What in the WORLD is happening with the Republican party? So askew are you, GOP, that I find myself with progressive columnist Dana Milbank (Washington Post), who said last night on MSNBC, "I never thought these words would pass my lips, but Karl Rove is exactly right."
Seriously. Seriously. If it's so bad that Rove states what is blisteringly obvious, then it can only mean one thing ... the GOP is now officially the Goofy Oddball Party. Maybe for keeps.
Rove was talking about Rick Perry trying to re-ignite the Birther nonsense for having heard it from His Majesty, the Donald. Desperate, pathetic Donald of Trumply. Karl Rove is now openly concerned that crazy people are noticeably running the republican party. Raising money off the wing nuts is one thing, but having them drive policy and coming down from the attic to speak to the public -- wow that's a big problem.
So, yeah, I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but Rove is right -- pairing up with these nuts is bad for the country. Of course, it was always bad, but now it's on Main Street, so I reckon it's worse.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Dear Mr. President
Dear President Obama,
I'm writing today to tell you that we did try to buy American when it was time for a new television a couple of years ago. Couldn't do it. Nothing made in America.
But as I wanted a new car, my husband and I talked extensively about features, about brand, about quality. If it doesn't get 30mpg on the highway, it's out of the question, I said.
Months of looking, WANTING to buy American, we held firm. Safety. Quality. Features. Good mileage. Great service. Not negotiable.
Mr. President, we were not going to take second place. And we didn't. We bought a Chevy Equinox. They say it gets 32 mpg on the highway! But I find it's more like 35 mpg.
We bought a car from a great American company whose course you corrected. Good call.
I'm writing today to tell you that we did try to buy American when it was time for a new television a couple of years ago. Couldn't do it. Nothing made in America.
But as I wanted a new car, my husband and I talked extensively about features, about brand, about quality. If it doesn't get 30mpg on the highway, it's out of the question, I said.
Months of looking, WANTING to buy American, we held firm. Safety. Quality. Features. Good mileage. Great service. Not negotiable.
Mr. President, we were not going to take second place. And we didn't. We bought a Chevy Equinox. They say it gets 32 mpg on the highway! But I find it's more like 35 mpg.
We bought a car from a great American company whose course you corrected. Good call.
Monday, January 17, 2011
AZ Shooting - The Ultimate Hate Speech
Did you ever hear the expression "to send a message"? He slammed the ball through the hoop - that really sent a message. It's something we often hear in sports and in politics to indicate that someone's actions are emphatically communicating - usually serving to push back and intimidate the opposition.
Jared Loughton, the Tucson shooter, went to Rep. Giffords' "Congress on the Corner" to "send a message." His actions are speech - hate speech - and to suggest that there is no relationship between this speech and the Republican culture of violent political speech is a child's "nu-uh" argument. Specifically, the Alaskan Quitter-in-Chief has made herself such a reputation for provocative rhetoric, she welcomes the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" and gleefully compares herself to a pit bull (with lipstick). She and her running mate, Senator McCain, were only too happy to benefit from their campaign crowds screaming their heads off when Palin referred to candidate Obama as "palling around with terrorists" and claiming that he, a sitting U.S. Senator posed a threat to the security of the United States. I know you've seen this, but watch as an elderly woman confronts McCain and says she's afraid of Obama. McCain is nodding in affirmation. Then she says she thinks he's AN ARAB. McCain's only response is no, no, he's a decent family man (was that supposed to refute his being an Arab?). He retakes the microphone to get back to the stage and away from specifics. His supporters were so extreme (two of them saying they feared Obama) that McCain is in the ridicuous position of spending his campaigning time talking about the fact that a U.S. Senator is not an enemy of the county. And he does so, by the way, rather superficially.
So is it speech? Was a message sent? Recall, painful as it is, when JFK was gunned down. Was that a statement? How about his brother, Robert, then a sitting U.S. Senator? How about Martin Luther King, whose birthday we observe today? How about San Francisco Mayor George Moscone? Harvey Milk? Rep. Leo Ryan, murdered in Guyana while investigating the Jonestown cult?
Do you see a pattern in those names? Do you notice the progressive tilt? This helps to explain the red-faced anger and sentitivity on the part of progressives when it comes to modern day political assasinations. With the notable exception of Ronald Reagan (who very nearly died when he was shot) and the attempts on then- President Gerald Ford, this practice has been one that has pushed back and sent a message mainly to the political left >> sit down, be quiet. Not now, not yet.
When the Quitter-in-Chief invokes the term Blood Libel, it is no accident due her ignorance. No, indeed. Her accusation stated plainly is that the Jewish-owned and run media is taking the shooting of a Jewish Representative and the killing of a young child and others and using the blood of that crime to "feed" the media beast, directing its hungry attention to chewing on her, America's most successful quitter. Hence, the stain of that ugly lie is continued in the modern age, via Facebook. Like dropping leaflets from an airplane, there's no talking back. It's a one-way message.
When she claims innocence in the AZ shootings, I am reminded of another group that uses inflammatory language and the anonymity of numbers to do the work of spreading their ugliness, then claiming that they didn't light the match that burned the cross on your lawn. That's right, the Klan is great at this stuff -- spreading malicious, racist lies in ways that tend to be protected by the first amendment and are attributable to the "atmosphere" rather than recognized for being expressly incendiary. You know the problem with these things usually is that you can't demonstrate that the speech that was made was clearly a threat, was construed as a threat and was specific enough to act on as a threat.
And certainly we would not typically find a television interview featuring the victim (who was being interview because her office was vandalized) talking about how this "hit list" being posted for all the world to see HAS CONSEQUENCES.
My good friends in the mainstream media are quick to say there's "no connection" between Palin's crosshairs graphic and this shooting. They likely mean on the most literal level that nobody thinks she ordered a hit on a Congresswoman.
If Loughton were at large and you found that list in his apartment -- just a list of names of 20 members of Congress -- after one of them had been shot ... I think the other 19 would be on lockdown. But that's just me.
Still ... is that the standard now? We cannot prove she personally tried to KILL a member of Congress, so leave her alone? You know what? I don't think we will.
Jared Loughton, the Tucson shooter, went to Rep. Giffords' "Congress on the Corner" to "send a message." His actions are speech - hate speech - and to suggest that there is no relationship between this speech and the Republican culture of violent political speech is a child's "nu-uh" argument. Specifically, the Alaskan Quitter-in-Chief has made herself such a reputation for provocative rhetoric, she welcomes the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" and gleefully compares herself to a pit bull (with lipstick). She and her running mate, Senator McCain, were only too happy to benefit from their campaign crowds screaming their heads off when Palin referred to candidate Obama as "palling around with terrorists" and claiming that he, a sitting U.S. Senator posed a threat to the security of the United States. I know you've seen this, but watch as an elderly woman confronts McCain and says she's afraid of Obama. McCain is nodding in affirmation. Then she says she thinks he's AN ARAB. McCain's only response is no, no, he's a decent family man (was that supposed to refute his being an Arab?). He retakes the microphone to get back to the stage and away from specifics. His supporters were so extreme (two of them saying they feared Obama) that McCain is in the ridicuous position of spending his campaigning time talking about the fact that a U.S. Senator is not an enemy of the county. And he does so, by the way, rather superficially.
So is it speech? Was a message sent? Recall, painful as it is, when JFK was gunned down. Was that a statement? How about his brother, Robert, then a sitting U.S. Senator? How about Martin Luther King, whose birthday we observe today? How about San Francisco Mayor George Moscone? Harvey Milk? Rep. Leo Ryan, murdered in Guyana while investigating the Jonestown cult?
Do you see a pattern in those names? Do you notice the progressive tilt? This helps to explain the red-faced anger and sentitivity on the part of progressives when it comes to modern day political assasinations. With the notable exception of Ronald Reagan (who very nearly died when he was shot) and the attempts on then- President Gerald Ford, this practice has been one that has pushed back and sent a message mainly to the political left >> sit down, be quiet. Not now, not yet.
When the Quitter-in-Chief invokes the term Blood Libel, it is no accident due her ignorance. No, indeed. Her accusation stated plainly is that the Jewish-owned and run media is taking the shooting of a Jewish Representative and the killing of a young child and others and using the blood of that crime to "feed" the media beast, directing its hungry attention to chewing on her, America's most successful quitter. Hence, the stain of that ugly lie is continued in the modern age, via Facebook. Like dropping leaflets from an airplane, there's no talking back. It's a one-way message.
When she claims innocence in the AZ shootings, I am reminded of another group that uses inflammatory language and the anonymity of numbers to do the work of spreading their ugliness, then claiming that they didn't light the match that burned the cross on your lawn. That's right, the Klan is great at this stuff -- spreading malicious, racist lies in ways that tend to be protected by the first amendment and are attributable to the "atmosphere" rather than recognized for being expressly incendiary. You know the problem with these things usually is that you can't demonstrate that the speech that was made was clearly a threat, was construed as a threat and was specific enough to act on as a threat.
And certainly we would not typically find a television interview featuring the victim (who was being interview because her office was vandalized) talking about how this "hit list" being posted for all the world to see HAS CONSEQUENCES.
My good friends in the mainstream media are quick to say there's "no connection" between Palin's crosshairs graphic and this shooting. They likely mean on the most literal level that nobody thinks she ordered a hit on a Congresswoman.
If Loughton were at large and you found that list in his apartment -- just a list of names of 20 members of Congress -- after one of them had been shot ... I think the other 19 would be on lockdown. But that's just me.
Still ... is that the standard now? We cannot prove she personally tried to KILL a member of Congress, so leave her alone? You know what? I don't think we will.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
About John & Elizabeth and John & Elizabeth and Being a Hero
Such an unlikely collision of similarity and diversity – all at once.
I’m tired of hearing the standard caveat when John McCain is introduced … that he’s some indisputable hero. He’s not. He may have behaved heroically once, while being psychotically tortured as a prisoner of war, but that’s all. Has he conducted himself in a manner since then that even approaches a description of “hero”? No. His modern political life and description of his personal conduct reverts back to another word – bully. Watch video of him as he’s confronted with the irrefutable fact that the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy has caused hundreds of fine officers to be tossed out of the military on account of their status (not for conduct, for status) and you’ll see a belligerent, repetitive, stubborn son-of-a-bitch insisting that “it's not the policy,it's not the policy,it's not the policy,.” No matter. The policy doesthat and he knows it.
Contrast this with Elizabeth Smart, who (like McCain) was a kidnapping victim. She, too, was psychotically tortured; abuse of her body and her mind is now public record. There may be, in fact, much more similarity in her time of captivity and that of Sen. McCain than has ever been publically acknowledged. But Elizabeth has shown nothing but courage since her rescue, bravely facing her abuser in court and addressing the public after the trial to tell other victims that they are not alone. You can go on, she said. You can live your life – it belongs to you, not your attacker. She has demonstrated the mature presence of mind that is credited for her survival and eventual escape from captivity and torture.
As a Senator, McCain has failed to stand up for veterans (yes, those closeted gay solders), insulted the intelligence of every military leader on the topic of DADT, looking much like he is on the brink of a tantrum or threatening to hold his breath until he gets his way … his homophobic way. What a shame and what an incredibly lucky thing that we kept this guy away from the Situation Room.
Then we have John & Elizabeth Edwards – a collision of human weakness and exceptional strength. Let’s be gentle … John simply lost his way. He may have behaved heroically once or twice – fighting like a pit bull for his clients and winning them millions – but when temptation came knocking, he rolled over, then lied and lied about it. He’s human. People lie to cover their mistakes in judgment. It’s not fair to call it natural, but it’s fair to call in understandable. Unfortunately, he forged ahead in denying his paternity of an out-of-wedlock child, likely because he wanted to preserve the possibility of being a candidate for the Obama administration’s VP or attorney general slot. What a shame. That was an opportunity to step forward and own his mistake. Instead, he looked around himself and said “Who, me? Naw, that’s tabloid trash …”
For Elizabeth Edwards, there were some bad decisions, too. Let’s be real (she’d insist). She, too, concealed her husband’s failings in nudging him to continue his campaign after learning her cancer had returned. She knew he’d been unfaithful and thought they could control (keep quiet) that information. But the campaign decisions aside, her story is all about what she did when confronted with irrefutable facts – another woman’s baby, paternity results, a continuing deception and oh, yes, the cancer. She took charge, made real-world assessments and bold choices. She spoke of the other woman’s child and said that her children needed to have a relationship with her … they were family, she said, they have the same father. The child, after all, was innocent in all this. They’d work it all out, she told a stunned Oprah.
And that’s the other part – telling Oprah. She not only had to face all this, she did it under an amount of public scrutiny that’s pretty rare for a private citizen. She understood the meaning of this outreach and not being overtaken by the grief of losing something dear – your son, you husband, your health, your privacy. She, like Elizabeth Smart, owned her survival and would tell her own story. She lived inside its organic value – to her. She knew that this pain and the scar tissue that would form from these injuries are what made her Elizabeth and that choosing to give up any part of it would make her less than what she was – a fully realized human being – the genuine article.
That is heroic.
I’m tired of hearing the standard caveat when John McCain is introduced … that he’s some indisputable hero. He’s not. He may have behaved heroically once, while being psychotically tortured as a prisoner of war, but that’s all. Has he conducted himself in a manner since then that even approaches a description of “hero”? No. His modern political life and description of his personal conduct reverts back to another word – bully. Watch video of him as he’s confronted with the irrefutable fact that the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy has caused hundreds of fine officers to be tossed out of the military on account of their status (not for conduct, for status) and you’ll see a belligerent, repetitive, stubborn son-of-a-bitch insisting that “it's not the policy,it's not the policy,it's not the policy,.” No matter. The policy doesthat and he knows it.
Contrast this with Elizabeth Smart, who (like McCain) was a kidnapping victim. She, too, was psychotically tortured; abuse of her body and her mind is now public record. There may be, in fact, much more similarity in her time of captivity and that of Sen. McCain than has ever been publically acknowledged. But Elizabeth has shown nothing but courage since her rescue, bravely facing her abuser in court and addressing the public after the trial to tell other victims that they are not alone. You can go on, she said. You can live your life – it belongs to you, not your attacker. She has demonstrated the mature presence of mind that is credited for her survival and eventual escape from captivity and torture.
As a Senator, McCain has failed to stand up for veterans (yes, those closeted gay solders), insulted the intelligence of every military leader on the topic of DADT, looking much like he is on the brink of a tantrum or threatening to hold his breath until he gets his way … his homophobic way. What a shame and what an incredibly lucky thing that we kept this guy away from the Situation Room.
Then we have John & Elizabeth Edwards – a collision of human weakness and exceptional strength. Let’s be gentle … John simply lost his way. He may have behaved heroically once or twice – fighting like a pit bull for his clients and winning them millions – but when temptation came knocking, he rolled over, then lied and lied about it. He’s human. People lie to cover their mistakes in judgment. It’s not fair to call it natural, but it’s fair to call in understandable. Unfortunately, he forged ahead in denying his paternity of an out-of-wedlock child, likely because he wanted to preserve the possibility of being a candidate for the Obama administration’s VP or attorney general slot. What a shame. That was an opportunity to step forward and own his mistake. Instead, he looked around himself and said “Who, me? Naw, that’s tabloid trash …”
For Elizabeth Edwards, there were some bad decisions, too. Let’s be real (she’d insist). She, too, concealed her husband’s failings in nudging him to continue his campaign after learning her cancer had returned. She knew he’d been unfaithful and thought they could control (keep quiet) that information. But the campaign decisions aside, her story is all about what she did when confronted with irrefutable facts – another woman’s baby, paternity results, a continuing deception and oh, yes, the cancer. She took charge, made real-world assessments and bold choices. She spoke of the other woman’s child and said that her children needed to have a relationship with her … they were family, she said, they have the same father. The child, after all, was innocent in all this. They’d work it all out, she told a stunned Oprah.
And that’s the other part – telling Oprah. She not only had to face all this, she did it under an amount of public scrutiny that’s pretty rare for a private citizen. She understood the meaning of this outreach and not being overtaken by the grief of losing something dear – your son, you husband, your health, your privacy. She, like Elizabeth Smart, owned her survival and would tell her own story. She lived inside its organic value – to her. She knew that this pain and the scar tissue that would form from these injuries are what made her Elizabeth and that choosing to give up any part of it would make her less than what she was – a fully realized human being – the genuine article.
That is heroic.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Customer Go Home
It’s become a Saturday night ritual. I send a text message to my son and daughter-in-law: “10:00 @ AMF?”
He replies: “Yep” and most Sundays for the last six or so months, we have met at that time and place (on Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd.) to bowl two or three games, then go out for lunch.
We’ve done this because we’ve come to enjoy bowling and we’ve done this because games during that time are $1.29 each – far less than the usual freight.
When we started going every week, we practically had the place to ourselves. We told everyone we know about this recession-busting special, especially friends with kids or those facing employment challenges. This was one of the few options available for family fun that was affordable. Now, the place is jumping with activity. Lots of families ... especially with young kids.
But this weekend we learned that AMF has apparently added a Highway Robbery Division to its organization chart. In two weeks, they will discontinue the $1.29 Sunday rate and open bowling will be $6.00 per game.
When I inquired about the change, the person at the “service” desk confirmed that starting in two weeks, yes, $6.00 per game. No explanation, no apology, no other special offer (frequent bowler miles) to mitigate the pain.
This is no simple rate change for understandable reasons. This is pure hostility. Message received: Dear Regular Customer – please go home and don’t come back.
We will.
He replies: “Yep” and most Sundays for the last six or so months, we have met at that time and place (on Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd.) to bowl two or three games, then go out for lunch.
We’ve done this because we’ve come to enjoy bowling and we’ve done this because games during that time are $1.29 each – far less than the usual freight.
When we started going every week, we practically had the place to ourselves. We told everyone we know about this recession-busting special, especially friends with kids or those facing employment challenges. This was one of the few options available for family fun that was affordable. Now, the place is jumping with activity. Lots of families ... especially with young kids.
But this weekend we learned that AMF has apparently added a Highway Robbery Division to its organization chart. In two weeks, they will discontinue the $1.29 Sunday rate and open bowling will be $6.00 per game.
When I inquired about the change, the person at the “service” desk confirmed that starting in two weeks, yes, $6.00 per game. No explanation, no apology, no other special offer (frequent bowler miles) to mitigate the pain.
This is no simple rate change for understandable reasons. This is pure hostility. Message received: Dear Regular Customer – please go home and don’t come back.
We will.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
The close of our most cynical year
What? Chest pains for Limbaugh?
I mean, can you STAND the thrilling irony of him being in a hospital in Hawaii (yep, the same one where Obama wasn't born) and is admitted for chest pains that my have indicated a heart attack.
Hey, I've been around for this stuff. It's scary. We've lost dear friends who didn't act quickly enough. If your chest hurts, take an aspirin and get thee to a hospital.
So, now Limbaugh emerges, all okay, holds a press conference to announce that because they found nothing wrong, America's healthcare system needs no fixing. I don't rall when, in the debate of '09, anyone suggested that medical care needed reform -- you know -- that nurses and doctors were bumbling fools who couldn't tell a rash from a tumor. I thought it was the funding -- the insurance aspect that needed reform, so that a millionaire got the same basic treatment as the groundskeeper at his hotel. I must have missed something while watching balloon boy coverage or the Tiger-tree-tramp channel.
Doesn't he care that this same hospital was part of this long conspiracy to give us a Kenyan as our president?
How does he conclude that there's no need for reform? Because they ran tests on him, found nothing and he didn't die?
He forgets, I guess, about the many examples (Chicago mayor Harold Washington comes to mind) who walked out of their doctor's offices with a clean bill of health and then dropped dead of a heart attack.
This was a stunt, kids. Complete fakery. Rush has no proof and, since he ripped my president even after he provided proof FROM THE SAME HOSPITAL, I will reject any/all proof that may subsequently flow.
He will blow hard on this for months if not the whole year. I'll never believe he was in distress. Never believe this was ANYTHING but a publicity stunt from a guy with absolutely no ethical standard. None.
Happy New Year Rush!
I mean, can you STAND the thrilling irony of him being in a hospital in Hawaii (yep, the same one where Obama wasn't born) and is admitted for chest pains that my have indicated a heart attack.
Hey, I've been around for this stuff. It's scary. We've lost dear friends who didn't act quickly enough. If your chest hurts, take an aspirin and get thee to a hospital.
So, now Limbaugh emerges, all okay, holds a press conference to announce that because they found nothing wrong, America's healthcare system needs no fixing. I don't rall when, in the debate of '09, anyone suggested that medical care needed reform -- you know -- that nurses and doctors were bumbling fools who couldn't tell a rash from a tumor. I thought it was the funding -- the insurance aspect that needed reform, so that a millionaire got the same basic treatment as the groundskeeper at his hotel. I must have missed something while watching balloon boy coverage or the Tiger-tree-tramp channel.
Doesn't he care that this same hospital was part of this long conspiracy to give us a Kenyan as our president?
How does he conclude that there's no need for reform? Because they ran tests on him, found nothing and he didn't die?
He forgets, I guess, about the many examples (Chicago mayor Harold Washington comes to mind) who walked out of their doctor's offices with a clean bill of health and then dropped dead of a heart attack.
This was a stunt, kids. Complete fakery. Rush has no proof and, since he ripped my president even after he provided proof FROM THE SAME HOSPITAL, I will reject any/all proof that may subsequently flow.
He will blow hard on this for months if not the whole year. I'll never believe he was in distress. Never believe this was ANYTHING but a publicity stunt from a guy with absolutely no ethical standard. None.
Happy New Year Rush!
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Healthcare Reform
Can you make sense of this debate anymore? I don't claim to speak for anyone but myself. I don't claim to have any special knowledge or insight on the topic of making it affordable for people to get good healthcare, but I will say that before they take away my Jell-o, I have moment of clarity I'd like to share.
What insurance is and isn't
I'm 51 years old. When I was a kid, my mother took me to a pediatrician. She paid on the way out, I imagine. Point is -- my dad worked for an insurance company -- one of the giants. They weren't in the transaction. You had health insurance for the unfortunate event of your being in the hospital. It was hospital insurance.
That's because being in the hospital was extremely expensive -- something you need insurance for -- like you house burning down or a devastating car accident. Insurance is meant to be what's called an aleatory contract -- one that depends on a contingency event. The truth is that in life insurance school they describe insurance as a bet.
In life insurance, the company's betting that you're going to live to be 100. You're betting that you'll die tomorrow. It's a crazy business.
Somewhere along the way, the notion came along ... during the 80s and early 90s, it seems to me, that a new financial model should exist for delivering healthcare. Just as Hillary and Bill were talking about reform, the industry declared that it was innovating. Welcome, managed care.
And then, something happened. Your health insurance company was in every transaction. They decided whether or not you needed a specialist. They decided how many visits it would take to treat you. It was a big game of "Mother, May I?"
And with their involvement came the main reason that insurance companies make money -- administrative cost. When I came to North Carolina in the late 1970s, Blue Cross and Blue Shield pridefully shouted that they were terrific because they had administrative costs of five or six percent. Their top executive at that time certainly made under $200,000. Middle and lower managers made in the $25k range -- about one tenth of what the CEO made. At that time, in the Triangle area of NC, you could buy a nice house for $50,000 to $65,000. A palace for $125,000.
The CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Bob Greczyn, is retiring. In 2005, he made over $2 million. Last year, he made just under $4 million. My guess is that he can smell the fresh breeze of reform and thinks that this may affect his exit strategy (parachute). Best to get out quietly while there's still enough hot air to get the chute open.
In the late 1970s, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina operated as a non-profit, a status that it technically maintains today. The culture among its workers was essentially that of a non-profit -- that no one was working there expecting to get rich. It was like working for the public schools or a community hospital. It was doing work that served the public and doing it for cost.
It was the public option -- non-profit health insurance. That administrative cost 30 years ago? It was five percent, remember? Now, it's about 30 percent. Top execs making millions of dollars while jacking up rates year after year? Politicians who will not prohibit this with regulation?
Take it all apart. Pull out the playbook from long, long ago. Go back to hospitalization coverage. Go back to the insurance model (and dump the health management model). Who gets hurt? The Four Million Dollar Man.
Let's not call 911, shall we?
What insurance is and isn't
I'm 51 years old. When I was a kid, my mother took me to a pediatrician. She paid on the way out, I imagine. Point is -- my dad worked for an insurance company -- one of the giants. They weren't in the transaction. You had health insurance for the unfortunate event of your being in the hospital. It was hospital insurance.
That's because being in the hospital was extremely expensive -- something you need insurance for -- like you house burning down or a devastating car accident. Insurance is meant to be what's called an aleatory contract -- one that depends on a contingency event. The truth is that in life insurance school they describe insurance as a bet.
In life insurance, the company's betting that you're going to live to be 100. You're betting that you'll die tomorrow. It's a crazy business.
Somewhere along the way, the notion came along ... during the 80s and early 90s, it seems to me, that a new financial model should exist for delivering healthcare. Just as Hillary and Bill were talking about reform, the industry declared that it was innovating. Welcome, managed care.
And then, something happened. Your health insurance company was in every transaction. They decided whether or not you needed a specialist. They decided how many visits it would take to treat you. It was a big game of "Mother, May I?"
And with their involvement came the main reason that insurance companies make money -- administrative cost. When I came to North Carolina in the late 1970s, Blue Cross and Blue Shield pridefully shouted that they were terrific because they had administrative costs of five or six percent. Their top executive at that time certainly made under $200,000. Middle and lower managers made in the $25k range -- about one tenth of what the CEO made. At that time, in the Triangle area of NC, you could buy a nice house for $50,000 to $65,000. A palace for $125,000.
The CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Bob Greczyn, is retiring. In 2005, he made over $2 million. Last year, he made just under $4 million. My guess is that he can smell the fresh breeze of reform and thinks that this may affect his exit strategy (parachute). Best to get out quietly while there's still enough hot air to get the chute open.
In the late 1970s, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina operated as a non-profit, a status that it technically maintains today. The culture among its workers was essentially that of a non-profit -- that no one was working there expecting to get rich. It was like working for the public schools or a community hospital. It was doing work that served the public and doing it for cost.
It was the public option -- non-profit health insurance. That administrative cost 30 years ago? It was five percent, remember? Now, it's about 30 percent. Top execs making millions of dollars while jacking up rates year after year? Politicians who will not prohibit this with regulation?
Take it all apart. Pull out the playbook from long, long ago. Go back to hospitalization coverage. Go back to the insurance model (and dump the health management model). Who gets hurt? The Four Million Dollar Man.
Let's not call 911, shall we?
Friday, October 09, 2009
A humble U.S. President - imagine that
From the president's comments today:
"Good morning. Well, this is not how I expected to wake up this morning. After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, 'Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo's birthday!' And then Sasha added, 'Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up.' So it's good to have kids to keep things in perspective."
"Good morning. Well, this is not how I expected to wake up this morning. After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, 'Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo's birthday!' And then Sasha added, 'Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up.' So it's good to have kids to keep things in perspective."
Monday, October 05, 2009
The Founding Fathers? Really?!
The other day I caught a few seconds of video from one of this summer's town hall meetings. In particular, this was that numbskull woman at Rep. Barney Frank's town hall in which she made refernece to Obama being a socialist --- blah blah blah --- and the they showed clips of her and several other women casting fists of outrage ... all about how Healthcare reform is not what the founding fathers intended.
And then it hit me. I mean really hit me -- right between the eyes. I mean ... the founding fathers? These pristine politicians? These guys couldn't pass a declaration of independence without selling out to the southern states on the subject of their "peculiar institution" of slavery. Well-known was John Adams' opposition to slavery, but he signed the declaration for the sake of the country, leaving the struggle of institutional inhumanity for another day, another generation.
How could I have missed it before? Oh, my GOD, they are so right. And we should definintely act on this right away -- we must do only what the founding fathers wanted -- expressly intended to do, right? We must reverse this trend away from life in 1776.
So, let's start with you, loudmouth-lady-at-town-hall-meeting. Indeed, let's focus only on you. What the hell do you think you're doing speaking at a public political meeting? You have no right to do that. We're going to have to take that up with your husband and we will expect him to beat you for your outrageous and shameful behavior.
And he'll have every right to do it. Every legal right. You are, after all, his chattel. That's right - his property. Oh, the African Americans made all the headlines as slaves, but women were chattel transferred by marriage. Hence the term of the father "giving away" his daughter. She was his to give.
Healthcare? Honey, you don't have the right to refuse sex to your husband. It doesn't matter if this 11th pregnancy will kill you at 35. The man has his entitlement. You cannot own land and you're more than a hundred years from being able to vote. But yell at, argue with or otherwise speak out publicly to an elected official? Oh, no ... this would NEVER happen.
Such tools are these women who would do this bidding for the dopey right wing. These people who would, given the chance, revoke the 20th amendment, reverse the Voting Rights Act, reverse the Civil Rights Act, end Social Security, end Medicare and who would not stop at reversing Roe v. Wade ... oh no. They would go all the way back to Griswold v. Connecticut and wind it all back.
Well, sorry loudmouth lady, but your right to say stupid crap like this in public is much too important to the rest of us.
And then it hit me. I mean really hit me -- right between the eyes. I mean ... the founding fathers? These pristine politicians? These guys couldn't pass a declaration of independence without selling out to the southern states on the subject of their "peculiar institution" of slavery. Well-known was John Adams' opposition to slavery, but he signed the declaration for the sake of the country, leaving the struggle of institutional inhumanity for another day, another generation.
How could I have missed it before? Oh, my GOD, they are so right. And we should definintely act on this right away -- we must do only what the founding fathers wanted -- expressly intended to do, right? We must reverse this trend away from life in 1776.
So, let's start with you, loudmouth-lady-at-town-hall-meeting. Indeed, let's focus only on you. What the hell do you think you're doing speaking at a public political meeting? You have no right to do that. We're going to have to take that up with your husband and we will expect him to beat you for your outrageous and shameful behavior.
And he'll have every right to do it. Every legal right. You are, after all, his chattel. That's right - his property. Oh, the African Americans made all the headlines as slaves, but women were chattel transferred by marriage. Hence the term of the father "giving away" his daughter. She was his to give.
Healthcare? Honey, you don't have the right to refuse sex to your husband. It doesn't matter if this 11th pregnancy will kill you at 35. The man has his entitlement. You cannot own land and you're more than a hundred years from being able to vote. But yell at, argue with or otherwise speak out publicly to an elected official? Oh, no ... this would NEVER happen.
Such tools are these women who would do this bidding for the dopey right wing. These people who would, given the chance, revoke the 20th amendment, reverse the Voting Rights Act, reverse the Civil Rights Act, end Social Security, end Medicare and who would not stop at reversing Roe v. Wade ... oh no. They would go all the way back to Griswold v. Connecticut and wind it all back.
Well, sorry loudmouth lady, but your right to say stupid crap like this in public is much too important to the rest of us.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Klan is Loose
If you haven't had the privilege of marching against racism or confronting KKK members face-to-face, you may have trouble with this -- they look like regular people. They don't glow in the dark. They're shopping in the next aisle at Wal-Mart.
SC Rep. Joe Wilson is but the most obvious (and perhaps most recent) example of what the political divide really is over President Obama - it is that element in our society that reduces down to "Can't you see he's black?"
As I've written before, when I first talked to my boss, who is African American, about Obama, I said that one of the things I love about him (as a politician and an admirable figure) is that "he's as much mine as he is yours." He laughed. We agreed.
When you hear the robots chanting whatever Beck and Limbaugh tell them to say, it's all about bankrupting the country, big government and freedom -- presumably from tyranny. Yet they had no worries over 7 years of "emergency" war funding that cleaned out the treasury, no concerns over illegal wiretapping of citizens, and attribute torture to trusting Jack Bauer (a fictional guy from the TV series "24") to do the right thing in the infamous and equally fictional "ticking bomb scenario."
Don't chase down the details that reveal what those torture sessions really did. They did what Cheney wanted them to do -- elicited false confessions. More sand to throw in the umpire's face.
But it always comes back to an intense effort to keep Americans afraid of what Obama "really" wants to do. Sinister motives about ruining the country, "indoctrinating" children and killing senior citizens. And John McCain sits quietly, yet his leadership could really matter right now, on these points. He and Lindsay Graham, who are great friends and used to show signs of caring about some level of simple respect for the presidency, could single-handedly save their party from the lunatic fringe. They could take to the floor of the Senate and say, for the record, that they are disgusted by these tactics and all calling for ALL Republicans to cease and desist or risk being called out by Obama for lying and being called out by them -- for the record, every time. Graham would be the front runner for 2012 overnight and McCain would take a position in political history that he wants - Statesman.
But instead, he sits, Twittering and refusing to apologize for exposing the country to the possibility of Sarah Palin being near an important button. Even more important than "send."
And the Republican party has the bark stripped off it, revealing that those who remain and who support and allow these egregiously racist threats to our president ... those who continue to call themselves "Republicans" or even "Conservative" are now the so-called Christian Knights of the Republican Party. They are to Christianity what binLaden is to Islam.
They are dangerous and they are neither crazy nor stupid.
It's so much easier to dismiss people who you think are "limited" in the grey matter department. That's not what we have here. We have White Supremacy, secret societies (see C Street). Convinced of their superiority, they do not fear jail or disgrace. They fear only the non-white becoming powerful.
Don't dismiss them. Stay with the facts. Be like Barack -- who looked like Jackie Robinson at the podium on Wednesday night. You don't answer a heckle like that. You stare, shocked that the white hood slipped off briefly, revealing the face of hatred. Barack said everything by saying nothing, but oh, my, what must have run through his mind ...
Mr. Wilson, you're no Strom Thurmond.
Mr. Wilson, you dropped your torch and pitchfork. Please see the Sargent-at-Arms on your way out.
Mr. Wilson, thank you for making the pro-choice argument better than I've ever heard it.
SC Rep. Joe Wilson is but the most obvious (and perhaps most recent) example of what the political divide really is over President Obama - it is that element in our society that reduces down to "Can't you see he's black?"
As I've written before, when I first talked to my boss, who is African American, about Obama, I said that one of the things I love about him (as a politician and an admirable figure) is that "he's as much mine as he is yours." He laughed. We agreed.
When you hear the robots chanting whatever Beck and Limbaugh tell them to say, it's all about bankrupting the country, big government and freedom -- presumably from tyranny. Yet they had no worries over 7 years of "emergency" war funding that cleaned out the treasury, no concerns over illegal wiretapping of citizens, and attribute torture to trusting Jack Bauer (a fictional guy from the TV series "24") to do the right thing in the infamous and equally fictional "ticking bomb scenario."
Don't chase down the details that reveal what those torture sessions really did. They did what Cheney wanted them to do -- elicited false confessions. More sand to throw in the umpire's face.
But it always comes back to an intense effort to keep Americans afraid of what Obama "really" wants to do. Sinister motives about ruining the country, "indoctrinating" children and killing senior citizens. And John McCain sits quietly, yet his leadership could really matter right now, on these points. He and Lindsay Graham, who are great friends and used to show signs of caring about some level of simple respect for the presidency, could single-handedly save their party from the lunatic fringe. They could take to the floor of the Senate and say, for the record, that they are disgusted by these tactics and all calling for ALL Republicans to cease and desist or risk being called out by Obama for lying and being called out by them -- for the record, every time. Graham would be the front runner for 2012 overnight and McCain would take a position in political history that he wants - Statesman.
But instead, he sits, Twittering and refusing to apologize for exposing the country to the possibility of Sarah Palin being near an important button. Even more important than "send."
And the Republican party has the bark stripped off it, revealing that those who remain and who support and allow these egregiously racist threats to our president ... those who continue to call themselves "Republicans" or even "Conservative" are now the so-called Christian Knights of the Republican Party. They are to Christianity what binLaden is to Islam.
They are dangerous and they are neither crazy nor stupid.
It's so much easier to dismiss people who you think are "limited" in the grey matter department. That's not what we have here. We have White Supremacy, secret societies (see C Street). Convinced of their superiority, they do not fear jail or disgrace. They fear only the non-white becoming powerful.
Don't dismiss them. Stay with the facts. Be like Barack -- who looked like Jackie Robinson at the podium on Wednesday night. You don't answer a heckle like that. You stare, shocked that the white hood slipped off briefly, revealing the face of hatred. Barack said everything by saying nothing, but oh, my, what must have run through his mind ...
Mr. Wilson, you're no Strom Thurmond.
Mr. Wilson, you dropped your torch and pitchfork. Please see the Sargent-at-Arms on your way out.
Mr. Wilson, thank you for making the pro-choice argument better than I've ever heard it.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
How can we miss you if you won't go away?
Okay, the first guy who blames the media's intrusion in SC Gov. Mark Sanford's life for the breakup of his certainly doomed marriage gets a fat lip. We're supposed to admire his candor, right? We're supposed to appreciate his sincere apology, right?
Naw. I just want one thing, one thing only -- please, Governor, shut the hell up. I don't want to read your blog or listen to you blubber about your self-indulgent, self-inflicted wounds. I want you to be decent enough to resign from a job that you ran away from and start caring more about your children's experience in this humiliating exercise than you do about your political future.
Another apology? SHUT UP man!
But before you go ... how about a check for all that booty call travel, huh? South Carolina's roads suck, the schools probably stink (obviously more Civics in high school is needed -- to elect better governors) and there are certainly many better uses for that money than your travel bill.
Naw. I just want one thing, one thing only -- please, Governor, shut the hell up. I don't want to read your blog or listen to you blubber about your self-indulgent, self-inflicted wounds. I want you to be decent enough to resign from a job that you ran away from and start caring more about your children's experience in this humiliating exercise than you do about your political future.
Another apology? SHUT UP man!
But before you go ... how about a check for all that booty call travel, huh? South Carolina's roads suck, the schools probably stink (obviously more Civics in high school is needed -- to elect better governors) and there are certainly many better uses for that money than your travel bill.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough
Hitting the bed last night, I reminded my husband that my life is the envy of three of the biggest stars in our culture. Certainly, this brought around his interest. "Huh?" he queried.
I explained:
In August 1958, four stars were born. Madonna, Michael Jackson, Sharon Stone and ... well ... me. We all know why the first three are considered iconic. Michael was in another orbit, though when we were both kids (Michael and I) my dad assured me that his singing fame would be fleeting. As soon as his hit puberty, he assured, his career would be over.
Message: study your Algebra.
But last night, I explained that I have what those four have only dreamed of having, and have suffered for its lack.
I have loved the same person for 32 years and he still loves me back. We have two beautiful children from that union and (most of the time) they love us back, too. I attended the college of my choice. I got a degree in a field that I love. In my paid work, I am privileged to, every day, help vulnerable people. in my volunteer work, I have been even luckier to do more of the same.
My life? My ordinary life? That's the real Thriller.
I explained:
In August 1958, four stars were born. Madonna, Michael Jackson, Sharon Stone and ... well ... me. We all know why the first three are considered iconic. Michael was in another orbit, though when we were both kids (Michael and I) my dad assured me that his singing fame would be fleeting. As soon as his hit puberty, he assured, his career would be over.
Message: study your Algebra.
But last night, I explained that I have what those four have only dreamed of having, and have suffered for its lack.
I have loved the same person for 32 years and he still loves me back. We have two beautiful children from that union and (most of the time) they love us back, too. I attended the college of my choice. I got a degree in a field that I love. In my paid work, I am privileged to, every day, help vulnerable people. in my volunteer work, I have been even luckier to do more of the same.
My life? My ordinary life? That's the real Thriller.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
It just makes me happy
Yeah. It's as simple as this. When I see this picture of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her Middle East visit, I just feel something.
It's change I can believe in ... cause I can SEE it. Look at all those women.
Look at them smiling.
Look at them looking upward.
I don't care what they're looking at. (I know it isn't the U.S. stock market) Sure there may have been pix like this with Condi Rice in them, or Sec'y Albright. I don't mean to diminish their contribution to breaking through ... it's huge.
But right now, it's just this picture.
Lately I wonder if we're going to make it. If the worst is coming. But you know what, this picture helps. Even at 3:00 a.m., when it seems the worst. This one of the official "first swing set." It helps me focus on tomorrow -- better than a thousand words could.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Bush's addiction
And let me just add ... In electing Bush, America traded a guy with a sex addiction for one with a gambling addiction. Safe to say that one was more costly than the other.
Look at Bush's conduct -- whenever he started losing, he doubled his bet. From Social Secuity to the so-called troup surge in Iraq. Like most gamblers, he doesn't understand the game he's playing from a statistical or scientific approach -- he thinks that winning has to do with his intestinal track -- does he feel lucky? They say don't play the cards, play the man across from you. All Bush came up with was craps.
You can stay in the casino a long time when you have your own Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Thankfully, not past eight years.
Look at Bush's conduct -- whenever he started losing, he doubled his bet. From Social Secuity to the so-called troup surge in Iraq. Like most gamblers, he doesn't understand the game he's playing from a statistical or scientific approach -- he thinks that winning has to do with his intestinal track -- does he feel lucky? They say don't play the cards, play the man across from you. All Bush came up with was craps.
You can stay in the casino a long time when you have your own Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Thankfully, not past eight years.
Obama's First Press Conference
If you missed my comment to Maureen Dowd's comment page (and I'm SURE you did!):
I had a dream last night ... it was that in his first press conference, Obama would look out over the White House press corps and see Maureen Dowd and smile. "Glad to see you back, Ms. Dowd," he'll say. Secondly, that he'd look down into the first row and say, "Helen Thomas, you get the first three questions and any followups you need. These youngsters can wait their turn."
I've dreamed of crazier stuff.
-----------------------------------------------
Have you noticed about our incoming president that he calls on reporters respectfully? He calls them by their surnames and their media affiliation? "Chuck Todd, NBC News," he says. Not like when Bush would call on David Gregory of NBC news --- "Stretch," he'd say, the nickname due to Gregory's height.
I cannot wait to hear Helen Thomas's first question for Obama. It will be no softball, I expect, but I'm just grateful that she's still pitching. When she finally did get to ask Bush a question or two, she peeled the bark off the guy. Asked him why, when all of his excuses for the Iraq war turned out to be wrong, why was he really so determined to invade that country. I stammered, he insisted that al Queda was too in Afghanistan, dammit. Yeah, but she was asking about Iraq, dumbass.
Will I miss having a guy with the nuclear codes who's a dumbass? Nope. Not even a little.
I had a dream last night ... it was that in his first press conference, Obama would look out over the White House press corps and see Maureen Dowd and smile. "Glad to see you back, Ms. Dowd," he'll say. Secondly, that he'd look down into the first row and say, "Helen Thomas, you get the first three questions and any followups you need. These youngsters can wait their turn."
I've dreamed of crazier stuff.
-----------------------------------------------
Have you noticed about our incoming president that he calls on reporters respectfully? He calls them by their surnames and their media affiliation? "Chuck Todd, NBC News," he says. Not like when Bush would call on David Gregory of NBC news --- "Stretch," he'd say, the nickname due to Gregory's height.
I cannot wait to hear Helen Thomas's first question for Obama. It will be no softball, I expect, but I'm just grateful that she's still pitching. When she finally did get to ask Bush a question or two, she peeled the bark off the guy. Asked him why, when all of his excuses for the Iraq war turned out to be wrong, why was he really so determined to invade that country. I stammered, he insisted that al Queda was too in Afghanistan, dammit. Yeah, but she was asking about Iraq, dumbass.
Will I miss having a guy with the nuclear codes who's a dumbass? Nope. Not even a little.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Yes, they are dropouts
So, I'm sorry ... what?!
Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, has proven me wrong by giving birth to the latest unexpected Palin. Twig, Branch, whatever the poor kid's name is. Bristol's dear mother defends her darling daughter's having dropped out of high school to have her baby by declaring:
"You need to know that both Levi and Bristol are working their butts off to parent and going to school and working at the same time," the Alaska governor told the magazine in a phone message. "They are certainly not high school dropouts."
Yah. Actually the deal is that when you leave high school without a diploma, you have dropped out. If they get GEDs, they still did not graduate ... they got equivalency certificates. Look it up.
When I first went to college, I went for a semester and then stopped going. I got a job, I got married, I moved to another state, I worked for a few years, then I had my first child. But all the time, I was a college dropout. Years later when I took a single course at UNC, I didn't start calling myself a college student who was also working. I called myself a working person who was taking a college course.
And I was still a college dropout. I'm not now, but I was then. And my pay and lack of career opportunities reflected it.
Governor Dipsh*t, you fail (as usual) to grasp the more important question ... why must the GOVERNOR's daughter drop out of high school? Just because she's pregnant? Lots of girls stay in school and finish during and through a pregnancy. And they don't have a staff to assist in childcare and personal transportation. For heaven's sake, why in the WORLD have Levi's parents allowed him to dump high school and be a gopher for an electrician (apprentice ... yeah, right). And all the while the Washington press is wagging their never-tiring tongues about Palin's prospects for president in 2012.
Thankfully, this pinhead will only be busying herself with screwing up her own family and creating promotional video for the turkey industry. Please, America. Keep her out of the lower 48.
Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, has proven me wrong by giving birth to the latest unexpected Palin. Twig, Branch, whatever the poor kid's name is. Bristol's dear mother defends her darling daughter's having dropped out of high school to have her baby by declaring:
"You need to know that both Levi and Bristol are working their butts off to parent and going to school and working at the same time," the Alaska governor told the magazine in a phone message. "They are certainly not high school dropouts."
Yah. Actually the deal is that when you leave high school without a diploma, you have dropped out. If they get GEDs, they still did not graduate ... they got equivalency certificates. Look it up.
When I first went to college, I went for a semester and then stopped going. I got a job, I got married, I moved to another state, I worked for a few years, then I had my first child. But all the time, I was a college dropout. Years later when I took a single course at UNC, I didn't start calling myself a college student who was also working. I called myself a working person who was taking a college course.
And I was still a college dropout. I'm not now, but I was then. And my pay and lack of career opportunities reflected it.
Governor Dipsh*t, you fail (as usual) to grasp the more important question ... why must the GOVERNOR's daughter drop out of high school? Just because she's pregnant? Lots of girls stay in school and finish during and through a pregnancy. And they don't have a staff to assist in childcare and personal transportation. For heaven's sake, why in the WORLD have Levi's parents allowed him to dump high school and be a gopher for an electrician (apprentice ... yeah, right). And all the while the Washington press is wagging their never-tiring tongues about Palin's prospects for president in 2012.
Thankfully, this pinhead will only be busying herself with screwing up her own family and creating promotional video for the turkey industry. Please, America. Keep her out of the lower 48.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Brilliant - get used to it
When Doris Kearns Goodwin, Michael Beschloss and other, lesser historians write about the earliest days of the Obama administration, they will use just one word (over and over again)about tomorrow's announcement of Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State: Masterstroke.
Taking those you have defeated in a process no one would call easy and converting those individuals to not only campaign allies but key leaders in your administration takes a level of courage, conviction, vision and personal security that we have not seen in 50 years. But ya know what? We're gonna have to adjust, because this kind of thing is going to be the rule, not the exception under President Obama.
Recall those chilling words from Ted Kennedy's eulogy of his brother, Bobby -- about looking at things and asking "why?" and how Bobby looked at things that never were and asked "Why not?"
This is no political maneuver. This is not stunt casting. It will bring the standard of political unity to a level where dummies cannot play -- where your intellect can overwhelm your competitiveness -- where the need of the country trumps your need to score points against any opponent. Most politicians cannot play in this sandbox. They're just not smart enough, haven't read enough, they can't see the horizon. Too many are just plain stuck on stupid.
But not Hillary. She has overcome an enormous burden (her husband's history) to live her own story, find her own voice and subsequently prove that, in fact, it really is Hillary who is the superior politician in the family.
I sleep better these days. The smart kids are about to take over the class again. I'm good with that.
Taking those you have defeated in a process no one would call easy and converting those individuals to not only campaign allies but key leaders in your administration takes a level of courage, conviction, vision and personal security that we have not seen in 50 years. But ya know what? We're gonna have to adjust, because this kind of thing is going to be the rule, not the exception under President Obama.
Recall those chilling words from Ted Kennedy's eulogy of his brother, Bobby -- about looking at things and asking "why?" and how Bobby looked at things that never were and asked "Why not?"
This is no political maneuver. This is not stunt casting. It will bring the standard of political unity to a level where dummies cannot play -- where your intellect can overwhelm your competitiveness -- where the need of the country trumps your need to score points against any opponent. Most politicians cannot play in this sandbox. They're just not smart enough, haven't read enough, they can't see the horizon. Too many are just plain stuck on stupid.
But not Hillary. She has overcome an enormous burden (her husband's history) to live her own story, find her own voice and subsequently prove that, in fact, it really is Hillary who is the superior politician in the family.
I sleep better these days. The smart kids are about to take over the class again. I'm good with that.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
The night post election
Now it's the night post election
and all through the land
it seems that our history's
taken us by the hand
To say "now be brave
and -- to doubt -- don't you listen."
We all watch Obama
our eyes start to glisten
Can this be for real?
have we lept passed the past?
Have we become like real grownups?
FOR REAL??? AT LAST?!
Not quite, says Barack,
we've just now begun
to get to this peak
may render us weak
The climb will be tough
and it's barely begun
This is one big step, but still only one
As the mountaintop calls us,
we now can ascend
It is each other on which we'll depend
And then all the world will see once again
at REAL America -- worth dying to defend.
and all through the land
it seems that our history's
taken us by the hand
To say "now be brave
and -- to doubt -- don't you listen."
We all watch Obama
our eyes start to glisten
Can this be for real?
have we lept passed the past?
Have we become like real grownups?
FOR REAL??? AT LAST?!
Not quite, says Barack,
we've just now begun
to get to this peak
may render us weak
The climb will be tough
and it's barely begun
This is one big step, but still only one
As the mountaintop calls us,
we now can ascend
It is each other on which we'll depend
And then all the world will see once again
at REAL America -- worth dying to defend.
Monday, November 03, 2008
The night before election
T'was the night 'fore election
and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
'cept the click of a mouse.
The yard signs displayed
all the candidates there
To air the debate
in our public square.
The children all sleeping
'cause it's 3 a.m.
Just their parents are worried
'bout election mayhem
With Papa - oh, the maverick
and his sidekick, Ms. Wink
Thinking of their election
Could drive you to drink
But then, on TV, there arose such a clatter
I sprung from my LazyBoy to see ... what's the matter?
And what to my wandering eye should appear?
It's Barack and Michelle and their children, so dear
We're a family, they said, just like you and yours
and lifting you up is all in our plan
So sleep tight and have faith
then go vote -- Yes We Can.
and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
'cept the click of a mouse.
The yard signs displayed
all the candidates there
To air the debate
in our public square.
The children all sleeping
'cause it's 3 a.m.
Just their parents are worried
'bout election mayhem
With Papa - oh, the maverick
and his sidekick, Ms. Wink
Thinking of their election
Could drive you to drink
But then, on TV, there arose such a clatter
I sprung from my LazyBoy to see ... what's the matter?
And what to my wandering eye should appear?
It's Barack and Michelle and their children, so dear
We're a family, they said, just like you and yours
and lifting you up is all in our plan
So sleep tight and have faith
then go vote -- Yes We Can.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
President Obama will transform us
My boss is African American. I am Caucasian. During our regular one-on-one meetings, we sometimes veer into talking politics. We've discussed, over the last two years, the dramatic change that a President Obama would bring. My line for him was then (and is now) that the best thing about Barack Obama - the very particular thing that will send his presidency into its own category - "he's as much mine as he is yours."
My beloved Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, completely nailed it when he asked Obama recently if he was worried about the "Bradley effect" -- the prospect of white voters lying to pollsters about how they will or did vote. Obama rightly dismissed the notion. Why shouldn't he? After 50 primaries and no sign of the phenomenon, it should be long-ago rendered to history.
Oh, no, Stewart asked again. But Senator, since you mother was white, aren't you worried that you may get in the voting booth and vote for McCain out of fear?
Cut to Obama, with his right hand trying to restrain the crazed action of his left. Is there something funnier than this?
NO!
How the markets will soar next week, brimming with the confidence that America has stepped away from the ugliness of the Bush-Rove-divide-and-conquer era. That crap that debases us all. And perhaps most impressive is that Howard Dean's 50 state campaign approach has DELIVERED. Forget this nonsense about only winning the big states ... the coasts and urban centers. Obama's model is tectonic ... in fundraising, in organization ... in sheer style.
So, I'm jazzed. Very, very jazzed. I'm relieved. I'm so thrilled to see what blogging has done to provide the fact-checking and anti-bullshit meter that the conventional media failed to provide in 2000 and 2004. We NEVER should have invaded Iraq. We NEVER should have engaged in the outrageous and illegal activities of rendition, torture, wiretapping of Americans and politicizing the justice department. This darkness is nearly done.
Let the wattage begin.
My beloved Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, completely nailed it when he asked Obama recently if he was worried about the "Bradley effect" -- the prospect of white voters lying to pollsters about how they will or did vote. Obama rightly dismissed the notion. Why shouldn't he? After 50 primaries and no sign of the phenomenon, it should be long-ago rendered to history.
Oh, no, Stewart asked again. But Senator, since you mother was white, aren't you worried that you may get in the voting booth and vote for McCain out of fear?
Cut to Obama, with his right hand trying to restrain the crazed action of his left. Is there something funnier than this?
NO!
How the markets will soar next week, brimming with the confidence that America has stepped away from the ugliness of the Bush-Rove-divide-and-conquer era. That crap that debases us all. And perhaps most impressive is that Howard Dean's 50 state campaign approach has DELIVERED. Forget this nonsense about only winning the big states ... the coasts and urban centers. Obama's model is tectonic ... in fundraising, in organization ... in sheer style.
So, I'm jazzed. Very, very jazzed. I'm relieved. I'm so thrilled to see what blogging has done to provide the fact-checking and anti-bullshit meter that the conventional media failed to provide in 2000 and 2004. We NEVER should have invaded Iraq. We NEVER should have engaged in the outrageous and illegal activities of rendition, torture, wiretapping of Americans and politicizing the justice department. This darkness is nearly done.
Let the wattage begin.
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