06-06T17:46:00.001-05:00

The title of my last essay was 'Progress through Catastrophe.' It was written about the time of the oil rig explosion and before the scope of the resulting oil spill was known. I had forgotten about that essay until I prepared to write this essay. Unfortunately, the spill may prove to be an historic example of progress through catastrophe. Perhaps not.

I have not paid close attention to the evolving details of the explosion and the resulting spill. But I am generally aware of the timeline, facts, problems, and unfolding disaster.

There are two reasons that I have not absorbed the daily deluge of information from the gulf. The first is self-preservation. Environmentalism is a part of my blood flow. I was President of my high school ecology club almost 40 years ago. Later, I attended the University Of Michigan School Of Natural Resources until I realized that I did not have the appropriate scientific curiosity that such a career required. Environmentalism has been a strong theme in my life for many decades. This disaster just hurts too much. The extent of the disaster is unprecedented and the damage will be long-term to permanent.

The second reason relates more directly to my last essay. Homo sapiens currently has the data, the technology, and the resources to prevent or solve most of the global challenges that we face. We do not have the organization to do so. And so the gulf oil spill will be one disaster of many.

I take no delight in these statements. I truly wish that my hypothesis about progress through disaster was incorrect - that indeed the future looks bright for my sons and their progeny. But my brain calculates otherwise. If we are to avert long-term disaster and extinction as a species, we will have to make changes that we seem incapable of agreeing upon and executing.

I read in the New York Times the other day that Maureen Dowd was upset with Obama's equanimity in the face of this unprecedented environmental disaster. I however, find Obama to be one of the few signs of intelligent life in a species run amok. The explosion and spill are just obvious manifestations of a system very much in need of repair. Is the poor regulation and enforcement of energy companies a factor? Is our entrenched corporate-ocracy a factor? Is our endless thirst for diminishing reserves of fossil fuels a factor? Sure, blame Obama. Or maybe as Sarah Palin has done, blame the extreme environmentalists. But in reality, the blame lies with our unsustainable way of life and our addiction to short-term gains over real long-term solutions.

My doctor argued with me a few months ago when I told him that I thought we would perish [someday in the future] in a plume of environmental disaster. My book club thought that war and megalomania would be the more likely causes. I just wish that I was wrong more often.

June 6, 2010

Progress Through Crisis

2010-04-25T21:09:00.001-05:00

I listened to a presentation by Craig Janes on Wednesday. Dr. Janes is Professor and Director of Global Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby (Vancouver), British Columbia, and Vice-Chair of the Executive Board of the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research. My question to him after the presentation was quite simple: "Given that most of your trend lines for global health are far from optimistic and that the energies and resources to address them are dwindling - is the only way that the two lines will intersect via a global health catastrophe?"

Catastrophe seems to be the only way that we respond to such immense problems. We have the information. We have the tools. We have the very clear trend lines. But the only way we usually respond seems to be once disaster has already hit. We know that it's coming eventually, but many of us seem powerless to raise the priority until the thing is in full swing. And even then, we might throw a lot of money and people at it, but it's just too late to deal with effectively. A clear example is Hurricane Katrina. When it was still two days out in the Gulf, I said to my wife "This could be the end of New Orleans as we know it." Despite the clear trajectory, help was slow to arrive and the rest is history.

The problem, of course, is that by the time the catastrophe hits - it may be too late to fix the problem at all. Or it will cause many times more damage and it will cost many times more to address. A reputable study recently predicted the collapse of the global commercial fishery by 2048. After that happens, the problem will not be fixed or it will be fixed partially over a very long period of time.

Here's just a short list of some additional possible catastrophes:

1. Global warming
2. Lack of adequate clean water supplies
3. Nuclear terrorism
4. Obesity and starvation
5. The end of fossil fuels
6. Economic plundering as seen in late 2008
7. Failing infrastructures
8. Overpopulation

What will it take to use the brain that the Good Lord gave us and the information that we have to proactively deal with these and other potential disasters?

The News from Lake Woebegone

2010-03-12T17:53:00.001-06:00

It was not a quiet week in Lake Woebelone. On Sunday evening, I stayed up too late finishing Kathryn Stockett's The Help. It a wonderful fiction book about segregation in Jackson, MS in the early 1960's. The author has created a very creative story to emphasize her points. My book club is discussing it tomorrow evening at our home.

Tuesday and Wednesday were very rough. I had debated about attending Dr. Michael Grodin's lecture titled "Mad, Bad, or Evil: Medical ethics in the shadow of the Holocaust - from the Nazi doctors to Abu Ghraib." Information about the Holocaust can get me very upset. By Tuesday morning, I was quite anxious. By the end of his lecture, it took me a while to get up. 90% of his presentation was about the Holocaust - specifically, physician involvement in racial hygiene, eugenics, sterilization, human experimentation, torture, and murder. After a graphic presentation such as this, it usually takes me a couple of days to settle down and this was no exception.

Things got worse on Tuesday evening. My wife helps at a youth community night at our church. It's not members of the church who attend, but members of the community. They come, eat, and have recreational and educational opportunities. When it was over, my wife was asked to drive a couple of the 5th grade girls home to their apartment complex. After she dropped them off, she realized that her iTouch was missing. It was a Mothers' Day gift inscribed by our sons and me.

At this point, one girl's mother is upset at my wife because she contacted the school principal to keep her eyes open for it. It seems that the mother's anger is misdirected. To steal from a woman who drove you home after providing you with food and fun is outside of my understandable parameters.

Given our propensity for evil and mischief, what hope is there for us? Perhaps it's better to spend energies on something that is too precious to lose - our environment? Perhaps only that will survive another few generations of our recklessness.

Back to Normal?

2010-03-04T17:06:00.001-06:00

On Tuesday, March 2, I was a Democratic Election Judge in DeSoto, Texas. Turnout for the election was very light. The final voter turnout in the great majority of Dallas County was less than 10%. In fact, by 11:30a I was wondering why I had asked for help when so few people had voted. Turnout started picking up mid-afternoon. We seemed to get more voters than several other Election Judges that I talked to. Nobody, I repeat nobody, showed up for the three Precinct Conventions related to my location at DeSoto High School. The good news means that I was home and eating dinner by 9:00 PM. The bad news is that apathetic voters are not involved in determining our future.

It was a dramatically different story two years ago. I did not get home until after midnight. My neighbor who was helping me was worried for my safety at several points. Fifteen hundred people tried to jam into space that fits maybe three hundred. I have written on that topic in older essays.

Four years ago was similar to this election. Nobody showed up for the Precinct Convention. Turnout was light. The dominant theme for our electorate is apathy. Most people have abandoned the very privilege that our forefathers were willing to die for. In my mind, each citizen is responsible for exercising this critical freedom. There is really no excuse to abstain from voting. If you don't like the system, then do something legal to change it.

If I Were A Rich Man

2010-02-22T11:20:00.003-06:00

'If I were a rich man,Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.' - Bock & Harnick.

First, of course, a couple of stories. When we were growing up in New York, my sister said a number of times "I know that you will be rich." Perhaps she said this because I was a pretty good student. Or because being rich was viewed as a desirable goal in our culture. Who knows?

Many years later, I remember bits of a conversation with a former boss and his main henchman. The topic was my family and I moving from our beloved Colorado to Michigan. The money was much better to move, but I expressed that "there's other things besides money that are important." Boss man replied "what's more important than money?" Yes, indeed.

Again many years later. I drive a five-year-old Ford Focus that rattles. My shoes are just a little worn. Budgeting for home repairs and vacations and such is done very carefully. So what gives? What happened?

I think that I had the opportunity to be rich. I started my college career at Swarthmore College - an elite eastern school. I turned down Cornell and Dartmouth. In graduate business school at Hofstra, I remember a particular incident in a Finance class. I was very upset because I had a mid-term and managed to forget my calculator. I wound up with the highest score in the class. A few months later, I dropped out of school and hitchhiked around North America. Even more recently but still a long time ago, I finally got my MBA with honors. But here I sit in my rather humble, but somewhat meaningful job.

So what the hell happened? Amer Karaki - the owner of The Austin Greek Deli (http://www.austingreekdeli.com/) pretty much summed it up. He has become like an uncle to my youngest son who is studying Greek and Turkish at The University of Texas at Austin. He knows Evan well. He has also met Evan's brothers Gregory and Ryan, and Carol and I as well. "You are a very rich man," Amer has said several times now. You know what, he's right.

"All day long I'd biddy biddy bum. If I were a wealthy man."- Bock & Harnick.

Society Interruptus

2010-02-19T17:30:00.001-06:00

I was in IT (information technology) for 30 years and still am (in a more indirect way). I can see the great potential of technology for practical societal purposes (communication, health, participation, learning). But I never have favored technology for technology sake - technolust. I don't even enjoy computer and telephone games and such. Now get ready for this - I don't watch television! The tornado sirens need to be sounding for me to turn on the television. I tried to use a PDA several times, but found that it actually had negative value - it required more time than it saved. I think that I do just fine with a paper planner and some post-its. And they are highly mobile.

You may be thinking that I'm a technology Neanderthal. Well, that may be true in a way. However, for several years I was actually a leader in a small niche of technology development and use. That ended abruptly (by my choice) about two years ago.

Allow me to make an observation. It's almost impossible to go to a public place now and not see numerous people tied to their gadgets. On the road, it's particularly noteworthy. The insurance industry has proven that people on cell phones - even hands free phones - drive similarly to alcohol impaired drivers. They are distracted and not focused on their driving. I have been heartily 'bumped' three times now by drivers distracted by their cell phones.

When the weather is good or almost good, I will sit out on the plaza in front of my building and eat my lunch. Nature has always had a way to heal and make me feel better. Our plaza is quite pleasant with trees and flowers despite being in the middle of Dallas. It used to be quiet and I could close my eyes for a few minutes and enjoy the sun and plant life and birds. Not any more. More times than not, there's somebody on the plaza shouting into their phone. Usually, there's more than one person on their phone. Go anywhere now - stores, theatres, parks, museums, etc. - and likely several people will be talking on their phone or otherwise transfixed by their handheld device.

In my world, this sort of distracted behavior has become the norm. Recently, in a doctor's [individual] exam room, I was shocked to find a movie playing on the tube. Can we not be entertained for five seconds? I read an article recently about Mark Cuban - the owner of the Dallas Mavericks Basketball Team. He was describing how he had to keep people's attention at basketball games. If the game got quiet or dull for a few minutes, people would switch on their personal handheld devices. His goal, he said, was to provide a steady, uninterrupted stream of entertainment. So being at a live basketball game is not stimulus enough? When I left a game about two months ago, my senses were in shock. I could only shake my head as I left.

Forgive me, but a society that elected George Bush two times to the Presidency has no business being further distracted. A society that deifies sports and sports stars as its educational system and infrastructure slides into the much has no business being further distracted.

People will wait two, four, or more hours to get tickets for an athletic event or a music event or a new iPhone. But they will not take an hour and read the voter's guide for an election. Many people don't even vote unless it impacts them directly and right now.

So what's to be done? Don't look at me, I don't have the answer. We are probably just on the tip of an iceberg that will get substantially worse. There will be spiraling options for entertainment and immediate distraction. It really comes down to what is important and what does progress mean. Having citizens who mirror the vegetable, obese, helpless, humans portrayed in WALL-E does not look like progress to me.

Do No Harm

2010-02-09T17:38:00.002-06:00

Two related events motivated me to write this essay. The first was my recent reading of Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell. Vowell writes of the Pequot Indian massacre of 1637 when our forefathers in New England killed 400 to 700 Pequot indians - mostly women and children. Their village was set on fire and those who tried to escape were shot. The facts of what actually happened still seem to be open to review and debate. For example, see http://www.weyanoke.org/tbw-PequotMassacre.html versus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_Massacre. However, an educated, rational person would hardly deny that we almost eradicated Native Americans through disease, war, and harsh treatment.

The second event was a re-evaluation of my written life goals. I looked them over recently and made several significant changes. I changed 'Leave this river a bit better' to 'Primum non nocere - First, do no harm.' I have traditionally believed that with intelligence, common sense, practicality, education, and technology we (homo sapiens) could solve our major problems and make our global village a substantially better place. But I'm not sure about that anymore. In fact, we seem to be hellbent on imminent disaster. Perhaps the best that we can do is 'do no harm.' It's a more modest goal, but may be infinitely more realistic.

What do these events have to do with each other? Allow me to explain. When you grow up learning history in the United States, you are left with a sense of benign regard for the early pilgrims. They seemed like hardworking, adventurous folks who shared the abundance with the natives. Au contrair, mon ami. In reality they were greedy, destructive, murderous, prejudiced, self-centered zealots who thanked God for the death of each Native American.

Later on in our K-12 studies, we learn about Salem witch trials and other such more realistic historical events. If you examine almost any historical event in our short history, you find similar mismatches between reality and common perception. Go ahead try a few - The Iraq War, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, the McCarthy era - all filled with questionable, less noble agenda.

So perhaps in our argumentative, opionated, stressed world; a more realistic goal is required. If we can not agree on important solutions, perhaps at least we can do no harm?

Obamanos

2010-01-28T10:19:00.001-06:00

Talk about being dealt a lousy hand. Barack Obama inherited an historic mess when he was inaugurated on January 20, 2009. Forty years of [mostly, but not all] Republican malfeasance had fully come to a head by that date.

The American as well as the global economy was on the very precipice of collapse. We were in two wars which were not going well - one justified and one manufactured by the previous President. The American body politic and indeed the American citizenry were as polarized as perhaps any previous time in history. Our health care system costs continued to spiral upward while failing to adequately perform for a large fraction of the population. Our international reputation was at a historic low. The precious American as well as global environment were under attack on all fronts.

Those were just some of the bigger problems that Obama faced on inauguration day. Would he - could he - fix all of these problems and others in the year since? How could any one person do that realistically? Any one of these problems is challenge enough. But all of them together are - well - overwhelming!

And why would anybody be foolish or crazy enough to want the job as American President anyway. Some frequent answers are power, wealth, influence, ego. I think that Barack Obama thinks that he has the skills and was called to be our President. After all, in the year 2010, the probability of an American President being viewed as successful are quite dim.

Do I think that he has been successful? Do I think that he has compromised his electioneering principles? Do I think that he has sold out? Do I think that he has broken his promises? Do I think that he has not outlined his vision clearly?

I think that Barack Obama is a man of honor. He does not try to distract us. He does not try to avoid answers. He evaluates the necessary data, obtains differing opinions, and then tells us the truth with the information that we need. In response to the questions in the above paragraph. Yes. Obama is doing the best that he can given an almost impossible situation.

I'm very disappointed that our country went into further debt to prevent total depression and economic collapse. I'm very disappointed that he has not been able to make more progress with health care. I'm very disappointed that money still dictates almost every move in Washington. I think that Obama has done his best. Some of these solutions may not happen until later in his term or perhaps even in his second term. Some of them may not happen at all.

I am heartened that we have a person in the White House who lives [and thinks] by the golden rule - "Do for others what you would like them to do for you." That has not always been the case.

The essay up to this point was written prior to the President's State of the Union Address on January 27th, 2010. I listened very carefully to the speech and reaffirm everything that I have already written.

One suggestion for Obama occured to me again this morning. Even this bleeding heart left wing yellow dog liberal is tired of funding the freeloaders, the slackers, the lollygaggers, the non-contributers. Like most Americans; I have worked day after day, year after year, decade after decade. It needs to be very, very clear that the help that Obama is proposing for the less advantaged is for those who are willing to help themselves - those who are willing to embrace the American value of working to get ahead and contributing to society. I do not think that Obama has made this clear enough. And if it's not clear enough to me, I'm sure it's painfully unclear to those on the other side of the aisle.

Hello Boys, I'm Back

2010-01-24T18:08:00.001-06:00

Perhaps, perhaps not. We'll see how this post digests.

Much of my work for the past 30 years has been based upon logic. Yes or no. Right or wrong. The bottom line in IT is that it either works or not or could work better. With my extensive strategic planning work, that logic moves into the future. What will happen next? What will happen in five years? In ten years? How do we connect the dots? Where are the dots?

So as a result of who I naturally am and my education and training; I think about our society, our culture, our world, our species - and its future. 10 years out. 50 years out. 200 years out. You get the point.

Here's a few benchmarks that I use. One is recycling. About 24% of my town recycles. It could not be any easier for a household to recycle (OK, it could be easier, I could go in your house and do it for you). You put your plastics, paper, and metal in a bin and put it out by the back alley. Yet I have neighbors who have a party or such and fill up several large trash bags with bottles and cans. Do they think that the earth has an unlimited supply of raw materials? Do they think that the landfills will accommodate the same amount of junk or more forever. Do they think?

Another benchmark falls somewhere between the current Republican Party and the religious right. They are perhaps 28% of the population, but they have a lot of power, money, and control. They seem to have an almost total disregard for the environment. As long as it's good for business, it's good. Well, someone will need to pay the cleanup at some point. They are mostly against abortion, but don't care once the child is born. They are constantly criticizing government at every level but don't have viable alternative plans for providing governmental services. They have enough power to keep this country from making any sort of real, sustainable, long-term progress. And at this point in time, we are still the hope of much of the world. Slow our progress, slow the world's progress.

A third benchmark is entertainment. As RFK, Jr. has stated - we are the most entertained society in the history of the world. Television, the Internet, cinema - have tremendous potential. But the content most people watch most of the time is not uplifting, but downgrading. The average American has the TV on 4 - 6 hours per day. Add the Internet, an iPhone, a TV in the car, a TV in the waiting room. We can be entertained almost every waking second of the day. Who has to bother to think?

A fourth benchmark is consumerism. I'm sometimes convinced that most people would rather shop than do just about anything else. What about reading, or exercising, or fishing, or having a cup of tea with a friend, or joining a book club, or learning how to knit? Aren't those things more real? How many stores can we build? How much can we buy, buy, buy. Is this just another form of entertainment? Do we have no inner peace?

A fifth benchmark is global cooperation. We see it at times. For example, right after September 11th. Or with the earthquake in Haiti. Or the Tsunami in Southeast Asia. But generally, societies are centered on themselves. Are we all not citizens on this planet? Will we ever learn that we are all connected in the long-term? Are we not part of the same body? Destroy the environment in China and the day will come when it will have an impact on us.

A sixth benchmark is education. A recent global study by OECD - the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development shows that only about 20% of 15-year-olds in OECD countries could be considered reflective, communicative problem solvers. Isn't critical thinking essential for human progress? Do we just want people who can follow and repeat facts?

A seventh benchmark is driving behavior. My town in Texas has about 40,000 residents. There are also about 59 churches. If the number of churches were an indicator of Christian conduct, you would think that other drivers would yeild, be polite, and generally drive like you were their neighbor. But no sir. Just spend a few minutes on the streets and you will be tailgated, perhaps cut-off, and otherwise disregarded. I think that driving behavior is one of the best reflectors of our society.

On and on. What's really unfortunate to me is that I think that the solutions for our problems exist. We have the intelligence. We have the tools. We have the data. But that's not enough. The ignorant, uninformed, hateful, violent seem to be steering the human ship. I really wish that when I connected these dots and others, that they led to a better conclusion. I have three children that I love dearly. I would love to think that their children's children's children will be able share some of the bounty that we have been privileged to experience. The Maker has provided us with incredible bounty. But we seem to be blowing it - big time. And the only way we make any adjustments is through near or total disaster.

Wayne Out

2008-12-19T20:42:00.000-06:00

I have written 125 essays in my over three years on ‘Sounding Off.’ That’s a lot of words and I think that I risk taking myself too seriously if I continue. It’s time for new voices to share this and other spaces with you. Thank you for providing a forum for my thoughts. Thank you for listening. It’s time for me to move on - perhaps to spend more time with my wife, with my sons, with my fishing rod.

Our beloved country is still in quite a mess. But for the first time in a very long eight years, I can say that it is headed in the right direction. It’s the right time for change.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

What Was It?

2008-12-10T21:18:00.000-06:00

By almost any measure, we Democrats did quite well on November 4th. We did well on the national front with the big prize – the Presidency, with more seats in the Senate, and with more seats in the House. We did well on the local level making continued strides in Dallas County. On the state level, we did make gains in the Texas House and Senate. All in all, it was a good day for the Democratic Party.

What was the root cause of our victory? Was it the consistent ineptitude of the past eight years of Republican rule? Was it the War in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and a skyrocketing national deficit? Maybe the roller-coaster gas prices finally got the public’s attention?

Perhaps it was the economic implosion that began about two months prior to the election? The news has been replete with stories of this economic downturn being the worst since the Great Depression. The government takeover of Fannie May and Freddie Mac, a Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, a 780 point drop in the Dow in a single day, retirement portfolios gutted, a wildly unpopular $700 billion government bailout. Was this particular disaster the source of our victory in November?

Sarah Palin was a surprise. Initially she provided a boost to McCain’s ticket. Then as we became more familiar with her, the Republican ticket kept sliding downward. Did she seal the deal for the Democrats?

Perhaps it was our hard work that won the day? We wrote letters, we block walked, we made phone calls. We registered voters. We had organizational and planning meetings. We even sent money. Did this make the difference?

Or was it the force of Barack Obama’s personality and talent that led us to victory? Charismatic, good-looking, and intelligent; he achieved rock star like status during the campaign. In addition, Barack essentially setup a highly effective, high-tech parallel organization to the Democratic Party to help get him elected.

I could probably come up with several other top candidates for ‘root cause’ of our victory. However, I think that it’s very important for each of us individually to evaluate our success and our contribution toward that success. I also think that each political organization should do a post-mortem and assess their impact upon the end result. We need to understand what worked and what didn’t work so that we can keep up the momentum and be even more effective in the future.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Weight of the World

2008-11-17T22:28:00.000-06:00

As President-Elect Barack Obama walked to the podium on the evening of Tuesday, November 4, 2008 for his victory speech; you could almost see the weight on his shoulders. He spoke beautifully and true to the millions and millions of us watching from Grant Park, Times Square, outside the White House, Oak Cliff, Dallas, DeSoto, and so many other places.

I did not realize until well into the speech that there was a bulletproof shield in front of the podium. Barack is very aware - foremost I am sure - of the greater safety risk now for Michelle, Malia, and Sasha. What a heavy burden for a husband and father.

Next in the worry line no doubt is the dire condition of our country. The economy is in the worst state since the Depression. We are involved in two wars. Almost 50 million Americans are without health care. We are terribly divided as a nation. Our reputation in the world is at a historic low. The American auto industry is on the brink of collapse. I will stop there.

Expectations are so high for President-Elect Obama. Can he meet all of our expectations? Probably not. But he is educated, very intelligent, experienced, and it looks like he will surround himself with the most capable people. I think that Barack Obama will make us very proud of all the work that we put into electing him. But you might send him some worry beads to help get him through the rough spots.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Let Us Pray

2008-11-05T21:34:00.000-06:00

Well friends, we have done just about all that we can do. Personally, I would like to have done more recently, but I have been very focused on being the election judge for my three precincts tomorrow. I’m expecting the worst but hoping for the best as far as a smooth flow of voters. I would like to have done more voter registration, called more swing state voters, written letters to the editor, etc.; but now I’m out of time.

I should have written in the last sentence that I am almost out of time. I plan to spend a few minutes before sleep overtakes me tonight with just one final task – prayer. I plan to pray for:

· Those that will turn in this evening hungry, homeless, in pain, or without love
· Our country which finally has an opportunity to get back on track
· A new sense of common purpose with our brothers and sisters throughout the globe

Please join me.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

[N.B. – This post was originally scheduled for posting on the evening of 11/3. But preparing for and then conducting the election for my three precincts distracted me.]

Everything Is At Stake

2008-10-26T20:55:00.000-05:00

Our nation sits precariously atop a precipice. For 28 of the last 40 years we have had Republicans in the White House. The greed, lack of regulation, disrespect for the law, and just plain meanness has taken its toll. We are just about permanently broken. No matter what, the next President is left with a tremendous mess.

Everything is at stake in this election. A Republican win would seal our fate. A Democratic win would provide some sense of hope. A 60 seat Democratic stake in the Senate would actually enable us to fix the mess. A continuation of our 2006 successes in Dallas County would bring the fight local and help ensure that Dallas and perhaps eventually Texas would become blue.

So what am I doing to help in the next eight days? What are you doing? We have run out of excuses. I have had people tell me how difficult it is to help. I contact them once, twice and never hear from them again. They think that they want to help, but don’t really. Just look at the dallasdemocrats.org calendar or the barackobama.com events. There are numerous productive things that can be done, and done now.

Personally, my top priority is being an Election Judge on November 4th. I want to do everything that I can to make sure that every vote is counted properly in my (3) precinct. Also, the memory of the disastrous caucus evening is still fresh on everybody’s mind. I want to make sure that voters see an efficient, well-oiled machine as of 7:00 AM on November 4th. I also hope to make a few telephone calls for Obama to swing state voters in between my Election Day preparations.

This is it troops – the home stretch. Victory is within reach. And then the real work begins.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Stupid Redneck Nation

2008-10-11T13:01:00.001-05:00

My wife can’t go to sleep unless she has watched the latest clips from John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Sometimes she’s like a young child at the pool diving board -“Watch this, watch this,” she calls. Still the adoring husband after 28 years, I usually watch.

Bill Maher was on The Daily Show the other night promoting his new movie. He said something that I found quite interesting and have hinted at in several essays. To paraphrase, he said something like we are really two nations. There’s the progressive European like country [my comment “or even better”]. Then there’s the stupid redneck nation. In constant struggle they are, Yoda might say [my comment, not his].

I have lost all affection for and patience with the stupid redneck nation (SRN). The extent to which the SRN has kept our country from progressing is truly astounding. The SRN has brought our collective IQ down by many points and has severely limited our national potential. It has brought this country to the brink of disaster and stubbornly refuses to even fully acknowledge the problem. SRN’s primary spokesman for eight years has been W. It looks like the mantle is being passed to Sarah Palin. If so, the national symbol of SRN could be an Amy Poehler look-alike (with a huge smile) in an airplane with a wolf in her sights. SRN members revel in their anti-intellectualism.

Allow me to provide just two examples. We have spent almost $1 trillion on the War in Iraq. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 or Al Qaeda. What if we had spent that money on education or infrastructure such as mass transportation or the development of alternative fuels? Would we be in better shape right now? Example 2 – the SRN has decided that torture is acceptable. Why not beat the s---- out of the mofo’s, eh? By what authority will we now uphold and enforce international law?

SRN does not fully believe in science. It does not believe in carefully listening to various points of view. The Stupid Redneck Nation is smug without cause for it will often show poor judgment. It doggedly resists logic, facts, and opposing information. The SRN is convinced of its correctness so does not listen, it only preaches. Sometimes it bullies when it does not easily get its way.

I prefer however to choose the other path. That path is currently best articulated by Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. It has a vision of a better America. That vision uses science, information, consensus, and the potential of the human brain to describe our future. Yes, I think that Bill Maher summed up the quagmire quite accurately. Which will you choose on November 4th – the America that we can be or the America that pulls us down?

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

The Sky Is Falling

2008-10-04T21:52:00.000-05:00

In DeSoto, Texas the mortgage crisis is real. You can walk down just about any street and see a foreclosed home or maybe even two. Even if I wanted to sell my home, it’s out of the question. There’s just no market. Period.

How did this happen? Did it happen overnight or has this crisis been brewing for a while? And what will it take to address this crisis? $700 billion might do it, but there’s uncertainty if even that will work. I’m sitting here debating whether to spend $12 at the airport restaurant and the President and Congress just agreed to spend $700,000,000,000 to bail out the financial services industry. That’s a bunch of money! Add that to the approximately $1 trillion for the unnecessary War in Iraq and you just have to wonder where all of this money will come from. The math just does not add up.

Back to how this happened… Not too many years ago, my wife and I would walk our dog around our neighborhood and wonder and question. Houses were being built in every possible place. Every large vacant area seemed to bring with it the sounds of hammering, digging, and other sounds of construction.

What did not quite add up even then was that just down the street there would be a pre-existing home for sale on the market for many months without selling. Some of the homes that sold would be abandoned in 9 months, a year, or two years. Why was it that people who received mortgages on these homes learned that they could not afford them in such a short period of time? Of course, bad things do happen - people loose their jobs or get ill. But the foreclosure percentage was just too high for that. There was some other systematic problem.

The zero money down signs lent some insight into this dilemma. People were buying homes that they simply could not afford. Why were they getting mortgages then? Somebody was making money and somebody was losing money. And my neighborhood and city were stuck with too many empty homes.

Now it’s all too clear. The financial institutions were making bad loans. Lots and lots and lots of bad loans. Although I have an MBA, I am no financial Einstein. But it is unfathomable to me that the situation was allowed to come to this sorry state. Not only was Money Management 101 not followed; but neither were common sense and the basic government oversight of the entire process.

What a mess – stacked on top of layers of other messes. Eight years ago, the Republicans inherited a peaceful and prosperous country that was respected throughout the world. Now we are involved in multiple wars, our economy is in shambles, and our reputation is ruined. I sure hope that things change beginning on November 4th!

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Sarah?

2008-09-14T22:21:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago; I wrote about the educated, accomplished, and beautiful Michelle Obama. Not only Michelle, but the entire Democratic Convention, focused on what America could be – the sort of America that many of us dream about and think is possible with the right leadership and participation.

Since then, things have gone steeply downhill. It began when John McCain announced his surprise running mate – Sarah Palin. Like many others, I said Sarah who? She wasn’t on his short-list, was she?

My initial research - and then further research - shocked me. How irresponsible can John McCain be? I must confess that I had some reluctant lingering respect for McCain. Not anymore. His choice can only be framed as irresponsible - the most important act of a man who desperately would like to be President.

I have been irritable since McCain picked Palin. If the worst case scenario happens, then McCain will become President. At 72, he would become the oldest President to enter office. Also considering his bouts with skin cancer, that puts the probability of a Palin Presidency in the realm of the very possible.

What do we know of Sarah Palin? We know that she was the Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska prior to becoming Governor of Alaska two years ago. Although Mrs. Palin and the McCain campaign have tried very hard to shield her from our curiosity, more information comes out about her every day. Nothing that we have learned indicates to a reasonable person that she is in any way prepared to become President of the United States. If fact, she sounds more like George W. Bush every day. She surrounds herself with supporters and is vengeful against non-supporters.

My irritability finally broke on the evening of September 13th. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler of Saturday Night Live fame did a brilliant job of portraying Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton respectively. Although Sarah Palin was purported to have watched the skit aboard her jet, there has been no official comment yet.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Michelle!

2008-08-27T21:01:00.000-05:00

After watching Michelle Obama on Monday evening, I am once again perplexed as to why this election seems to be as close as the pollsters say it is. Michelle Obama and her family exemplify what is best about America. She is hard-working, intelligent, educated, and cares about ‘the other guy.’ She and Barack both gave up the fast track to help people less fortunate than them.

My wife told me that she heard an interview on NPR the other day with a woman in southern Alabama. The woman told the reporter that the Obama’s just don’t share their values. What values could that be? The Obama’s believe in God, country, and family and show such by their behaviors and actions. They believe in protecting the environment, helping the meek, finding middle ground and compromise, and treating people with respect. What values is this woman talking about?

What will it take to wake our fellow Americans to the damage that the Republicans have done and will continue to do? Give every spare dollar to Obama or the Democratic candidate of your choice. Use every spare moment to help the Democratic cause. We must win!

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

A Beautiful Thing

2008-08-20T22:23:00.000-05:00

My flight arrived about 8:20 AM at DFW airport. I walked out of the gate at about 8:30 AM to vigorous applause and shouting by dozens - perhaps hundreds - of people. Since my alarm had rung at 4:00 AM in Minneapolis, I was not quite clear as to what was happening. When I was some distance from the gate, I realized that there was another visible, isolated hallway above us. A number of U.S. Army personnel in military fatigues were going down that hallway. It was not clear to me whether the soldiers were even aware of the loud appreciation exhibited below them.

What a beautiful site that was to behold. Was it a spontaneous display of patriotism by mostly business travelers on that grey rainy August day? Or was it a planned reception by family, friends, or some other group? I’ll never know because I was dopey from intermittent airplane sleep as well as late to meet my ride to work.

Later in the day – as my brain seemed to clear somewhat – I got very curious about the men (I did not see any women) walking casually and joking on their way to who knows where. The applause to me suggested that they were going to or returning from the war zone – Afghanistan or Iraq. Despite their calm demeanors on that unusually cool Dallas August morning, what were they thinking?

A December 29, 2006 Military Times article (http://www.militarycity.com/polls/2006_main.php) reported on a November to December 2006 poll of active-duty military subscribers to its magazines. 66 percent of the responders had been deployed at least once to Afghanistan or Iraq. Only 41 percent said that the U.S. should have gone to war with Iraq in the first place. Only 35 percent approved of the way that President Bush was handling the war.

A December 26, 2007 USA Today story reported on the opinions of close family members of U.S. troops (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-26-military-family-poll_N.htm). 55 percent disapproved of President Bush’s job performance. 49 percent believe that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake.

President Bush stated in his March 8, 2003 radio address (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030308-1.html) and also on national television: “And, as a last resort, we must be willing to use military force. We are doing everything that we can to avoid war in Iraq…” It appears quite clear to me – as it does to many soldiers and their families that President Bush did not invade Iraq as a last resort. He has been all too willing to accept their “last full measure of devotion.”

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Puppeteers and Puppets

2008-07-15T21:27:00.000-05:00

Bubba (George W. Bush, that is) thinks that we are stupid. In actuality, 28 to 32 percent of us do seem to be stupid. Or quite incapable of critical thought at least. That’s the approximate percentage of the electorate who continue to support Bubba even at the end of his disastrous presidency.

When Bubba took office, gas cost about $1.41 at the pump in Texas. Today it’s about $3.99. See http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_history.html. Quite a gift to his oil buddies. And his oil buddies have done extremely well. For example, a February 1, 2008 article in the New York Times titled “Exxon Mobil Profit Sets Record Again” by Jad Mouawad states “The company reported Friday that it beat its own record for the highest profits ever recorded by any company…”

Now Bubba want to give one final gift to his oh-so-loyal base before he leaves office – lift the moratorium on drilling for oil on our coastline. Barbara Boxer sums it up:

“It's unbelievable. In the final months of his failed presidency, George Bush wants to give the oil companies a huge gift that threatens our coasts, our economy, and our jobs -- while not doing one single thing to lower gas prices.”

Were gas prices artificially driven up so that the oil companies could once again get their way? Can we say with 100 percent certainty that simply the free market economy was responsible for tripling gas prices over Bubba’s reign? I don’t know about you, but January 20th, 2009 will not come soon enough for me.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

We Must Win

2008-06-15T13:39:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Without a doubt, that will be a big day in American history. Will the country’s voters elect George Bush to a third term? That is, will the voters elect John McCain to the Presidency? Will they once again endorse the War in Iraq? Will they once again vote to support the millionaires and billionaires and oil tycoons and not the rest of us? Will the voters continue to allow our environment to be sold and ruined to the highest bidder? Will the voters say OK to a broken Supreme Court? Will the voters elect more reckless and inept leaders who will keep this country off-course and perhaps finally break it permanently?

Or will Americans choose the right path and the right candidate? A candidate who articulates that the Iraq War was wrong in its very inception. A candidate who believes that the poor and middle class should also have a chance to succeed. A candidate who thinks that we need to find alternatives to our oil addiction and that we need to resume our international leadership regarding climate change. A candidate who is willing to listen to all sides of a conflict.

We really don’t know what Americans will choose on that fateful day. They have surprised us before. Four years ago, they chose to re-elect the worst president in American history. Unbelievable!

We now know that we can take nothing for granted. That we need to work and fight every day to make sure that a good Democrat is voted into our highest office. And that more Democrats win in Dallas County, Texas, and the entire country. That is how we will begin to take our country back and to change it in a positive way.

I ask myself every day what I am doing to help. I’m not pleased with some of the things that I have been doing. They have been ineffective. I have been looking at different things, new ways to help. My question today is “What are you doing to make sure that we win in November?”

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Clinton versus Obama

2008-05-04T22:08:00.001-05:00

Our President has done a wonderful job of presenting the Democratic Party with tremendous opportunity. We are in an unpopular war that was a mistake from its inception. Our economy is in a recession partly because of that war. The price of gas is more than double what it was when George took office and shows no sign of slowing its upward trend. The international reputation of our country is ruined. Osama is still on the loose. Environmental protection has become an inside Republican joke. And the list just goes on and on.

Yet here we are six months before the election in a rather worried state of mind. Many Democrats that I talk to are very concerned. If we can’t capitalize on the mess that George W. Bush has handed us, then we had better reinvent ourselves. More importantly, if we can’t win the White House and improve our margins in Congress, then the damage to our nation may be irreversible.

I would like to start my ramblings about the two candidates from July, 2007. That’s when we had a ‘DeSoto Democrats’ booth at the annual city festival – the Toad Holler Creekfest. We had a good location and a number of people came up to the booth and said ‘I thought that I was the only Democrat in DeSoto.’

I was warming up to Obama at that point in time although I had more research to do. Interestingly, every African-American that I discussed Obama with stated that Clinton was a superior Democratic candidate. Several people said that she had the experience and power base whereas Obama did not.

Fast forward to the University of Texas debate between Clinton and Obama on February 21st. By that point, I was solidly an Obama supporter and helped to setup an Obama watch party in DeSoto. Much to my surprise, I thought that Hillary did a better job that evening. However, I seemed to be the only one at the watch party with that opinion.

March 17th – Clinton mistakenly reported that she and Chelsea landed in Bosnia under sniper fire on a March 1996 trip. She acknowledged the misstatement about a week later.

March 18th – Obama delivered a speech on race. My wife and I watched the full video of the speech. We were very impressed with the speech as well as Obama’s willingness to address the race issue head on - an issue that continues to fester barely beneath the surface in Dallas as well as the remainder of the country.

March 29th – I ran into a friend of mine – DN – a white late 50’s female at a local book festival. She and her husband have become Obama supporters. Her husband – a Republican – has had enough. However, they are both very disturbed by the news about Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Obama’s relationship with him.

April 17th – spoke to LW – a white elderly male. He thought that Obama should be in jail for listening to Rev. Wright for so many years. Wow, that’s sort of extreme, isn’t it?

April 18th – spoke to UW – a young DeSoto African-American friend. She mentioned an active bias against Clinton and her supporters at the Senate District 23 caucus on March 29th. Although she admires Obama’s eloquence, she believes that Clinton is far more experienced. She perceives a real lack of substance in Obama’s speeches.

April 21st – received Michael Moore’s “My Vote’s for Obama (if I could vote) email. Moore says that Clinton sounded “Like you were nuts.” Moore’s email includes “Yet the democrats have done nothing. So why should we be so eager to line up happily behind them?”

April 25th – spoke to a different LW – a 60’s white female. She asked me if I had ‘drank the cool aid and become an Obama supporter?’ I explained that I had been an Obama supporter for many months now. She felt that Clinton clearly had the superior experience.

Is this just healthy democratic discourse or is it incipient signs of doom for the Democratic Party? Will any of the people that I mentioned above actually vote for John McCain? Will the Clinton fanatics and the Obama fanatics actually vote for the other candidate when it comes down to it?

My vote is still for Obama. Am I worried that the Republicans will ‘swift boat’ him with the Rev. Wright issue? You bet. Am I worried that the title of the Pew survey released this week is “Obama’s Lead Over Clinton Disappears; Unfavorables Rise for Both Candidates?” You bet. Would I vote for Hillary if she were chosen to be the candidate? You bet. Are there problems with the process? You bet.

Would I … Well forget it, what do you think?

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Humbled

2008-03-14T23:04:00.000-05:00

Texas Primary Day – March 4th – was a day that I will not soon forget. It was fantastic, it was a nightmare, and it was historic. A week later, I can finally find some humor in that day.

When I got to DeSoto High School on the afternoon before, staff were not sure where to put me (as election judge) and my equipment. When we finally decided on a location, I could not setup because students were milling around the soon to be polling area.

Primary day did not start well. We had a broken ballot counter. That and a delayed setup put us behind schedule. By 7:00 AM we had a pretty good line waiting to vote.

Voting and voting problems and issues were a steady pressure all day. I managed to eat a Cliff Bar around 11:00 AM. That would be my last bite of food for the day.

By 3:00 PM I was getting quite worried about the Precinct Caucuses later that evening at 7:15 PM. At my last Precinct Caucus, I was the only one who showed up. So it was still a bit hard to believe that all of the people who asked for voting receipts for the caucus (to show they voted instead of a stamped voter certificate) would show up again that evening.

Nonetheless, I began plotting real estate for the three caucuses that would be held. We were in the front lobby [of a gym] that could hold maybe 100 people comfortably. So I delineated half of the lobby for the large precinct and the other two quarters for the smaller precincts. I did this by mask taping sheets of paper in these areas with the precinct numbers written on them.

I was also concerned about my valiant and hard-working election clerks – Uzo Awa, Cecyle Rexrode, Gordon Roark, and Mary Young. Being active Democrats, they wanted to go to their own Precinct Caucuses at 7:00 PM. Their caucuses were in other parts of Desoto. Would I be there alone at 7:15 PM trying to close voting and then get three Precinct Caucuses going? It looked that way.

I had tried to find more help for the caucuses a few days earlier. However, my oldest son had to work late. My wife also had to work late. Four of the six people who had volunteered to help me over the years with DeSoto Democratic activities were already there. The other two were busy with their own Precincts.

Sure enough, people started arriving for the Precinct Caucuses by 6:30 PM even though the meetings could not officially be started until 7:15PM or later. At 7:00 PM, anybody on line to vote must be allowed to vote. The problem was that I now had hundreds, maybe two thousand people trying to get in this lobby that accommodated 100 comfortably. When I asked the caucus attendees to leave the lobby temporarily so that we could process the crowd of final voters, several people started shouting at me.

That plan clearly was not going to work. My friend and neighbor – Perry Holloway – was doing crowd control. His wife Darlene and his son Parker were also helping. Mark White and Deborah Jackson also helped me to get their precincts organized. But the number of people was just too large for the facility that we had available.

By 7:15 PM, things were looking bleak. We had perhaps a couple of thousand people and nowhere to go. We would have to hold our caucuses in the parking lot. Luckily, a member of the Board of Education – Don Gant – was in attendance. He called the Superintendent of Schools – Lloyd Treadwell - who agreed to open the gym.

People were getting restless and impatient because of the late start and cramped quarters. Finally, we were able to get in the gym around 7:45 PM. Some people had left, but we still filled the gym. Huge Precinct 3609 was on one side – several people deep – and the two smaller precincts 3610 and 3616 were on the other side.

Now we had other issues to deal with. For example, the 3609 Precinct packet had ten multi-part sign-in sheets. It was clear that we would need at least 35 to 40 sign-in sheets. That’s about when Billy ----- - a high school student - came along. That was another fortunate event that day. He was able to make numerous copies of the sign-in sheets so that we could get that time-consuming process started.

Well, this essay has gone way too long already. To make a long story short, I got home about 12:30 AM. When I got home, I sat in a dark, quiet room for a while with some sparkling water. I had made some mistakes and would have done many, many things differently in retrospect. However, everybody who wanted to vote did vote. Everybody who had a bit of patience and wanted to participate in a caucus did participate. The next time… Well, I don’t know if there will be a next time like this. There probably will not be a next time in my lifetime anyway.

Richard_wayne@yahoo.com

It’s Heating Up

2008-02-12T21:28:00.001-06:00

It’s only February and things are heating up in North Texas and elsewhere. And I’m not talking about the beautiful weather that we had last weekend. I’m talking about politics baby! Let’s take a quick tour starting with the other side of the aisle.

Even my Republican friends don’t seem to like John McCain. They say ‘talk about flip-flopping!’ Some of the social conservatives are saying that they will not vote or even vote for Hillary before they vote for McCain!

And The Huckster? He does not support the Brady Bill or banning assault rifles (http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=18 ). He does not believe in evolution. But he does support a marriage amendment. Did this guy grow up in the same country that I did? It looks like the Republicans have a divisive year ahead.

On our side of the aisle, we have a real race going on with two great leading candidates for President. I have had several lively discussions about the two candidates with friends and family in the past few days. I’m for Obama. They are for Hillary. But in the end, our talks have been friendly, constructive and we all would happily vote for either candidate.

On the County level, we have many contested races for the March 4th primary (http://www.dallasdemocrats.org/2008_candidates_for_democratic_p.htm ). The party faithful are even saying that people will show up in numbers to vote in the primary and for our Precinct Conventions. This may happen particularly if we get the sort of attention from Barack and Hillary that seems imminent over the next few weeks as they battle it out in our state. As a Precinct Chair and an Election Judge, I’m looking forward to seeing energized, smiling Democrats for a change.

Just this week, I have been invited to more party, candidate, and related events than I could possibly attend. For example, two events for Obama (one boasts over 500 potential attendees), two candidate forums, and assorted other events. With two jobs, a family, a house, a dog, 2 cats, etc. it looks like I’ll need to be selective as to how to spend my time effectively.

Whatever your perspective, issue, or candidate – it’s time to get busy. Get out there and register Democratic voters, listen to and support candidates and ask them the hard questions, clerk at an election, do whatever tickles your fancy. And don’t just sit in those political meetings and twiddle your iPod. Do something constructive. It’s time to get productive and get some good Democrats elected so that we can finally start turning this mess around.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Yes We Can

2008-02-03T21:27:00.000-06:00

The new Barack Obama music video 'Yes We Can' actually gives me goosebumbs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHEO_fG3mm4

What's Your Political IQ?

2008-01-31T21:56:00.000-06:00

About 41% of the public knew that Robert Gates is the United States Secretary of Defense. About 31% knew that Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson was of Hispanic descent. 78% knew that the Democrats hold the majority in the House. And about 54% knew the amount of U.S. troops killed in Iraq.

What's your political IQ? You can find out at the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press at http://pewresearch.org/newsiq/quiz/.

Only about 26% of the 1,005 people 18 years of age or older got 10 or more of the questions correct. As you can imagine, better educated people did better on the quiz than less educated people. In addition, older people did better than younger people.

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press is one of six projects that make up the Pew Research Center. The Center's pupose is to serve as a forum for ideas on the media and public policy through public opinion research.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Indulge Me, Please

2008-01-06T22:45:00.000-06:00

I am very pleased with the results of the Iowa Democratic Caucus. On Thursday, as you likely know, Iowa Democrats picked Barack Obama as their first choice to become President. Iowa – the pretty, rolling state up North that is 94.6 percent white – was able to get beyond color and chose an African-American as its first choice for President in the Democratic Caucuses.

I am ecstatic that Iowa selected the front-runner who was against the insane War in Iraq from its very conception. I am delighted that Iowa selected the candidate who promised to change the federal government by posting key federal data on the internet. I am thrilled that young people – finally, finally – came out and rallied and voted for Obama. Imagine the changes that would be possible if our young, disenfranchised voters got inspired!

Somebody wake me up! No, never mind, don’t wake me up. This is the kind of dream that I want to have about America.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

New Year, New Opportunities

2007-12-31T20:43:00.000-06:00

2008 will be a critical year for those of us who love America and who are willing to help restore its soul. The Bush, Cheney nightmare is about to come to an end. They, and their band of co-conspirators, came within an inch or two of creating a permanent conservative Republican-ocracy to control our country. They have tried to corrupt and dismantle the very core of our democratic institutions – and have succeeded on a number of fronts. But the nightmare is finally, finally coming to an end. Or at least the end is in sight.

What comes next will be up to us. Indeed, we need to win the White House and further increase our margins in the House and Senate. But neither of those goals is ensured. We have managed to slow the hemorrhaging of our democracy by winning the majority in Congress, but real progress has been slow and painful. The Republican devastation over the past two decades has been deep and broad and will take a long time to remedy.

So what will it be for 2008 my friends? We need to fight like we have never fought before. And we need to win. Winning has never been so important. Once in power, we need to fix our government which is so badly broken. Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their party!

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Global Nonsense

2007-12-10T20:12:00.000-06:00

My book club just read and discussed State of Fear by Michael Crichton. Crichton is the author of Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, Congo, The Lost World - all of which became movies. He is also the creator of the long-running television series ER as well as many other famous endeavors.

Crichton is quite fascinating in himself. He graduated Harvard University in 1964 summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1969 - the same year that his first novel - Andromeda Strain - was published. No intellectual lightweight I would tender to say. Six foot eight, good looking - definitely in an elite league.

I read Andromeda Strain when it first came out and I was into science. Later I saw the movie and really enjoyed it. I have read, watched, or listened to some of Mr. Crichton's other works over the years - Jurassic Park, Congo, Rising Sun. And I think every Texan has seen Twister. The logic in some of his recent work was quite specious. However, the action and the plots kept moving. So it was with an open mind that I began State of Fear - not having experienced any Crichton in a while.

The book starts off with sex in Paris and then slows down for quite a while. Parts of the book are fun, curious, interesting. However, the book is essentially a 567 page lecture on global warming. Mr. Crichton questions the legitimacy of the current consensus position - that human activity is causing atmospheric warming. Well, 'questions' is too mild a term - Mr. Crichton provides lectures, graphs, charts, and twenty-one pages of footnotes to refute current global warming claims.

After reading the book, I wondered if Mr. Crichton's position was supported by independent data. I did some research of my own. It turns out that State of Fear raised hackles in a number of scientific and political areas. In the non-scientific areas, there were both supporters and critics. That was to be expected, however I was more interested in the scientific analysis.

One analysis was from James Hansen of the Columbia University Earth Institute and Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Crichton quotes Hansen's 1988 congressional testimony in the book. Hansen however comments:

“Apparently, rather than studying the scientific literature, as his footnotes would imply, his approach was to listen to ‘global warming skeptics’. One of the skeptics, Pat Michaels, has taken the graph from our 1988 paper with simulated global temperatures for scenarios A, B, and C, erased the results for scenarios B and C, and shown only the curve for scenario A in public presentations, pretending that it was my prediction for climate change.”

"Crichton's approach is worse than that of Michaels. Crichton uncritically accepts Michaels' results, and then concludes that Hansen's prediction was in error (300%). Where does he get this conclusion?"

Gavin Schmidt, a climate modeler at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, addresses Mr. Crichton's claims one by one in an essay at realclimate.org. He also comments on Crichton's handling of the Hansen testimony:

"Next, and slightly more troubling, we have some rather misleading and selective recollection regarding Jim Hansen's testimony to congress in 1988."

I also found some analysis from Dr. Jeffrey M. Masters. Dr. Masters is the founder and Chief Meteorologist for The Weather Underground. Dr. Masters comments:

"Many more flawed or misleading presentations of Global Warming science exist in the book, including those on Arctic sea ice thinning, correction of land-based temperature measurements for the urban heat island effect, and satellite vs. ground-based measurements of Earth's warming."

These were all interesting analyses, but I really was not that familiar with the sources or their reputations. My research continued until I hit pay dirt. Naomi Oreskes wrote an essay titled "The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change" for the December 3 2004 issue of Science. Here are some key comments from that essay:

"The scientific consensus is clearly expressed in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environmental Programme... In its most recent assessment, IPCC states unequivocally that the consensus of scientific opinion is that Earth's climate is being affected by human activities..."

"Others agree. The American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) all have issued statements in recent years concluding that the evidence for human modification of climate is compelling."

Dr. Oreskes further analyzed 928 abstracts, published in refereed scientific journals between 1993 and 2003, and listed in the ISI database with the keywords 'climate change.' She writes
"Remarkably, none of the papers disagreed with the consensus position."

In the final analysis, I find myself disappointed in Crichton. Why fill a work of fiction with supposedly factual data that refutes global warming without representing the other side? Is the book intended as fact or fiction? If Crichton wanted to seriously address the issue of global warming, why not present his information in a peer-reviewed journal instead of a work of fiction?

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Stop the Whining

2007-11-21T19:52:00.000-06:00

Although I explained to my wife Carol that my last two essays were going to be sort of apocalyptic, she advised that it is time to stop whining and write something constructive. After all, we can all spend years whining about what this Administration has done - or more precisely undone - over the last seven years. It may just get back to Reinhold Niebuhr's famous quote "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Let's see - constructive, no whining, Thanksgiving week, no laying down and kicking my feet on the floor like my kids did when they were very young. I have just the topic - clean elections.

A few of us Dallas County Democratic Party 'regulars' attended a presentation recently at SMU on the very topic of clean elections. Cody Meador - an SMU student - has started a Democracy Matters (http://www.democracymatters.org/) Chapter at SMU which was a co-sponsor of the presentation. The other co-sponsor was The League of Women Voters of Dallas (http://www.lwvdallas.org/). The title of the presentation was "Rebuilding Democracy in America - a Bipartisan Forum for Campaign Finance Reform."

The first forum speaker was Kyrsten Sinema (http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=52&Legislature=48) , a Democratic state representative from Arizona. Ms. Sinema was an active supporter of passing clean elections legislation in Arizona and now participates in the system as a publicly-funded candidate.

The second forum speaker was Donna Stroud (http://www.nccourts.org/Courts/Appellate/Appeal/Biographies/Biography.asp?Name=Stroud), a Republican judge serving on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. She was elected in November of 2006 as a publicly-funded candidate.

Other states that have enacted clean elections laws are Maine, Vermont, and New Mexico. What are clean elections? From the Public Campaign website (http://www.publicampaign.org/):

"Clean Elections is a practical, proven reform that puts voters in control of elections. Rather than being forced to rely on special interest donors to pay for their campaigns, candidates have the opportunity to qualify for full public funding which ends their reliance on special interest campaign cash. Being freed from the money chase means they have more time to spend with constituents, talking about issues that matter to them. When they enter office, they can consider legislation on the merits, without worrying about whether they are pleasing well heeled donors and lobbyists."

Another organization working for clean elections is Just $6 (http://www.just6dollars.org/). From their website:

"Congress would only have to spend $6 per citizen per year to publicly fund each and every election for the House, the Senate and the White House. When you consider that "pork barrel" projects cost every one of us more than $200 last year alone, it’s no contest."

In Texas particularly, we would have an uphill battle to enact any type of clean elections reform. Clean Elections Texas is an effort of the True Courage Action Network (http://www.truecourageaction.net/). From their website:

"Imagine a Texas Capitol in which your opinions counted as much as those of professional lobbyists and the megawealthy. Imagine a judicial system in which candidates for judge didn’t have to raise money from the very attorneys and interests who one day will show up in their courtrooms."

Clean elections? Publicly funded elections? Elections in which the rich and powerful don't wield almost all of the influence? Imagine that. Isn't that what America is supposed to be about anyway?

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Don't Worry, Be Happy

2007-11-11T20:31:00.000-06:00

As I have written on previous occassions, I like to go fishing. A couple of weekends ago, my sons Gregory, Ryan, Evan, and I spent three nights camping, sleeping, fishing, eating, and otherwise doing very little productive at beautiful Inks Lake State Park in the Hill Country.

We released all of the fish that we caught. And we even discovered some new ways to release fish unharmed. But that is not why I am writing this essay. I would like to tell you a strange tale from that camping trip.

The second day that we were at the park, we moved from primitive camping to 'regular' tent camping. That took quite a bit of time so we did not get to fish until about 45 minutes before darkness. Then we went back to the campsite and ate some more.

But our trip to the shoreline very near our campsite was quite eventful. We were fishing for about 5 minutes when Evan caught a smallmouth bass. That was great because he had to leave for Austin later that night. Being jealous fishermen, the rest of us gave up our spots to be closer to where Evan was fishing. Not far beyond Evan, we stumbled upon Mr. Anderson.

We had not seem him or heard him, so we were quite startled to discover him. He had a stringer full of fish that he planned to feed to his family that week. He was a little older than me and had sharp, amused eyes. After the usual fishing talk, we had some interesting conversation. I would like to re-play for you what I remember of that conversation:

Anderson: I see you are a Democrat.
Wayne: How did you know that?
Anderson: No Republican would drive that small car that you have.
Wayne: I see, are you a Democrat?
Anderson: Used to be...
Wayne: Now you are a ...
Anderson: Nothing, there's no point.
Wayne: Are you saying there's no difference between being a Republican and a Democrat these days. If there was ever a difference it was now. Take any one of a hundred issues...
Anderson: Hold on partner! I'm not a Republican neither. The thing is, you see, it doesn't matter anymore. The die is cast, the show is over, it's too late.
Wayne: What in the world are you talking about?
Anderson: You see, we have passed the point of no return. Our American culture, our species, our earth can't possibly recover from the misdeeds that we have cast upon them in this short period of time. In just a hundred to two hundred years. Overpopulation will choke the earth. And the religious nuts will make sure that we never intelligently address that problem. If overpopulation doesn't kill us then the environment will. We have turned our world into a sewer. Global warming, radioactivity, toxic waste, polluted drinking water. We will be overrun by the stuff. And people don't give a crap. They just go about their merry way as if everything were just fine. Get all excited about NASCAR or the NFL or the NBA or college sports or some other stupid game. And the world just goes to ruin. Nobody gives a crap. The Democrats have some good ideas but they are just as indepted to the big money and power brokers as are the Republicans. All the politicians now have to spend every minute of their time raising money, smiling, and rasing more money. If they piss off anybody, they won't give them money, so they try not to piss anybody off. Campaign finance reform will never happen because the people who have the most to lose - the people in power - are never going to let it happen. I'm heading to Canada with my family. Hopefully, when the ---- hits the fan, we can find a piece of fertile soil or a good fishing hole and hand on long enough for it to pass.
Wayne: So you think that there is no turning back, no improving the situation, no turning the tides on this nonsense that we have been witnessing?
Anderson: Absolutely not! Do you see any real signs that people are willing to get involved in our future and do things intelligently? The United States once had a chance to provide true leadership and progress for the world. Now that's gone.
Wayne: Well...
Anderson: Well I don't, you might as well stop worrying and be happy. There's nothing you can do anyway. Go fishing, kiss your wife and kids, and light a candle when it all falls apart...

At this point, it was pitch black and I could hardly see Mr. Anderson talking three feet away. I bid him adieu and went to collect my grown sons. If Mr. Anderson was right, they would inherit a very bleak future. At that moment, I found it hard to heed Anderson's advice - "don't worry, be happy." I sure hope that I don't run into that depressing little bastard again.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Waterworld

2007-11-02T20:53:00.000-05:00

Dreams can be very interesting. Like movies, they can blend the real and the unreal. Unlike movies, you are usually the main character. After my family and I went to the Mavs game the other night, I had a most colorful dream. Let me tell you about it.

In my dream, the year was 2058. In reality, I would be long gone of course. But my kids and their kids and their kids would be around. The dream starts on Long Island, New York where I grew up. The town that I grew up in was very similar in many ways to the town that I live in now - DeSoto.

I'm in a 'fishing' boat with my NY fishing buddy Edgar bobbing up and down in the Atlantic Ocean. Edgar is a former policeman from Chile. Now he is my parent's postman and my occassional fishing buddy on my visits to see my parents. The thing is however, Long Island is under water. That's right, the entire 110 miles is entirely under water. Southhampton - submerged, Oyster Bay - 20 feet under water, Kings Highway in Brooklyn - gone, Hicksville - toast, Mineola - outta here! We're floating over all these places that once held ballparks, families, schools, libraries, communities. All gone in my dream.

There's another thing - the fish are gone too. Oh sure, there's a stray flounder here and there. And if you're very lucky, you might see a striped bass. But the fish are gone. It started with the lobsters disappearing in 2007 and it progressively got worse. Now you can go an entire week without seeing a fish or hearing of one caught.

Poof! I'm awake again. Thank God it was only a dream. What a nightmare. How crazy. Only in a dream could I imagine coastal cities being submerged and all the fish gone. Or was it a dream after all...

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Mark Cuban

2007-10-22T22:01:00.000-05:00

The movie 'good night, and good luck' from 2005 is an interesting work. It had 6 Academy Award Nominations. I own both the DVD and the soundtrack. Last week, my wife and I watched it again. I think that we saw it at the Magnolia when it first came out.

The cast itself gets your attention – George Clooney, David Strathairn, Jeff Daniels, Frank Langella. George Clooney co-wrote the screenplay and also directed the movie. The music is fantastic. Dianne Reeves sings some wonderful jazz.

Great movie, great music – but what is really outstanding about the film is the subject matter. It chronicles a small part of Edward R. Murrow’s career. In this slice of his life, he goes toe to with the man who may have been the most powerful man in America at that time – Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. That time was 1954. McCarthy was a reckless politician whom Murrow – at great risk – helped to discredit.

A cornerstone of the movie is Murrow’s 1958 speech to the RTNDA or Radio-Television News Directors Association. Please allow me to provide a few excerpts from this prescient speech:

1) “But this nation is now in competition with malignant forces of evil who are using every instrument at their command to empty the minds of their subjects and fill those minds with slogans, determination and faith in the future. If we go on as we are, we are protecting the mind of the American public from any real contact with the menacing world that squeezes in upon us. We are engaged in a great experiment to discover whether a free public opinion can devise and direct methods of managing the affairs of the nation. We may fail. But we are handicapping ourselves needlessly.”

2) “It may be that the present system, with no modifications and no experiments, can survive. Perhaps the money-making machine has some kind of built-in perpetual motion, but I do not think so. To a very considerable extent the media of mass communications in a given country reflect the political, economic and social climate in which they flourish. That is the reason ours differ from the British and French, or the Russian and Chinese. We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late.”

3) “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.”

Not bad stuff, eh? Fifty years later and we don’t seem to have taken Edward R. Murrow’s sagacious advice. The average American watches what – four, six, twenty-four hours of television per day? And how many hours of radio? Is John Q. Average watching and listening to a fair and balanced analysis of our major challenges? Or is he watching and listening to talking heads, Dallas Cowboys, Hollywood fluff, and nonsense?

Who is this Murrow guy anyway? I was curious so I checked out from the DeSoto Public Library “Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism.” It was written by Bob Edwards who was the host of NPR’s “Morning Edition” for many, many years.

But don’t take Bob Edward’s or my word for it. Listen for yourself to learn more about Murrow’s work. Perhaps listen to Murrow’s “Orchestrated Hell” about his participation in a December 1943 bombing raid over Berlin. Or listen to his April 15, 1945 report from Buchenwald – four days after it was liberated by the Third Army. Go to http://www.otr.com/murrow.shtml for those stories and more.

Oh, what does this story have to do with Mark Cuban anyway? Is it about the Mavericks or Dancing With the Stars or such? Nope. Mark Cuban was one of the three Executive Producers for the movie “good night, and good luck.”

richard_wayne@yahoo.com

The Circle is Complete

2007-10-12T22:10:00.000-05:00

Two men vied for the Presidency in 2000. The election was very close. In fact, the man who lost the election actually won the popular vote. Ironically, many thought that the Green Party’s participation in the election (candidate Ralph Nader) was the difference between winning and losing.

Seven years later. The man who became President has left a memorable legacy. His team was vacationing while the biggest foreign attack on American soil was being designed and put into play. His team was preening while New Orleans was turned into a third world tragedy. His team was in an arrogant bubble while it perpetrated and executed the biggest mistake in American history. His team gloated as it broke the Geneva Convention and the laws of the American Constitution. His team profited as it dismantled environmental protection, privacy, and much that Americans have held sacred for generations.

In the meantime, the man who lost the 2000 election lived quietly in the background for a while. Once he gathered his energies again, he connected with his passions. He wrote books and directed films on the gathering environmental crises. He gave presentations and lectured tirelessly on the topic of global warming and its clear and predictable impact. On Friday, October 12, 2007; Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize is awarded for significant and enduring contributions to world peace and the progress of humanity.

The circle is complete. If only…

Thank You, George W. Bush

2007-09-25T21:02:00.000-05:00

Almost everything that the federal government is responsible for has deteriorated under the Presidency of George W. Bush. The environment - he has put anti-environmentalists in charge of protecting the environment. The economy - the Oracle himself - Alan Greenspan - has admitted the total fiscal irresponsibility of the Bush Administration in his new book 'The Age of Turbulence.' Trust in government - I don't know about you, but I don't any longer believe a single thing that is reported by our federal government. National security - Bush was asleep at the wheel prior to the preventable attacks of September 11th. Afterwards, he has directed all national resources against an effete enemy while the real enemy goes free. Justice - America now tortures prisoners. Democracy - voter suppression is part of the Republican strategy to 'win.' And on and on it goes...

So why am I thanking George W. Bush - the man whom I and many others think is now resoundingly the worst president in American history? Why am I thanking the man that I see as really only the very rich (who absolutely don't want to share) man's president? Why am I thanking the man who does not have the intellectual curiosity required of an American president (or political leader at any level really)?

A few years ago, I was seemingly safely on the sidelines. A sworn independent. Although I always voted Democratic, I eschewed the label as too simplistic, too easy, too pigeon-holed. Not anymore friend. Now I am a proud Democrat. I spend hours a week on Democratic causes. The difference between Republicans (or at least those in power) and Democrats in 2007 is as dramatic as a line in the sand.

Am I the only one? Nope - there are millions like me around the country now. People who have become activists. People who have become Democratic Precinct Chairs. People who are willing to spend their time and money on Democratic and other progressive causes.

Just look at Dallas County. We now have a real party infrastructure. We won every contested county-wide election in 2006! We have good people and we have organization. And I'll tell you what friend - it gets better every month.

Look at MoveOn. Over 3.3 million members and making headlines. A couple of weeks ago MoveOn ran an ad in the New York Times titled "General Petraeus or General Betray Us." Now MoveOn is working on videos "Rudy Giuliani: Betrayal of Trust" and "George Bush: Betrayal of Trust." You may not like them, but they get things done. And they get the attention of everybody from W himself to Rudy.

The Sierra Club now has about 1.3 million members. Executive Director Carl Pope called 2006 "the most successful midterm election the in the environmental movement's history." The Sierra Club helped a number of candidates to win.

Democracy for America has at least 23 groups in ruby red Texas. It has 233 members in just its Dallas chapter.

There are so many other organizations that have captured the imaginations and angst of millions of ordinary Americans - Common Dreams, FAIR, WakeUpWalmart, Sojourners, Downwinders at Risk, DeSoto Democrats, and the list goes on and on.

The millions of us who stood quietly on the sidelines are quiet no more. The incompetence of the Bush Administration was too egregious for us to be quiet. The flagrant anti-environmental policies of the Bush Administration were too egregious for us to be quiet. The sheer destructiveness of the Bush Administration to so many things that we hold sacred has been to extreme for use to be quiet. We are angry. We are mobilized. And we are organized. And folks we are going to throw out the bums who are currently leading our country.

You have brought our country to the brink of disaster George W. Bush. Perhaps those of us who care enough can bring it back. Perhaps. But time is quickly running out.

100

2007-08-25T22:01:00.000-05:00

100 baby, and I’m not talking about the recent temperatures in Dallas. No sir, I’m talking about my 100th essay. Wow. This essay needs to be something special. I plowed my way all the way to number 100. Sometimes I was inspired and the essays would flow right into the keyboard. Sometimes it was harder work and it took maybe a week or two or even three to finish an essay. But each time, I learned something.

What did I learn? I learned that there are three main problems with our political processes in this country. The first problem by a wide margin is the mixture of money and politics. The second problem is the availability of complete and balanced information about our government and its workings and extensive dialogue on that information. The third problem is the lack of faith in the voting process. I plan to dwell on the first and primary problem in this essay. My 100th essay.

Jesus said it best “And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:24

He said it again in Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”

These simple but important lessons have been entirely lost on the evangelicals who formed the early and persistent backbone of George W. Bush’s support. These simple lessons were certainly lost on George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the other members of their Administration. If the Bush Administration will be remembered for just one thing, it will be catering to the rich and offering favors to the highest bidder or the greatest sycophant.

A good place to find information on money and politics is opensecrets.org. In the 2004 election, the average cost of winning a U.S. House seat was $1,034,873. The average cost of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate was $7,173,260. The run for the White House was much more expensive. Bush collected $360 million while Kerry collected $317 million. It would seem that politics has become the domain of the rich and well-connected.

There’s some great stuff at opensecrets.org. For example, the most heavily partisan industries are profiled by the percentage that they give to one party or the other. Some of the industries and interest groups heavily supporting Republicans in the 2004 cycle were gun rights, trucking, mining, oil and gas, forest products, automotive, home builders, chemicals, livestock, waste management, and tobacco. Surprise, surprise! Some of the industries and interest groups heavily supporting Democrats in the 2004 election cycle were industrial unions, women’s issues, environment, pro-choice, human rights, non-profits, education, lawyers, and civil servants. Do you see a difference? Subtle, eh?

Just a few days ago, moveon.org reported that the White House and pro-war donors have put together a $15 million media fund to keep the war going. It’s aimed at stopping Republicans from breaking with the President on Iraq now that it’s clear that the surge has failed.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explained the money / politics issues another way at a recent presentation that I attended. He said that the system is just ‘legalized bribery.’ Candidates running for office at almost every level need to spend most of their time collecting money. No money – no time. If they don’t focus on money, their opponents will and may beat them as a result. Money is the great pollution on the political landscape. With money as a major [or the major] factor, you don’t know if your representative is voting from the perspective of right and wrong or just obliging his benefactors.

Campaign finance laws need to be radically changed and changed fast. Until that happens, our country will continue its dramatic decline. It’s so clear to me after 100 essays that I can almost guarantee it. Oh, and it might be quite amazing how many other issues would be resolved if the issue of campaign finance was resolved.

Edwards for President?

2007-08-11T20:44:00.000-05:00

This is the third in a series on the top Democratic Presidential contenders. The first essay was about the frontrunner – Hillary Clinton. The second essay was about Barack Obama – the second in many polls to date. This essay is about John Edwards – former Vice-Presidential candidate in 2004 and former Senator from South Carolina.

First of all, we need to give John Edwards some credit for his attention to us in this almost blue country in a very red state. He was here in 2006 to help raise money for our local candidates. I saw him at the now defunct Gypsy Tea Room. What a blast. Then just a couple of weeks ago, he was in Dallas to visit the national Young Democrats Convention. The other candidates have not given us anywhere near that kind of attention.

At this juncture you might ask if it matters which Democratic candidate you vote for. All the Democrats seem to favor the common man over the rich man, environmental protection over unfettered business eco-damage, health care reform, ending the Iraq War, protecting the vote, reforming money and politics, and so on. The Republicans seem to represent at this time favoring the very rich, limiting information, re-interpreting the constitution, despoiling the environment, fancy sound bites, and so on. The Republican Party as led by George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and their unruly gang has become an affront to the ideals of America.

But getting back to my point about voting for one Democratic candidate over the other. I think that it does matter who you vote for - even which Democrat. You need to do your homework and vote for the best candidate. The best candidate in my opinion is first the one who can win. The best candidate is the person who can represent traditional American values as embodied by the Democratic Party. The best candidate is the one who can reverse this bobsled ride to Hell seeded by Ronald Reagan and brought to full fruition by George W. Bush.

Back to John Edwards. Edwards is the product of public schools and a working class family. His father worked in textile mills in North Carolina for 36 years. Edwards graduated from North Carolina State University with a B.A. and then earned a J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he met his wife Elizabeth. He and Elizabeth are about to celebrate their 30th anniversary. The Edwards have four children. Edwards was a trial lawyer for many years prior to being elected to the Senate and serving from 1999 to 2005. He was John Kerry’s Vice Presidential running mate in the 2004 election. The Edwards have decided to continue a presidential bid despite the fact that Elizabeth’s cancer has returned.

Edward’s campaign focus is on ending poverty, fighting global warming, and providing universal health care. He has also become a strong opponent of the War in Iraq. Some of his other positions on issues are:
- Restoring economic fairness to rural America
- Controlling abusive and predatory lenders
- Improving domestic readiness for terrorism
- Strengthening public schools and making college more affordable
- Promoting an agenda of innovation to help solve some of our country’s problems
- Equal rights for same-sex couples

You can learn that Elizabeth’s favorite book is The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty. You can learn many other things at http://johnedwards.com/. I can almost imagine how much better the country would be with a man like John Edwards in the White House.

Barack Obama for President?

2007-07-20T22:41:00.000-05:00

Just as it seemed that Barack Obama's Presidential bid was waning, he set a record for collecting $30 million in a quarter as a Democratic candidate in a non-election year. This record came on the donations of 154,000 new contributors for the quarter. However, Barack seems well behind Hillary in almost every presidential poll. Some polls show that he has gained on her in the past few weeks and some show that he has not.

Some of us got a glimpse of Barack back in November of 2005 at Lee Park in Dallas. He spoke along with a number of other notables including Joe Biden and Harry Reid. The eloquent and polished Senator Obama caught everybody's attention.

Who is Barack Obama? His father was from Kenya and his mother was from a small town in Kansas. His parents met at the University of Hawaii. Barack grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia and New York. Barack graduated from Columbia University in 1983. He moved to Chicago and became a community organizer trying to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods. Later he went to Harvard Law School and graduated in 1991. He returned to Chicago and spent eight years in the Illinois State Senate. In 2004, he became a United States Senator.

One of Barack's key ideas is that Democrats and Republicans need to work together to remove the existing partisan logjams plaguing Congress. Here are some of his other thoughts on key issues (from http://origin.barackobama.com/issues/):

His top priority is improving the lives of 37 million Americans who live in poverty

He believes that America's position in the world needs to be strengthened

Obama has been against the War in Iraq from its inception and supports the findings of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group

He believes that every American has the right to affordable health care

Obama has been pushing for a comprehensive national energy policy

He thinks that almost six years after 9/11/01 we are still unprepared for a terrorist attack and that we need to fix that deficiency

Obama believes that there are still too many obstacles to voting

Finally he thinks that Washington's culture of corruption needs to cleaned up

Campaigning in New Hampshire today, Obama was asked why he does not support the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. "No," Obama said over audience chuckles. "And the reason is that I think it's very important for us not to get into the habit as a political culture that we impeach every President, it's supposed to be a rare occurrence and I think it'd be an enormous political distraction. What I want to do is undo much of what this Administration's done."

So what about this eloquent young [younger than me] man who receives a rock star type welcome at many of the places to which he visits? He may be less experienced than some political veterans like Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. But he sure seems to have the right stuff. We can use some of that right stuff in Washington these days. The stuff that has been coming out of Washington for the past six years is the stuff of nightmares.

Independence Day

2007-07-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

The Fourth of July each year is an appropriate time to pause and take stock of our country. To ask what our country is about. To ask what is the meaning of America. To assess where we have come from and where we are going. It is a good time to think about why this country has been so blessed for so long.

My father is more optimistic about the future of our country than I am. Perhaps he is older and wiser. Or perhaps he is less analytical. He expressed on my recent trip to New York that he thought that the country would turn around. He is 87 and has lived through the great depression and served in World War II in North Africa and Italy. People were disheartened then also. Many people thought that it might be the end of our country, of the world as we knew it. But it turned around. He credited both those turnarounds to a great leader – Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Although somewhat amused at first by George W. Bush, he agrees that he has turned into one of the worst presidents in American history. George W. Bush – he says – does not get it.

A good friend of mine expressed similar thoughts the other day. He’s a very well read man who has just absolutely suffered through this George W. Bush presidency. He also thinks that the American people are slowly coming to their senses. He thinks that in 2008 they will correct the great nightmare that has been the Bush presidency. He believes that most people now realize that we [as a country] are on the wrong course and are willing to turn it around.

I’m not so sure. I continue to be stunned by the soft acquiescence of the American people. Just stunned – there’s no other word for it. My wife showed me Keith Olbermann’s rant and rave the other morning concerning Bush’s commutation of Libby’s sentence. It almost felt good to hear somebody as stunned and angry as I. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. - whom I wrote about last week - was also stunned and angry at the lethargy of the American people.

America has shown great promise at times. That has historically been the true blessing of this country. We have been the light of the world when there was nowhere else to turn. As Emma Lazarus wrote and as is inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

But in these times I find it hard to be optimistic. I find it difficult to be optimistic when those in charge ignore memos that portend airplane attacks on our soil. When those in charge start a war as a first resort. When those in charge leave the poor to rot in their own filth. When those in charge refuse to even acknowledge why we are now at war in Iraq. When those in charge profit from the same unethical and immoral war. When those in charge fire the competent and replace them with lackeys. When those in charge auction our environment to the highest bidder. When those in charge violate the Constitution and the basic laws of humanity through wiretapping, torture, and other crimes. When those in charge lie and cheat and steal and break the laws of the land and pardon their friends who do the same. When those in charge spend so irresponsibly as to shake the very financial stability of our country.

It is almost as if honesty, competence, and other traditional American values have become de-valued during the Bush Administration. Instead, everything – everything – is subverted to political gain. A most disgraceful and depressing state of affairs indeed.

No sir, I am not as optimistic. But as the light of hope dims for our country, and the world, I hope and pray that someday I can once again be proud of this sweet land of liberty. On July 4, 2007 it looks to me like our country has a very rough road ahead.

RFK, Jr.

2007-07-01T20:50:00.001-05:00

Robert F. Kennedy, Junior leaves the stage to a standing ovation as well as a number of clicking cameras.

RFK, Jr.

2007-06-29T22:56:00.000-05:00

I was part of a large audience last weekend listening to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. His topic was primarily about environmental concerns, but he strayed into some other areas as well. He spoke for quite some time and went into extensive detail. As the afternoon wore on, he started to lose his voice. My temporary respite from politics was over - I left the session angry, depressed, and once again resolute to re-double my efforts in helping to turn things around in any small way.

He touched on a number of topics that I have written about in previous essays. He spoke about how 'the fairness doctrine' had served us well since 1949 until the Reagan Veto in 1987. He spoke about how today's American people are the most entertained, least informed citizens in history. He talked about how our campaign finance system is really a system of legalized bribery.

Mr. Kennedy also related to his topic through history and religion. He spoke about Teddy Roosevelt's declaration that America would not be destroyed by a foreign power, but by malefactors of great wealth who would erode America from within. He talked about how Christ immersed himself in nature to better get in touch with people.

One of the more interesting things that Mr. Kennedy said regarded how the members of the Bush Administration 'just don't get it.' They don't understand America and its people. They don't understand the principles upon which this country was founded. In my opinion, their intuition about America is about as accurate as their intuition on the War in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina.

Mr. Kennedy received a standing ovation. I would love to have purchased his book "Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy" and get his signature but the lines were about a quarter of a mile long.

Email richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Hillary for President?

2007-06-21T22:12:00.000-05:00

Over the next couple of months, I would like to take a look at each of the front runners for the Democratic Party nomination for President. This exercise will serve two purposes. It will help me to learn more about each of the candidates. It may also help you to make a decision.

The first candidate that I would like to evaluate is Hillary Clinton. Senator Clinton seems to be the front runner in state and national polls compared to the other Democratic candidates. This has surprised me and has led me to re-evaluate the candidate.

My first 'live' glimpse of Hillary was at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1992. I was attending a pre-Mosaic seminar on the promise of the Internet. Hillary, Bill, and Chelsea had just come from the Presidential debate in East Lansing. Thousands and thousands attended the event in Ann Arbor. The energy unleashed by the chance for a Democratic President with a brain was palpable.

Years later, I was impressed with Mrs. Clinton's work on health care reform. But the Republican Congress would have none of it. Their goal - even above improving the country and actually doing their jobs - was to ruin the Clintons. They almost succeeded. Despite these and other efforts, the Clintons are very popular today.

My parents live in New York and Senator Clinton is their Senator. My parents are intelligent and informed people. But they don't have a nice word to say about either Clinton. Probably Chelsea as well. I wonder how much of that ignominy the [bad] press is responsible for. Even though they are not fond of Hillary, they agree that George W. Bush has been a total disaster.

Once Hillary started to align herself for a run for the White House, I had to admit that I thought that the Clintons had a lot of baggage. The true red Republicans seem to hate Hillary even more than they hated Bill. Perhaps they would consolidate against her as they managed to do with Bill. But what is the substance of their complaints? If you look carefully, you will see that there is very little real substance to their claims.

My bigger problem with Hillary stems from the War in Iraq. As I have stated so many times in this column, every molecule in my body knew that the War in Iraq was a terrible mistake. Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards and so many other good people had access to a lot more data than I did. Why did they not realize that it was perhaps going to prove the largest blunder in American foreign policy history. It took Senator Clinton a while to position herself against the war, but she finally has. She recently voted against continued funding for the War based upon the bill as it was written - without a time line for withdrawal.

So where does Hillary Clinton stand on the issues? Some of the issues that she highlights at hillaryclinton.com are:
1) Affordable and accessible health care
2) She has developed a road map for withdrawal from Iraq
3) Senator Clinton believes that America is ready for energy independence.
4) She will lead the global charge to halt global warming.
5) Hillary believes that veterans should receive the gold standard in health care.
6) She will try to restore our standing in the world which will result in a more secure country.
7) Senator Clinton believes that comprehensive government reform is needed.
8) Hillary thinks that faith needs to be restored in our democratic institutions such as voting.

What about Hillary's background. We know that she was the first lady of the state of Arkansas and of the United States. But what else do we know? She attended Wellesley and then Yale Law School. Following graduation, she became staff attorney for the Children's Defense Fund. Then she was on the staff of the House Judiciary Committee considering the impeachment of President Nixon. Hillary ran a legal aid clinic for the poor when she first arrived in Arkansas. She has continued to be a partner in a law firm.

Hillary has written two books which became best sellers - "It takes a Village" and her autobiography "Living History." She has been a United States Senator from New York since 2000.

Hillary Clinton is the top Democratic Presidential contender in each poll that I have seen. She was ahead in Texas in a recent Burnt Orange Report poll (burntorangereport.com). In that June 4th poll Hillary was favored by 40.1% of Democrats. The next highest vote getter was Barack Obama at 14.9%.

I was most surprised that she was so popular in DeSoto at the recent Toad Holler Creekfest. DeSoto is predominantly African-American and I sort of expected Obama to be the most popular. However, a number of people emphasized their support for her as the more experienced and well-connected candidate.

Will Hillary Clinton be the 2008 Presidential Candidate from the Democratic Party? Will she win the Presidency? If so, will she be successful? We will all help to decide these questions in the coming months. From my spot, Hillary is looking like a breath of clean, fresh air compared to what has been coming out of Washington for the past 6 1/2 years.

Contact richard_wayne@yahoo.com with your thoughts.

Toad Holler Creekfest

2007-06-10T21:16:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, I spent most of the day at the Toad Holler Creekfest. That is the annual city festival in DeSoto. The festival is reminiscent of the Toad Holler School of the early 1900’s which was named after the numerous toads and frogs that inhabited the hollow where the school was built.

I was not there to watch the Mayor’s Cup Cow Chip Toss or to view the re-enactment by the 1st Regiment of the U.S. Infantry Re-Enactment Group or to eat one of those huge turkey legs. I was there to man the DeSoto Democrats booth. This is the second time that we have participated in the Creekfest.

Our booth focused on three themes this year. The first was voter registration. We registered about 15 people during the course of the day. And we probably distributed another dozen registrations to be mailed in. The second theme was recycling. DeSoto has a wonderful recycling program. You can recycle glass, metal, paper, and plastic by simply putting the items out in a special bin. The final theme was to discuss the Democratic Party and to invite people to become more active.

A popular topic at the booth was the Democratic Presidential candidates. Barack Obama was rated highly. However, Hillary Clinton seemed the candidate of choice by our most vocal visitors. Although everybody like and admired Obama, there was a fear that he just did not have enough experience and political connections to be the candidate this time around. A few people indicated that Hillary was not perfect, but that she had all the elements to make a proper run for the White House.

A few people stopped to ask about DeSoto’s recycling program. It really could not be much easier. You put your recyclables in a bin and drag it out to the alley. When you return from work, the materials are magically gone and the bin is empty! Some weeks my family has four bins. But a number of people sharing our alley don’t recycle at all.

A young man stopped by to talk to us about a number of issues. He was getting ready to go to the East Coast and attend graduate school in Environmental Studies. He mentioned that local activist Katy Hubener had inspired him to follow this path.

A young woman made a special trip to see us. She was very pleased to see some Democratic activity in DeSoto. She is taking a year off of school and is very interested in getting more involved in Democratic activities. You can rest assured that I have already been in contact with her and will continue to follow-up with her. We need that kind of energy. Many of us are not getting any younger.

Quite a few people remarked “I thought that I was the last Democrat in DeSoto.” Not quite, there are many of us. We just need to get more organized and more active.

We closed shop a bit early to have dinner with a group of people including A M ‘Monk’ Willis. Monk is an East Texas Democratic activist. He was also a friend and confidante of Lyndon Johnson. Monk is well into his nineties and had some fascinating stories to tell.

All in all, a pretty good day. I got to mingle with lots of Democrats. Other than spending the day fishing, it doesn’t get too much better.

richard_wayne@yahoo.com is always interested in hearing your constructive comments.

Scum of the Earth

2007-05-24T23:07:00.000-05:00

If anything has demonstrated clearly the perplexing apathy of the American people, it has been the rise in oil prices since an oilman became President. Gas prices are at historic levels and still rising. Oil companies are raking in the highest profits in corporate American history. And yet we quietly line up like lambs to the slaughter at the gas pump.

The related threads of this story make for the stuff of wonderful fiction and non-fiction alike. And perhaps they make the stuff of horror as well. Our big car companies – once the most powerful companies in the world – have responded by making bigger cars. As a result they are all on the brink of collapse. And there are not just a few who would argue that our insatiable thirst for oil has shaped our foreign policy – and wars – for many, many years.

The Sierra Club has published a fascinating piece on this topic titled “Pick Your Poison: An updated environmentalist’s guide to gasoline” at http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/pickyourpoison/index.asp. The document labels ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips as the ‘bottom of the barrel.’ Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Valero Energy Corporation, and Citgo are the ‘middle of the barrel.’ BP and Sunoco are the ‘top of the barrel.’ I went to the websites for BP and Sunoco and could not find one of their gas stations closer than Waco or Longview. Do you know of one in the Dallas area?

The Sierra Club document is incredible. It details the extensive environmental debauchery, human rights abuses, and dubious science and corporate policy practiced especially by the worst oil companies. They sound more like Cold War Soviet Satellite countries than American corporations. At least Citgo (or its host government Venezuela), BP, and Sunoco acknowledge the human role in global climate change as manifested in the Kyoto Protocol (http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.html) . Sunoco has actually signed the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) principal.

The mixture of oil money and politics has produced one of the most corrupt, ineffective, and dangerous administrations in the history of our country. This administration turns the other way to the oil industry’s destruction of pristine lands. This administration turns the other way to the oil industry’s obscene gouging of the American public. However, this administration is first in line when the oil lobby has funds to distribute. Take away the funds, take away their power. And let reason and ethics rule again. Well, at least they may have a fighting chance.

The Clock is Ticking

2007-05-17T10:37:00.000-05:00

When we are young, we live as if there is a world of tomorrows. We don’t think that our bodies are that brittle and we jump off cliffs into the water, we drink rum all night, we drive with the wind through the cornfields of Tecumseh screaming at the top of our lungs. We act irresponsibly about school, our jobs, and even our lovers and families and friends. Today is a helluva lot more important than tomorrow and you had better feel that when your head hits the pillow at night.

And then we grow up. Slowly, but it does happen. At first we resist, but then we get used to it. We get married. We have a kid or two or three. We hold a stable, responsible job. We may even join the PTA and coach baseball. We vote after critically evaluating all of the candidates. Eventually we realize that it is not just about us today. It occurs to us that our world may outlive us and that we had better start thinking about what kind of world we want to leave behind for our children.

However, some of us don’t grow up. Mostly those people still care about what’s in it for them today. When they die, they want to die with lots of things – lots of possessions. They drive big cars ten inches from your bumper on the interstate. They use their recycling bins for storage in their garage. They don’t vote or they vote for whom the guy on the radio or the TV tells them to vote for. They might go to church, but they don’t want to think about today’s exercise of Christian principles. They want feel-good, wealth-based religion. They hire their friends and their friends’ friends whether they are qualified or not. They send other people’s kids to war for no good reason. They let the poor rot in their own filth in New Orleans. And above all; they never, ever, ever admit to the extent of their mistakes and correct them. The world can go down with them before they do that.

Oh yeah? Tell it to richard_wayne@yahoo.com

Five to One

2007-05-06T16:59:00.000-05:00

I did not keep statistics, but the numbers were pretty good. They may have been four to one or they may have been nine to one. I did not count the number of cars either, but there were hundreds – that includes cars, pickups, buses, and commercial trucks. As you can imagine, Dealey Plaza from 5:00 PM until 6:00 PM is pretty busy.

What I am describing is the protest against the veto. The protest against George W. Bush’s second veto since taking office. His veto was mired in the same pathetic rhetoric and thoughtlessness that has marked his entire tenure.

About 40 people gathered. Some of them were from the Dallas Peace Center and I have seen them before. One or two I had seen at Democratic Party functions. Some were unfamiliar faces. MoveOn.org was the catalyst to organize this particular event.

Mostly thumbs ups! I have been to a number of Bush Administration and War protests over the past few years and have never received as many positive responses. Honks and thumbs ups. Dozens of them!

Two people gave our group the finger. On guy shouted that we should ‘Get a job.’ Another shouted out ‘Assholes.’ But those were the exceptions, not the norm.

This war could be called ‘Bush’s Tragic Folly.’ Hundreds of thousands of human lives lost, Iraq in chaos, our country’s financial future lost, the essential values of our country lost. And now, even in Bush country, we know that as true.

The Wayne Manifesto

2007-04-29T22:09:00.000-05:00

There is one truism of the Bush Administration – ‘things are always worse than they seem.’ This truism was emphasized to me yet again after watching Bill Moyers Journal (http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html) on “Buying The War” on April 25th. I almost never watch television, but enough people had mentioned this show that my curiosity was peaked. This episode essentially detailed how almost the entire news establishment – the esteemed Fourth Estate – failed the American people in the build-up to the War in Iraq. It detailed the basic failure of news organizations and the basic failure of its reporters. Knight Ridder (now the McClatchy Company - the Fort Worth Star-Telegram [http://www.star-telegram.com] is one of its papers) reporters Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel (and their Bureau Chief John Walcott) were among the very few who were diligent and intelligent enough to see through the Administration’s fateful propaganda.

Landay and Strobel had the time and the access to sources that I don’t easily have. So why was I against the war from its inception? Why did every fiber and molecule in my body cry out that this was a tragic mistake even prior to the invasion of Iraq? Am I some sort of prophet or genius? No, hardly - I’m just an average American. But I do observe things carefully and weigh the facts.

In 2002, the United Nations sent a team of the best experts in the world with the best equipment in the world to Iraq to evaluate its nuclear proliferation threat. Nothing was found - Nada, zip, zilch. Nothing was found to substantiate that we should attack Iraq on the premise that its WMD’s were imminent. Let me quote from the IAEA (http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/IaeaIraq/q&a.shtml ) report given just one day prior to the invasion of Iraq:

“The IAEA has been able to provide assurance of the absence of indications of resumed nuclear activities in buildings that had been identified through the use of satellite imagery…”

“The IAEA has been able to confirm that there has been no diversion of the nuclear materials stored under IAEA seal…”

“The IAEA considers that it is unlikely that the aluminum tubes in Iraq attempted to import were for use in centrifuge enrichment….”

It was when I learned this and similar data [ in 2002 and early 2003] that I knew that the invasion of Iraq was a terrible mistake. I based my opinion and my activities on the best data that was available. This is an attribute that many of us were are taught in grade school. Let me repeat, nada, zip, zilch – nothing was found to substantiate that we should attack Iraq on a WMD justification.

So why did we attack Iraq then if the primary justification was already proven false or at least highly unlikely? Was it for oil? Was it to build a neo-con Republican ‘machine’ that would endure for generations within our country? Or was it for some other reason? And now [today] that the primary reason has been proven totally false, why are we still in Iraq spending precious billions and even more precious young lives? Would you give your son or daughter’s life for this cause? Are we there now simply to cover our asses for creating the biggest blunder in American history? If so, why don’t we admit that and at least have an honest conversation about the realities of this debacle?

Having laid the groundwork, I am now ready to bring forth my idea. Allow me, friends, to now articulate the proposed ‘Wayne Manifesto.’ The wording goes as such:

“The Iraq War was one of the largest blunders in American history. However, despite its tragedy, it could still provide a powerful learning experience for the American people. It gives us an opportunity to make an important course correction that may in time save our once great country. If used as a learning tool, it could in time save even more lives and futures and resources than it has already destroyed. Here are some specific proposals:

All national-level elected officials who voted for or advocated for the War in Iraq in H.J. 114 should resign their positions. This includes House Representatives, Senators, the Vice-President, and the President.

All national-level [executive-level] appointed officials who advocated for and supported the War in Iraq should resign their positions. This includes CIA, FBI, Pentagon, State Department, White House officials as well as others in this context.

All publicly funded institutions of higher education should be mandated to offer low cost or free courses on ‘American Discernment.’ These courses will last 12 weeks. They will consist of five sections – The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King Junior’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and the science of discernment. Each class will be led by two instructors – one a Republican and one a Democrat who have voted in at least three primary elections for their parties in the last five years. A certificate will be provided to each student at the end of the course and after successfully completing a comprehensive exam.

Resignations should occur over a period of 18 months and should occur in three month (quarterly) intervals alphabetically according to the last name of the official. For example, officials with their last names beginning with the letters ‘A’ through ‘E’ would resign in the July through September of 2007 timeframe. Officials with their last names beginning with the letters ‘F’ through ‘I’ would resign in the October through December of 2007 timeframe. In this manner, all officials who have demonstrated themselves to be incapable of adequate discernment to protect the public trust will be rotated out of office by December of 2008. Just in time for a new President and Vice President!

All elected and appointed officials as stated above will not be able to hold any public office again until successfully receiving a certificate from the course.

Every American citizen should also be encouraged to attend the above described course.
All national-level elected and appointed officials who were against the war at the time of the vote on H.J. 114 should be given a “Congressional Medal of Discernment” for their care in trying to protect the public trust.

A bi-partisan agency on media integrity should be established. The mandate of that group will be to develop guidelines and laws on the restructuring of the established media. Every topic presented in the media [or at least those which weigh life and death] should have a detailed listing of the facts and the data available and a balanced argument of the pros and cons.”

While I’m on my soap box, allow me to address one other key area. That area is the people who support the War in Iraq. I know some good people who support this war. They go to church, they give to charity, and they care about other people. They spend their time helping other people. But they have enabled this Administration to almost undo the American way. They have enabled this Administration to violate our rights as citizens. They have enabled this Administration to kill our troops and kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. They have enabled our county’s real enemies to roam free. They have enabled this Administration to undermine all of the principles upon which this nation was founded. They have enabled this Administration to break our country to the extent that it may not be repairable. They too should be accountable. They too are good candidates for the discernment classes described above. If, even after the course, they want to support the War in Iraq, at least they are doing it with some ‘good’ information and thought.

My manifesto is complete nonsense of course. It will never happen. But one can state his opinion, can’t he? Let me close with two excerpts from Lee Iacocca’s new book Where Have All The Leaders Gone?:

“Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!”

“I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.”

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Iacocca. I’ll be at every war protest that I can. I’ll go to every forum that I can to protest this Administration and its disastrous war policies. I’ll be the one, like Molly Ivins suggested “banging pots and pans.” I’ll be the one with the drumsticks and my blue fondue pot asking you how you voted! For life or death? And upon what basis?

Tell Richard_wayne@yahoo.com what’s on your mind. His usual political outlets are www.democraticadvocacy.org and the www.dallasdemocrats.org ‘Sounding Off’ section.

Earth Day Blues

2007-04-23T22:13:00.000-05:00

Even when I was a child, the tampons and diapers and other refuse washing up on the beaches of Long Island bothered me. I knew that raw sewage washing up on our beloved shores was not a good thing and that something must be broken.

Here we are some thirty or so years later and once again taking stock of our progress at Earth Day. In the sixties and seventies, people seemed concerned about the environment. We made some real progress – automobile fuel efficiency, solar power, recycling, etc. The eighties and nineties seemed to flush much of that concern away. Cars have been getting bigger again. Homes and their associated heating costs are getting larger. The future of the earth’s delicate ecosystem is in peril on numerous fronts.

On Earth Day 2007 we see a grain of hope for Mother Earth on the horizon. A Republican – Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California – was recently on the cover of Newsweek with the caption “Save the Planet – Or Else.” Governor Schwarzenegger was also on the cover of Outside magazine having been selected a “Green All Star.” I received an email from Dell last week with the subject “Celebrate Earth Day with Dell.” The body of the email talks about “Make Every Day Earth Day” and “Dell’s Greenpeace Ranking.”

These are good signs, but we must act more quickly and much more aggressively. Scientists are predicting massive environmental calamities just in this century. The oceans will no longer be capable of feeding us in 50 years. Global warming will cause the ice caps to melt which will cause massive flooding and other historic changes. These are just a couple of the top stories, there are many more.

Our designated leaders have not appropriately addressed the environmental problems that we are facing. And many average citizens just don’t seem to care. Most unfortunately, it appears that it will take an actual major environmental disaster to make this a real priority. And then it may be too late to fix. Science, probability, and data trends don’t seem to be convincing enough for most of us.

When I put our recycling out on Wednesday mornings, we are often the only house on the block to do so. We usually have four containers of recycling much to the woe of the collectors. Everybody else just dumps their recyclables into the garbage. I suppose it’s too much trouble for them to just put it in a different container two feet away. If most people can’t even put forth this little amount of effort, then truly our environment is doomed. Can a constructive act that makes a real difference be made any easier?

On my bicycle ride over the weekend I passed several houses with their grass clippings out front. Each home had about ten garden bags of grass clippings. A mulching mower may not leave the lawn quite as pretty, but it can reduce the unnecessary buildup of our landfills significantly. Do we want pretty lawns or do we want to survive as a species?

How much longer can we afford to put every little thing into our landfills? How much longer can we continue to expand our population without dealing with the real consequences? How much longer can we drive around in Hummers and Suburbans with five or six or seven or eight empty seats? How much longer can we dump poisons into our air, water, and land that will take years to remove? How many more species can we cause to go extinct? How much longer can we damn our exquisite rivers and turn our water into cement? Can we do these things forever?

John Muir said “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” When will we learn? Will we learn? Can we learn?

richard_wayne@yahoo.com would like to hear what you have to say.

Judgment Day

2007-04-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

Perhaps I was born a pessimist. Or perhaps I learned to be a pessimist from my family and friends. Or possibly my biochemical makeup moves me toward such leanings. One theory that I have is that my pessimism started in the 2nd grade. It was 1962 on Long Island, New York. My family’s home, my elementary school, my junior high, my high school were (and still are) all about five miles from a large Grumman Aerospace facility.

1962 was the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember the first time that I heard the sound barrier broken - that got the attention of my classmates and me - BOOOOM! But I think what really got my attention was hearing an alarm, going into the basement of Lee Avenue Elementary School, getting in a fetal-like position under surplus desks, and waiting for the all-clear to sound. That, my friends, still has my attention forty-five years later.

There was not a whole lot of discussion with us kids in 1962. You just did not talk about stuff much then. But a thinking person would cogitate on these activities and what they meant. They meant that the world could end in a blink or two. That despite hiding under a sturdy wood desk fifteen feet below ground, our world - everybody's world - could be over in a blink or two.

For millions of years, humans and planet earth did not have that problem. We could do a lot of damage. We could destroy entire countries, systematically murder people in Treblinka, firebomb Dresden, send missiles to London – but until 1945 we could not destroy the entire world and its entire species in a blink or two.

That horrific potential is now a fact of life. We live with it and deal with it. Perhaps we try to make each day a bit more meaningful because of it. We try to not think about the nukes that may have been lost or misplaced or bought or stolen during the rapid breakup of the Soviet Union. We try not to think about this topic at all. We try not to think about our level of confidence in the few people and organizations that have power over such things - the United Nations, international treaties, our national leaders.

We stick our heads in the sand and try not to deal with it. We sit on the couch and watch the Mavericks or maybe the Rangers. We have a beer or maybe two or maybe a glass of wine. We go to church and pray that this is simply a bad dream that God will not allow to happen. But it doesn't really go away, does it?

Sometimes our lack of guardianship of our planet and fellow men just finds us. It glares at us from the front page of the newspaper. Or it pulls us in with stark images on the Internet or the television. Like this week.

The April, 2007 National Geographic beckons to me from the coffee table. The cover is a young swordfish fatally caught in a net intended for a shrinking tuna population. The issue is about the global fish crisis. I will not read it, I will not.

The cover of Friday's Dallas Morning News was a picture of White Rock Lake from the 1950's. It was totally dry. The story behind the picture was a study from Columbia University that predicts that Texas almost certainly faces a future of perpetual drought.

Saturday's Dallas Morning News was hardly more encouraging. A United Nations global warming report "paints a near-apocalyptic vision of Earth's future."

That's it. My wife and I are going to see the movie Avenue Montaigne at the Magnolia. Perhaps watching about life in Paris will help me to forget the absolute conundrum we are in and seem totally unwilling or unable to change. Peut-être.

Almost Famous

2007-03-29T20:57:00.000-05:00

On the evening of March 19th, I almost became famous. I joined 200 to 300 other protesters who noted the unfortunate fourth anniversary of the War in Iraq.

We marched up and down Mockingbird from the DART Station near the Central to Potomac Park across from SMU. It was a pretty diverse group of people holding signs and talking to the thousands of passers-by. There were peace activists, Democrats, mothers with children in strollers, Methodist ministers, Reggae singers, Theology Professors, and lots of other plain, normal people.

There were even the obligatory truckload or two of SMU students harassing us. Making gestures and suggesting that we go home. The police presence was impressive. There were a few policemen and policewomen who escorted us as we demonstrated down Mockingbird and ended our march at Potomac Park. But more interestingly were the police a little out of view and behind gates at SMU. They were in full riot gear with plexiglass shields, helmets, and the whole nine yards. I wonder how they would prepare for a demonstration of [the pro-Bush] warmongers?

Back to me and my near fame. Two people told me that they saw me on two different channels. Actually, let me correct that. One person saw me - it was just a blink she said. The second person saw my blue pot. It is kind of a small blue fondue pot. I dug out my drum sticks and banged my blue fondue pot all the way down Mockingbird and while at Potomac Park. I even banged the pot to the beat of the Reggae band. Well the pot was on TV for a while as I banged it - not me - the pot. This television camera dude thought that the pot banging made for a good full multimedia experience and I was happy to oblige.

The pot banging was not my idea, you may remember. It was from Molly Ivins last column (January 11, 2007) prior to her untimely death. She wrote "We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, 'Stop it, now!'"

The Dallas Morning News estimated the protesters at about 150. It may have been as many as 300 with some people coming and going. Regardless of the real number, it was way too few. Our government will continue to be misguided and unresponsive until more citizens get engaged in the process and its problems.

It was a Republican - Dwight D. Eisenhower - who said it best:

"Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage."

richard_wayne@yahoo.com would be most appreciative if you wrote him about this or his other essays.

The Unfortunate 4th Anniversary - War in Iraq - Dallas Peace March

2007-03-21T21:38:00.000-05:00

The Great American Dream Machine

2007-03-16T21:38:00.000-05:00

There’s very little that can awaken most Americans from their blissful slumber these days. The most powerful country in the history of the world, and many of its citizens move around only partially awake from day’s beginning to day’s end.

Well why should they wake up? March madness is here. American Idol and Survivor and CSI are still there – if not live, then in re-runs. Digital television and the Internet can bring 24x7 entertainment. Hell, the 4th year anniversary of the War in Iraq is coming up, but who would know? The government and the media keep these horrors and their associated coffins well hidden. Why upset us? Why wake us? If we were all awake, I guarantee that things would change.

36% of eligible voters nationally did not vote in 2004. In Texas, the number was more like 40% to 45%. I guess they were too busy? Too busy from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Election Day? And probably too busy during all of the early voting the two weeks prior to the election? I made the last statements in sarcastic jest, but unfortunately there is some truth to them. Of those registered to vote but who did not vote, 20% said that they were too busy to vote. 10.7% said that they were not interested. 3.4% forgot to vote. For much more information from the Census Bureau, go to http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p20-556.pdf.

Every once in a while something happens to even shake the modern day American from his usual ennui. The tragic event of September 11, 2001 was once such happening. For a few days, even ‘John Q. Public’ forwent his four to five hours of ‘normal’ television. The whole country was focused on this new threat, this new presence, this paradigm shift. Planes were grounded. Prayer services were held throughout our country and the world.

As the weeks passed, ‘John’ went back into hibernation. His inattention to detail and the broken George W. Bush Administration were such that he even re-elected the very root of our problems again in 2004. It must be a blissful sleep that precipitated that incredible win.

Lester ‘Buck’ Massey was not one of those who was dormant over the past few years while we were so badly in need of his energy and passion. A couple of years ago, I saw Buck go toe to toe with a former State Representative on the Representative’s position related to Proposition 2 (in true Rovian style otherwise known as the ‘Texas Marriage Amendment.’) I was a bit embarrassed, but also a bit proud of Buck’s aggressive stance.

Buck was so happy and proud when he was elected to the State Democratic Executive Committee last year. He was not one of those who passively observed local, national, and world events over the past few years – Buck was engaged in the process! I spoke to him just a few weeks ago. He was manning the phones at County Headquarters while others tended to their commitments (numerous judicial investitures). Those of us who observed and experienced Buck’s contribution over the past few years feel the void left by his death on March 6th. Fare ye well on your new journey Buck Massey, may you go in peace.

Tuesday’s News

2007-03-10T18:06:00.000-06:00

This essay is not about W’s very bad week. Not directly anyway. It’s not about the burgeoning scandals at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. It’s not about the Attorney General’s misdirected firings of a number of Federal Prosecutors. Nor is it about Scooter’s guilty verdict. It’s not even about the Democratic proposal to bring the misconceived, misdirected, and tragic War in Iraq to an end. And finally it’s not about George’s not so warm reception south of the border where thousands of protestors are expressing their opinion of our President and his policies and what has come to represent America.

Nope. It’s about Tuesday’s Dallas Morning News front page. I have weighed in on the topic of the media and specifically the Dallas Morning News on numerous occasions. How media consolidation has compromised the flow of quality information and the diversity of thought and opinion. How the Dallas Morning News specifically is loath to frame Republican blundering in all its recent glory. How the Dallas Morning News specifically is quick to find every vulnerability and inconsistency in Democratic partisans.

But Tuesday’s headlines even captured the attention of this often cynical essayist. What sprang to mind were the thoughts “Is not government supposed to build infrastructure and support services? Are not the thousands and thousands of dollars that I pay in various taxes over the year supposed to sustain a government that adds value to our lives? Is government at almost every level broken?”
Here’s a sample of those headlines from Tuesday (March 6th):
“Wrongly arrested, rightfully frustrated” – McKinney police wrongly arrested a woman at her place of employment (a school cafeteria) on drug charges.
“Fallout from Walter Reed Scandal… Commanders admit fault.”
“TYC sex assaults ignored… None of the 13 confirmed sexual assaults last year by Texas Youth Commission staff on youngsters in their care were prosecuted…”
“Two kids shot at home die… By the time a district court judge granted the temporary restraining order Monday morning, the couple’s children were already dead.”
“U.S. admits role in civilian killings… For the second time in less than 24 hours, the U.S. military acknowledged involvement in an incident that caused civilian deaths in Afghanistan.”

As I continue to work on my taxes this week – an activity that makes me uncharacteristically cranky – I can’t help but wonder “What is the government doing right that justifies all of these taxes? Can the system or systems work better? Are they broken at almost every level?”

Has the infusion of money at every level of politics and government permanently broken our most sacred institutions? Can they be repaired? Are the sort of dramatic changes needed possible in the existing context? Will the day ever come when I can be confident about our leaders and the future of our society?

Memaloose

2007-03-01T21:03:00.000-06:00

“There is a chance she will still be watching when dams, like Roman aqueducts, are relics of an empire that prized technology over vision and natural harmony, creations of a mechanically clever people who in only a couple of hundred years, give or take a day or two, worked consciously to turn a zoggledyteen-million-year-old river valley into a great memaloose.” – William Least Heat-Moon, River-Horse: A Voyage Across America.

Memaloose is a ‘place of the dead’ or a ‘graveyard’ in Chinook Jargon. The ‘she’ that Heat-Moon is speaking about is the famous Native American rock art “She Who Watches” which is in the Columbia Hills State Park in Washington State in the Columbia River Gorge.

Heat-Moon wonders about this beautiful valley as well as so many other locations and observations made by Lewis and Clark on their famous 1804 journey. Lewis and Clark recorded about 300 kinds of plants and animals that were new to science. Wildlife was almost everywhere during their voyage of discovery. When Heat-Moon shadowed part of their trail during a 1995 transcontinental voyage in a boat, the abundant wildlife was largely gone. In many places it was replaced by plastic soda bottles, plastic trash bags, and other decadent souvenirs of our modern civilization.

If so much has changed in just 200 years, what will be left in another 200 years? Or maybe even 50 years? Scientists recently predicted the demise of commercial fishing by 2048. Our seas will be empty. Their once abundant bounty will be the stuff of books and Internet lore. Is that acceptable?

As the politicians bicker in Austin and Washington – and usually about the wrong priorities - our environment continues to decline. I’ll be long gone. But will my great, great grandchildren experience the unparalleled gifts of nature that God has given us as I have experienced them? I hope so, but probably not. If we keep on this track, the whole earth will be one big, round memaloose.

This I Believe

2007-02-20T20:48:00.000-06:00

I believe that we each should leave this river of life a bit better than when we found it. However imperceptibly it may be, the world should be a better place, not a worse place, for our presence.

I believe that each person deserves to be respected. Each person should be able to pursue happiness. In time, I think, we will realize that we are all brothers and sisters in this human race. Regardless of nationality, race, religion, ability, or sexual preference; we will all need to learn to live with each other in harmony.

I believe that our earth was a gift from God. It is filled with almost endless beauty. But we have not learned to treat the earth with care. For us to survive, we will need to gain a new and much deeper respect for the environment.

I believe that the founding fathers of this country had remarkable wisdom. They understood that we needed a balance of power in government. They understood that money could ruin government. It is imperative that we separate government from the money powers that corrupt it.

I believe that information is one of the fundamental building blocks of democracy. That is why free public libraries are so important. Information is truth and power. The rapid consolidation of media companies and therefore information sources in this country is unacceptable.

I believe in family, community, and church. They bring love into our lives and love is the most important need of all. I think that, if we choose that route, being a good spouse and parent are two of the most important jobs that we will have. Those jobs need to be performed with continuous care, patience, and commitment.

I believe that our country is on the wrong track. Misdirected priorities threaten the future of my kid’s kids and the very survival of our species. I deeply resent this. I hope that we can make a course correction, but am not 100% confident that we can. Americans will need to be touched more than they have been to change course.

This I believe.

Banging Pots and Pans

2007-02-11T22:39:00.000-06:00

“We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, ‘Stop it, now!’” So spoke Molly Ivins in her final nationally syndicated column on January 11th. Molly was speaking about W’s idea for a surge of troops into Iraq. ‘Raise hell’ she said to put an end to this war.

Molly was raised in Houston. She earned her BA from Smith, her master’s from Columbia, and studied for a year at the Institute of Political Science in Paris. She has done work for The Texas Observer, The New York Times, and 60 Minutes. Her books include Bushwacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America and Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush.

Losing Molly Ivins so soon after losing Ann Richards is a terrible blow to Texas progressives. They were two intelligent women who lived life on their terms. They reminded us how simply foolish the current Republican Administration really is. There is only one appropriate way for us to express our grief. We need to grab pots and pans from our kitchens and take to the streets exclaiming that we are sick and tired of this war and we will not allow it to go on any longer.

Save Cedar Hill State Park

2007-01-31T22:32:00.000-06:00

Please attend a Friends of Cedar Hill State Park meeting on Tuesday, February 6 at 6:30 PM. There's plans to sell or close as many of 18 of our state parks. Contact Randy Alexander at 817-205-3464 for more information.

Unfotunately, I will not be able to attend. I will be lobbying in Austin to support libraries as part of the Texas Library Association's Legislative Day.

Apathy

2007-01-29T22:36:00.000-06:00

Apathy is the great malady of our times. And I fear that it will get worse before it gets better. Many of our young people are so disenchanted by governments broken at so many levels that it will be a wonder if they ever get engaged in the political process. But perhaps I am using the wrong word by using ‘apathy.’ Perhaps I should be using the phrase ‘misdirected priorities’ instead.

The last protest that I attended was in downtown Dallas just a couple of weeks ago. MoveOn organized the protest with a theme of ‘Evacuate Not Escalate.’ About 50 people participated after work on Thursday, January 11. This was a protest against W’s proposed troop ‘surge.’ On a usual Sunday at Texas Stadium, there are over 60,000 people – some painted, costumed, yelling, jumping, and screaming. Each of these people will pay about $66 per ticket, each car will cost $15 to park, and that’s before food and drink.

A vigil near Dallas City Hall to honor the sad milestone of 3,000 Americans dead in Iraq drew about 20 to 25 people on January 1st. The average attendance at a Dallas Mavericks game is perhaps 14,000 to19,000. Mavs tickets cost between $9 and $1,300 each. You can park for $10 up.

The average crowd at Cindy Sheehan’s camp in Crawford, Texas in the summer of 2005 might have been about 200 to 300 people. About 29,000 people attend a Texas Rangers game on average. The average ticket will cost you $15.81. Parking is $10 and up.

According to a September 21, 2006 Nielsen Media Research (http://www.nielsenmedia.com) report; the average American watches 4 hours and 35 minutes of television a day. That is unbelievable to me. A related article in the September 21, 2006 USA Today; states that the number of televisions in the average American household exceeds the number of people by 2.73 to 2.55.

So what’s my point? Robert F. Kennedy Jr. summed it up well in a recent Patagonia article. The American people are the most entertained and pampered people in the history of the world. That may be OK, but we need to take care of business too.

See Exodus 20:8 – “Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God.”

So again, what’s my point? Here’s my point! Sports are cool. Television can be cool. But let’s take care of business first. Let’s get engaged in our communities, our churches, our politics, and our futures. Lest we sit on the couch will a dull look on our faces while our very culture falls into ruins.

Warmonger

2007-01-05T21:08:00.000-06:00

We appear to be a nation of warmongers. I thought that we had leaned an important lesson from Vietnam. Vietnam was a totally unnecessary war that cost the US 58,000 lives and gave us a permanent national deficit. But if we had learned something about the real value versus the cost of war, perhaps something constructive could have been extracted from that fiasco.

The War in Iraq proved that we have learned very little from our Vietnam experience. In fact, we have become worse as a nation of warmongers. The War in Iraq was pre-emptive, rushed, unnecessary, and in retrospect totally destructive to American interests across the board. And yet it continues. This reckless war has lasted longer than our involvement in World War II. 3,000 American servicepersons have ‘officially’ died as of December 31, 2006.

On Monday, January 01, 2007, Carol and I attended a very small memorial service in Dallas for the 3,000 lost. It’s the 3rd such vigil that I have attended. How many more will I attend before this madness stops?

I found part of an answer to that question in the January 1, 2007 Houston Chronicle. And I quote Mike Glenn’s article exactly “Three thousand deaths are few compared with casualties in other protracted wars America has fought in the last century.” A Denver Post article from Pauline Jelinek of the Associated Press is apparently one of Mike Glenn’s sources “Three thousand deaths are tiny compared with casualties in other protracted wars America has fought in the last century.” So you see; 3,000 dead is no big deal according to those who support this foolish war [perhaps these reporters, or perhaps the multi-national corporations that pay them for their words]. Perhaps when the number of dead surpasses the 58,000 dead from Vietnam, they will think that we need to pay attention? And, of course, we are not even discussing the perhaps 100,000 Iraqi civilians that have died.

In the meantime, ‘W’ relaxes with Laura in his mansion in Crawford, Texas and plans to take his time revising his failed Iraq War strategy. He has basically dismissed the only serious recommendations to date – the report from the Iraq Study Group. Instead, he is thinking of increasing the American force in Iraq. Robert Novak reported in the Chicago Sun-Times on January 1, 2007 “Even in Mississippi, where Bush's approval rating has just inched above 50 percent, Republicans see no public support for more troops.”

The warmongers are clearly still holding the reigns in this country. They have once again missed the message that rang out around the globe just in the last couple of weeks: “Peace on Earth” and “Goodwill to All Men.”

The Dunce

2006-12-29T22:05:00.000-06:00

My wife showed me the December 10, 2006 Doonesbury, since most days I get my news from the Internet and miss the comics entirely. Garry Trudeau’s characters talk about a student who stays up all night beer-bonging and then sleeps through his classes. The student grows up to be the worst president in U.S. history.

Garry Trudeau apparently is not the only writer to believe that the Presidency of George W. Bush is the worst in history. There is a growing and deep list of references who have written about this exact topic. Let us sample at few.

One of the most extensive popular treatments was from Sean Wilentz in the May 4, 2006 issue of Rolling Stone. The cover of that issue shows a caricature of W. sitting in a corner on a stool with a dunce cap. Dr. Wilentz is the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton University. The title of his article is “The Worst President in History?” Here are a few quotes:

“He has not only stumbled badly in every one of these key areas, he has also displayed a weakness common among the greatest presidential failures, -- an unswerving adherence to a simplistic ideology that abjures deviation from dogma as heresy, thus preventing any pragmatic adjustment to changing realities.”

“But between 2001 and 2005 alone, the Bush White House borrowed $1.05 trillion, more than all of the previous presidencies combined. Having inherited the largest federal surplus in American history in 2001, he has turned it into the largest deficit ever – with an even higher deficit, $423 billion, forecast for fiscal year 2006.”

Our next writer is Eric Foner – DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University. Professor Foner lists Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Richard Nixon as the generally accepted worst presidents in history. He has the following to say about Bush in the December 3, 2006 Washington Post:

“Usually, during wartime, the Supreme Court has refrained from passing judgment on presidential actions related to national defense. The court’s unprecedented rebukes of Bush’s policies on detainees indicate how far the administration has strayed from the rule of law.”

“But somehow, in his first six years in office he has managed to combine the lapses of leadership, misguided policies and abuse of power of his failed predecessors. I think there is no alternative but to rank him [George W. Bush] as the worst president in U.S. history.”

Even The Dallas Morning News has weighed in with its December 10, 2006 Opinion from Michael Lind: “It could be worse. Remember Buchanan, Nixon and more?” Mr. Lind states “It’s unfair to claim that George W. Bush is the worst president of all time. He’s merely the fifth worst.”

English Department Chairman, Professor and Fulbright Scholar Huck Gutman of the University of Vermont provided his opinion at www.commondreams.org in an article titled “The Worst US President Ever?” He starts with “Bush is quite likely the worst president in the 200-year history of the United States. This has enormous implications for the international community, since his country is not a small republic like the Maldives or Andorra, but a global behemoth.”

As long ago as July 29, 2003; Nobel Laureate for Economics George Akerlof categorized the government of George W. Bush as the “worst ever” in American history in Der Spiegel magazine. Professor Akerlof is at the University of California at Berkeley and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

It appears that Zonker Harris and Zipper Harris are not the only ones who have doubts about George W. Bush. How did this man ever get elected and then even more incredibly re-elected?

Fish Story

2006-12-16T20:03:00.000-06:00

There are few times that I’m happier than when standing waist deep in water. That water could be the Arkansas River in Colorado, the Connetquot River on my beloved Long Island, the Colorado River near Austin, or the Gulf of Mexico near Galveston. A couple of weeks ago, my sons Gregory and Ryan and I went down to the gulf for a couple of days of surfcasting. We did not do very well fishing, but Gregory did catch a Gulf Coast Kingfish that we released.

There’s always a bit of extra tension when you fish on the coast. You don’t ever know what’s going to grab the other end of your line. It could even be a 2,000 pound tiger shark. Our trip to Galveston was enjoyable in more ways than the time together and standing in the brine. Something that I thought extensively about was the wonderful gift of the beautiful land and water that we were experiencing.

That perspective changed as we drove to our motel in Baytown – through La Marque, Texas City, and La Porte. The evening sky was lit up with the machinery of refining oil. I was negative about our route to the motel at first. Then I realized, who am I to talk, here we are burning gas to get a free evening (reward points) in a motel.

I did have to wonder though about all of that industry right near the water. Were these companies being conscientious about their effusion? Were they monitoring it or were they seeing what they could get away with? Would the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) know if some nasty chemicals were slipped into the bay here and there? TCEQ did not seem that concerned about the toxic wastes spewing forth from the TXI kilns in Midlothian. And in that case, it was falling on people’s homes and they were standing in line to complain. But who would stand in line to complain if a few gallons of poison were slipped into Galveston Bay here and there? And how much more trouble and expense would it be to clean it after the fact than to dispose of it properly in the first place?

What a gift we were given on this earth. Clean water teeming with all sorts of fish. Clean air teeming with all sorts of fowl. Clean land capable of growing an astounding variety of fruits and vegetables. All we needed to do was maintain it. Allow it to clean itself. Respect it. Yet an international group of ecologists and economists have recently warned that our seafood supply could virtually disappear by 2048. Disappear!

If we do the math in this and a number of other areas, we can see that many of our environmental trends are untenable. Global warming, population growth, destruction of agricultural land, water manipulation and usage, etc. All we need to do is some simple math and plan out 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000 years. Well why not? After all, the survival of our species depends on it. Or are we planning to abandon earth after it is ruined and move on to the next ‘host’ planet?

I’m wondering if perhaps there might be another interpretation to Genesis 3:2-3 when Eve says: "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "Perhaps this means that we can’t take more of the gifts that we are given than they are capable of sustaining themselves. That is, we can’t harvest so much seafood and put it on our tables so that it disappears within 50 years.

Today, the top stories may be the War in Iraq, genocide in Darfur, the spread of AIDS. But if we don’t do the simple math and begin respecting our environment, then even these tragedies will pale in comparison to impending environmental disaster.

McMahon and Judge

2006-12-07T22:06:00.000-06:00

If you put a diverse group of ten very experienced, intelligent people together and let them look at all of the facts regarding an issue honestly and from different angles over a period of nine months; then they might just come up with something worth listening to. That is what happened when the Iraq Study Group (ISG) published its report on Tuesday. The ISG was sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the United States Congress. The USIP website as well as the entire report can be found at http://www.usip.org/.

Right from the start – ‘Letter from the Co-Chairs’ – the report is reasonable and balanced:

“There is no magic formula to solve the problems of Iraq. However, there are actions that can be taken to improve the situation and protect American interests.”

“Our political leaders must build a bipartisan approach to bring a responsible conclusion to what is now a lengthy and costly war. Our country deserves a debate that prizes substance over rhetoric…”

Thank you James A. Baker, III and Lee H. Hamilton, Co-Chairs. Thank you Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Edwin Meese III, Sandra Day O’Connor, Leon Panetta, William J. Perry, Charles S. Robb, and Alan K. Simpson. These are five Democrats and five Republicans who were more interested in their country than their Parties (at least for nine months) and were willing to achieve consensus.

The bi-partisan group and its report are receiving praise or at least respect from many quarters. Even the American Friends Service Committee (http://www.afsc.org) admitted “…Nonetheless, it is a welcome infusion of ideas into the public debate.” The big question that remains is whether George W. Bush will follow through with the report’s recommendations. As of Wednesday, he was still working the rhetoric: “One way to assure failure is just to quit, is not to adjust, and say it’s just not worth it,” he added. “If we were to fail, that failed policy will come to hurt generations of Americans in the future.”

What is it going to take George to knock some sense into that head of yours? Have you not done enough damage? Your magical mystery tour ended on November 7th with the Democrats taking control of both houses of Congress and winning across the nation. An elite group of seasoned statesmen and stateswomen have recommended that you ‘Change the Course’ Mr. President and have provided seventy-nine specific recommendations. How many more people must die, Mr. Bush, before you choose the right thing over the thing that sounds right? As John Kerry said so eloquently many years ago “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”

[N.B. Charles McMahon and Darwin Judge were the last two U.S. servicemen to die in the Vietnam War. They died in a rocket attack in Saigon while protecting the Defense Attache Office. The American evacuation of Saigon was completed the following day.]

Need To Succeed

2006-11-24T22:14:00.000-06:00

Hendrik Hertzberg captured the reign of George W. Bush quite well in his November 20, 2006 comment in ‘The Talk of the Town’ section of The New Yorker: “It has been obvious for some time that, as President of the United States, George W. Bush is in very far over his head.” The world was quite a mess when George took the helm in January, 2001. Unfortunately, our country, and the world in which we live, have continued to deteriorate in the past six years.

This unfortunate state of affairs presents the Democratic Party with tremendous opportunities for the years to come. While the Bush Administration was fighting phantom problems such as WMD’s in Iraq and same-sex marriage; many of the real problems confronting our society today have continued to grow in scope and complexity.

Our most immediate problem is the chaos in Iraq. A United Nations report states that 3,709 Iraqis were killed in October. Another 100 people were killed on Wednesday in Iraq. A staggering 200 civilians were killed on Thursday in sectarian violence. Certainly a better strategy exists than our current modus operandi. There is no time to waste to solve or at least improve this quagmire. No time at all.

That’s just the most immediate issue. There’s a plethora of other critical issues pushing hard to become first in line. AIDS in Africa and Asia. Irrefutable global warming. Murder and rape in Darfur. Social and racial inequality in America. Our country’s obscene debt. The country’s health care system and the cost of pharmaceuticals are an embarrassment especially if you live near or below the poverty line. Overpopulation, pollution, outsourcing of our economy… the list goes on.

Our challenges are unprecedented but so are our opportunities to confront and conquer them. The first thing that we need is campaign finance reform. Throw the lobbyists out of Washington for good. The second thing that we need to do is institute a new standard of ethics in Washington – no exceptions and no excuses. We have had six years of excuses. The third thing that we need to do is restore faith in the voting process. Having been an election judge and also been in information technology for almost thirty years, I think that we can do that. Then we need to get to work on the real problems facing our country, the world, and its people.

We can face those problems by using the time-tested principles taught in any Management 101 class: a) Aggressively collect all relevant information b) Look at your alternative courses of action c) Listen to opinions from every side of the issue d) Make a decision only after having thoroughly gone through the previous steps e) Explain your decision and its rationale to the people who are impacted by it f) Pursue your decision with the appropriate resources. Every problem that I have listed could be resolved by using the sort of rational, systematic processes that we have used for years.

It’s No Secret

2006-11-21T20:13:00.000-06:00

I have heard a number of comments in the last two weeks that could be summed up by “I sure hope that the Democrats don’t screw up their opportunity.” We have fought long and hard to get where we are today – in Dallas County and in the country. We are no longer simply critics and standers by. We have the burden and responsibility now to act ethically and legally and to perform.

Let’s tackle the first part - acting ethically and legally - in this essay. It may not sound like that difficult of a challenge. However, scandals have ruined many public figures over the past few years. And they will continue to do so for the years to come.

The Ten Commandments are a good place to start. They include the following:

“You shall not murder.”

“You shall not commit adultery.”

“You shall not steal.”

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

“You shall not covet…anything that is your neighbor’s.”

A reasonable person could argue that the Bush Administration has broken four of the five commandments listed. In fact, Karl Rove has turned ‘You shall bear false witness against your neighbor’ into his mantra. We need to go back to the Clinton Administration to break the remaining listed commandment – “You shall not commit adultery.”

Many centuries later, the Declaration of Independence provided some further guidance:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government…”

Not too long after the last document, The Constitution of the United States was drafted:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Simply put, it’s the front page test. Will our representatives be highlighted on the front page of the newspapers for their accomplishments? Or will they be highlighted on the front page for transgressing one of the time tested tenets stated above? It’s their choice. Let’s hope and pray that they choose wisely.

Good News

2006-11-08T18:57:00.000-06:00

Democrats are not used to good news. So when it comes along, we really need to take notice and make the most of it. There was lots of good news for Dallas County Democrats on Election Day this year.

We were all very restrained as Election Day approached and then unrolled. We have been sorely disappointed before and did not want to be as vulnerable to sorrow and depression as in 2004. But as evening progressed on November 7th, we became jubilant.

Hundreds of us stared at the Dallas County election results as they became available first around 7:00 PM and then periodically thereafter. The early voting results were promising but there was still a long way to go. And then it looked like we would win one County race after another. The music got louder and perkier, people started dancing and singing, and yes there were smiles everywhere - Ron Kirk, Royce West, EBJ, Terri Hodge, Darlene Ewing, and everybody else in that large room at the Adams Mark.

By 11:00 PM our judges had won every contested race but one. Rob Canas was behind by six votes. By the time that we had to turn the computers off about 11:45 PM, Rob too had the winning count. Despite the constant flow of smear and lies from the Republican judicial slate, our Democratic Judges swept the day.

Do you think that the election results in Dallas County and around the country were intended to send the Republican regime a message? Do you think that people are tired of the lies, chicanery, corruption, incompetence and total lack of accomplishments by Republicans both locally and nationally?

It takes a village to win an election. I was wondering what I would find when I arrived at the Dallas County Democratic Party around 10:00 AM on Election Day. A number of people had already been there for hours. No running around, no hysteria, no out of control. Darlene, Steve, Kirk, Jane, Sarah, Theresa and their core group of volunteers had it under control. What a difference from two years ago. Do you remember?

And it wasn't just those dedicated folks who got the job done. It was the Liz Wally's, Tom Harris's, Crispin Reedy's, Michael Thomas's, John Tackaberry's, and so many others that made the difference. There are now millions of us in Democratic Party organizations, MoveOn, DFA, and like organizations. The Republican duplicity has created a monster that they may not be able to stop. And it continues to gain momentum.

However, we can't lose sight of the real prize in the aura of all our jubilation. Nancy Pelosi summed it up best. We need to find a new direction. And we need to do it with unrivaled integrity and honesty. The country can't afford for us to blow the opportunity which we have been presented.

Last Chance

2006-11-06T16:40:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, November 7th may be our last chance to send a clear message to the Republicans in power. The message is that their tenure has been totally unacceptable and is now over.

Shall we reward the Republican politicians who have:

Vacationed while the 9/11 hijackers planned
Ruined the reputation of America
Brought an unnecessary and disastrous war to Iraq which has killed thousands
Hired and promoted based upon contributions and favoritism
Brought the strongest economy in the world to the brink of bankruptcy
Showed how ineffective government can be during Hurricane Katrina
Divided the American people
Sold our environment to the highest bidder
Declined participation in a global warming solution
Allowed tragedies like Darfur to unfold, continue, and worsen
Reduced citizens faith in the voting process
Mocked the United States Constitution
Taken rights away from citizens
Slandered everybody and everything that got in their way
Kept the truth from the media and the American people
Leaked national secrets
Sold their votes to lobbyists and corporate interests
Used sound bites to fool the American people
Outsourced government to special interests
Ordered the American military to combat without sufficient armor
Undermined the United Nations
Exacerbated the powder keg in the Middle East
Done very little to help the poor and the sick
Weakened environmental protections
Created a rubber stamp Congress
Behaved in a most un-Christian like manner
Forgotten the important management concept of accountability
Horded power and money at every level
Proclaimed ‘Mission Accomplished’ for the greatest strategic blunder in U.S. history
Done very little to address race relations in this country
Forced the intelligent, independently thinking, and experienced from government
Set the context for record oil company and defense contractor profits
Failed to right what they have done wrong
Dismantled the very fabric of the American dream
And so on and so on

If you missed these events, then you have not been paying attention. If you did not miss these things and will still endorse our Republican politicians, then, well frankly you are a lost cause and a part of the problem. If neither, get off your butt and help.

Crystal Ball

2006-11-02T22:09:00.000-06:00

I have often wondered if the problem with Republicans was that they could not see into the future. Nor can they imagine very well into the future. Many of us on the other side are stuck with the depressing ability to extrapolate existing data and read it and follow it into the future.

In the days leading up to the invasion of Iraq, I just knew that our country was making an enormous mistake. I had this feeling of dread. Sort of like I had when I got a telephone call that my son had been in a car accident in Dallas. Sort of like when I almost lost my job.

Now we are in perhaps step 3,572 of 9,725 in Iraq. And the Republican managers of that fiasco have stumbled from step one to step two all the way to step 3,572. Each step a disaster. Although they just recently finally let in a few rays of reality, the Republican managers seem incapable of accurately assessing the situation and owning up to its grim reality. So Americans and Iraqis continue to die. Over 100 Americans just last month.

The same sort of thing happened with Hurricane Katrina. The world watched as dozens of weathermen and weatherwomen drew lines from the Hurricane’s position to various potential positions. The world watched as interviewee after interviewee talked about the potential devastation to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. But not George W. Bush, Michael Brown, and Michael Chertoff. They seemed to be the only people on earth with no idea of what was happening or what could happen or what did happen.

The national debt incurred by our Republican managers of the past six years may be their most enduring legacy. What if I filled out every credit card applications that came to me. Fifty in one month. Then lived like a Republican for two years – big cars, expensive dinners, lobbyists for my business. Then with my last purchase, I buy a backpack, a sleeping bag, and take a Greyhound or Amtrak to God knows where. Leave my family and others holding the tab – no accountability. But in the case of our country the debt is now over $8.5 trillion. It’s over $28.5 thousand for every man, woman and child in our country.

This set of Republican managers may be the worst in history. Some day we will be studying them via case studies – what not to do! If they don’t get held accountable on Election Day, they will continue to run amuck. And pretty soon our infrastructure will be so corrupted by them that there will be no turning back.

Pretty Lies

2006-10-24T22:30:00.000-05:00

Reporters Without Borders (www.rsf.org) issued its fifth annual Worldwide Index of Press Freedom today. The United States was ranked 17th of 168 countries when the list first appeared in 2002. Now it has fallen to position 53. The report states “Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of ‘national security’ to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his ‘war on terrorism.’”

Last week, Kevin Tillman posted a story about war, politics, apathy, and particularly his brother Pat Tillman on www.thruthdig.com. Kevin and his Pro football player brother Pat joined the Army in 2002. Pat was killed on April 22, 2004 in Afghanistan. After Pat Tillman was killed, it took the Army several weeks to tell the family that he was killed by friendly fire, not enemy fire. An investigation into a cover-up by the Army is in progress.

Kevin Tillman says some damning things in his essay:

“Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.”

“Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.”

“Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.”

“So don’t be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity.”

Today, the front page of the Dallas Morning News is mostly about football. It’s about the pitiful loss by the Cowboys on Monday Night Football to the New York Giants. A story about Kevin Tillman’s story is on page 8.

I would like to think that the American people would think and vote differently if they had the facts. That is, if the media was fair and unfettered. If forums for honest debate on topics of critical national and global concern were held. If pictures of the thousands of coffins from Iraq and Afghanistan were shown.

I would like to think that. However, the facts, the stories, the testimonials that contradict everything that the Bush Administration has stated – well they are everywhere. Those still supporting this illegal, satanic war should have their heads examined – or at least filled with some true information.

Rah Rah Radnofsky

2006-10-23T22:22:00.000-05:00

I forgot my digital camera the day of the Radnofsky – Hutchison debate. So I stopped by CVS and purchased a disposable camera. As a result, there’s only one barely usable photo posted in the Photos section of this website. Joe Wells (Democratic candidate for Country Treasurer) jokingly asked if the disposable was the best camera that the party could afford. Well maybe, but not for long.

The watch party was organized by Liz Wally and held at the Metro Grill near Knox Henderson and Central. It was good to see a large room and an overflow room filled with Democrats and Radnofsky supporters. Chris Bates, the Dallas area Radnofsky contact, had plenty of signs for us to put on our cars and on our lawns. The burgers were good, the beer was good, the TV screens were good, and the company was excellent.

I must say that Kay has a sweet smile and is not as dumb as I had thought. But that’s not really a reason to elect someone as Senator, is it? Barbara Ann came out swinging as we knew she would and as she had to. Barbara was nervous and tense at the beginning of the debate, but eventually got in her groove and started enjoying herself.

Radnofsky had a clear command of the facts and used those facts to put Hutchison continuously on the defensive. A breakthrough came when Kay Bailey admitted that she would not have voted for war in Iraq had she known what she knows now. She sweetly said that the President probably would have done the same (not pursued the War in Iraq). Radnofsky countered that those Senators, including Hutchison, who did not even fully investigate the data that was available have been derelict in their duty and should move aside.

Barbara Ann Radnofsky would be a great United States Senator. She has a long background in mediation, she has the brain, and she has the ability to evaluate facts and make up her own mind. Every Senator and Congressperson who has rubber-stamped George Bush and his half-baked ideas should be run from Washington. Let them get minimum wage jobs for a few years and only come back if and when they know how to do a thing or two!

Fish To Fry

2006-10-21T22:54:00.000-05:00

Fish To Fry

The 2006 Dallas County Democratic Party Fish Fry was a great success. We raised over $60K, had some good food, and heard some great speakers. Please see the photographs from this event in the Photos section of this website.

The featured speaker was the Democratic candidate for Texas Commissioner of Agriculture – Hank Gilbert. Hank was like a breath of fresh air coming in from East Texas. First off he is preeminently qualified – he has spent his life teaching agriculture and running a family agribusiness. What impressed me the most was his honesty and ability to speak directly from the heart. He talked about the importance of the job he is running for as well as the importance of God, family, honesty, and the need to remove Republicans from office. You can learn more about Hank at www.hankgilbert.com.

Another speaker was Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of the 30th Congressional District. She encouraged us to get organized for Election Day. That is, divide up the county so that we apply our energies efficiently. If you still have not figured out what to do on November 7th, call the party office at 214.821.8331. Or participate in the activities at www.democrats.org/electionday or www.moveon.org.

Other persons speaking or sighted in the crowd were Lupe Valdez, David Van Os, Terri Hodge, Benjamin Franklin, Helen Giddings, Judge Dennise Garcia, Harryette Ehrhardt, Will Pryor, and so many other party faithful. The staff at the Dallas Country Democratic Party – Steve Tillery, Kirk McPike, Sarah Duncan, Jane Alexander did a great job of putting on this year’s fish fry. Darlene Ewing, Shannon Bailey, Buck Massey, and many others helped make the event a success.

We have fish to fry friends. Now is not the time to rest. Let’s make sure that the Victory Party on November 7th is one to remember for a lifetime!

Sucker Punched

2006-10-17T21:31:00.000-05:00

Next to ‘Billionaires For Bush (www.billionairesforbush.com),’ probably no other group has been as faithful to George W. Bush as the evangelical Christians. That may be why I found an excerpt from Time.com on David Kuo’s new book Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction so interesting. Mr. Kuo was second-in-command of the President’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives until 2003.

Mr. Kuo spoke about a June 2003 meeting that Bush, Rove, and he had with a group of prominent African-American pastors. Bush and Rove lied to the pastors, states Kuo, about a large amounts of new money ($8 billion) that was available for the faith-based project. Mr. Kuo also writes how White House staff would deride evangelical Christians because they were so easily seduced by power. The excerpt ends with Mr. Kuo describing Bush as “content to use religion for electoral gain more than for good works.” The White House, of course, has denied all of Mr. Kuo’s allegations.

Do you remember the movie “Ghost” with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. I favor the version of hell portrayed in that move where demons drag the screaming Carl Bruner and Willie Lopez (the bad guys) to a place of indescribable horror. I think that such a place may be reserved for those who choose money and power over God, conscience, honesty, justice, and truth.

Iraq For Sale

2006-10-12T21:07:00.000-05:00

My wife and I were invited to a viewing of “Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers” last night at The Magnolia Theatre in Dallas. The viewing was sponsored by The Dallas Peace Center (www.dallaspeacecenter.org). Unfortunately, the DVD was incompatible with the player in the theatre. So about two-thirds through the film, the operator gave up and turned it off. Fortunately, the sponsors had some extra copies of the DVD which my friend Gordon managed to get. So we went back to DeSoto and Gordon and Micki’s house to finish the film.

I was expecting the worst from the film, so I was not shocked too badly. The others in my group, however, were shocked. The film basically documents how companies like Blackwater, Halliburton KBR, CACI, and L3 Titan have profited from The War in Iraq. Behind the huge profits these companies have made is the human story and the human cost of their profits. The film documents that people (civilian and military) have and will continue to die to support the profits of these companies.

The death toll is the most important part of the story but there are other parts. These companies have proven to be abusive to the taxpayer, unaccountable, and above all else downright incompetent. These points are made over and over again by their former employees and the surviving family members of dead employees.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the movie to me was the video coverage of the debates in congress regarding these companies. Almost to the man (or woman), Republicans resisted holding these companies more accountable. Almost to the man (or woman) Democrats supported holding these companies more accountable. Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan) wondered aloud why the Senate was not outraged at the price gouging and other abuse by the profiteer companies.

The film goes into general release in Dallas in December. You can buy the DVD or attend a private screening by going to the website at www.iraqforsale.org. The film elucidates another sinful chapter in the Bush Administration’s quest to undo America.

When Heroes Fall

2006-10-09T20:04:00.000-05:00

I realized that there were very few role models available when I had my very difficult part of life many, many years ago. My father was busy with his own problems. Richard M. Nixon was President and Spiro T. Agnew was Vice-President so I will say no more on the lack of role models.

When I had my own sons, I realized that they too would need role models. My wife and I have tried very hard to model the behavior that we would like our children to emulate. We have tried to bring other people into their lives that would model positive behaviors as well. Only time will tell if we were successful, but things are looking pretty good so far.

A person that I have highly respected for 25 or so years has been Garrison Keillor. So when I heard that he would be at the Highland Park United Methodist Church [for free] on September 27th, I jumped at the opportunity. Please see my column from September 28th at www.dallasdems.org – ‘Sounding Off’ Section or www.democraticadvocacy.org.

When my wife, another Garrison Keillor fan, told me about Jacquielynn Floyd’s October 4th column in the Dallas Morning News, I was fuming mad and ready to do battle. How dare she impugn the intentions or character of Garrison Keillor! After a very busy week, I finally got the opportunity to read both her and his articles around midnight on Sunday. It appears that I was wrong on all counts.

First I erroneously thought that Mr. Keillor refrained from talking politics due to IRS rules about politics and 501(c)(3) organizations. Terri Hodge had alluded to this rule in a church discussion a few weeks back and I improperly applied it to the Garrison Keillor event. Mr. Keillor later said that he refrained because he was asked by three people in the audience to refrain. The Highland Park United Methodist Church says that nobody in an official capacity asked him to censor his remarks.

In fact, I went to the lecture hoping to hear about Mr. Keillor’s now famous politics and his book Homegrown Democrat. What a great opportunity this was to be in George W. Bush’s own church hearing words of dissent. As you can see from my previous essay, I had taken great pains to have a worthy question ready. I would guess that there were many others in the audience who were equally disappointed that there was no talk of politics. What’s the point of having a lecture by Garrison Keillor if he can’t talk politics? It would be like having the Chairman of General Motors speak about the economy without being able to talk about the automobile industry.

It appears unfortunately that Jacquielynn Floyd was right (www.dallasnews.com and search on ‘Jacquielynn Floyd Keillor’). Garrison was insulting in his syndicated column published on October 4th (linked in Ms. Floyd’s column). He certainly misread why I was applauding after his few statements on politics. And later in his column he insults the Methodists of Dallas by saying that we support unwarranted detention and torture? How many of us in the audience have worked for years to fight George W. Bush and his Administration and their followers on just such issues.

How dare you Garrison Keillor! You owe me an apology. You owe the Highland Park United Methodist Church and the other Methodists of Dallas an apology. You even owe the Republicans in attendance who were willing to hear you speak an apology.

The next time that you come to Dallas, you might speak your mind and not heed the warnings of three strangers. We will need more backbone than that to turn this county and this country around. A few people may walk out on you, but the rest of us have worked very, very hard to get us even this far.

Perhaps my hero has not quite ‘fallen.’ But he has certainly fallen victim to the faulty assumptions and poor communications from which we suffer so greatly already.

Not Lost in Translation

2006-10-02T23:19:00.000-05:00

At various points during my life, I have studied Hebrew, Latin, French, and Spanish. My skill with these languages was tenuous at best. I would be a miserable visitor to France, Spain, Israel, or any other country that speaks one of these languages. Although I would like to travel more extensively, I guess it’s a good thing that I never left North America. My communication would be quite pitiful.

I do think, however, that I have mastered the language of the Republican Executive Branch. When President Ronald Regan said “I don’t remember” to the Tower Commission in 1986, it really meant that he was caught red handed in illegal Iran-Contra activities and had to resort to a suddenly fading memory.

Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice said today that she could not recall a July 10, 2001 meeting with CIA Director George Tenet and CIA counterterrorism expert Cofer Black. Tenet warned Dr. Rice of an impending al-Qaida attack at that meeting according to Bob Woodward’s new book State of Denial. Tenet has since confirmed this event. Dr. Rice has no memory of the meeting or the message. Does this mean that Rice too has been caught red handed? That the message about the disaster to come on 9/11, could not have been clearer? You decide…

Our Duty

2006-10-01T23:14:00.000-05:00

“Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” James 5:19-20

There was some interesting news this week. According to a poll done for the University of Maryland’s Program on International Policy Attitudes (http://www.pipa.org/), about six in ten Iraqis say they approve of attacks on U.S. led forces. About the same amount want U.S. troops to leave within a year.

There was quite a bit of press about Bob Woodward’s new book State of Denial. He writes that Laura Bush teamed with Andrew Card to try to get the President to fire Rumsfeld. No such luck. Cheney and Rove would have nothing of it.

Another section of Woodward’s book is particularly interesting. He describes a July 2001 meeting at the White House where George Tenet, CIA Director, met with Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser. Despite warning her of an imminent Al Qaeda attack, Dr. Rice took no action. This meeting was even a secret to the 9/11 Commission.

It is our responsibility as Democrats, it is our responsibility as Americans, it is our responsibility as people of faith, it is our responsibility as parents and sisters and brothers, it is our responsibility as thinking people to put an end to this madness. Miss no opportunity to end this immoral war and to ensure that we never, ever have such misdirected leaders again.

My Question for Garrison Keillor

2006-09-28T21:50:00.000-05:00

Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion fame was at the Highland Park United Methodist Church yesterday. He spoke for about an hour as part of the Church’s Cornerstone Speakers Initiative (www.cornerstoneworship.org) . I had been working on my question for him for 3 days. He answered all the questions that were put to him. But I never asked my question.

You see I had forgotten about the amendment approved in 1954 by Congress and introduced by Senator Lyndon Johnson that prohibited 501(c)(3) organizations, which includes charities and churches, from engaging in any political campaign activity. This is all outlined in IRS Fact Sheet 2006-17. Garrison Keillor was asked to not speak about politics (since he was in a church) and therefore my question became, well, inappropriate.

He still did a fine job of entertaining the standing room only crowd. He talked about growing up in Minnesota and various other stories from Lake Wobegon. To hear Garrison wax on politics, you need to go to www.salon.com.

Since I spent so much time and energy working on my question for Garrison, I would like to share it with you, even though I never got to ask it. OK, here it goes:

“Good afternoon, Mr. Kiler [he hates it when people don’t get his name right]. Let’s pretend for a minute that America is like a casserole. And it really is in many ways. For the past few years, at least since the Reagan era really, I have felt that an ingredient was missing in America’s casserole. As I think more about this missing ingredient, I realize that it is information. That is; quality information, sufficient information, both sides information, and complete information. Mr. Kiler [ha ha], do you think that America is missing an ingredient, and if so, what is it?”

I’m sure that Garrison would have had a spellbinding response to this question. But I’ll probably never know. However, you can’t ask a question like that without having a heck of an answer yourself.

My answer gets back to the very First Amendment – numero uno:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

You see our founding fathers knew what they were doing. They knew what would make America special and different from any other country on earth. Today however, this right is in grievous peril. We have a President who gives us just a part of the information. We have a Congress that plays along. And the media are controlled by the corporate giants who have the most to gain by a ‘controlled’ flow of information. The Internet is not yet controlled. That’s where you can still find the most honest and complete information on politics and society… but not for long. Where will we be forced to turn post-open-Internet for the information that reasonable men and women crave?

Report from New York

2006-09-24T22:05:00.000-05:00

My family and I drove all over New York. We were in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Westchester County, and up and down Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The good news is that I did not see a single ‘W04’ bumper sticker. Not one.

We did not get into politics too much on our visit to our families in New York. There was some brief discussion at dinner last night. My nephew mentioned that he has become a Republican. But I think he said that just to get a stir from his mother – my sister. My father thinks that Bush is doing a poor job – that he does not really have an understanding of the Presidency and how to handle the country. My mother does not care too much for Hillary.

Friday night, my son and I went night fishing for striped bass in the Great South Bay on a party fishing boat with about 25 to 30 other people. The fishing was incredibly bad. But we had a great time. Gregory and I fished with Edgar from Peru, Alex from Morocco, Chris from Queens, and James from Syosset. James asked Gregory and me if we were Bush supporters [since we were from Texas]. No, we are not Bush supporters, we assured him. He said that he voted for Bush, but now thinks that it was a mistake. The War in Iraq is a mess and the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer, he said. “What a mess” he repeated.

Now we are back in Dallas. I have not yet seen my first ‘W04’ bumper sticker. But I’m sure that I will tomorrow. It will remind me that there is much work to be done in the next month. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get down to it.

Favoritism versus Competence

2006-09-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

Rajiv Chandrasekaran has a few things to say in his book Imperial Life in the Emerald City about the Bush team’s management of Iraq after Saddam’s government was toppled. The people who were chosen to lead and work for the Coalition Provisional Authority, or CPA, were chosen on the basis of their support for Republican ideology and their fealty to George W. Bush and his policies. They were not chosen on the basis of competency and experience. In fact, many of the competent and experienced were quickly replaced by Republican loyalists.

Imagine a country led and managed primarily by favoritism. The best and the brightest would be replaced by group thinkers with good intentions but none of the background to get the job done.

You might imagine that such a country could be attacked by a foreign power for the first time in decades. That the result could be a terrible loss of life and property and morale. The real experts were sent to pasture and were not available to provide their conscientious vigilance.

You might imagine that such a country could go to war for false reasons. That the preparation, execution, and results of that war could be disastrous. The people who have had careers in such matters were pushed aside by those that arrogantly thought they knew better.

You might even imagine that a preventable natural disaster could catch such a country unprepared. That citizens of that country could be viewed on TV living as in a 3rd world country – in filth, crime, corruption, and hopelessness. You could imagine them still dispossessed even after a year. Science and weathered management were replaced by those that look fashionable.

Any organization that leads and manages based upon favoritism and loyalty instead of competence, experience, and hard work will begin to wither. A country led and managed by these principles will also begin to wither. Then again, perhaps these attributes would demonstrate that a country is well beyond the early stages of decline already.

September 11th

2006-09-13T22:34:00.000-05:00

From now on, I plan to take off from work on September 11th. I tried to do my job well that day, but I was just too upset. That would be a good day to go fishing, or take a hike, or go to church.

Last night I stumbled across some pictures from Ground Zero. My son Ryan and I visited family in New York a few months after the tragedy. I took a picture of Ryan on top of the Empire State Building facing toward Ground Zero. Just Ryan and then a blank hole in the skyline.

Ryan and I purchased some 5 X 7” pictures from the street entrepreneurs down by Ground Zero. One picture shows the cross on a nearby church – perhaps Saint Paul’s Episcopal - as one of the towers collapses. Another picture shows the Statue of Liberty against a backdrop of dark smoke in lower Manhattan. Another picture shows three firemen in the smoky rubble admiring an American flag. One of the pictures showed George W. Bush and Rudolf Giuliani looking quite serious in the aftermath. I just ripped up that picture and threw it in the trash.

September 11, 2001 was an important day. Each year, I think about what I was doing when I heard the first radio report. Sort of like when people talk about what you were doing when JFK was assassinated in Dallas.

Our government failed us that day. It failed the approximately 3,000 people killed as well as the tens of thousands that mourn them. The system broke down and failed to prevent this terrible event.

Has the system improved? Well no, just over a year ago a hurricane turned New Orleans into a living nightmare. Again, the various governments responsible were totally unprepared. And again, the aftermath has been marred by corruption, secrecy, and ineptitude.

September 11th was a turning point for our country. It was a wakeup call. It was a clear cry for a course correction. Unfortunately most of our leaders have not heard that wakeup call. They continue in their groupthink and their quid pro quo. They continue their narcissistic hunger for more power. They pursue the wrong enemy. They divide us against each other.

I don’t think that September 11th had to happen. I think that government can be efficient and ennoble its citizens. I think that a government can care for its weak, its poor, its sick. Perhaps I’m just a foolish optimist. Perhaps I’m just a modern Democrat.

Truth, Justice, and the American Way

2006-09-08T21:21:00.000-05:00

A Senate report on prewar intelligence released today stated that there’s no evidence that Saddam Hussein had a relationship with Abu Musab al-Zargawi or his Al-Qaida associates. The Bush Administration has and continues to confuse the Iraq War with the real fight that we have with Al-Qaida.

Just a month ago, the woman who cuts my hair told me that she was convinced that the Iraq War and the fight with Al-Qaida are one in the same. Salt Lake City Mayor ‘Rocky’ Anderson last week gave another disturbing example of the deliberate confusion fostered by the Bush Administration (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060918/moral_compass). [By the way, I highly recommend reading or viewing that speech.] He talked about his recent meeting with Thomas Boch, the National Commander of the American Legion. Even Boch was confused about the connection between Iraq and Al-Qaida.

The Administration has perpetuated this sort of confusion to advance its agenda in Iraq. But there is clearly a difference between Bush propaganda and reality on this issue. Let me quote another famous Bush “Read my lips: no new taxes.” Let’s change that to “Read my lips: there is no connection between the attacks of 9/11 and Iraq.”

Do you remember when truth and justice were important components of the American way of life? When were they replaced by a culture of manipulation and self-righteousness?

Deceit

2006-09-04T12:23:00.000-05:00

“If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless” – James 1:26.

Last Friday, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld accused those of us who are critics of the Iraq war of “moral or intellectual confusion.” He also likened us to those who appeased the Nazis in the 1930s.

I can only speak for this war critic. I have never been so confident of anything in my life. This war is the largest strategic mistake in American history. It was egregiously wrong in its justification and initiation and continues to be wrong in its daily operation.

President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretaries Rumsfeld and Rice, and other Administration supporters continue to aggressively support the war. But their justifications are shallow and patently without merit. If they were honorable people, they would admit their error and figure out a way to minimize the damage.

But they are not honorable people. They hide behind bold talk of Christianity and patriotism. They use God and country simply to achieve their own ends. They have brought and continue to bring disgrace to our once great country.

Kite Runner

2006-09-02T15:12:00.000-05:00

My Sunday school class is aptly called ‘Saints and Sinners.’ We have a book club and once in while I even manage to read the book. My wife, soon to be a Librarian, usually has a half dozen suggestions for books to read the next time. One of the first books that I read in the club was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. That was a heart-breaking but fantastic book about social and political turmoil in Afghanistan. Another book that I greatly enjoyed was American Gospel by Jon Meacham. That book was about ‘God, the founding fathers, and the making of a nation.’ American Gospel referenced Walking with the Wind by John Robert Lewis. I have been busy with that book for the last month. If it had not been for work, family, politics, and other commitments; I would have tried to finish it in two days.

John Lewis was born to sharecroppers in Troy, Alabama in 1940. Today is he a Congressman from Georgia’s 5th Congressional District. He was one of the first major House figures to suggest that George W. Bush be impeached. Lewis has been a staunch opponent of Bush’s Iraq War. He has called what happened in New Orleans a ‘national disgrace.’

Lewis shares the story of the Civil Rights movement in his book. I found that to be the most interesting part of the book. Once the story moved to his life in politics, it lost the passion and fire that the first 85 percent of the book had. Let me share with you a few sections from the book. A few of the sections that shocked, educated, and inspired me.

One of Lewis’ stories is about the Freedom Rides in 1961. He described the local crowd as one group of freedom riders left the bus in Montgomery, Alabama:

“They carried every makeshift weapon imaginable. Baseball bats, wooden boards, bricks, chains, tire irons, pipes, even garden tools – hoes and rakes. One group had women in front, their faces twisted in anger, screaming, ‘Git them n------, GIT them n------!”

Lewis tells the story of a peaceful, non-violent, march in Selma, Alabama in 1965 which later became known as ‘Bloody Sunday.’ He describes the scene as he and hundreds of marchers stood near the crest of the Edmund Pettus Bridge:

“There, facing us at the bottom of the other side, stood a sea of blue-helmeted, blue-uniformed Alabama state troopers, line after line of them, dozens of battle-ready lawmen stretched from one side of U.S. Highway 80 to the other.”

“…And then they were upon us. The first of the troopers came over me, a large, husky man. Without a word, he swung his club against the left side of my head. I didn’t feel any pain, just the thud of the blow, and my legs giving way. I raised an arm – a reflex motion – as I curled up in the ‘prayer for protection’ position. And then the same trooper hit me again. And everything started to spin.”

I will share just one more section from the book. It’s from the less-interesting political part. Lewis talks about the Congressman in the abutting Sixth Congressional District of Georgia:

“Newt and his followers represent a different breed of politician, one that is mean, angry, vindictive and harsh. Compassion is not a term that seems to matter much in their vocabulary.”

I would like to meet John Robert Lewis someday. Perhaps when our friend’s youngest daughter gets married in Atlanta in a few years. Perhaps never. I am grateful for his story, for his book. But now I need to stick my head in the sand for a while. I need to re-fuel and relax so that I can energize for the next stage of our struggle against the destructive Republican leadership. Perhaps I’ll read Striper Surf by Frank Daignault or The Compleat Surfcaster by C. Boyd Pfeiffer and prepare for my impending visit to Montauk…

War on Terror

2006-08-22T20:54:00.000-05:00

This posting was created by my friend Gordon >>>>>

How do you conduct a "war on terror?" In my opinion we can no more have a "war on terror" than we can have a "war on human behavior", a "war on nightmares" or a "war on natural disasters."

Can you fight terror with more terror? Sure, just drop bombs on the enemy and kill their children. That way they can't grow up to be terrorists. This is the new “Christian Crusade” against the savages of the east; after all, they have control over our precious holy land and the oil that lies beneath.

Our leaders strike fear, not in the hearts of the enemy, but in the hearts of their own countrymen. Then they accuse those of us who do not succumb to their fear mongering of aiding and abetting the enemy; we become the "al-Qaeda" candidate, the "sunshine patriot." We can't be patriots if we protest our government's policy of pre-emptive war; we must be in league with the "devil", the "evil empire."

This so-called “war” is being waged under the cover of Christian doctrine but it is really the pursuit of an imperialist/capitalist one. The obscene waste of America's monetary resources toward this pursuit has done little to stem terrorism or protect the American people. Instead, these resources continue to go in to the pockets of multi-national corporations; corporations that profit from our failure to demand checks and balances on a free-wheeling executive branch; an executive branch that has entrenched itself in a dangerous ideology of self-righteousness.

This ideology has, in my opinion, nothing to do with democracy, freedom, security, self-governance, nor the grandiose rhetoric employed by our commander-in-chief since 9/11. Instead, it has to do with the "privatization" of our government. Let's turn most if not all federal agencies, including the military, in to private corporations and they will become models of efficiency overnight. Reduce or eliminate federal oversight of all private, corporate concerns, as well as the environment, and the business community will just "naturally" become good corporate citizens and always do what is best for America.

If the law and/or Constitution are burdensome toward achieving this goal just ignore them or change them after the fact.

Is this how we make the world "safe for Democracy?" No, this is how we make the world safe for the dominance of corporate greed; for the Halliburtons and the Wal-Marts, for the "Gordon Geckos" of the world who are convinced "greed is good."

All of this has, again in my opinion, nothing to do with Christianity but rather with the darker side of human nature, “If it is good for me but not for you, well, that's just too bad. If you would just do what I do, believe what I believe, and then you too would have your share of the American dream.”

How do you defeat terrorism? Simple, turn everyone in the world into "Americans!" If you can't do that then just kill them, especially the children.

Isn't that what Jesus would do?

Master of the Obvious

2006-08-18T22:27:00.000-05:00

For almost six years, I have tried to understand the basic psychology of the Bush Administration. If you study some of the essays that I have written, you can almost see my brain struggling to understand this mess. I have read, written, studied, researched, debated, argued, and just about worn myself out trying to make sense of ‘W’ and his band of loyalists.

At first, I though that my problem was that I did not understand Republicans. I never understood Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and the list goes on. I don’t agree with the Republican Party on nine out of ten issues. However, I have tremendous respect for Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower. A number of my friends are Republicans and fine people. So this clue was not the answer to my puzzle.

Next, I thought that I did not perhaps understand the religious ideas that drive the Bush Administration. Maybe if I studied the words of Jesus Christ, the tenets of American Methodism; then I could better understand this enigma. So I studied the New Testament. I read the words of Jesus: “But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation.” My family is active in the First United Methodist Church of DeSoto and has been for many years. It’s a great church with caring people. This was not the essential clue either to solve the mystery.

Finally, I checked the flag waving, patriotism angle. Perhaps a hard-core patriotism drives the psychology of the Bush Administration? But that did not check out either. Most of the top Administration officials actively avoided military service. W himself was able to land in the Texas National Guard to safely sit out the Viet Nam experience. In contrast, people like John Kerry and John Murtha put their lives on the line for years.

No, the missing link to unraveling the Bush Administration mindset was definitely eluding me. Until just recently. Then the missing piece fell into place just perfectly. Click.

Duh! It’s all about power. Just take a quick look at history. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Bismarck, its all there. It’s all about power. And with power comes money. Lot’s of money.

The single theme, the common thread, the glue that holds the Bush Administration together is power. The accumulation of, the increase to, the lessening of restrictions on – POWER. Follow that, my friend, and you have the not so secret ingredient of the Bush Administration.

With power, they can limit the Constitution and our rights, win the influence of corporate America, control the media, begin wars to further increase their power, steer the supple of mind, and control our destiny. The Bush Administration has used its tenure in office to amass power. Period.

Do not mistake their motives. There is nothing noble going on here such as improving our national security, spreading family values, spreading the word of the Lord. Nope, it’s about power.

The country is worse off in almost every aspect than when W took office. As the power of the Bush Administration grew; our honor, prosperity, and environment has declined. Men and women of dignity must reverse this power grab before it is too late – if it is not already.

Barbara Ann

2006-08-16T20:59:00.000-05:00

I shook Barbara Radnofsky’s hand, or rather she shook my hand, a few months back. A couple of hundred of us were waiting in line to hear John Edwards speak at the Gypsy Tea Room in Deep Ellum. She came up to me, introduced herself, and shook my hand.

That was an enjoyable evening. John Edwards spoke very eloquently from the heart. The Booker T. Washington High School Music Ensemble was fabulous. Rafael Anchia kept the beat with a lively turn at the maracas. However, the thing that I remember most clearly from that evening was the ‘regular’ person who greeted and spoke to us – Barbara Ann Radnofsky.

I decided to learn a little more about Barbara. She has three children and a husband - Ed Supkis - who is an MD and her campaign technical director. She recently retired from the practice of law after 27 years. Barbara graduated from the University of Texas School of Law. Barbara is an officer in the Anti-Defamation League. She earns points from me for being a member of the Board of the Friends of the Texas Medical Center Library.

Let’s dig a bit deeper and see where Barbara stands on the issues. A wonderful chart comparing Barbara to Kay Bailey is available at www.radnofsky.com. Barbara has emphasized the following:

Our national security requires energy independence

The federal government should create an independent office of public integrity with subpoena power

The funding of a VA hospital south of San Antonio

Support raising the minimum wage

The promotion of Upward Bound and Head Start

Have U.S. personnel run our seaports

Expose the failures of the current war on terror which have hurt our security

Set a timetable for exiting Iraq

Extensive health care reform

Federal budget responsibility instead of a fiscal irresponsibility

Barbara has highlighted a number of Hutchison positions in recent emails. These are direct quotes from Hutchison or her staff:

"I would like to see America put our efforts into Iraq and Afghanistan where we know that we need to have troops there--we need to have more troops there."

“I think debates are certainly worthwhile, and I certainly look forward to having one in the right format this fall.” On the issue of how many debates, Hutchison said, “I'm sure if we have one, it will be replayed many times. And so people will have opportunity to see the differences.”

Complaining yesterday about the defeat of her efforts to give $268 billion to only the wealthiest families (couples with estates worth over ten million dollars), Hutchison said, “It is an excuse to make it a do-nothing Congress. And we are turning our back on the middle-class and poor people in this country who depend on the minimum wage and death-tax relief."

The following entry is from the Radnofsky – Hutchison issues chart provided at radnofsky.com. When asked why opponent [Hutchison] had not yet joined 83 of her colleagues in co-sponsoring the U.S. Senate’s resolution against lynching, Sen. Hutchison’s spokesman strangely replied, “For her, lynching is something that is very present. This is something she knows very personally.” Then he added, “But as a member of the Senate leadership, you just can’t co-sponsor everything.”

If you want a Senator who supports the War in Iraq and every other inane idea that has popped into W’s brain in the last six years, then Hutchison your person. If you want a Senator who only believes that perjury is serious when committed by Democrats, then Hutchison is your person. If you want a Senator who will do anything for the rich and corporate interests, then Hutchison is your person.

But if you want a thinking Senator, a Senator who can evaluate the issues intelligently and made a decision based upon ethics and right and wrong; then Radnofsky is your person. If you want a Senator who understands the crisis in health care that Americans are facing today, then Radnofsky is your person. If you want to send a signal to Washington that status quo is not working and that we need effective, intelligent leaders who hold themselves and other accountable; then Radnofsky is your person.

Barbara Radnofsky is the right choice for the State of Texas and the United States. She deserves our full support on her road to victory in November.

So Long Joe

2006-08-09T17:46:00.000-05:00

Connecticut looks pretty good today. And not just because the thermometer reads 100 degrees right now in DeSoto and 78 degrees in New Haven. By the way, New Haven also has a chance of rain for tomorrow.

Imagine living in a state where a liberal, anti-war Democrat can beat a moderate, pro-war Democrat in August of 2006. Imagine. Upstart Ned Lamont beat one-time Vice Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Senate Democratic Primary by about four percentage points.

Eli Pariser of MoveOn wrote “Riding a wave of voter revolt against Iraq and the Bush administration, Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman.” Jim Dean of Democracy for America wrote “We've put Washington on notice that the war in Iraq is going to be the deciding issue this fall, and in every election, until our troops come home.” And finally, Michael Moore wrote “Let the resounding defeat of Senator Joe Lieberman send a cold shiver down the spine of every Democrat who supported the invasion of Iraq and who continues to support, in any way, this senseless, immoral, unwinnable war.”

One of the lessons here is that an anti-war stance does not equate to political suicide - especially when the war is reckless, immoral, and just plain wrong. Hillary, Harry – are you listening?

Land of Make Believe

2006-08-04T21:09:00.000-05:00

Let’s pretend that God Himself is on our side and always will be no matter what we do or how we behave to the meek, to the poor, to the oppressed. Let’s pretend that our Country is still the light of hope and freedom and justice in the world.

Let’s pretend that this war is for ‘a noble cause.’ Let’s pretend that America’s history does not have a deep and prolonged ugly side.

Let’s pretend that oil will last forever and that we can drive Hummers, Excursions, and Navigators. Let pretend that it’s important to keep our lawns green while selling off our wilderness to the highest bidder. Let’s pretend that the world’s population can continue to grow indefinitely.

Let’s pretend what’s good for the stock market is good for America even though our manufacturing infrastructure has almost vanished in the last few years. Let’s pretend that Wal-Mart is good for our communities even though a disproportionate percentage of their employees are on public assistance.

And finally, let’s pretend that things can pretty much go on like this indefinitely. That our children and grandchildren will not have to pay our debts and breathe our pollution and reconcile with our enemies.

Pretending is easy and can even be fun. It’s confronting reality that’s hard.