The NRA and its supporters can wrap themselves in the second amendment all they want and stand on the wrong--and immoral--side of history. President Obama and Vice President Biden have done what's right.
Leadership at last.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Binders Full of Statesmen
The various flaps over President Obama's cabinet picks are off the mark, I think. I'm glad he chose John Kerry for Secretary of State (and not Susan Rice) and Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense (and not Michele Flournoy). I'm also glad he's tapping Vice President Biden for major initiatives. Why? We live in extraordinary times and face extraordinary challenges, and we need larger-than-life people with lots of experience as public servants to do the work. I'm only sorry we don't have more such people.
We especially don't have many women. Hillary Clinton is one of the few right now who fit the description, and she has served impeccably. Olympia Snow is another woman currently not in government who has the requisite stature and experience.
The fact is, we need people who are more than "really smart" or "really talented." We need experienced statesmen and, where possible, stateswomen who have worked in government for decades and who understand Washington.
That the resulting selections are white men may be regrettable. But if they can do the work, that's what really matters.
We especially don't have many women. Hillary Clinton is one of the few right now who fit the description, and she has served impeccably. Olympia Snow is another woman currently not in government who has the requisite stature and experience.
The fact is, we need people who are more than "really smart" or "really talented." We need experienced statesmen and, where possible, stateswomen who have worked in government for decades and who understand Washington.
That the resulting selections are white men may be regrettable. But if they can do the work, that's what really matters.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Joe Biden Rising
Here's to Joe Biden. He's emerged as President Obama's best emissary and negotiator during both the fiscal cliff talks and now in discussions on gun violence. Perhaps this development is a sign that the President will use the executive branch more in his second term rather than defer to our hapless Congress.
With the American folk song "Old Joe Clark" as our guide, we salute the Vice President (and hope that he continues to take charge--rather than the Congressional leaders who've gotten us nowhere):
Joe Biden he made a deal
With the other side,
Stepped into a big old mess
Of talks that had just died.
Hello Joe Biden
Good-bye Harry Reid,
Hello Joe Biden
It's time for you to lead.
Joe Biden he is our man
Taking on tough stuff,
Trying to enact a ban
'Cause we've had enough.
Hello Joe Biden
Good-bye Nancy P,
Hello Joe Biden
You now hold the key.
Joe Biden he listens well
Gets along with all,
Doesn't demonize his foes
Up and down the Mall.
Hello Joe Biden
Good-bye Mitch and John,
Hello Joe Biden
We're so glad you won.
With the American folk song "Old Joe Clark" as our guide, we salute the Vice President (and hope that he continues to take charge--rather than the Congressional leaders who've gotten us nowhere):
Joe Biden he made a deal
With the other side,
Stepped into a big old mess
Of talks that had just died.
Hello Joe Biden
Good-bye Harry Reid,
Hello Joe Biden
It's time for you to lead.
Joe Biden he is our man
Taking on tough stuff,
Trying to enact a ban
'Cause we've had enough.
Hello Joe Biden
Good-bye Nancy P,
Hello Joe Biden
You now hold the key.
Joe Biden he listens well
Gets along with all,
Doesn't demonize his foes
Up and down the Mall.
Hello Joe Biden
Good-bye Mitch and John,
Hello Joe Biden
We're so glad you won.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Medical Malarkey
A headline on nytimes.com last night caught my attention: "Test for Cervical Cancer May Detect Other Types." I clicked on the article eager to learn which cancers might now be treatable. The news sounded promising.
I should have known better, for a few sentences later came the usual let-down: "But the research is early, years away from being used in medical practice, and there are caveats."
Sometimes I feel like telling medical researchers to keep their work to themselves until they have proven methods of treatment. Such thoughts are ignorant, I realize, for disseminating information is crucial to advancing knowledge. Nonetheless, we read these sorts of stories over and over again, raising false hopes for what's available now.
Medical research and its accompanying reporting are full of misleading, confusing information. Take this recent one, for example. After being told for years that most of us need to lose weight, we read in The Times that a "Study Suggests Lower Mortality Risk for Overweight People." "Fat per se is not as bad as we thought," says one researcher, while another says, "We wouldn't want people to think, 'Well, I can take a pass and gain more weight.'"
The contradictions are almost laughable. It's hard to know what to do. But continuing to view our medical profession as somehow holier than thou is misguided.
I think the emperor wears no clothes.
I should have known better, for a few sentences later came the usual let-down: "But the research is early, years away from being used in medical practice, and there are caveats."
Sometimes I feel like telling medical researchers to keep their work to themselves until they have proven methods of treatment. Such thoughts are ignorant, I realize, for disseminating information is crucial to advancing knowledge. Nonetheless, we read these sorts of stories over and over again, raising false hopes for what's available now.
Medical research and its accompanying reporting are full of misleading, confusing information. Take this recent one, for example. After being told for years that most of us need to lose weight, we read in The Times that a "Study Suggests Lower Mortality Risk for Overweight People." "Fat per se is not as bad as we thought," says one researcher, while another says, "We wouldn't want people to think, 'Well, I can take a pass and gain more weight.'"
The contradictions are almost laughable. It's hard to know what to do. But continuing to view our medical profession as somehow holier than thou is misguided.
I think the emperor wears no clothes.
Monday, January 7, 2013
A Dog Lover's Life
I had intended to gather interesting quotations from the weekend and post them this morning. I was prompted by Maureen Dowd's column yesterday in The New York Times, where she rightly applauded Joe Biden's negotiations with Congress and ended by saying, "He knows how to stoop to conquer." I'm sure I could have found other such observations. But then life intruded and I got one of those remarks from our dog's vet that makes time stop. "I'm concerned that he has a brain tumor," he said of our beloved Cassidy.
I've heard similar diagnoses before in my life, sometimes directed at me and sometimes told to me about those I love. The effect is always the same: the taste of food dulls, the light around me sharpens, and memories flood in. Life in the moment and on the edge.
In the midst of this, I appreciate above all the kindness of our vet, the love of family and friends, and the wondrous and wonderful companionship of our two dogs, Cassidy and Sundance. They've brought to my life miracles beyond anything I could ever have imagined, gifts of a lifetime.
Living on the edge is the least I can do for them.
I've heard similar diagnoses before in my life, sometimes directed at me and sometimes told to me about those I love. The effect is always the same: the taste of food dulls, the light around me sharpens, and memories flood in. Life in the moment and on the edge.
In the midst of this, I appreciate above all the kindness of our vet, the love of family and friends, and the wondrous and wonderful companionship of our two dogs, Cassidy and Sundance. They've brought to my life miracles beyond anything I could ever have imagined, gifts of a lifetime.
Living on the edge is the least I can do for them.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
The Fools on the Hill
On New Year's Eve our local PBS station broadcast the original film of the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour. Wild and wacky, it features a segment where Paul McCartney sings "The Fool on the Hill." How amusing to hear this song on the very eve that our Republican-led House of Representatives attempted to steer us over the cliff, veering dangerously towards the extreme views of its party.
Day after day,
"At work" on the Hill,
The men of the Tea Party keep thwarting
bill after bill
And most of us just don't get them,
We can see that they're really fools,
'Cause they never give an answer
'Cept to keep the rich untaxed,
For they don't understand,
And the eyes in their head,
See their world giving way.
Full of themselves,
Heads in a cloud,
These men of unreasoned voices talking perfectly loud
And very few want to hear them,
Or the sound they appear to make,
'Cause they never give an answer
'Cept to keep the rich untaxed,
For they don't understand,
And the eyes in their head,
See their world giving way.
And even John Boehner irks them,
They won't do what he wants them to,
'Cause they have their own agenda,
All these fools on the Hill,
See the sun going down,
And the eyes in their head,
See their world giving way.
Day after day,
"At work" on the Hill,
The men of the Tea Party keep thwarting
bill after bill
And most of us just don't get them,
We can see that they're really fools,
'Cause they never give an answer
'Cept to keep the rich untaxed,
For they don't understand,
And the eyes in their head,
See their world giving way.
Full of themselves,
Heads in a cloud,
These men of unreasoned voices talking perfectly loud
And very few want to hear them,
Or the sound they appear to make,
'Cause they never give an answer
'Cept to keep the rich untaxed,
For they don't understand,
And the eyes in their head,
See their world giving way.
And even John Boehner irks them,
They won't do what he wants them to,
'Cause they have their own agenda,
All these fools on the Hill,
See the sun going down,
And the eyes in their head,
See their world giving way.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
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