non-angry political woman

why the no-fly

2010-11-19T09:32:00.003-06:00

When I posted my "I won't fly" statement on Facebook, someone commented that this was a bad idea because it would penalize the airlines, already in financial straits, for something the federal government is doing that I dislike. Yes! That's exactly right! We put the screws into the airlines and then they will go to Congress and tell them to do their job in oversight and make TSA be more sane. A

airport "security"

2010-11-15T17:22:00.002-06:00

I am again compelled to take to the airwaves (or internet tubes) and make an opinion known. It has come to my attention that the new scanners in airports are essentially electronic strip searches. If you don't want to subject yourself to having TSA flunkies look at pictures of you naked, as well as the exposure to unknown amounts of radiation, then they do a pat-down search and feel around

my health care "analysis"

2010-03-25T11:02:00.002-05:00

I wasn't planning to revive this blog with a discussion about the health care bill, so I put this in a Facebook note. Almost 40 comments later there, I had a request to link it but I keep my FB privacy settings locked down. So I'm putting it here where I allow open access to read it (but moderated comments, as an FYI). And no, I'm not restarting this blog right now - baby #3 is due in 5 weeks.

one year mark

2009-09-05T16:57:00.001-05:00

Today is the one-year anniversary of this blog. I set a target of posting at least once a week for a year, and here we are. A year. There was a flurry of posts at the beginning with the presidential election last fall, and now I've had another run in the past month about health care. This is Post 204.The political world certainly isn't getting more calm. Just in the next 5 days, President Obama

I'm about done with this discussion

2009-09-04T22:24:00.003-05:00

A new status line is popping up all over Facebook that goes, with slight variations here and there, like this:No one should die, go blind, or be crippled because they can't afford health care. No one should go broke because they get sick. No one should be unable to change jobs because of a "pre-existing condition." If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.So ponder

this is NOT ABOUT YOU!

2009-09-03T11:52:00.001-05:00

There's a sequence in the Pixar movie "The Incredibles" where Bob and Helen are arguing about whether or not Dash should be allowed to go out for sports in the middle of their disagreement about Bob wanting to relive the glory days of being Mr. Incredible. Helen shouts at Bob, "This is NOT - ABOUT - YOU!" My 3-year-old has picked up this line and whenever she gets mad at me for something, she

I pledge allegiance to ...

2009-09-02T22:39:00.003-05:00

Barack Obama?In January with the inauguration, there was a 4-minute video posted on YouTube of a whole bunch of celebrities, saying "I pledge" this and that and very obviously supporting Obama. I posted about it then but blew it off then as something silly from a bunch of stupid actors, and then I completely forgot about it. It's popped up again.A school principal in Utah (of all places) showed

radical health care idea - eat your veggies!

2009-09-01T21:47:00.002-05:00

This article is a couple of weeks old, but good thoughts at any point ...The CEO of Whole Foods Market had a column in the Wall Street Journal on August 11, outlining his thoughts on health care reform. His position is that obviously it's needed, but his ideas are quite different from the legislation in Congress right now. He has 8 specific suggestions relating to cost transparency, Health

health WHAT reform?

2009-08-31T22:39:00.001-05:00

I came across two different articles recently that clarified a little more for me a large problem I have with the health care reform proposals currently being shopped around ...I point out that both authors are Democrats because I think it's important to note that this is not a Republican vs. Democrat cut-and-dry split. There are many Democrats who think that the Pelosi bill is a piece of junk ..

Democrats' party of No

2009-08-28T23:09:00.001-05:00

The Republicans in Congress have been called - rightfully so, in many cases - the Party of No. The goal for many seems to go no higher than just stopping the Democrats from doing anything. There is very little offering of different ideas and solutions for the various problems facing the country right now.And then there are the Democrats and their Party of No. NO discussion, NO debate, and

grassroots? or astroturf?

2009-08-26T22:01:00.001-05:00

Aaaand ... we're back to health care.So in the middle of all the Ted Kennedy memorials, I came across this article on Politico about the more-than-500 rallies planned in the next week by the Democratic National Committee, and its "grassroots" organizations, Organizing for America and Health Care for America Now. The article even referred to these organizations as "grassroots."Now correct me if

not even 24 hours

2009-08-26T21:30:00.003-05:00

Nineteen hours ago (1:30 a.m. Eastern today), the news broke that Senator Ted Kennedy had died. Within minutes, we already had people using his death to wave the pass-health-care-instantly flag.The President has promised a bill will be passed in some form or another and the Kennedy death might be the symbolic impetus that is able to get a bill through the Senate and House. The SYMBOLIC IMPETUS?

thought for the day

2009-08-22T18:26:00.005-05:00

Not the usual source for a politics blog ... I'm reading "The Jane Austen Book Club" by Karen Joy Fowler, and came across this comment from one of the characters about her first husband who was a politician. Seems to be a good thing to keep in mind when the next (and every) election rolls around ... No one with real integrity tries to sell their integrity to you. People with real integrity hardly

some people's weird ideas of the sacred

2009-08-17T21:39:00.001-05:00

I stumbled across this article this morning on CNN - Say goodbye to Saturday mail? The columnist gives a little history how Post Office delivery worked from the time it was created, and apparently there was too much of a public outcry to cut delivery on Saturdays ... back when Eisenhower was the President. Even though the Postal Service is leaking money like a sieve and regular stamps are now up

who's the boss?

2009-08-12T19:30:00.000-05:00

At a town hall meeting yesterday, Adam's former boss Senator Specter (switched to D-Pennsylvania) said this to his already very angry constituents:"I’m encouraging constitutional rights. I’m encouraging constitutional rights by coming to Lebanon to talk to my constituents. I could be somewhere else. I don’t get any extra pay — I don’t have any requirement to be here." The crowd immediately

today's health care reading

2009-08-11T13:50:00.001-05:00

Washington Post: Obama set to push back in town hall meetings. It's not the headline on the actual article, but it is on the Post's home page. It automatically puts me on edge as being confrontational, which I have little doubt that the President will be. Don't. Like. It. Being condescending and telling people they're stupid is not a way to win support for your program, Mr. President.Washington

whose health care are we paying for, anyway?

2009-08-10T22:51:00.003-05:00

If you're not completely bored with the health care debate, or even if you are ... here's an interesting article from Saturday's Wall Street Journal written by a British doctor:Health care reform: do animals or people get better care?I'm really not sure how to describe or summarize it ... but he does make an excellent point that it's acknowledged everywhere that Americans subsidize the entire

Congress knows best

2009-08-10T22:19:00.001-05:00

And in other news that's not health care related ...The Wall Street Journal is running a little series about Congress ordering a bunch of executive jets for the Air Force - to travel around in themselves of course.Congress gets an upgrade, Aug. 7. This first article had very interesting tidbits of information like, House members (not including the Senate) spent 3000 days overseas last year alone

Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde

2009-08-07T22:27:00.002-05:00

Is it just me, or is President Obama - Mr. Cool himself - slipping into a Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde mode?Peggy Noonan's column this week has a list of recent Democratic reaction to the uprising in town hall meetings and other places to protest the health care bills:~ Accusations that the people showing up at town hall meetings are paid by insurance companies to be there. It's not "grassroots," it's

digging for clarification

2009-08-06T15:16:00.001-05:00

Two things have come up in the Republican opposition to the House health care bill that are scaring the tar out of people, and rightfully so if they're true. I've had friends email to ask if I understand what's going on, and even my mom called to ask about some things. So I've done some digging around and here's what I've come up with.The easy one first ... does the House bill require people on

he really went there

2009-08-05T22:52:00.002-05:00

I've never heard of this happening, and my jaw is on the floor that it's actually out there. There's a new post on the blog on the White House's webpage asking that people report "fishy" information about the health care stuff directly to the White House, defined as "disinformation" and "rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation."That sounds a lot

guest post: the doctor's perspective

2009-08-04T22:35:00.001-05:00

My friend Lili has sent me some rather lengthy emails in the past few days about the health care debate. Her husband is a doctor doing his residency and she has other family members in the medical profession. And boy, do they have things to say about the House bill! This is a composite of two different things Lili sent me. Some things to think about ...Being that my hubby is a doctor and he

health care monkey wrench: demographic realities

2009-08-03T22:12:00.002-05:00

An interesting aspect of the health care issue that isn't talked about much (that I've seen anyway) is the demographic shift occurring across the country right now. I found this article in the Economist over a month ago - "The end of retirement" - and it raises some good points about the average lifespan that are very applicable to the health care debate, like this:When America set up its Social

what about ...?

2009-07-27T23:17:00.001-05:00

Spencer and Abby make some good points in the comments here, where I oppose the requirement of everyone in the country having health insurance. I'm still not sold. I've seen many suggestions and ideas in comments on various articles and editorials about the health care bill. So that I'm not a party-of-No Republican ... here are a few things that strike a cord with me that I could support:1. What

Mississippi's Congressional health care report

2009-07-23T09:50:00.004-05:00

I asked all of you to contact your members of Congress about the health care bill, so here's my report on what I did ...Senator Cochran has nothing on his website about it, so I called his office. The staff said that he has not released a statement on the issue yet (which is a bit odd, since the debate is full blast now), but that he generally does not support government run health care. I left

more health care plan concerns

2009-07-23T09:15:00.001-05:00

Besides the mandate to buy health insurance or be penalized through paying fines, my number one concern about the health care bills is the astronomical cost estimates that keep coming out of the Congressional Budget Office. Their latest numbers are that will add $200 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years, and that's just by evaluating an outline of the bill instead of the actual language

pay up, suckers - health insurance required

2009-07-22T12:02:00.001-05:00

There are many things that are seriously disturbing about the health care proposals floating around in Congress, not the least of which is the astronomical cost. But what bothers me the most is the requirement that every adult in the US have health insurance, and the government plans to verify this by making it part of the annual tax filing and under penalty of paying a fine (4th paragraph of the

guest post: thought for the day

2009-07-22T08:00:00.003-05:00

A thought from Adam:If you're going to complain about something the government is doing, offer a better solution. Otherwise, you're just being critical and destructive and abrogating your responsibility as a citizen. Not to mention terribly naive and cowardly since most people criticizing public policies have never had the temerity to actually have an independent thought themselves or put their

fundamental conflict

2009-07-21T21:50:00.001-05:00

I'm reading the book Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis, and in the first 20 pages, I came across one of the most interesting perspectives on American political history that I've ever read:With the American Revolution, as with all revolutions, different factions came together in common cause to overthrow the reigning regime, then discovered in the aftermath of their triumph that they had

MIA: class

2009-07-15T06:29:00.002-05:00

I read the Declaration of Independence recently, and was struck by the vocabulary used in the text. It occurred to me that the Founding Fathers were the most wealthy, the most educated of their time. Even when they insulted their political opponents (and there was plenty of that), especially in writing, it was in the most formal language possible.It also occurred to me that one of the things

letting go

2009-07-14T14:27:00.001-05:00

I didn't want to even acknowledge Sarah Palin's resignation - maybe if we ignore her, she'll finally go away.But then I came across Peggy Noonan's article in Friday's Wall Street Journal - everything I would have said, and then some. You should just go read it. I wish people would actually listen to this stuff, and stop hailing Palin as the new icon of the Republican party!A couple of responses

judicial "activism"

2009-07-13T10:33:00.004-05:00

Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings to the Supreme Court begin today in the Senate. So of course there are all kinds of editorials flinging around the phrase "judicial activism." Sotomayor is part of the "struggle against conservative judicial activism." Sotomayor a liberal who imposes "judicial activism and personal bias" into her decisions. Blah blah blah. Lame. Both sides.What the phrase

the real reason, perhaps?

2009-07-07T06:35:00.002-05:00

So maybe THIS is the reason prescription drugs are so expensive and health care spending in general is through the roof ...The nation's largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues, according to an analysis of lobbying disclosures and other records. ..

Happy Independence Day

2009-07-04T15:55:00.005-05:00

'TIS THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER, OH LONG MAY IT WAVE(photo from www.si.edu - American History Museum)O'ER THE LAND OF THE FREE(Shenandoah Valley from Skyline Drive, Virginia)AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE(Eternal Flame at Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania)

houdini press conference

2009-06-29T06:59:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday, President Obama took over the ABC network for what seemed like the entire day - Good Morning America, Nightline, his staff was interviewed, and ABC even surrendered its primetime slot for a however-long "town hall" infomercial Q&A session direct from the White House. Health care plan, health care plan, health care plan.I didn't watch it because I don't have cable and have zero

Dear Mr. President

2009-06-26T21:20:00.003-05:00

I have no idea what's in the energy bill, and wouldn't understand it even if I did read it. But hey, I never had the chance to even TRY to read it! Pelosi dropped a 300-page amendment at 3:00 this morning, and there was exactly one copy of the bill on the House floor during the debate to vote on its passage. I'm not a fan of John Boehner, the House Republican leader, and what he did was a stunt.

WWJD

2009-06-26T11:11:00.007-05:00

Did you catch this last week? In court, in front of a judge, an attorney from the Department of Justice (overseen by the Obama administration now) said that documents of Dick Cheney statements about the Valerie Plame fiasco should not be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) because a politician in the future might refuse to cooperate with a criminal probe out of concern it will

one thing I actually agree with Obama on

2009-06-17T14:46:00.002-05:00

President Obama has started making the rounds to pitch his health care reform to the various groups who would be regulated by the bill - doctors, insurance companies, etc. He started with the doctors by attending a conference of the American Medical Association (AMA) on Monday and got boo-ed when he said that he would not put lawsuit damage limits in the legislation.I agree with Obama on this

letter to Senator Thad Cochran

2009-06-11T23:08:00.003-05:00

I sent this letter via email to Senator Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi) about 20 minutes ago. Yes, I put my full name and address on it. We'll see if I get a response.I read Dana Milbank's June 10 column in the Washington Post, and was appalled to learn that Senator Cochran was one of the voices insisting that the Defense Department continue with obsolete and unnecessary military programs and

vote No for incumbents

2009-06-11T22:55:00.002-05:00

So I was reading the Washington Post yesterday, after taking a couple of weeks off reading most political things to go camping, and this is the loveliness from Congress that greeted me ...Washington Post: Defending the nation from common sense. It's bits and pieces of transcript from a couple of Congressional hearings about appropriations (vocab: money allotted to a government agency) for the

guest post: waterboarding is torture

2009-06-02T21:51:00.005-05:00

I've debated for a long time about posting on the "torture debate." I have pages of draft paragraphs and tons of links to articles and opinion pieces from all sides. I decided to NOT post about it because well, I just don't feel like it. I want to focus on other things. That said, I'm feeling kind of pushed into this due to comments on some of the other posts, so I'm going to let Adam have at it.

at what point do you deliver?

2009-06-01T08:12:00.002-05:00

I saw on the news last night that an abortion doctor in Kansas was shot and killed yesterday. He was known for performing late-term abortions and had many threats against him. He'd even been shot before.This quote in the article stood out to me:His patients were "almost always in circumstances where something had gone horribly wrong with a pregnancy," and where a woman's health would be

credit card "reform"

2009-05-30T14:07:00.002-05:00

So President Obama got the credit card companies to agree with (or at least accept, since they don't like it) new restrictions on how they ding us with interest and fees and all - they have to give notice and not mess around with the billing cycles and stuff. I can't tell what's going on from the media reports I've seen - the news media is all over the place on whether or not this thing has been

just. don't. care.

2009-05-30T13:22:00.002-05:00

Among other things, this blog is for what I think about the political world. And right now, what I think is that the entire Grand Central area for the federal government - Capitol Hill and its surrounds up Pennsylvania Ave. to the White House, all the agency buildings up and down Constitution Ave. and Independence Ave. - all of it can just sink into the swamp that used to be there.~ Dick Cheney

Memorial Day concert

2009-05-22T10:44:00.002-05:00

The National Memorial Day concert in Washington DC is Sunday on PBS. We were planning to attend last year when we still lived in DC, and I regret not going. It was very moving, even just to watch it on TV. I recommend everyone watch it. And then go hug a soldier, or send a package to one overseas.

of note

2009-05-20T22:41:00.003-05:00

Adam told me about these two articles from last weekend about Robert Gates, the Secretary of Defense, and in particular these quotes:CBS News: Interview of Robert Gates by Katie Couric, May 17."The truth of the matter is being Secretary of War in a time of war is a very painful thing. And it's not a job anybody should like. How can you like a job when you go to Walter Reed and you know you sent

Huntsman strategery

2009-05-16T22:45:00.003-05:00

Jon Huntsman, current Governor of Utah, was announced today as Obama's nominee for Ambassador to China. (He does have to be confirmed by the Senate.) His resume' is a mile-long and it's spectacular for this job. He served an LDS mission in Taiwan, speaks Mandarin, has adopted a child from China, and has already served in two other administrations. He was the ambassador to Singapore under Bush 1

and here it comes ...

2009-05-16T21:04:00.002-05:00

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced this week that a "sweeping" health care bill would be passed on the House floor by July 31. That's ... less than 90 days from now. And guess how she's going to do that. Is anyone surprised that no Republicans are involved in writing the bill? Or for that matter, most of the Democrats either?I'm also less than impressed with the push by President Obama to present a "

smackdown

2009-05-15T22:45:00.004-05:00

The Governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, spoke at a college commencement last weekend, and pretty much laid the smack down on the narcissism of the Baby Boomer generation. Wow! Just ... wow! Way to tell it like he sees it!Here's the full text of the speech.Two significant segments:We Boomers were the children that the Second World War was fought for. Parents who had endured both war and the Great

a small revisit

2009-05-11T22:42:00.002-05:00

I know I said I wasn't going to talk about gay marriage again for awhile, but I just came across this link and had to share it.I love the premise of this column, by the way - it's on Slate, a fairly liberal publication. The column is called "Ask a Wingnut," and it's questions answered by a former Bush official who chooses to be anonymous and goes by the pseudonym "Wingnut." I'm definitely adding

yeah ... not so much

2009-05-11T08:38:00.003-05:00

About a week ago (sorry I didn't post this then), I picked up on some reports about the National Counsel for a New America - the latest Republican effort at getting their feet under them to be a viable party. The catchphrase from their introductory letter:This forum will include a wide open policy debate that every American can feel free to participate in. We do this not just to offer an

still digging

2009-05-08T15:38:00.000-05:00

Change in Washington? Still waiting for it ... I'm still reading about stupid things from both sides of the political spectrum.The Democrats' contribution ... the Air Force One fly-by over New York City followed by fighter jets, which set off a panic that it was going to be 9/11/01 all over again. People even evacuated their buildings. Why? The flight was conducted "to take publicity photos of

and the seat goes to ...

2009-05-06T17:58:00.000-05:00

Jeff Sessions! Sessions from Alabama will be the new Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the head Republican for that side of the dias. ACK! I am, to say the least, not a fan.Back in the day before he was elected to the Senate, Sessions was nominated to be a judge in a federal court in Alabama, and it was eventually defeated because he was considered to be racist. (Side note -

Romney - Cantor 2012

2009-05-06T16:49:00.000-05:00

I think this would be the coolest Republican ticket because of how the evangelical nutheads would get stuck ...Mitt Romney is a former Governor of Massachusetts and a Mormon. Eric Cantor is the current 2nd in command of the US House Republicans (called the Whip) and is actually thought to be doing a decent job among the Republicans, and he's Jewish.So when Huckabee and his religious extremist

this one's personal

2009-04-28T22:04:00.003-05:00

Today's announcement of Senator Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania) changing from the Republican to the Democratic party hits close to home. Adam worked on Specter's committee staff when Specter was Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and we have a number of friends still on that staff ... well, until today anyway.Adam emailed one of them today, and apparently they were given no notice. Specter called a

guest post: political labeling

2009-04-25T10:42:00.003-05:00

Spencer put this in the comments on an unrelated post as a suggestion of something to discuss. I like the idea and he phrases it nicely. So rather than mangle his thought, I'll just repost it as a guest post. Politics (especially angry politics) loves labels! It gleefully paints people in broad brushstrokes (often derogatory) to silence or dismiss them. It over simplifies to stifle debate and

next up on the black market: tomatoes

2009-04-23T23:03:00.002-05:00

I saw it floated on Facebook and a couple of other sites (like here and here), and even had it land in my email ... that Congress is/was about to outlaw backyard gardens via a bill that is supposedly going to regulate food safety and farming. No fresh tomatoes right off the vine. No neighborhood zucchini-fests. Soon, we will not be allowed to have any homegrown produce at all!Even though it's

what matters today

2009-04-22T13:31:00.005-05:00

I've hit a wall with writing here and have zero motivation but still feel like I should maintain consistent posting ... so I went through a number of drafts that I have sitting in the files. Those aren't really grabbing my attention either. The topics and notes are all purely reactionary - what are my thoughts relating to X subject that has surfaced in the news, and some links about it.Part of my

behold the tax man cometh

2009-04-15T23:13:00.001-05:00

Happy tax day! Ha ha ...I found this column the other day in the Clarion Ledger (the big newspaper for Mississippi) which comments directly about a new cigarette tax here, and also outlines the writer's thoughts about general principles for taxation in the first place. They made a lot of sense to me.My general opinion about taxes is that they're a necessary evil. No, I don't like having my

last thoughts for the time being

2009-04-15T22:24:00.003-05:00

Rights and privileges for gay people are apparently something I need to talk about in small doses. It gets way too heated for a sustained conversation. And I obviously did not express myself particularly well in the original post, so I'm going to (briefly) try to explain it again.Despite my religious convictions that homosexual behavior is immoral, I am doing my best to understand where gay

getting to the core of the matter

2009-04-13T15:12:00.002-05:00

On The Moderate Voice blog, the link to this blog and my thoughts about religious freedom relating to the gay marriage debate has triggered quite the string of comments. I don't think I've ever seen that many comments on ANY post on that blog ... most (all?) of the comments express the opposing perspective to mine (some respectfully, others not so much), but it's still been interesting to read.I

it's all over the place

2009-04-11T19:06:00.005-05:00

Besides the Washington Post article, the other thing that set me off about the gay marriage issue was a number of posts on The Moderate Voice, my favorite mainstream political blog that I read all the time. Every post about gay marriage insinuated - and in a lot of cases, said straight out - that anyone opposed to gay marriage is a bigot and/or a religious wacko.Among other things, I emailed this

where are the religious protections?

2009-04-10T10:24:00.006-05:00

I've stayed out of the same-sex marriage debate for quite awhile now, but the scales have finally tipped enough for me to say something.Marriage is defined in the dictionary as a legal, contractual relationship between a man and a woman. The religious connotation of marriage is well-established as most people are married in churches by a member of clergy rather than at City Hall by the mayor.

live discussions

2009-04-09T17:56:00.000-05:00

If you're interested in some actual discussions now occurring on this blog, go here and here. So far, they're done by just a couple of people but I'm finding the exchanges pretty interesting so I thought I'd point them out. And please don't feel intimidated about adding your own comments - that's certainly not anyone's intention.

how much noise do we make when we're angry?

2009-04-06T22:02:00.000-05:00

Let's set aside this "non-angry" gig for a bit to get mighty pissed off, shall we?Washington Post: Administration seeks an out on bailout rules for firms, April 4. Through unnamed sources (of course), there are allegations that the Obama camp is trying to worm its way out of making financial firms who receive bailout money actually submit to Congressional restrictions on the money. Because heaven

the "Limbaugh challenge"

2009-04-06T20:46:00.001-05:00

The other day, a friend posted this editorial from the LA Times on Facebook titled "Take the Limbaugh Challenge." Basically, the writer challenges Democrats to listen to Rush Limbaugh's entire show every day for a week. His charge is that people who say they disagree with Limbaugh have never even listened to his show - they just dismiss him out of hand based on what they hear from (of course) the

Republican reform reading

2009-03-31T15:11:00.004-05:00

If you're bored or really interested, here's a cross-section of what I've come across in the past 5 months in all of my reading about Republican reform efforts or non-efforts, as the case may be ... These are in order of publication date, starting in November right after the election.Note: Yes, there are a lot of articles here from The Moderate Voice blog. For one thing, there are a lot of posts

R is for ... a Really big mess

2009-03-31T14:27:00.002-05:00

I've been tracking Republican party "reform efforts" since the election in November, and I'm just now sifting through all the shouting and noise to try to figure it out. I've been reading tons of articles and editorials and blog posts - I have over 50 things bookmarked on this subject alone ... The circular firing squad is at full blast.After reading and reading and reading, here's the summary:

quote of the week

2009-03-20T20:45:00.002-05:00

Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) announced recently on MSNBC that he and some other Democrats in the Senate have begun to meet regularly to discuss how moderate Democrats can be more involved in pulling legislation back toward the center, rather than the far left swing it has been heading towards. Of course the Administration is not happy that he is "less than helpful in seeking to push Obama's

teacher, I have a question

2009-03-19T22:20:00.000-05:00

Last week, President Obama gave a speech at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that outlined his "five pillars" of education reform:1 - early childhood education programs like Head Start,2 - better testing standards and assessments,3 - incentives for new teachers,4 - supporting charter schools, changing the school calendar and the structure of a school day,5 - providing everyone with higher

automatic pay raises for Congress

2009-03-16T22:12:00.001-05:00

I read somewhere the other day that in the budget bill passed last week, there was a provision that Congress was eliminating its own automatic pay increase. It turns out that I was too optimistic that Congress would get its head out and start acting like there's actually national economic trauma occurring here ... eliminating the automatic pay increase was never under serious consideration. It

abortion followup

2009-03-16T21:02:00.004-05:00

In the comments on my post about FOCA, Wade put some links to "non-religious" pro-life resources:the writings of Nat Hentoff, an atheist pro-liferFeminists for LifeI really appreciate these links, because quite frankly, I see it as a problem within the religious community (of all faiths) that when discussing moral issues in the political context, a lot of people rely solely upon the "God said so"

fighting FOCA

2009-03-09T22:47:00.003-05:00

Yep, I'm really going there ... abortion ...There's a lot of talk floating around about the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which basically forces abortion on demand nationwide. The text of the Senate bill, as introduced in the last Congress in 2007, is short and has only a couple of substantive sentences:1. A government may not deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose to bear a child, to

global ... warming?

2009-03-09T06:48:00.001-05:00

We started off the new year here with some ironic humor from last year, and now we have some more ...Every time - and it does seem to be every single time - there's some kind of DC rally in the spring about global warming, the city gets hit with a snowstorm. There was one last week and sure enough! Snow. (Notice all the winter attire in the photo link.) Enough that Speaker Pelosi and another

feedback

2009-03-05T18:47:00.005-06:00

Today is 6 months since I started this blog ... my attempt at a legitimate contribution to the public discourse on politics and (mostly the federal) government. How am I doing?1. How did you find the blog? (Do I know you?)2. How often do you read it?3. Are my thoughts clear, or do they come across as rambling?4. If you're not familiar with DC and how the federal government really works (as

government sunshine

2009-03-02T22:48:00.002-06:00

Transparency in government was a major campaign promise from Obama - no secret meetings to write legislation, no rushing things through without giving people a chance to read the bill, etc. Not that any of that has happened yet because it hasn't ... but it was a nice promise! It's something that a lot of people are pushing for ...I found this blog post over the weekend, and it opened up hours of

with friends like these ...

2009-03-02T22:35:00.005-06:00

I said here that I'm concerned about the working relationship between President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi ... Obama wants to at least be friendly with the Republicans and try to work with them. Pelosi is undermining that and giving Republicans no reason at all to work with the Democrats, and in fact every reason to dig in their heels and be as uncooperative as possible. Pelosi's working

overwhelmed

2009-02-27T12:07:00.000-06:00

All kinds of things have been happening with Home and Family this week, keeping me occupied with everything except following what's been going on downtown at the Capitol. And of course, this is a bad week to not focus on that, what with President Obama addressing a joint session of Congress and saving the world in less than a week and all.The sheer numbers of the deficit, the stimulus bill, the

Vladimir Putin of all people ...

2009-02-19T10:24:00.004-06:00

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave this speech 3 weeks ago at a global economic summit in Switzerland. Someone tell me if he stuck in something nefarious somewhere, because if he did, I totally missed it. It reads to me as a dead-on assessment of what the heck happened to cause the economic fiasco. It also looks suspiciously like the economic and financial values that US Republicans

process matters

2009-02-18T14:31:00.003-06:00

Let me start by saying that I have no idea what's in the stimulus bill. For the purposes of this particular post, the content is irrelevant. It's the process by which the bill became law that makes me mad.Last Friday, President Obama was interviewed by a group of columnists (full transcript) and among other things, said this:"My bottom line was not how pretty the process was; my bottom line was

guest post: why I criticize

2009-02-17T22:47:00.004-06:00

My friend Drew posted the following on his Facebook page tonight. I appreciate how he criticizes specific policies rather than merely insulting the people who are attempting to enact policies that he disagrees with. It's something I aspire to, particularly with this blog. I'm not perfect by any means - my temper certainly causes me to slip a lot. I hope I'm getting better, so thanks for your

Guantanamo Bay closure

2009-02-17T08:16:00.005-06:00

Along with Dick Cheney's comments disparaging President Obama for deciding to not torture terrorist suspects, Cheney also is mad about Obama's Executive Order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison (full text in the link) where those terrorist suspects are being held. Someone asked me recently why this is such a big deal - aren't there other things that Obama should be focusing on, like the economy?

then what are we fighting for?

2009-02-17T07:42:00.000-06:00

I know I'm a week or two behind on these next 2 posts as far as responding to what popped up in the news - I started them but never finished, and I wanted to share these thoughts anyway.Last fall during the campaign, Sarah Palin made some snarky comments about Barack Obama's policy position for dealing with terrorists. A couple of weeks ago, Dick Cheney said darn near the exact same thing:"When

happy Presidents' Day

2009-02-16T22:09:00.006-06:00

Today is the day we're supposed to honor past Presidents, although what that entails besides the post office closing and a day off school, I have no idea. I've read a couple of biographies about former Presidents - Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, and I've started a biography about John Adams. My list of presidential biographies also includes George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James

cry me a river

2009-02-16T21:58:00.002-06:00

The other day, I was listening to NPR for the traffic report and caught a rather lengthy story about the decline in the gambling industry in New Jersey. The governor is promoting a specialized train route from Penn Station in New York City to Atlantic City solely to get people to go there to gamble in the casinos. The report talked about how the state budget for New Jersey is taking a big hit

that active citizen thing again ...

2009-02-10T14:02:00.002-06:00

I wrote my Guide to Active Citizenship a couple of weeks ago and now I have something specific to suggest ... a challenge of Change for Change. I have no idea who this person is - I came across the blog through Mormon Mommy Blogs. But this is fantastic, and exactly what I was talking about before.The challenge is to collect all of your spare change in a jar over the next few months and on June 15

the future for journalism

2009-02-09T21:56:00.003-06:00

Since I learned how to write from journalism classes, this stretch of stories is kind of personal for me. I've wanted to be a writer since I was about 10 - this blog is the latest incarnation of attempting to reach another level.I was an editor of my high school newspaper my junior and senior years (and wrote my freshman and sophomore years). I went to two 2-year colleges and worked on both

vague, vague, vague - what's in that thing anyway?

2009-02-06T15:53:00.002-06:00

Like I said in yesterday's post ... enough of the panic mode! Amen and amen to this post!I posted a message this morning on the White House email form saying basically that President Obama has not explained anything about the bill - he has only complained about Republican "partisanship" and instigated a "NOW NOW NOW" panic about passing it immediately. I find this offensive and insulting to the

Obama op-ed

2009-02-05T12:56:00.001-06:00

Well, what do you know! President Obama wrote an op-ed and it was in the Washington Post this morning. I figure it's in papers all over the country, but this is the only place I've seen it. For starters, wow! The President wrote an op-ed! Has that ever happened before?Buuuuut ... it's a total disappointment. Obama is just whining about those durned obstructionist Republicans playing with

calling the shots

2009-02-04T21:17:00.001-06:00

Item 2 that's making me see red ...So there are some crybaby Wall Street people saying that President Obama is out of line in setting an executive payscale for companies receiving bailout money. I saw it on the news tonight, so I don't have a link.I have just one response for these people:If you want MY tax money to save YOUR stupid company that YOU ruined with financial trickery that didn't hold

how stupid do I look here?

2009-02-03T22:16:00.002-06:00

I've been darn near frozen about writing (which is why this post is a day late) because of my Non-Angry mantra. In the past few days, I've become absolutely furious about a number of things relating to politics and government. I'm so mad I can't articulate anything without wanting to spike it with profanity, but my mother reads this blog ... and it wouldn't go well with the Non-Angry theme. So

more "stimulating" reading

2009-01-30T18:04:00.002-06:00

I was going to get back to Mon/Thurs night posting now, but these articles were too good to not share, and too timely to wait. They were all published today.Wall Street Journal: Look at the Time, by Peggy Noonan. Amazing piece of work.The Moderate Voice: Time to Cowboy Up, President Obama.The Moderate Voice: It's the Jobs, Stupid.Fox News: Influential Senate Dem Questions Party Support for

my Guide to Active Citizenship

2009-01-29T22:26:00.005-06:00

Edits added Friday morning to #1 and 7.So I've said a couple of times that President Obama has inspired me to be more active in my community, and someone finally asked me what I mean by that. So here is Treen's Handy Dandy Guide to Active Citizenship.1. Register to vote. And vote. Duh. This should need no further elaboration. I also hope it goes without saying that you should at least read the

sidenote to the stimulus

2009-01-28T22:43:00.002-06:00

The Republicans in Congress have let it be known that they were not included in preparing the stimulus package - it was all Nancy Pelosi and her staff. They were not even shown the legislation until a couple of days ago, and this thing has been in the works for over a month.It's all very nice that President Obama went to Capitol Hill yesterday to pitch it in person to the Republicans ... but

random thoughts on the stimulus package

2009-01-28T21:10:00.003-06:00

Let's call the "stimulus package" what it really is ... more bailout money, this time flung willy-nilly at a number of different things. I've become numb to the t-word - trillion ... it's so incomprehensible that it doesn't mean anything at all.So the economy is collapsing because people went into debt buying junk they didn't need - "keeping up with the Joneses" on crack - and because the lenders

great expectations

2009-01-26T21:35:00.002-06:00

Since President Obama was elected in November, the media has been all over the word expectations. They're astronomical. They're high pressure. I'm still waiting to find someone who thinks that he has a magic wand up his sleeve, but okay.Here are my expectations for the Obama Administration, based on things that he said during campaigning and in his nomination acceptance and inaugural speeches.1.

Obama reactions

2009-01-26T21:03:00.000-06:00

It seems like everyone I know has one of two reactions of Barack Obama becoming the President last week ... Reaction 1: very optimistic and excited as a 4-year-old on Christmas morning about the future of the country with an Obama Administration. Reaction 2: derisive to the point of being bitter about Obama's inauguration. I hear far more comparisons of Obama to Jesus Christ from people who do

American political "royalty"

2009-01-22T22:48:00.002-06:00

The prospect of continuing some major American political dynasties seems to have come up a lot lately. The Kennedys, the Clintons, even the Bush clan. First of all, there's Caroline Kennedy, JFK's daughter, who wanted to be appointed to the US Senate to replace Hillary Clinton. All day today, I heard conflicting reports that she's withdrawn her name from consideration, no she hadn't, yes she had

the American way of life

2009-01-22T22:09:00.001-06:00

In Obama's inaugural speech, and in speeches Bush has made over the past few years, the phrase "not going to apologize for our way of life" has popped up a few times. But what exactly is the American way of life?I figure Obama was referring to the "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" way of life ... the idealistic "land of the free and the home of the brave." And no, of course we don't

inaugural speech analysis

2009-01-21T10:58:00.003-06:00

I have no idea what this particular blog normally writes about, but I thought the general sentiment about Obama's speech was dead on - that a judgment on whether or not it was a "great" speech should be reserved until Obama has time to follow through on those lofty promises. Or not. Then we'll know if he meant it and we can point to particular phrases, or if it was just a lot of hot air. The