Mitt Romney in Knots

Mitt Romney spent the week trying to explain his position on health care reform.  Pretend you're Mitt and sing to the tune of "Hello, Goodbye," by the Beatles.

It's a tax, no it's not
It's a tax, or it's a penalty.
Oh no.
For FOX it's a tax, for Mass it is not.
Tax? Penalty?
I don't know what to call this thing I once stood for.
Tax? Penalty?
I don't know what to call this thing I once stood for.

Obamacare, Romneycare,
What's the diff? I'm not sure I can say.
Oh no.
Barack's plan's not mine, and mine's not Barack's.
Mandated care?
I think we'll just keep quiet from now on that's for sure.
Mandated care?
I think we'll just keep quiet from now on that's for sure.

Why, why, why, why, why, why do you say
Mandated care?
Oh no.
Barack's plan's not mine, and mine's not Barack's.
Mandated care?
I don't know why I have to say what I support.
Mandated care?
I don't know why I have to say what I support.

Can I run, can I hide
From that plan of mine in my old state?
Oh no.
But health care for all is not in my sights.
A change in view?
Not really, yes, well maybe, who knows where I stand?
A change in view?
Not really, yes, well maybe, who knows where I stand?
A change in view?
Not really, yes, well maybe, who knows where I stand?

Puppet Panoply

 Paperhand Puppet Intervention presides over the Eno Festival parade every year.

The puppets evoke ancient gods and goddesses.

The Sun God is my favorite, but he's hard to capture because his handlers move him every which way.

Some of the birds are scary.

But the owl is like an old friend.

Follow-Up Questions on Health Care

1. To Mitt Romney: What exactly isn't working in your Massachusetts plan and how would you change it?

2. To Barack Obama: Now that your legislation has been approved by the Supreme Court, can you and your staff please do a better job explaining its merits to the country?

3. To columnists Robert Reich and Linda Greenhouse: How did both of you know on Wednesday night--before the ruling had been announced--that the Supreme Court would uphold the law's constitutionality?

4. To Chief Justice John Roberts: Will we see now a new model of judicial leadership or a return to politics as usual?

5. To Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana: How could you even think of denying an expanded Medicaid program to your state's poorest residents?

The answer to #5 can't possibly be reassuring, yet it lies in the heart of too many heartless Americans.  We claim liberty and justice for all, but we don't come close.  

The Wizards of Oz

The Supreme Court justices remind me of the Wizard of Oz, hiding behind their robes and occasionally roaring at us.  This image couldn't have been stronger this week as we awaited their ruling on the Affordable Care Act and then learned of their decision.  Sing to the tune of "We're Off to See the Wizard."

We're waiting for the wizards to give us a piece of their mind
We hear they will decide the fate of health care for our time
These wizards, you see, I'm not sure why, can rule the land until they die
And in their rule they sit on high like God
And adjudicate the fate of all.
Dumb diddy dumb diddy dumb
We're waiting for the wizards to give us a piece of their mind.

We've now heard from the wizards who startled us all with their news
The head wizard he cast his lot with those who usually lose
He gave the President a win that's barely heard above the din
Of those who fear that Armageddon's near
And that we're becoming mere socialists.
Dumb diddy dumb diddy dumb
We've now heard from the wizards who startled us all with their news.

Words Without Meaning

Sometimes there's not much to say.  Though words pile on top of each other, nothing adds up.  Even nasal is misspelled.

But to quote my latest favorite heroine, Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day."

"So foul and fair. . .

. . . a day I have not seen."  These are Macbeth's first words in Shakespeare's tragedy, a play that captures the contradictions in human nature.  I thought of this line on Friday night when I learned that Jerry Sandusky was found guilty on 45 counts of sexual abuse charges.  So foul a day--of such unspeakable crimes--and so fair a day--of long-overdue justice.

It's been a hard journey, our willingness to believe that adults--especially those who look and behave like the rest of us--can harm children in such heinous ways.  And though the abuse of boys is no more heinous than the abuse of girls, we've had an especially tough time facing it.  But finally we have on file a jury that believed the words of children--young men, yes, but children stuck forever in a hell that never should have come their way.

Let's go forward now and resolve to believe the words of children, even--and especially--when they tell us something that's hard to believe.  Let's resolve to teach children to speak up when something's wrong and to speak up ourselves when something's wrong.

And let's resolve to make Penn State a watershed moment, a time in our collective humanity when we committed ourselves to a higher level of protection for our children.

The Wrath of Putin

It's hard to imagine any American president looking forward to meeting Vladimir Putin.  Some of the pictures posted earlier this week of Obama and his Russian counterpart were painful with Obama looking stiff and uncomfortable and Putin looking mean.  The first line of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" (Hello darkness my old friend) came to mind as I imagined what Obama must have been thinking.

Hello Putin my old friend

I’ve come to talk with you again

I know that you’re a really scary guy

That’s why I look like I just ate a fly

But we’ve got to talk ‘bout the problems everywhere

If I dare

Take on the wrath of Putin.

Meeting you is not my choice

Somehow I tend to lose my voice

You remind me of an old nightmare

Where I find myself exposed and bare

And my eyes are stabbed by the flash of a neon light

That split the night

And touched the wrath of Putin.

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more

Russians protesting their president

Russians resisting their government

Russians holding signs we never used to see

That show they dared

Take on the wrath of Putin.

“Fools,” said I, “You do not know

This guy’s a wicked, wicked foe

Make sure he doesn’t notice you

Make sure he doesn’t poison you”

But my words, like silent raindrops fell

And echoed

In the wrath of Putin.

And the people stood their ground

For in protest they were bound

To force the end of an oppressive reign

Where the ruler’s had too much to gain

And the crowd said, “We’ve had enough of this thug and his fellow thieves

So we won’t shrink

From all that wrath of Putin."