Last week on The Diane Rehm Show, Republican Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana made the following statement: "We've evolved to a situation where the privileged, the elite in American society, really, are government unions."
Really, Governor Daniels? Public employees who happen to belong to unions are the elite in our society? Last time I checked the elite were those wealthy 2% of Americans who enjoyed yet another round of tax breaks.
The divide in America keeps growing, which is one reason the protests in Madison persist. My brother-in-law Al, from Milwaukee, was there this weekend with 70,000 others, himself a non-union, private-sector employee. Signs of solidarity spring up in the most unlikely places, as people from around the world continue to call Ian's Pizza shop to donate pizzas to the Wisconsin protesters.
Has the revolution in America finally begun? After all, we are hardly the democracy we claim to be. Our wealth is concentrated in so few hands and in so few businesses that we can't make progress in controlling health care costs, rebuilding our infrastructure, reducing our oil addiction, eliminating pollutants, protecting ourselves from predatory bankers, or regulating guns. In each case the people with the money dictate the policy, and in each case, we--the people--lose.
To paraphrase George Bush, of all people, I say, "Bring it on." Let the revolution begin.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Peace
Culture wars. Budget wars. Collective bargaining wars. Democracy wars. I think I'll post a picture of my daughters instead.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Fat Monkeys
There's something offensive about medical researchers fattening up monkeys to study obesity and diabetes in humans (see New York Times article, "Today's Lab Rats of Obesity: Furry Couch Potatoes"). That we use animals at all in research is troubling enough. But when we force them to overeat and to follow the unhealthy diets that so many Americans choose, we've crossed an ethical line.
Obesity is brought on by people eating too much and moving too little. All kinds of factors contribute. It's our problem--a human problem brought on by human behaviors. We should be able to find solutions ourselves.
Keep the monkeys out of it. Let them eat what they were meant to eat. And maybe if we watch them in their natural habitats--instead of confining them to laboratory cages--we'll learn something about how we were meant to eat, too.
After all, they are our cousins.
Obesity is brought on by people eating too much and moving too little. All kinds of factors contribute. It's our problem--a human problem brought on by human behaviors. We should be able to find solutions ourselves.
Keep the monkeys out of it. Let them eat what they were meant to eat. And maybe if we watch them in their natural habitats--instead of confining them to laboratory cages--we'll learn something about how we were meant to eat, too.
After all, they are our cousins.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Random Thoughts on Egypt
1. The peacefulness of the protest was remarkable and inspiring. Are we convinced yet that the Middle East isn't one big sinkhole of violence?
2. That social media helped bring about the uprising made me rethink Facebook, which often seems narcissistic to me. I'm glad to know that it can be much more.
3. The thought that so many previously repressed people might now participate in their country's livelihood benefits all of us. The more minds at work, the better for everyone.
4. Watching citizens clean Tahrir Square touched me and, at the same time, shamed me. Would we do the same here? We, who leave coffee cups in conference rooms and candy wrappers on school buses? Someone else always cleans up our mess.
5. Maybe there's something to be said for a religion that teaches the faithful to stop everything and pray, even if they're on top of a tank. Surely all Muslims are not to be feared.
2. That social media helped bring about the uprising made me rethink Facebook, which often seems narcissistic to me. I'm glad to know that it can be much more.
3. The thought that so many previously repressed people might now participate in their country's livelihood benefits all of us. The more minds at work, the better for everyone.
4. Watching citizens clean Tahrir Square touched me and, at the same time, shamed me. Would we do the same here? We, who leave coffee cups in conference rooms and candy wrappers on school buses? Someone else always cleans up our mess.
5. Maybe there's something to be said for a religion that teaches the faithful to stop everything and pray, even if they're on top of a tank. Surely all Muslims are not to be feared.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
American Health, Meet Congressional Republicans
Sometimes I think the House Republicans and I have a relationship similar to the one captured in that old book title, Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus. Our views couldn't be more opposite, which stood out yesterday as I read accounts of budget cuts proposed by these creatures from Mars.
Can there be any doubt that they're mounting an assault on our health? According to an article in Politico, congressional Republicans hope to cut funds significantly from the EPA, the WIC nutrition program, and the National Institute of Health. We already know about their wish to repeal, defund, and destroy the health care legislation of 2010, and, not surprisingly, they're now targeting abortion access. The New York Times reports of one bill that would even "permit hospitals to refuse abortions to women, even in emergency situations, if such care would offend the conscience of the health care providers." (This is not the same bill that narrows the definition of rape--in permitting federal funds for abortions--to "forcible rape.")
If protecting its people is not the fundamental role of government, then I'm not sure what is. The EPA seeks to keep our air and water clean; the WIC program provides nutrition for pregnant women and children; the NIH funds research to cure and prevent disease; the health care legislation protects us from predatory insurance companies and from discrimination; and abortion measures protect women's rights.
I guess these crusading Republicans really aren't from Mars, but they sure have a different definition of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Where I come from life means just that--staying alive and staying well.
Marshalling our country's resources to keep its citizens safe and healthy should be the work of our elected officials. When they renege on this, they're not doing their job.
Can there be any doubt that they're mounting an assault on our health? According to an article in Politico, congressional Republicans hope to cut funds significantly from the EPA, the WIC nutrition program, and the National Institute of Health. We already know about their wish to repeal, defund, and destroy the health care legislation of 2010, and, not surprisingly, they're now targeting abortion access. The New York Times reports of one bill that would even "permit hospitals to refuse abortions to women, even in emergency situations, if such care would offend the conscience of the health care providers." (This is not the same bill that narrows the definition of rape--in permitting federal funds for abortions--to "forcible rape.")
If protecting its people is not the fundamental role of government, then I'm not sure what is. The EPA seeks to keep our air and water clean; the WIC program provides nutrition for pregnant women and children; the NIH funds research to cure and prevent disease; the health care legislation protects us from predatory insurance companies and from discrimination; and abortion measures protect women's rights.
I guess these crusading Republicans really aren't from Mars, but they sure have a different definition of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Where I come from life means just that--staying alive and staying well.
Marshalling our country's resources to keep its citizens safe and healthy should be the work of our elected officials. When they renege on this, they're not doing their job.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Winter Doldrums
Sometimes I'm too tired
to figure out what's going on in our nation's capital.
Everything seems like a jumbled mess;
the pieces don't fit.
On these days, I'll settle for a sink filled with clean dishes.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Build A Bear, or Build A Country?
Pondering the news from Egypt, I think--oddly--about a recent excursion to Build a Bear. When you go to one of these stores, you select an unstuffed animal; give it a heart; get it stuffed; wash it; dress it; and generate a birth certificate. Voila. A brand new bear ready to go home.
Dictators who run their own country--or try to take over the country of others--tend to act the same way. They force stuffing into the people, without regard to what the people need. They tidy everything up, so that the country looks clean and orderly. They give everyone ID cards.
The trouble is, they forget about the heart. When untended for too long, the heart finally breaks, and the people rise up. The cuddly bear is not so cuddly anymore, and it turns out to have a life of its own.
The bear that emerges from Egypt may be unrecognizable, but it will be of its own making. The sooner President Mubarak realizes this, the better for everyone.
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