i've chosen

the washington post

On January 28, 2007 I was among a group of 14 Democrats that met at a local restaurant to talk about the 2008 Democratic Presidential Candidates. My daughter and I were both quoted in the article which focused a lot on Hilary Clinton. Anyway, it was fun and interesting...and I can't believe I didn't blog about it then.

Fast forward 8 months to Friday, October 5, 2007. Ten of the 14 of us reconvened with Dan Balz (yes, that's the reporter's name...BALZ...thank goodness he isn't a middle school teacher). It was interesting because at the first meeting, we were all undecided...that was part of how we were selected to be interviewed. This time many have not only picked a candidate, but are working for them...making phone calls, knocking on doors, etc. I am still undecided.

I really enjoyed the 90 minute conversation about politics. 90 minutes talking about something that I love to discuss...with no one calling someone a "pinko commie liberal" or something like that. I haven't had that for a long time. Not that everyone agreed, that's for sure. The first time we met, everyone was fairly agreeable that, as democrats, we had a great group of people to pick from. Keeping in mind that we were all undecided, we still had our favorites, but for the most part, there weren't any harsh words or anything even close. This interview was a bit different. There were a few emotions. Not like tears or actual anger or anything like that...but still emotional. For example, there were two women that sighed loudly and rolled their eyes every time Sen. Clinton was mentioned. Of the top tier of candidates, Clinton is my least favorite for several reasons...but I was still a bit offended or maybe a better way to put it would be worried. What I didn't say...but should have....

There were insults flying, especially toward Sen. Clinton, and I think that's dangerous. It is quite likely that she will be the candidate...no matter what Iowans think. If she is...we best not be screaming insults her way at this time...it could come back to bite us in the ass. Not that I think this little article in the WaPo is going to bring Hillary down!! But I think, Democrats, as a whole need to be careful what they say. Do I think we should lie? Hell no. However, I bet if I asked those two women if they thought Clinton was qualified to be president...if I asked them if she would do a good job....they would say yes. They happen to think another candidate would be a better selection...but that doesn't mean that Clinton sucks. It goes back to what we all said during the first interview...we are lucky...we have several very qualified candidates to choose from. Unlike the other side of the political arena....YIKES, some of these guys are scary as hell.

Here is a link to the article, although Zoot Daze said that he didn't learn anything from it, you might want to give it a quick read (my quote is on page 2). Below is the picture that was published with the article. YUK! Mainly I put it here because of the typo that was published with it. Geez.



According to this online quiz, "my candidate" is either Gravel or Kucinich (neither of which I would caucus for). All that does is confirm that I am a freak, I suppose. :-) I don't mind though. So I'm a freak. Could be worse.

plan 2

In my experiences, progressives/liberals/democrats are empathetic, they care about fairness and equality for all, they want every vote to be counted, every person to be represented even if it means losing elections. We are free thinkers. We are advocates for the underdog. We are just plain good people.

It is because of all this that I am stuck with a bit of a dilemma. Stick with me as I explain...

One thing that Republicans are very good at doing is sticking together, no matter what it takes. They support the party, verbally, monetarily and at the polls, no matter what. They don't "one issue vote" they vote for the party. Here is a perfect illustration of what I am getting at....this example is taken from Crashing the Gate (a book that everyone should read)...I added the links within the quote, of course....

"Back in 1994, Newt Gingrich was putting the finishing touches on his ten-point Contract with America, a document to be sprung in the closing weeks of the midterm elections that would present the nation with a tangible, governing blueprint for the conservative agenda. Ralph Reed, then president of the Christian Coalition, demanded that Gingrich turn over one of the ten points to him, allowing the Contract to also address those "moral values" voters the Christian Coalition was motivating and turning out for Republican candidates nationwide. Gingrich refused, saying, in so many words, "Look Ralph, don't worry about it. You sell this to your flock and when we take over Congress, we'll take care of your issues." The rest, of course, is history. Gingrich helped sweep out the long-entrenched Democratic majority in the House. Reed didn't just give Gingrich tacit approval. The Christian Coalition spent over $1 million promoting the Contract, and added untold hours of volunteer work for Republican candidates." *snip* "Gingrich eventually repaid Reed's favor by publicly backing the Christian Coalition's Contract with the American Family, which included the usual antiabortion, antigay, anti-arts, and antiscience laundry list. Plus tax cuts."

They take care of each other.

On Tuesday, there is a special election in Linn County. This special election will determine how we will elect future County Supervisors. The gist of each plan can be found here (along with a recent Gazette Poll)...a quote from link below...

"Voters will have to pick one from the three choices below: • Plan One: At Large; all board members would be elected by the entire county. They may live anywhere in Linn County. This is the system the county has now. • Plan Two: At large by District; all board members would be elected by the entire county, but the board member must live within the district they represent. • Plan Three: District by District; board members must live in the district they represent and only those voters within the district may vote for those board members."

Plan 1 is just dumb, so I won't even discuss it.

The dilemma lies between Plan Two and Plan Three.

Looking at this, you would think that any good Democrat would vote for Plan Three. After all, it is the most "fair" -- each district in the county represented by a member of the district and elected by their "peers" -- their neighbors, the ones that know them best. But, Republicans are backing Plan Three, not democrats. Why? Because the small, rural communities of this county notoriously vote Republican....even if the county as a whole leans left. If Plan Three is selected, it is almost guaranteed that more Republican board members will be elected.

Plan Two is better for the Democratic Party and here is why.....Each district will still be represented on the board by a local resident, but because it's "At Large (by District)" I get to help pick each representative, regardless of where I reside within the county (me and the other more Democrat-rich parts of the county). In theory then, Dems will have an better opportunity to maintain the majority on the board. So, I am going to learn a bit from the Republican Machine and forget about the "fairness" factor, and vote for the Dems...really it's just thinking big picture. In the end, more Dems elected is better for the county (in my opinion, of course).

I will be helping take care of the Democrats by voting for Plan 2 in the upcoming special election...and I encourage all Linn County Democrats to do the same. (Republicans can too, I don't mind).

weather...wet, windy and political

Last night our area of the nation was invaded by thunder, lightening, rain, tornadoes, and in my parent's case, straight line winds.

I love thunderstorms. When I was a kid I remember sitting in front of our picture window in the living room watching the lightening and counting how many seconds until the thunder arrived. Looking back I think it was something that my mother suggested so I wouldn't be afraid of storms.

Last night Scott and I sat in his dark, electricity deficient house looking a videos like this and this and this on my laptop (we borrowed a bit of internet access from the neighbors across the street that seemed to have the electricity required to power a router). Ghandi, the dog, was at our feet, concerned only about the fact that this was only his second day in the new house, not giving a hoot about the weather (Emmie would've been under the bed, of course).

My mom, dad, and sister were also in the dark....with a very large tree branch on their house.


As I woke up this morning, I heard Bill Clinton talking. I wasn't having a dream. I had left the TV on when I fell asleep last night, and Bill was on Good Morning America. The interview is here. I almost cried. Not because he said anything all that profound, or worth tears. I almost cried because I had forgotten what it was like to have a Leader that spoke intelligently. Bill Clinton, complete with southern drawl, used words other than uhhh.....ummmm....and hard work. Not only did he pronounce the words correctly, he also used them in their proper context, without whining or acting defensive. His tone of voice was that of a confident, intelligent, caring, man. He didn't talk down to anyone.....and he certainly didn't sound like he was power hungry. How sad that I had forgotten what it was like to have a Commander in Chief to be proud of (well, except for that little sex thing -- but at least he knew how to lead, well, and SPEAK).

There was another story on GMA this morning that I found quite disturbing. This story was about a woman suffering from cancer. Her insurance company refusing to pay for treatment. Video here. Story here. Mary Casey was diagnosed with a very rare sinus cancer, "so rare there are no drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat it." The article goes on...

"Despite surgery and months of radiation, the aggressive cancer spread to Casey's lungs. But doctors said her cancer was slow growing, and that there was hope in a popular cancer drug called Tarceva. But when Casey went to fill her Tarceva prescription at the pharmacy, her insurer, Coventry Health Care of Kansas, denied her coverage for the drug, saying it considered Tarceva experimental in her case, even though Tarceva is FDA approved for other lung and pancreatic cancers."

The thing is, a different insurance company did cover it for another woman...with the same cancer....and of course her cancer has stabilized. You might think that I found this story disturbing because of the insurance company's refusal to save this woman's life. And well, yes, that is part of it. I became infuriated, however, when Mary Casey said she would just pay for it...and was told it would cost over $4000 per month. No wonder the insurance company refused.

Don't even get me started on pharmaceutical companies.

I called my mom. She had power by six AM, and was ready to clean up the mess.

Most of their little town was effected by straight line winds. When we drove into town this morning to help out, many of the roads were blocked off by tree limbs and even whole trees that littered the streets. Like many small towns after a storm, there were people driving and walking all around checking out the damage, and helping clean up where ever they could. The city trucks were out picking up the debris and the electric company was fixing the downed lines and poles all around town. There was a constant buzz of chain saws in the air.

My sister drove to the store to get some lunch. When she came back she was concerned because my first grade teacher, Mrs. Tooms, had a large tree down and there was no one helping her. We were lucky to have my brother's in-laws help us with the tree......with no chain saw of our own (an no business using one) we couldn't really help Mrs. Tooms.

We continued to work on picking up the many sticks and leaves littering the yard. Everyone was outside...all the neighbors were working....stopping only for a short recap of where they were when the big storm hit.

It was great to see everyone out and helping each other. With a president like ours, pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies being like they are, sometimes I forget that people can be really, really good.

As we left town, we drove by Mrs. Toom's house. There were a half dozen people in her yard....working....while she and a few wee ones watched from the porch. I called my sister to tell her.

Sometimes I am very glad to live in Iowa.

do you know any?

My nephew sent me the YouTube video that I have embedded below. You should probably watch it...maybe...but as I was watching it I got angry. Very angry actually. It's interesting. It was pretty well done. Watch it, then I will tell you why I am angry....



You might think that my anger would be focused on "the people" that this "movie" wants me to be mad at -- these people that are not "supporting the troops" or "hate" them or whatever.

But that's not it.

You might think that my anger would be about showing photographs of all of these grieving families ....or showing a dead soldier in an open casket.

But that's not it either.

You might think that it would be because this video only shows caucasian men and women (with a few exceptions).

Not it.

Putting a face on war? Nope, I actually don't mind that part.

I know nothing about the person that created this video. Maybe this was some form of healing for her or something. I'm all for that. It's creative...and it may have been therapeutic for her. No problem there.

When I first started watching it....I was thinking that it might be something about continuing to show support for the troops, even though life has gone on back here...they are still there...putting their lives on the line....living in less than stellar conditions....we need to remind them that we are thinking about them, that we love them, that we support them, etc. Maybe some sort of a reminder to send them mail, care packages, etc. Once again, I'm all for that.

But then I got angry. And not even at Bush. :-)

I'm angry because it's really propaganda...Right wing, Bush supporting, oil-mongering, SUV driving, wire-tapping, prisoner torturing, (etc) propaganda. Who in the hell doesn't support our troops? "Some people hate me." it says. Who in the hell hates our troops, as this video claims?????

Is it the demonstrators?

There are many people out there participating in demonstrations that promote peace. They do not hate the troops. They love peace.

There are many people out there that participate in anti-war demonstrations. They do not hate the troops. They hate this war (and probably Bush).

There are many more people out there that do nothing. They don't hate the troops. They are just living their lives.

The majority of people in this country think we should no longer be in Iraq. Some have known that all along...and others have seen the light as this civil war continues to escalate and more and more soldiers are maimed and killed....or just forever scarred emotionally and/or physically. They don't hate the troops. They love the troops and want them home.

There is a very, very small religious group of people that are protesting at various funerals around the country -- soldier's funerals.

They are nuts.

They might hate the troops. In fact, they probably hate the troops. But I bet they don't watch YouTube videos.

Are these the people at which this video is aimed? I have no idea the actual number, but I can't imagine that there is more than a fraction of one percent of people in the United States of America that fall into that category. Yes, even one person is too many....but don't imply...or say outright...that there are all these people that hate the troops. Americans learned a lot from Vietnam (excluding the Bush administration, apparently). Where are the people that is video is meant for?

Maybe I'm naive. Maybe there are more of them out there than I think...but I really find that hard to believe....do you know ANY??

wow

You might cry....

the presidential solution

As usual, I have all the answers...and they were found in a children's book.


Today my students heard a book called The Empty Pot by Demi. It solves our presidential dilemma.

Ping, the main character, is a bit of a green thumb. He can make anything grow. And he's in luck....the emperor is trying to choose his successor. You see, the emperor has no heir, so someone from the village must be chosen. So he gives everyone seeds, and the person that can grow the best plant/flowers, gets to become the next emperor!! Surely it will be Ping.

Well, everyone is successful, except the resident master gardener, Ping. Full of fear and disappointment, he takes his empty pot to the emperor on the big decision day. The emperor is upset with all the flowers and beautiful plants, because he had given COOKED beans to everyone...none of the plants/flowers should have grown. So Ping, the only one with an ounce of integrity is then given his due....and he becomes the next emperor.

See? Now if only I could convince the rest of the world that's what we need.

Where was Demi in 2000???