I guess it is just human nature, but most people take a "don't argue with a crazy person" attitude when they see another human that doesn't make sense. It seems like that is back-firing, as more & more people think that radical (and factually incorrect) points of view are normal. I think we really haven't adjusted as a society (or species) to the amplifying nature of media in our culture.
It is all about perspective. I picture a seed: planted in the soil, germinating, ready to sprout and break through the earth's crust. Whether that is good or bad depends on your POV. Are we ready to grow and transform? Or are we standing at the edge of a gaping fissure waiting to fall into blackness?
I don't think we need a 3rd party. But we do need a strong movement that defines itself outside of party and influences the process. And it better be aimed at a long term shift in thinking.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
What We Need Now More Than Ever… Community
In the last two weeks, communities all over Tennessee have been rocked by a widespread, almost slow-motion disaster. Flood waters rising and falling have left their muddy trail, high water marks 10, 15, 20 feet up in the trees. As I drive by the hollowed-out shells of what were warm and inviting homes a mere mile from my own, I see the world from the perspective of the water. Its nature unstoppable, always seeking its own level, flowing and filling regardless of what stands in its way. People, cars, roads, houses, trees, even mountains yield to water. Like a giant game of rock, paper, scissors: whether a rushing flow or in standing feet, water always get the last slap.
Today the shelters continue to live up to their name, water is still being distributed, food brought to families without kitchens. Clothing drives, volunteer demolition teams, cleaning supplies collected, each community brings its resources together and shares them: time, compassion, labor, food, love. I’m enthused by the unity, by the single-minded mandate: help each other.
And I hope, as we so often do, that it lasts. That as the waters recede, compassion and generosity do not recede with it. That as the homes are rebuilt, we do not rebuild our divisions and our distrust. For apparently there are those who still cling to their resentment as if it were a life raft in swift water. Those who refuse to be shaken awake, even by Interstates made rivers, malls and hotels made lakes, and homes made piles of mud & timbers. When I read emails comparing our flood to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, I shudder, hoping that it won’t actually take over 1800 lives lost for Tennesseans to fully understand why Katrina was far, far worse than our flood. Because if even this tragic flood that took 23 precious lives in Tennessee alone, over 30 in the region, that has put so many of us on equally desperate footing, can be used to march forward an agenda of fear and anger, then there truly is no bridge too far.
But, I have a deep faith in the power of transformation, and in the power of water. It’s not until something happens to wake us from our routines, when roads are cut off, when power is out, phone service spotty, or water is limited, that we see what we have truly lost: our connectedness to each other. We live in a great illusion that we are independent in our daily lives. Yet we don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone. We are all connected, interdependent, and that is what makes us strong. Our society, our laws, our culture, our ways all feed us and clothe us and let us make our way. Our common humanity grants us our liberty. One by one, people will discover that fact. I know that the weeks and months to come will be life changing for so many. In the months following my closest brush with disaster, the tornado that skipped over my son and I as we huddled on a neighbor’s front porch, I watched how the world changed before my eyes: my priorities shifted, my sense of gratitude deepened, and my willingness to listen to others, to value my relationships near and far, expanded.
We are given a great opportunity to renew our spirits, to rekindle our sense of belonging, not in a narrow, self-interested way, but in a broad sense of community-mindedness. In the midst of the communal upheaval we have all shared, a friend of mine suffered a tragic personal loss. Just today he said: “Sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair, but in reflection you realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, will power or heart. And so life trudges on.”
We will all trudge on.
Today the shelters continue to live up to their name, water is still being distributed, food brought to families without kitchens. Clothing drives, volunteer demolition teams, cleaning supplies collected, each community brings its resources together and shares them: time, compassion, labor, food, love. I’m enthused by the unity, by the single-minded mandate: help each other.
And I hope, as we so often do, that it lasts. That as the waters recede, compassion and generosity do not recede with it. That as the homes are rebuilt, we do not rebuild our divisions and our distrust. For apparently there are those who still cling to their resentment as if it were a life raft in swift water. Those who refuse to be shaken awake, even by Interstates made rivers, malls and hotels made lakes, and homes made piles of mud & timbers. When I read emails comparing our flood to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, I shudder, hoping that it won’t actually take over 1800 lives lost for Tennesseans to fully understand why Katrina was far, far worse than our flood. Because if even this tragic flood that took 23 precious lives in Tennessee alone, over 30 in the region, that has put so many of us on equally desperate footing, can be used to march forward an agenda of fear and anger, then there truly is no bridge too far.
But, I have a deep faith in the power of transformation, and in the power of water. It’s not until something happens to wake us from our routines, when roads are cut off, when power is out, phone service spotty, or water is limited, that we see what we have truly lost: our connectedness to each other. We live in a great illusion that we are independent in our daily lives. Yet we don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone. We are all connected, interdependent, and that is what makes us strong. Our society, our laws, our culture, our ways all feed us and clothe us and let us make our way. Our common humanity grants us our liberty. One by one, people will discover that fact. I know that the weeks and months to come will be life changing for so many. In the months following my closest brush with disaster, the tornado that skipped over my son and I as we huddled on a neighbor’s front porch, I watched how the world changed before my eyes: my priorities shifted, my sense of gratitude deepened, and my willingness to listen to others, to value my relationships near and far, expanded.
We are given a great opportunity to renew our spirits, to rekindle our sense of belonging, not in a narrow, self-interested way, but in a broad sense of community-mindedness. In the midst of the communal upheaval we have all shared, a friend of mine suffered a tragic personal loss. Just today he said: “Sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair, but in reflection you realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, will power or heart. And so life trudges on.”
We will all trudge on.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Just WHO Are They Listening To?
According to a very recent Pew poll, people are madder at the government than ever, but if you ask me, dissatisfaction has never been a rare phenomenon. What I did find very interesting was this fact:
“While the public is wary of too much government involvement with the economy,” the Pew study says, “it suspends that concern when it comes to stricter regulation of major financial companies. A clear majority (61%) says it is a good idea for the government to more strictly regulate the way major financial companies do business….”
That’s good news. It means that a common sense approach to Wall Street regulatory reform should sail through the Congress. Now that’s getting something accomplished the American way! But wait…
Why have 41 Republican Senators already written a letter stating opposition to the Wall Street Regulation bill? Doesn’t sound like they are listing to their constituents, does it? Or maybe it’s their corporate constituents, the ones that finance their huge campaign war chests, which have their ear. Maybe it’s the influence of banking industry lobbyists who greatly outnumber our elected representatives who are drowning out the voice of We the People.
I know this; it's time to hold these big banks accountable. Accountable to the nation whose strength allows them to prosper, and to the people whose character and hard work create the strength of this nation. We must establish the strongest consumer protections in this country's history, ensuring that taxpayers will never have their arms twisted like this again; forced to bail out irresponsible tycoons and fraudsters living lives of unconscionable waste at the expense of everyone else. We can no longer afford to pay tribute to the few who sap our country’s strength for their own narrow special interests.
I stand with President Obama to:
• Create the strongest consumer protections in history so that Americans always get the information they need to make smart financial decisions; and
• Rein in Wall Street abuses, hold the big banks accountable, and ensure that taxpayers never again have to bail them out; and
• Prevent lobbyist loopholes or exemptions from weakening reform.
Take action today to speak out about Wall Street Reform, demand it.
The President puts it best and I will close with his words and a call to action:
“While the public is wary of too much government involvement with the economy,” the Pew study says, “it suspends that concern when it comes to stricter regulation of major financial companies. A clear majority (61%) says it is a good idea for the government to more strictly regulate the way major financial companies do business….”
That’s good news. It means that a common sense approach to Wall Street regulatory reform should sail through the Congress. Now that’s getting something accomplished the American way! But wait…
Why have 41 Republican Senators already written a letter stating opposition to the Wall Street Regulation bill? Doesn’t sound like they are listing to their constituents, does it? Or maybe it’s their corporate constituents, the ones that finance their huge campaign war chests, which have their ear. Maybe it’s the influence of banking industry lobbyists who greatly outnumber our elected representatives who are drowning out the voice of We the People.
I know this; it's time to hold these big banks accountable. Accountable to the nation whose strength allows them to prosper, and to the people whose character and hard work create the strength of this nation. We must establish the strongest consumer protections in this country's history, ensuring that taxpayers will never have their arms twisted like this again; forced to bail out irresponsible tycoons and fraudsters living lives of unconscionable waste at the expense of everyone else. We can no longer afford to pay tribute to the few who sap our country’s strength for their own narrow special interests.
I stand with President Obama to:
• Create the strongest consumer protections in history so that Americans always get the information they need to make smart financial decisions; and
• Rein in Wall Street abuses, hold the big banks accountable, and ensure that taxpayers never again have to bail them out; and
• Prevent lobbyist loopholes or exemptions from weakening reform.
Take action today to speak out about Wall Street Reform, demand it.
The President puts it best and I will close with his words and a call to action:
“It has now been well over a year since the near collapse of our entire financial system that cost the nation more than 8 million jobs. To this day, hard-working families struggle to make ends meet.
We've made strides -- businesses are starting to hire, Americans are finding jobs, and neighbors who had given up looking are returning to the job market with new hope. But the flaws in our financial system that led to this crisis remain unresolved.
Wall Street titans still recklessly speculate with borrowed money. Big banks and credit card companies stack the deck to earn millions while far too many middle-class families, who have done everything right, can barely pay their bills or save for a better future.
We cannot delay action any longer. It is time to hold the big banks accountable to the people they serve, establish the strongest consumer protections in our nation's history -- and ensure that taxpayers will never again be forced to bail out big banks because they are "too big to fail."
That is what Wall Street reform will achieve, why I am so committed to making it happen, and why I'm asking for your help today.
Please stand with me to show your support for Wall Street reform.
We know that without enforceable, commonsense rules to check abuse and protect families, markets are not truly free. Wall Street reform will foster a strong and vibrant financial sector so that businesses can get loans; families can afford mortgages; entrepreneurs can find the capital to start a new company, sell a new product, or offer a new service.
Consumer financial protections are currently spread across seven different government agencies. Wall Street reform will create one single Consumer Financial Protection Agency -- tasked with preventing predatory practices and making sure you get the clear information, not fine print, needed to avoid ballooning mortgage payments or credit card rate hikes.
Reform will provide crucial new oversight, give shareholders a say on salaries and bonuses, and create new tools to break up failing financial firms so that taxpayers aren't forced into another unfair bailout. And reform will keep our economy secure by ensuring that no single firm can bring down the whole financial system.
With so much at stake, it is not surprising that allies of the big banks and Wall Street lenders have already launched a multi-million-dollar ad campaign to fight these changes. Arm-twisting lobbyists are already storming Capitol Hill, seeking to undermine the strong bipartisan foundation of reform with loopholes and exemptions for the most egregious abusers of consumers.
I won't accept anything short of the full protection that our citizens deserve and our economy needs. It's a fight worth having, and it is a fight we can win -- if we stand up and speak out together.
So I'm asking you to join me, starting today, by adding your name as a strong supporter of Wall Street reform:
http://my.barackobama.com/StandForWallStreetReform
Thank you,
President Barack Obama
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Defenders of Liberty Declare Tolerance Will Not Be Tolerated
When the Tea Party protests began last year, I’ll buy the idea that they grew spontaneously and naturally, their dissenting nature drawing them to the institutions of government. Namely, the parking lot in front of Hendersonville City Hall (long known as a hotbed of communist sympathizers and baby-killing Nazis, right?) where hundreds of disgruntled Republicans, disappointed in their Nov 2008 tromping at the polls gathered to stretch their First Amendment rights to complain at their government on April 15th 2009.
But wait, fast-forward to 2010. The spontaneous Tea Party movement in Sumner County has become the SURG, a highly organized, well nourished group whose main diet consists of John Birch newsletters, old Ron Paul Revolution signs, a sprinkling of kerosene to taste (just in case anyone feels an itch to burn something), and a high gloss frosting of pig’s lipstick. As advertised, the Tax Day Tea Party of 2010 includes fun booths for the kiddies, an essay contest for High Schoolers, restaurant sponsors hawking food, and supposedly, sound stages fit for a music super-star. Great I say. Hendersonville has no lack of municipal parks that anyone can reserve, provided they are sufficiently organized to safely adhere to the City’s regulations for use of public facilities.
But after being offered numerous parks locations and rejecting them because of their lack of proximity to Main Street, the SURG brain trust decided to have their event (I’m sure out of deep nostalgia) in the same City Hall Parking lot as last year. And when they requested a permit for the parking lot, law abiding and upstanding that they are, did they get one? No. Parking lots are public property, but not event facilities. To the extent that anyone can gather on public property, they are of course exercising their multitude of First Amendment rights : the right to freedom of speech, the right peaceably to assemble, and the right, perhaps most precious, to petition the government for redress of grievances. (Though what Hendersonville City Hall can do to repeal Health Care or stop the Bail Out, with their stimulus-money-air-conditioners sitting on the roof, I know not. But I get it: symbolism. Check.)
But to the extent that they gather on public property without a permit, they are beholden to the same laws as anyone else. And here is where it gets Rich, as in John Rich, the show-stopping music-star-cum-political-scion extraordinaire head-lining the infotainment portion of the program. How do you suppose the city and its citizens would look on it if you & I decided to show up some evening, set up a sound system and start blasting music, speeches, and so on? How about if we opened up a little food stand selling Barbeque in the median of a busy street, or on any grassy knoll the city mows? How about if we invite a few thousand people, Woodstock style, to an “impromptu” gathering? Well, you answer, we’d be shut down, asked to move on, fined, at the very least.
But you know what? Who cares, right? This is a movement! A liberty loving, all American, red-blooded, constitutionally approved event! And, card carrying Civil Liberties lover that I am, who am I to stand in the way of the First Amendment rights of any member of We the People? Agree or disagree, I will defend your right to say what you think hands down, no holds barred. And hey, I’m key instigator of my own event anyway, the Sumner County Democratic Party Civility Dinner (ya’ll come! Course we are having it at a privately owned community center that we have properly attained permission to use, but that’s beside the point.) So far be it for me to hypocritically criticize or mock the size, scope, purpose, or process of another political group’s event. So party on, Tea People!
Except then, there’s this in the paper from Tea Party marketer Matt Moynihan:
So, true to their mob rule mentality, not only is the Tea Party in Sumner County bluntly stating that dissenting voices will not be tolerated, they’re also attempting to erect a defense around the indefensible. So if anyone sees anything remotely stupid, offensive, or malign it isn’t the Tea Party doing it, oh no! It’s the 6 foot invisible rabbit in their midst, or maybe it’s aliens, no that’s silly! Wait, I got it: of course, it’s the Liberals did it! (In true Tea Party style let me simply ask, how do WE know THEY didn’t make that web site up themselves, hmmmm???)
Tea Party, please. You just ask all the racists and all the people holding misspelled signs to leave, and keep your group nice and pure, just the real Americans, just the real patriots. Stay nourished by the bile of your incendiary, hate-filled leaders, while the rest of America shakes their head in disgust and tries to remember the country their parents and grand-parents taught them to be proud of. But Hendersonville, when you are slogging your way home from work tonight or if you are trying to get to the Post Office on time to mail those taxes, just remember: if the traffic is at a stand-still and the grid-lock is making you pull your hair out, the Tea Party did it.
But wait, fast-forward to 2010. The spontaneous Tea Party movement in Sumner County has become the SURG, a highly organized, well nourished group whose main diet consists of John Birch newsletters, old Ron Paul Revolution signs, a sprinkling of kerosene to taste (just in case anyone feels an itch to burn something), and a high gloss frosting of pig’s lipstick. As advertised, the Tax Day Tea Party of 2010 includes fun booths for the kiddies, an essay contest for High Schoolers, restaurant sponsors hawking food, and supposedly, sound stages fit for a music super-star. Great I say. Hendersonville has no lack of municipal parks that anyone can reserve, provided they are sufficiently organized to safely adhere to the City’s regulations for use of public facilities.
But after being offered numerous parks locations and rejecting them because of their lack of proximity to Main Street, the SURG brain trust decided to have their event (I’m sure out of deep nostalgia) in the same City Hall Parking lot as last year. And when they requested a permit for the parking lot, law abiding and upstanding that they are, did they get one? No. Parking lots are public property, but not event facilities. To the extent that anyone can gather on public property, they are of course exercising their multitude of First Amendment rights : the right to freedom of speech, the right peaceably to assemble, and the right, perhaps most precious, to petition the government for redress of grievances. (Though what Hendersonville City Hall can do to repeal Health Care or stop the Bail Out, with their stimulus-money-air-conditioners sitting on the roof, I know not. But I get it: symbolism. Check.)
But to the extent that they gather on public property without a permit, they are beholden to the same laws as anyone else. And here is where it gets Rich, as in John Rich, the show-stopping music-star-cum-political-scion extraordinaire head-lining the infotainment portion of the program. How do you suppose the city and its citizens would look on it if you & I decided to show up some evening, set up a sound system and start blasting music, speeches, and so on? How about if we opened up a little food stand selling Barbeque in the median of a busy street, or on any grassy knoll the city mows? How about if we invite a few thousand people, Woodstock style, to an “impromptu” gathering? Well, you answer, we’d be shut down, asked to move on, fined, at the very least.
But you know what? Who cares, right? This is a movement! A liberty loving, all American, red-blooded, constitutionally approved event! And, card carrying Civil Liberties lover that I am, who am I to stand in the way of the First Amendment rights of any member of We the People? Agree or disagree, I will defend your right to say what you think hands down, no holds barred. And hey, I’m key instigator of my own event anyway, the Sumner County Democratic Party Civility Dinner (ya’ll come! Course we are having it at a privately owned community center that we have properly attained permission to use, but that’s beside the point.) So far be it for me to hypocritically criticize or mock the size, scope, purpose, or process of another political group’s event. So party on, Tea People!
Except then, there’s this in the paper from Tea Party marketer Matt Moynihan:
Just try and crash us
A group called CrashtheTea Party.org is the latest group of liberals doing its best to take down our movement. They claim to represent "a nationwide network of Democrats, Republicans and Independents who are all sick and tired of that loose affiliation of racists, homophobes and morons; who constitute the fake grassroots movement, which calls itself 'the Tea Party.'"
Their plan is to infiltrate Tea Party protests to create the false impression that protesters are racists by… being racists. Yes, they will bring with them offensive and misspelled signs and try to give wildly offensive interviews to reporters, all with the intention of smearing a movement that would never bring those signs or give those interviews themselves. We’ve seen them before. If you are there tomorrow night, you will not be tolerated and you will be called out on the spot and asked to leave.
So, true to their mob rule mentality, not only is the Tea Party in Sumner County bluntly stating that dissenting voices will not be tolerated, they’re also attempting to erect a defense around the indefensible. So if anyone sees anything remotely stupid, offensive, or malign it isn’t the Tea Party doing it, oh no! It’s the 6 foot invisible rabbit in their midst, or maybe it’s aliens, no that’s silly! Wait, I got it: of course, it’s the Liberals did it! (In true Tea Party style let me simply ask, how do WE know THEY didn’t make that web site up themselves, hmmmm???)
Tea Party, please. You just ask all the racists and all the people holding misspelled signs to leave, and keep your group nice and pure, just the real Americans, just the real patriots. Stay nourished by the bile of your incendiary, hate-filled leaders, while the rest of America shakes their head in disgust and tries to remember the country their parents and grand-parents taught them to be proud of. But Hendersonville, when you are slogging your way home from work tonight or if you are trying to get to the Post Office on time to mail those taxes, just remember: if the traffic is at a stand-still and the grid-lock is making you pull your hair out, the Tea Party did it.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
There is Only an American Problem
“And there's something 'bout the Southland in the springtime
Where the waters flow with confidence and reason
Though I miss her when I'm gone it won't ever be too long
Till I'm home again to spend my favorite season
When God made me born a yankee he was teasin'
There's no place like home and none more pleasin'
Than the Southland in the springtime”
-the Indigo Girls
I’ve lived in Tennessee longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, almost longer than I’ve lived everywhere else combined. (Oh how time does fly!) This is my home, where I’ve always been made welcome. This is the place where I’ve chosen as an adult to build my life, grow my family, and contribute to my community. And I’m proud to be here. Proud of this land, these people, and the heritage that I have immersed myself in; I know that this beautiful, rich, diverse part of the country is a jewel, a treasure that we share.
I’ve never cared for the scape-goating that Southerners get in the national culture. Especially in politics. It just isn’t true that the South is a lost cause to Democrats, or that Tennessee has become a Red State because of the so-called social issues. The “God, Guns, and Gays” trope is so often quoted by the media that it becomes common wisdom. But I know so many wonderful Christians who would never agree with Glen Beck’s twisted version of the Gospels, and so many Democrats who have gun carry permits, and so many Republicans who welcome their LGBT family members, that I just don’t think we are as divided as the political power brokers would have us believe.
It’s too bad that old stereotypes and out-dated divisions get in the way of the progress that I know myself and my neighbors want to share in: prosperity, education, healthcare, security, and the promise of all that for our children’s children, not just our selves. It’s a deep-shame that what threatens our children’s inheritance of Democracy and keeps us bound in knots of dissent is political expedience. A people who are fighting among themselves are weakened and kept at the fringes, while those who are represented by ideas, compromise, and the common rule of law are empowered and made the center piece of their own governance. This is the beauty of what the founders built into our Nation’s core: We the People.
On March 16th, 1965, during a time more brutal and incendiary than today, a Southern politician moved us into a new political era, choosing to forego the political expediency of dividing the people of this great country and instead asking us all to unite in moral and Constitutional righteousness. His words will give us courage again, and much wisdom to ponder:
“There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem. And we are met here tonight as Americans -- not as Democrats or Republicans. We are met here as Americans to solve that problem.
This was the first nation in the history of the world to be founded with a purpose. The great phrases of that purpose still sound in every American heart, North and South: "All men are created equal," "government by consent of the governed," "give me liberty or give me death." Well, those are not just clever words, or those are not just empty theories. In their name Americans have fought and died for two centuries, and tonight around the world they stand there as guardians of our liberty, risking their lives.
Those words are a promise to every citizen that he shall share in the dignity of man. This dignity cannot be found in a man's possessions; it cannot be found in his power, or in his position. It really rests on his right to be treated as a man equal in opportunity to all others. It says that he shall share in freedom, he shall choose his leaders, educate his children, provide for his family according to his ability and his merits as a human being. To apply any other test -- to deny a man his hopes because of his color, or race, or his religion, or the place of his birth is not only to do injustice, it is to deny America and to dishonor the dead who gave their lives for American freedom.”
-President Lyndon Johnson
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
A Special Invitation for You
This week I’m going to do something special. There’s an event coming up that I don’t want you to miss just because you didn’t hear about it. It’s going to be your chance to show, in the simplest of terms, what being a proud Tennessean is all about. You see, it won’t matter how many hundreds of people are there, or what super duper music star shows up. It won’t matter what grand-standing VIPs queue up to the microphone or how many TV-cult philosophies are spouted. We’re going to keep it simple. This year on tax day, while the Tea Party in Hendersonville swarms over City Hall spreading their doom and gloom about our great country, the Sumner County Democratic Party will be doing something a little different. We’ll be welcoming you and your neighbors to an old-fashioned covered dish dinner. We’ll bring the BBQ and sweet tea, you bring the fixings.
Why should we get together? Because our county is full of good communities and friendly people who believe America is a fair and upstanding place. That’s what Democrats have always believed in: helping their neighbors and standing strong for their Country. Common sense folks are done with the anger and fear that's trading on old wounds, fanning the flames of hatred, and endangering our beautiful land of the free. And in this Land of the Free, we must not be afraid to peaceably assemble. We must come out of our houses and gather to discuss our problems and find the way to our solutions. Because America has never been short on solutions. Time after time we have risen to our Nation’s call to duty: to defend our Constitution, to gather our community’s strengths and help those in need, and to promote greater prosperity and a secure future for our children. All accomplished through the rule of law, created by We the People.
The problem isn’t that we can’t solve our problems. The problem is that Democracy isn’t being allowed to work. How can we find solutions when the market place of ideas is constantly shut down by a monopoly of anger, disinformation, and threats of violence? By any definition, “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” from our Bill of Rights does not include violence. When corporate-controlled Republicans whip up the roaring crowds, suggesting that they should “reload and take aim,” it is nothing short of un-American. The purpose of intimidation is clear. Keep folks like you and me from getting involved, diminish participation to the loudest few, and stop We the People from working together. My question is: will it work? Remember that in a recent poll, only 28% of Americans identified themselves as sympathetic with the Tea Party. Will the vast majority of Americans allow themselves to be cowed by the threats of an ill-informed, easily mislead group that resemble nothing so much as a school yard bully? A sore loser whose threats run the gamut from plain old lying and cheating to flipping over the game board? I don’t think so. We see that the Tea party is simply a back-lash. A well funded Republican media gauntlet aimed at distracting and beguiling a small number of Americans into outrageous actions. My heart fills with compassion for them, for I fear they know not what they do, or what corporate masters they serve.
So we’re hosting the Civility Dinner at the Salem Community Center. Let’s get together and just do right by each other and our country. Tell the crowds to put away the bullhorns and lay down the ugliness, you don’t have to shout to be heard. Because this year on April 15th we are going to reclaim the honor in Middle Tennessee. We’re going to feed folks, and we ask you to bring what you can. Whether you bring your best covered dish or a bag of chips, you’ll be welcomed! We’re going to talk about what we need: jobs, fairness, and honor. And we’re going to pitch in to help make it happen, here in Sumner County and all over Tennessee. Come and visit at the Civility Dinner, because civility is what makes America special.
Why should we get together? Because our county is full of good communities and friendly people who believe America is a fair and upstanding place. That’s what Democrats have always believed in: helping their neighbors and standing strong for their Country. Common sense folks are done with the anger and fear that's trading on old wounds, fanning the flames of hatred, and endangering our beautiful land of the free. And in this Land of the Free, we must not be afraid to peaceably assemble. We must come out of our houses and gather to discuss our problems and find the way to our solutions. Because America has never been short on solutions. Time after time we have risen to our Nation’s call to duty: to defend our Constitution, to gather our community’s strengths and help those in need, and to promote greater prosperity and a secure future for our children. All accomplished through the rule of law, created by We the People.
The problem isn’t that we can’t solve our problems. The problem is that Democracy isn’t being allowed to work. How can we find solutions when the market place of ideas is constantly shut down by a monopoly of anger, disinformation, and threats of violence? By any definition, “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” from our Bill of Rights does not include violence. When corporate-controlled Republicans whip up the roaring crowds, suggesting that they should “reload and take aim,” it is nothing short of un-American. The purpose of intimidation is clear. Keep folks like you and me from getting involved, diminish participation to the loudest few, and stop We the People from working together. My question is: will it work? Remember that in a recent poll, only 28% of Americans identified themselves as sympathetic with the Tea Party. Will the vast majority of Americans allow themselves to be cowed by the threats of an ill-informed, easily mislead group that resemble nothing so much as a school yard bully? A sore loser whose threats run the gamut from plain old lying and cheating to flipping over the game board? I don’t think so. We see that the Tea party is simply a back-lash. A well funded Republican media gauntlet aimed at distracting and beguiling a small number of Americans into outrageous actions. My heart fills with compassion for them, for I fear they know not what they do, or what corporate masters they serve.
So we’re hosting the Civility Dinner at the Salem Community Center. Let’s get together and just do right by each other and our country. Tell the crowds to put away the bullhorns and lay down the ugliness, you don’t have to shout to be heard. Because this year on April 15th we are going to reclaim the honor in Middle Tennessee. We’re going to feed folks, and we ask you to bring what you can. Whether you bring your best covered dish or a bag of chips, you’ll be welcomed! We’re going to talk about what we need: jobs, fairness, and honor. And we’re going to pitch in to help make it happen, here in Sumner County and all over Tennessee. Come and visit at the Civility Dinner, because civility is what makes America special.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wake up and Get Real
What a difference a week makes, sunny and warm, Spring has sprung. And with it renewal is in the air, a sense that we Tennesseans are ready to solve our problems and move forward into a great future. But when I make the mistake of turning on the TV, I see another story playing out. These news stories sound like more than a few “bad apples” to me. In the last week, epithets have been hurled, windows have been smashed, cars have been crashed, and now, violent criminals have been arrested and charged with sedition and plotting to use weapons of mass-destruction. Are they illegal aliens, brown skinned terrorists coming from foreign lands to blow us up because they hate our freedom? No. They are born and bred Americans, pale skin, calling themselves Christians, determined to murder law enforcement officers and blow up the funeral’s mourners.
We need to wake up and get real.
We have traditions in this land of ours. Values I call them. They come from our common interests, embodied by the words of our founders. You know them. Say the Pledge of Allegiance to yourself: "...with liberty and justice for all."
Our Declaration of Independence rings true in our minds:
But these are not easy values to hold. What happens when people find the easy way more palatable? The way of hate, fear, and unrestrained anger lights the way to violence. These are not America’s values. These are not Tennessee’s values. If you are old enough, you remember for yourself (or if not, I hope you have been taught your history) that we have been through the days of mobs, screaming and spitting, and hurling much more than epithets. They are not days to harken back to in fond memories. We must wake up. We must get real.
Tennesseans work hard every day, all over our communities to heal the old divisions. Build secure, safe homes for ourselves and our loved ones. It is purely nonsense for our politicians, our representatives, and our community leaders to raise the specter of violence in our streets, threaten each other with broken windows, “targets” on our peoples backs, and drunkards careening cars into bumper stickers. What broken promises are we forcing our children to live with? That they will bear the debt of health care reform? Unconscionable lies! Our children already bear the debt, not of future good health, but the debt of unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy to splurge and unpaid for wars for the sons of the common man to fight.
We Tennesseans will not sleep through the challenges that rise in front of us. Instead we will proudly claim the best of our history: the civility, the Southern hospitality, the manners and honor of our land. We will heal the worst of our past: with fairness, with justice for all. We will take pride when we no longer fear our neighbors, but instead sit down with strangers to break bread and go home as friends. We will move with determination into a future of exceptional security, freedom, and prosperity. Get real and join us.
We need to wake up and get real.
We have traditions in this land of ours. Values I call them. They come from our common interests, embodied by the words of our founders. You know them. Say the Pledge of Allegiance to yourself: "...with liberty and justice for all."
Our Declaration of Independence rings true in our minds:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”
But these are not easy values to hold. What happens when people find the easy way more palatable? The way of hate, fear, and unrestrained anger lights the way to violence. These are not America’s values. These are not Tennessee’s values. If you are old enough, you remember for yourself (or if not, I hope you have been taught your history) that we have been through the days of mobs, screaming and spitting, and hurling much more than epithets. They are not days to harken back to in fond memories. We must wake up. We must get real.
Tennesseans work hard every day, all over our communities to heal the old divisions. Build secure, safe homes for ourselves and our loved ones. It is purely nonsense for our politicians, our representatives, and our community leaders to raise the specter of violence in our streets, threaten each other with broken windows, “targets” on our peoples backs, and drunkards careening cars into bumper stickers. What broken promises are we forcing our children to live with? That they will bear the debt of health care reform? Unconscionable lies! Our children already bear the debt, not of future good health, but the debt of unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy to splurge and unpaid for wars for the sons of the common man to fight.
We Tennesseans will not sleep through the challenges that rise in front of us. Instead we will proudly claim the best of our history: the civility, the Southern hospitality, the manners and honor of our land. We will heal the worst of our past: with fairness, with justice for all. We will take pride when we no longer fear our neighbors, but instead sit down with strangers to break bread and go home as friends. We will move with determination into a future of exceptional security, freedom, and prosperity. Get real and join us.
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Lemons are Out to Get Me
I hear that everyone is tired of politics these days. So, let’s us take a break here too. Why not? Spring feels like it’s on the move and now that we’ve all gotten used to the time change, well, there’s a lot of flower beds and bar-b-que grills that need some refreshing. So let me ask my last political question of the day and move on: Is there really a divide between Republicans and Democrats in this country?
Not nearly as huge a chasm as lies between optimists and pessimists. That’s what it all boils down to if you ask me. There’s been a huge trade in pessimism here in America lately. Pessimistic fears and doomsday scenarios attract viewers to all kinds of disaster-junkie TV programs; books about the end of the world span any number of book store sections. Well, that’s the American way I suppose, ratings and profits that feed our appetites aren’t going away.
Pessimists see the glass half empty, we’ve all heard that one, but it appears these days they also think the glass is out to get them! And should the glass be full to overflowing, the pessimist in the crowd denies even a sip to anyone else. What would happen if they suddenly got thirsty themselves and didn’t have enough? Among the most devoted of pessimists, the dominant chord can become so deeply negative that they lose their sense of pride, not just in themselves, but in their country. When everything around you is wrong, and nothing can go right, it’s a sad and scary place to be.
Optimists get a bad rap too. You know, the “cock-eyed optimist,” the Polly-Anna who sugar coats everything and can’t face facts. That’s the kind I hated most when I was a young woman: always seeing the bright side, making lemonade out of lemons, and being driven to cheer everyone up just wasn’t for me. I had no use for it. But one day, too many years ago to admit, I realized that there are some things that hard-bitten skepticism and a worldly bias against silver-linings can’t inoculate you from. When you find yourself up against the knocks only the real world can give, both false cheer and habitual gloom fall away. How many of us have found ourselves in a world of pain, hoping for hope? Slowly realizing that the only way up lies through our own hearts, and our own willingness to start making that lemonade. Slowly the silver linings become easier to find and before you know it, you start to expect good to happen, even when you least expect it. Gratitude is the technical term I believe.
So, long story short, I was redeemed from pessimistic limbo and got so excited that I began considering starting a business making enough lemonade to perk everyone up! Stopped just short of buying the franchise. It was being down that brought me up, and I’d hate to try to steal that experience from anyone.
It’s hard not to be optimistic these days, when flowers and green things are springing out from every spot that used to be drab and brown. But even on the rainy afternoons and during the cold spells, let me simply remind you that you never know what’s just around the corner, and if you’re an optimist, like me, it can make you smile just thinking about it.
Not nearly as huge a chasm as lies between optimists and pessimists. That’s what it all boils down to if you ask me. There’s been a huge trade in pessimism here in America lately. Pessimistic fears and doomsday scenarios attract viewers to all kinds of disaster-junkie TV programs; books about the end of the world span any number of book store sections. Well, that’s the American way I suppose, ratings and profits that feed our appetites aren’t going away.
Pessimists see the glass half empty, we’ve all heard that one, but it appears these days they also think the glass is out to get them! And should the glass be full to overflowing, the pessimist in the crowd denies even a sip to anyone else. What would happen if they suddenly got thirsty themselves and didn’t have enough? Among the most devoted of pessimists, the dominant chord can become so deeply negative that they lose their sense of pride, not just in themselves, but in their country. When everything around you is wrong, and nothing can go right, it’s a sad and scary place to be.
Optimists get a bad rap too. You know, the “cock-eyed optimist,” the Polly-Anna who sugar coats everything and can’t face facts. That’s the kind I hated most when I was a young woman: always seeing the bright side, making lemonade out of lemons, and being driven to cheer everyone up just wasn’t for me. I had no use for it. But one day, too many years ago to admit, I realized that there are some things that hard-bitten skepticism and a worldly bias against silver-linings can’t inoculate you from. When you find yourself up against the knocks only the real world can give, both false cheer and habitual gloom fall away. How many of us have found ourselves in a world of pain, hoping for hope? Slowly realizing that the only way up lies through our own hearts, and our own willingness to start making that lemonade. Slowly the silver linings become easier to find and before you know it, you start to expect good to happen, even when you least expect it. Gratitude is the technical term I believe.
So, long story short, I was redeemed from pessimistic limbo and got so excited that I began considering starting a business making enough lemonade to perk everyone up! Stopped just short of buying the franchise. It was being down that brought me up, and I’d hate to try to steal that experience from anyone.
It’s hard not to be optimistic these days, when flowers and green things are springing out from every spot that used to be drab and brown. But even on the rainy afternoons and during the cold spells, let me simply remind you that you never know what’s just around the corner, and if you’re an optimist, like me, it can make you smile just thinking about it.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
A New Spirit of Patriotism
I wrote this column last fall, and it took a reminiscent tone at the time, which makes it doubly retrospective now I suppose. But in light of the victorious passage of the Health Care Legislation, I felt it would serve as a reminder of where we are coming from, the work we have yet to do, and the great potential held in this election year 2010....
Time has a way of sneaking up on us. And this fall, some things have really taken me by surprise. October has sped by, spurred by a dizzying combination of Little League, deep family loss, and rare sunny days where the best thing to do was sit silently on the back porch soaking up as much of the sun’s warmth as possible. We’ve been slow to get the decorations out, the pumpkins ready to carve. But I was still caught short when I realized that waiting right around the corner is the 1 year anniversary of Election Day 2008. What a wonderful moment in time! Americans worked around the clock leading up to that day, and our relief when it passed in victory was immense. We could hardy hold ourselves in, filled with wonder that after 8 years of frustration and bedevilment, we were going to be able to take this country in a new and hopeful direction.
And when America’s voters spoke, we also knew it wasn’t the end of anything:
And now, our work to reclaim our civic duties as Americans has just begun. It was an election like no other, and now it is an administration, a time of keeping promises like no other. I remember other words of Barack Obama’s, stuck in my head from so many various campaign speeches, that I can only paraphrase them here: “I am going to need your help. I can’t do this alone. When we win the Whitehouse, we are going to have to keep working and I am going to turn to you all to do the work."
This was something new, not a campaign promise of rosy-colored-glasses proportions, but a campaign challenge. It rang out to me like the legacy of the famous JFK quote “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
The Obama administration wants nothing more than to see America’s political will restored. Civic responsibility placed back in the hands of the people. Do we want health care reform? We must organize and make our will known. Do we want energy policy that will create jobs, new investments, and a bright prosperous future? Then we must take action and educate. Do we want to see the poor lifted up as Jesus taught us, see middle class families protected, and create a marketplace of justice and true democracy? Then we must get busy envisioning our future and make this world real through our work. Americans, it is the least we can do to give back to this country so great.
“We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes we can.”
Barack Obama, New Hampshire, January 8, 2008
Time has a way of sneaking up on us. And this fall, some things have really taken me by surprise. October has sped by, spurred by a dizzying combination of Little League, deep family loss, and rare sunny days where the best thing to do was sit silently on the back porch soaking up as much of the sun’s warmth as possible. We’ve been slow to get the decorations out, the pumpkins ready to carve. But I was still caught short when I realized that waiting right around the corner is the 1 year anniversary of Election Day 2008. What a wonderful moment in time! Americans worked around the clock leading up to that day, and our relief when it passed in victory was immense. We could hardy hold ourselves in, filled with wonder that after 8 years of frustration and bedevilment, we were going to be able to take this country in a new and hopeful direction.
And when America’s voters spoke, we also knew it wasn’t the end of anything:
“The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth."
Barack Obama, St Paul, MN June 3, 2008
And now, our work to reclaim our civic duties as Americans has just begun. It was an election like no other, and now it is an administration, a time of keeping promises like no other. I remember other words of Barack Obama’s, stuck in my head from so many various campaign speeches, that I can only paraphrase them here: “I am going to need your help. I can’t do this alone. When we win the Whitehouse, we are going to have to keep working and I am going to turn to you all to do the work."
This was something new, not a campaign promise of rosy-colored-glasses proportions, but a campaign challenge. It rang out to me like the legacy of the famous JFK quote “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
The Obama administration wants nothing more than to see America’s political will restored. Civic responsibility placed back in the hands of the people. Do we want health care reform? We must organize and make our will known. Do we want energy policy that will create jobs, new investments, and a bright prosperous future? Then we must take action and educate. Do we want to see the poor lifted up as Jesus taught us, see middle class families protected, and create a marketplace of justice and true democracy? Then we must get busy envisioning our future and make this world real through our work. Americans, it is the least we can do to give back to this country so great.
“This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.”
Barack Obama, Chicago, IL Nov 4th, 2008
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
My Open Letter to Bart Gordon: One More for the Health Care Road
As spring struggles to regain its footing after a winter to remember, Democrats are reawakening, stepping up their involvement in local, statewide, and national issues. This week, though I’ve tried to refocus on the up and coming in my garden and the news, my mind is still very much on the unfinished business of health insurance reform.
So, I am sharing with my readers an open-letter I penned to Congressman Bart Gordon. He’s your Congressman if you live here in Sumner County and if you support health insurance reform, don't let yourself feel outnumbered. He hears from all sides of the issues, and I know he’d like to hear from you too. (Washington202-225-4231 Gallatin 451-5174)
So, I am sharing with my readers an open-letter I penned to Congressman Bart Gordon. He’s your Congressman if you live here in Sumner County and if you support health insurance reform, don't let yourself feel outnumbered. He hears from all sides of the issues, and I know he’d like to hear from you too. (Washington202-225-4231 Gallatin 451-5174)
Dear Congressman Gordon,
I'm writing to let you know that I strongly support health insurance reform. But you already know that. I sat with you in your Gallatin office and we talked about how difficult it is for people to understand the complexity and enormity of our current system and the necessity to address it as a whole. We regretted that this is made especially difficult when so many of your constituents have been whipped by fear into incoherence.
I want you to know how grateful I am for your service over the years, and I respect your decision to retire after this session. I have a six year old too; they grow too fast and you shouldn’t miss it.
I'm grateful for all the hard work you’ve done for your constituents, especially when you did what was right despite strong opposition and stood with the President to create as many as 3.9 million jobs with the Recovery Act. That vote alone sets you aside from the Washington Hypocrites that voted to obstruct our Nation’s economic recovery, but attend every ribbon cutting, every job training center opening, and take glory for every bit of that funding flowing into our state and regions directly from this measure.
I know the Health Care Reform Bill that is at hand now is not perfect. The "perfect" bill for some would be a much more aggressive series of changes. The "perfect" for others is to do nothing, no change at all. I would posit that the Do-Nothing crowd has gotten their way long enough. That doing nothing is the perfect choice only for those profiting from business as usual. And doing nothing is what has gotten us to the state we are in: a perfect mess.
I agree with Natoma Canfield, whose private insurance got so expensive that she had to drop it, right before she was diagnosed with leukemia. She said in a TV interview from her hospital bed, "Well, it just seems to me that everything needs a start."
Yes, everything needs a start and health insurance reform in this country needs this start. So now, at the end of your political career that has started so many very very good things, you can set in motion one more lasting legacy for my family, your family, and the rest of your constituents. Vote yes to pass the Health Insurance Reform Bill that is now before you in Congress. Stand with the President, with your party, and with the majority of Americans who voted for the Democrats to start America back on the road to strength, unity, and health.
With Sincere Respect,
Maria Brewer
Monday, March 15, 2010
A Health Care Retrospective
Health care reform is on a trajectory to become reality. When the voters spoke in the fall of 2008, they elected a Democratic President and Democratic majorities to both the US House and Senate. And those majorities are about to represent the will of the people and enact an historic first step to, as our Constitution proclaims, “provide for the common defense, (and) promote the general welfare” of our nation’s most precious resource: the strength and health of our citizens.
For those of us who have been watching the misinformation stream coming out of the Obstructionist’s Party on the right, it has been a head-scratching fight. Though the Republican Party had ten years in the majority to study and pass health care reform legislation to their liking, they did nothing. They continued to let an ever increasing portion of America’s GDP get sucked out of our hides and into the pockets of an industry whose profiteering callousness knows no bounds. Every day American families spend 18% and still rising of our household budgets on healthcare. Well, those of us lucky enough to get it. And now the right’s rallying cry is a weak “Code Red.” Indeed, they have waited until the patient is dying on the table to start their inadequate wails of “save us,” blaming those who are trying to sort through a difficult diagnosis as if we caused the disease.
Health care reform has been in the national spotlight many long months, but frankly, I’m not surprised it has taken so long to get the little distance we’ve come. Our Health Care system has been broken by a long string of policies and strategies that have weakened both our economy and our spirits. In August of last year, I wrote about this issue:
Of course, it hasn’t helped America a bit that in order to gain political advantage, the Republican Party has given up all pretense of honest policy debate and dissolved itself into a mire of hypocrisy and paranoia. Their fanciest trick has been to turn Americans against each other. As we watched the town-halls of August, complete with their choreographed protests and anti-democratic mobs I wrote in this column:
Now, as the Congress readies itself to pass legislation, we must look past the hype, the media moment of the day, the manufactured winners and losers of the horse race. No one thinks this legislation is perfect, but the Republican Party needs to start telling the truth about this issue. There is no time to start over, they had their chance, and they lost their majorities.
Perhaps we have reached the end of one battle, but this is really just another step on the long path of liberty and justice for all. Thanks to our Founding Fathers, we are no longer yoked by fealty to King or Crown, but my how the Framers would be appalled by our bent knees before the throne of Corporatism and Profiteering.
I will close the way I closed my column in October of last year, because the job is not done:
Now it is We the People’s turn, and bit by bit, this country will turn back to unity and together we will renew the cause of liberty. We must take this first step toward a just and patriotic health care system as a call to all Americans to wake up and smell the coffee!
For those of us who have been watching the misinformation stream coming out of the Obstructionist’s Party on the right, it has been a head-scratching fight. Though the Republican Party had ten years in the majority to study and pass health care reform legislation to their liking, they did nothing. They continued to let an ever increasing portion of America’s GDP get sucked out of our hides and into the pockets of an industry whose profiteering callousness knows no bounds. Every day American families spend 18% and still rising of our household budgets on healthcare. Well, those of us lucky enough to get it. And now the right’s rallying cry is a weak “Code Red.” Indeed, they have waited until the patient is dying on the table to start their inadequate wails of “save us,” blaming those who are trying to sort through a difficult diagnosis as if we caused the disease.
Health care reform has been in the national spotlight many long months, but frankly, I’m not surprised it has taken so long to get the little distance we’ve come. Our Health Care system has been broken by a long string of policies and strategies that have weakened both our economy and our spirits. In August of last year, I wrote about this issue:
The fact is, Americans are worried about their health. That is a real fear. They worry about their kids getting asthma and autism. They worry about their parents having Alzheimer’s, debilitating arthritis, and strokes. They worry about themselves and the specter of heart disease, diabetes, or cancer. We are proud that America has the most fantastic treatment facilities and cutting edge operating rooms. But we are worried that we won’t have access to those facilities when we need them, and we are trying desperately to hang on to what we have. Or what we think we have.
Of course, it hasn’t helped America a bit that in order to gain political advantage, the Republican Party has given up all pretense of honest policy debate and dissolved itself into a mire of hypocrisy and paranoia. Their fanciest trick has been to turn Americans against each other. As we watched the town-halls of August, complete with their choreographed protests and anti-democratic mobs I wrote in this column:
When people are angry at their own government, in a self- governing country, it betrays a level of self-loathing that should not go untreated. .. We have real problems to solve ... Can government ever be the answer? Can government ever help us? Or should we always rely on our family, church, and good luck for answers when life becomes more than an individual can bear alone. The whole conversation takes off from such an unbearably misguided conceit: that we have no power in creating and directing the government and so should fear it. This is an illusion that has been brought on by something. Could it be an engineered state, designed by the corporations that profit off of a distracted and disgusted populace?
Now, as the Congress readies itself to pass legislation, we must look past the hype, the media moment of the day, the manufactured winners and losers of the horse race. No one thinks this legislation is perfect, but the Republican Party needs to start telling the truth about this issue. There is no time to start over, they had their chance, and they lost their majorities.
Perhaps we have reached the end of one battle, but this is really just another step on the long path of liberty and justice for all. Thanks to our Founding Fathers, we are no longer yoked by fealty to King or Crown, but my how the Framers would be appalled by our bent knees before the throne of Corporatism and Profiteering.
I will close the way I closed my column in October of last year, because the job is not done:
So, I hope you don’t blame me when I rub my eyes and wonder what’s coming around the corner, and hope it’s the shape of democracy. I hope that you’ll join me as I make those phone calls to Congress and spill out my 5 seconds of support for health care reform, or forward an encouraging email, or hold a hand painted sign next to a waving American flag.
Now it is We the People’s turn, and bit by bit, this country will turn back to unity and together we will renew the cause of liberty. We must take this first step toward a just and patriotic health care system as a call to all Americans to wake up and smell the coffee!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Dear Mr Baker
To the CEO of Hospitality Association, Mr. Walt Baker who forwarded an email comparing First Lady Michele Obama to a chimpanzee...
I don't care about what you are. I care about what you did.
(The silver lining to this is that I get to share that video.)
Walt Baker's marketing firm has been fired by The Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau. Yes, Mr Baker is the kind of business leader who got big contracts to make Nashville seem like a welcoming and hospitable place, while at the same time sending out racist emails as an inside political jab "... in the spirit of having some fun with some close friends."
It's not the first time that dehumanizing racist materials, used as a political bludgeon meant to erode power and cultivate hate, have brought Tennessee the national spotlight. The email that was forwarded from Republican State Sen. Diane Black's office was described by it's sender as a mistake. "I inadvertently hit the wrong button," the sender was quoted as saying. "I'm very sick about it, and it's one of those things I can't change or take back." How human it is to regret being caught being ourselves. I still can't stop asking the question I asked last June: who is on the right list?
But instead, let's focus on the bottom line that affects us all.
Meditate not on the inner heart of these people, but on their actions. In economic times such as these, can Tennessee afford to cultivate a niche market of racism that hangs like a "whites only" sign above our tourism and hospitality industry?
Mr Baker: it's not what you are, it's what you did.
I don't care about what you are. I care about what you did.
(The silver lining to this is that I get to share that video.)
Walt Baker's marketing firm has been fired by The Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau. Yes, Mr Baker is the kind of business leader who got big contracts to make Nashville seem like a welcoming and hospitable place, while at the same time sending out racist emails as an inside political jab "... in the spirit of having some fun with some close friends."
It's not the first time that dehumanizing racist materials, used as a political bludgeon meant to erode power and cultivate hate, have brought Tennessee the national spotlight. The email that was forwarded from Republican State Sen. Diane Black's office was described by it's sender as a mistake. "I inadvertently hit the wrong button," the sender was quoted as saying. "I'm very sick about it, and it's one of those things I can't change or take back." How human it is to regret being caught being ourselves. I still can't stop asking the question I asked last June: who is on the right list?
But instead, let's focus on the bottom line that affects us all.
In 2008, Tennessee's tourism generated a $14.4 billion economic impact to the state's economy. More than 182,300 Tennesseans are now employed in the state's tourism industry.
Meditate not on the inner heart of these people, but on their actions. In economic times such as these, can Tennessee afford to cultivate a niche market of racism that hangs like a "whites only" sign above our tourism and hospitality industry?
Mr Baker: it's not what you are, it's what you did.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
You can give a starving man a fish, or you can give him a fishing pole and teach him how to fish…. That’s the classic saying about investing in the future. Some things are a one-time benefit, some keep giving back. Two recent local news items that caught my attention brought this to mind. The first, an investment in broadband internet access for rural parts of Sumner County; the second, the installation of a new Heating and Cooling system at City Hall and the Police Department in Hendersonville.
The new HVAC units sitting on top of the Hendersonville City Hall are a perfect example of an investment that keeps giving back. Paid for wholly with stimulus dollars, these high efficiency units are an excellent long term investment in our infrastructure. Would City leaders have put borrowing money to buy these units at the top of their priority list? Certainly not in this time of layoffs and diminishing City services. But the benefit of this grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is that we will reap savings month after month in reduced energy bills, easing the City’s budget and perhaps helping to retain a job or service for our City.
Sadly, certain forces of monetary interest and political malaise continue to work steadily to pit Americans against each other and many would have us believe that the stimulus money that paid for this grant are a sign of the evil in politics and the first steps on a dangerous path where Americans have mortgaged our children’s future for temporary political gain. We should all be grateful that the public servants who applied for this grant didn’t see it that way. Yes, the ARRA is money borrowed against our future. But you cannot boil the state of our economy down into such a simplistic and misleading view. If you feel you cannot relate, ask yourself: how many times do families choose to go into debt in order to save money, or provide for a better future for ourselves? Our homes, our children’s college educations, even the braces for their teeth are often financed on the idea that the future will be more prosperous and more secure if we make this investment now.
Take the decision to buy a car. Even if you have cared for your auto well, there still usually comes a time when continued maintenance, repairs, and the replacement of major systems make you feel like you are buying a whole new car one piece at a time, minus the new car smell. Projected years of repairs cost more than the future of the car is worth. Not to mention this risk of driving a break down hazard. At that point it becomes wiser to take the thousands of dollars that would be spent on new parts and labor, and invest that money in a newer vehicle, with years of repair free performance banked under the hood. Whether your family has budgeted and has cash waiting to buy the car outright, or whether, like the majority of us here in Hendersonville, you carry a car note, it was still wiser to invest in the new car, than to throw good money after bad.
And here we have Hendersonville’s new HVAC system funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Whether this stimulus was financed with a budgetary surplus, or unfortunately with debt, it was still a wiser choice to invest in our future savings than to continue throwing away money and energy at the City Hall month after month. Not to mention keeping and creating jobs to prevent our economy from taking a total nosedive. Imagine if you kept on driving that old car until an axle broke or the transmission gave out on the interstate. How safe would your family feel as the 18 Wheelers whizzed by and the steering suddenly quit working? That’s the state our economy will be in if don’t continue to invest in our future.
Believe me, I’m not advocating trading in a perfectly good 2 year old vehicle for the shiniest new bauble on the lot. As the driver of a 2000 Ford Wagon “Mom-mobile” complete with Kroger stickers on the window and tornado scars on the door panels, I understand the value of making a conservative decision. We paid cash for the Taurus as a low mileage used car the year my son was born, and it is sticking with me.
My child’s future is of the utmost importance to me, that’s why I have decried the predictable and proven disastrous economic policies of the Republican Party. One has only to look at the 8 years of the Bush Administration, to see that we elect Republicans to get us into trouble, and elect Democrats when it’s time to get out of trouble. A fine mess we’ve been gotten into, and if you, like me, are the type that likes to participate in your government, you might want to ask yourself a few questions as you listen to the common wisdom about the debt and the stimulus. Did you support the Bush Administration with your vote, your money, or your time, W sticker proudly emblazoned? Then maybe you need to take a moment to think through your responsibility for the trillions of dollars in debt that built up over those 8 years and see if you have any lessons to learn, before you attack the democratically elected President who is working to right this ship, and the policies of the Party that knows how to create a surplus.
The new HVAC units sitting on top of the Hendersonville City Hall are a perfect example of an investment that keeps giving back. Paid for wholly with stimulus dollars, these high efficiency units are an excellent long term investment in our infrastructure. Would City leaders have put borrowing money to buy these units at the top of their priority list? Certainly not in this time of layoffs and diminishing City services. But the benefit of this grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is that we will reap savings month after month in reduced energy bills, easing the City’s budget and perhaps helping to retain a job or service for our City.
Sadly, certain forces of monetary interest and political malaise continue to work steadily to pit Americans against each other and many would have us believe that the stimulus money that paid for this grant are a sign of the evil in politics and the first steps on a dangerous path where Americans have mortgaged our children’s future for temporary political gain. We should all be grateful that the public servants who applied for this grant didn’t see it that way. Yes, the ARRA is money borrowed against our future. But you cannot boil the state of our economy down into such a simplistic and misleading view. If you feel you cannot relate, ask yourself: how many times do families choose to go into debt in order to save money, or provide for a better future for ourselves? Our homes, our children’s college educations, even the braces for their teeth are often financed on the idea that the future will be more prosperous and more secure if we make this investment now.
Take the decision to buy a car. Even if you have cared for your auto well, there still usually comes a time when continued maintenance, repairs, and the replacement of major systems make you feel like you are buying a whole new car one piece at a time, minus the new car smell. Projected years of repairs cost more than the future of the car is worth. Not to mention this risk of driving a break down hazard. At that point it becomes wiser to take the thousands of dollars that would be spent on new parts and labor, and invest that money in a newer vehicle, with years of repair free performance banked under the hood. Whether your family has budgeted and has cash waiting to buy the car outright, or whether, like the majority of us here in Hendersonville, you carry a car note, it was still wiser to invest in the new car, than to throw good money after bad.
And here we have Hendersonville’s new HVAC system funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Whether this stimulus was financed with a budgetary surplus, or unfortunately with debt, it was still a wiser choice to invest in our future savings than to continue throwing away money and energy at the City Hall month after month. Not to mention keeping and creating jobs to prevent our economy from taking a total nosedive. Imagine if you kept on driving that old car until an axle broke or the transmission gave out on the interstate. How safe would your family feel as the 18 Wheelers whizzed by and the steering suddenly quit working? That’s the state our economy will be in if don’t continue to invest in our future.
Believe me, I’m not advocating trading in a perfectly good 2 year old vehicle for the shiniest new bauble on the lot. As the driver of a 2000 Ford Wagon “Mom-mobile” complete with Kroger stickers on the window and tornado scars on the door panels, I understand the value of making a conservative decision. We paid cash for the Taurus as a low mileage used car the year my son was born, and it is sticking with me.
My child’s future is of the utmost importance to me, that’s why I have decried the predictable and proven disastrous economic policies of the Republican Party. One has only to look at the 8 years of the Bush Administration, to see that we elect Republicans to get us into trouble, and elect Democrats when it’s time to get out of trouble. A fine mess we’ve been gotten into, and if you, like me, are the type that likes to participate in your government, you might want to ask yourself a few questions as you listen to the common wisdom about the debt and the stimulus. Did you support the Bush Administration with your vote, your money, or your time, W sticker proudly emblazoned? Then maybe you need to take a moment to think through your responsibility for the trillions of dollars in debt that built up over those 8 years and see if you have any lessons to learn, before you attack the democratically elected President who is working to right this ship, and the policies of the Party that knows how to create a surplus.
Decoder Rings or Shiny Pennies
Back in the golden days of civic participation (the kind that wasn’t tainted with moralistic vitriol, conspiracy theories run amok, and a mass media hoodwinking of the public) everyone lined the edge of the parade route, children perched on dad’s shoulders, waving their little American flags, Moms standing at the ready with their picnic baskets of apple pie and Coca Cola.
Maybe that’s a Norman Rockwell print I saw at my grandparents once, people full of pride, bursting with All-American goodness. It seems to be how we remember ourselves, but not how we think of ourselves today.
What happened? Even if we didn’t live through it, we grasp enough recent history to sense the difference in mood. Just look at the news of that time: from coverage of the moon-walk, to coverage of political assassinations, embattled school-houses, and White House resignations. Now my Grandfather was a Walter Cronkite kind of guy. He knew the issues, took it seriously; was a poll worker on Election Day. And when cable TV news started running all day long during the twilight of his retirement years, he ate it up with a spoon. He held on to the idea that the more information, the better. He trusted the news, believed that people walked on the moon.
But the world kept on spinning and news departments became profit making infotainment centers and “fair and balanced” became the call letters for the Bush Bureau of Misinformation.
These days, some Americans wonder if we really did land on the moon. You know the original footage is missing from the archive, right? It says so on the internet. We seem to have lost our decoder ring of factual truth. But the world is turning again. We are entering a renewed stage of civic participation. And people are figuring out what’s real again.
Reality has wedged its way into our everyday lives in the form of gas price spikes, oddly transforming seasons, healthcare that goes down the drain with lost jobs, and a deficit gifted to the new president like a blanket tainted with smallpox.
It’s time for us all to take a hand in fixing the problems of our day, step up, speak out, and make a difference. We’re not in it to rage with anger or lash out in fear. We are building a community of freedom loving, patriotic people who will work to make the future a hopeful and more prosperous place for our children. And yours. Sure, people can try to fault me for being a partisan. Much blame for today’s nasty political scene gets thrown at the boogie man of partisanship. But there’s nothing wrong with being a Democrat, or with being a Republican, like my CNN watching Grandfather was.
There is something wrong though, in vilifying everything that crosses your path as a matter of mere political strategy, and there are some “non-partisans” out there sinking to depths that even Republicans find intolerable.
This dehumanizing of the opposition hurts all Americans, crushing the civic participation once shared by Americans of every stripe. This is today’s backlash: citizens taking action, but fueled by old hatreds, new fears and worst of all, faux solutions.
It does nothing to strengthen our democracy or solve our problems to claim to be a shiny penny bright and new, yelling, "It’s the other guy" who tarnishes everything. So, next time you hear a lie parading as the truth, or a simple explanation, backed up by a way-out conspiracy theory, speak up, don’t turn away. Get out your decoder ring and get to work. You’ve been invited to participate, don’t miss the real party.
Maybe that’s a Norman Rockwell print I saw at my grandparents once, people full of pride, bursting with All-American goodness. It seems to be how we remember ourselves, but not how we think of ourselves today.
What happened? Even if we didn’t live through it, we grasp enough recent history to sense the difference in mood. Just look at the news of that time: from coverage of the moon-walk, to coverage of political assassinations, embattled school-houses, and White House resignations. Now my Grandfather was a Walter Cronkite kind of guy. He knew the issues, took it seriously; was a poll worker on Election Day. And when cable TV news started running all day long during the twilight of his retirement years, he ate it up with a spoon. He held on to the idea that the more information, the better. He trusted the news, believed that people walked on the moon.
But the world kept on spinning and news departments became profit making infotainment centers and “fair and balanced” became the call letters for the Bush Bureau of Misinformation.
These days, some Americans wonder if we really did land on the moon. You know the original footage is missing from the archive, right? It says so on the internet. We seem to have lost our decoder ring of factual truth. But the world is turning again. We are entering a renewed stage of civic participation. And people are figuring out what’s real again.
Reality has wedged its way into our everyday lives in the form of gas price spikes, oddly transforming seasons, healthcare that goes down the drain with lost jobs, and a deficit gifted to the new president like a blanket tainted with smallpox.
It’s time for us all to take a hand in fixing the problems of our day, step up, speak out, and make a difference. We’re not in it to rage with anger or lash out in fear. We are building a community of freedom loving, patriotic people who will work to make the future a hopeful and more prosperous place for our children. And yours. Sure, people can try to fault me for being a partisan. Much blame for today’s nasty political scene gets thrown at the boogie man of partisanship. But there’s nothing wrong with being a Democrat, or with being a Republican, like my CNN watching Grandfather was.
There is something wrong though, in vilifying everything that crosses your path as a matter of mere political strategy, and there are some “non-partisans” out there sinking to depths that even Republicans find intolerable.
This dehumanizing of the opposition hurts all Americans, crushing the civic participation once shared by Americans of every stripe. This is today’s backlash: citizens taking action, but fueled by old hatreds, new fears and worst of all, faux solutions.
It does nothing to strengthen our democracy or solve our problems to claim to be a shiny penny bright and new, yelling, "It’s the other guy" who tarnishes everything. So, next time you hear a lie parading as the truth, or a simple explanation, backed up by a way-out conspiracy theory, speak up, don’t turn away. Get out your decoder ring and get to work. You’ve been invited to participate, don’t miss the real party.
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