85 And Change!

Random Thoughts Before My Trip...

I leave this weekend for my annual shot of mid-western, eastern and southern culture. I will visit my other daughter and my granddaughter and her husband in Ohio, then on to Vermont for a month with my son and daughter-in-law. My daughter-in-law lost her mother last year (she almost made it to 100 years). She was a dear, dear friend of mine and I always stayed with her while in Vermont. Without her presence, it is sad and nostalgic for me now when I visit, but her two daughters are there and my one and only son, so I smother my emotions over her loss and enjoy this opportunity to visit with my children. My visit in Cleveland is so enjoyable because I can see my other daughter and catch up with her. California is so far away, and we all wish that our family all lived in the same town. Families don’t seem to do that, anymore. We all move away for a better climate, job opportunities, etc. But, in the long run, what good is more sunshine, and more money if you have to make new friends, and see less of your family members who remained in place?

At the age of 86, I regret our rootless society. I have made new friends in California and they are wonderful, but we will never share a past history. This is what I enjoy when I return to my hometown and my old and good friends who are still vertical and cognizant. However, there are fewer and fewer of them as the years pass. It begins to get a bit lonely when you are one of the last trees standing in the forest (and you know it). However, on a brighter note, I feel so fortunate that I have a wonderful family and, particularly, an unusual granddaughter who seems to enjoy my company. Her husband is the greatest! She is also lucky (and so is he). They are such a happy, glowing couple that it makes me feel young to stay with them and enjoy their company and their pets (two beautiful cats and a delightful sprite of a girl dog, named Kennedy). So much for all the personal stuff that can get boring.

I attended a program the other day that gave me much hope for the future. Juniors in our local high school challenged a group of well-educated and retired professional senior citizens to a game of Jeopardy. The seniors did well but not fast enough for the “kids”. The boys on the high school team were the epitome of what you could wish for if you had a “kid” right now. They were so clean-cut that I was amazed, yet they weren’t the least bit “dorky, or nerdy.” They were really cute and very, very good looking and had great senses of humor! On top of that, their manners were impeccable. I would be happy to date any one of them if I were in high school again (sigh). All of us in the audience who were seniors, commented on this and agreed that they gave us hope for the future.

Read a warning about free credit reports and I pass it on. Beware of ‘free’ report imitators. Always go to the one and only site that offers the federally mandated free look at your reports, AnnualCreditReport.com. Others are look-alikes that are out to make a profit. Beware.

I thought I had sworn off politics but there’s always a piece of news that sets me off. The latest, of course, is the BP Gulf oil spill. A tragedy of such far reaching consequences that we can’t even begin to predict the future. “Drill Baby Drill” has to be a mantra from the past. We must spend the money and resources to get off our dependence on dirty oil and filthy coal. We can do it, but our president must mandate it in much the way former President Kennedy mandated our push to outer space. The tea party people claim they are worried about the future of their grandchildren if the government goes on spending money. But, whether oil spills into the Gulf or goes into our gas tanks, we are polluting the atmosphere at such an alarming rate that these future generations will be far more impacted by the environment than they will be by government programs that require spending. And, why do we lag far behind many countries in our use of solar and wind power?. Surely our best minds can come up with some better solutions for powering our energy needs. And, if they do, they’d better make sure that those solutions are safe and are regulated properly.

If the regulators don’t know what they’re doing, we’d better get some new ones. Everyone is at fault in this disaster, the oil company for cutting corners and for not having a back-up plan in case something goes wrong. Shouldn’t our regulators be checking these companies for back-up plans as well as for safe practices? I don’t think they were checking for either one. If we build all the new nuclear plants that are in the works, do we have any assurance that they will be well-regulated and will have proper safety measures in place? I am beginning to think that we live in a very sloppy country.

We are always in a hurry, always looking for the quick fix. We moan and groan over any hardship and we certainly don’t want to give up our cars and take public transportation, unless it can be made more accessible and attractive. And heaven forbid that we pay more taxes, even though almost half of the people in this country pay no taxes at all. This is a golden opportunity for our president to use the spill as a soap box for inspiring our leaders to come up with a true, clean energy bill that has some real bite in it, whether it’s a popular idea or not. President Obama is a prized orator. When he is impassioned and hits his stride, he’s as good as or better than Lincoln, Roosevelt and Kennedy. He could inspire the American people to achieve clean energy by 2020, not to just work toward that goal. He needs to mandate it, and he should do it right now. Every time I see an oil covered turtle or pelican either dead or dying, I am close to tears. If I were younger and had two legs and two eyes, I’d be down there helping to save those poor creatures. My granddaughter recently posted some helpful links on her blog in regard to the oil spill - go to The Creative Housing Market blog and read "Be A Part of the Solution".

And, what about the fishermen who make their living from the marine life in those waters? Of course, there are hundreds of independent oil drillers with beau-coup bucks tied up in this industry. If they are put out of business, they will have to invent new jobs, as the steel and factory workers in the rust belt have had to do. Surely, these oil drillers could put their know-how into clean energy projects. How about drilling wind mills instead of oil wells? Enough said.

See you in Ohio, next!

Don't Ask... Don't Tell...

Click here to add your name to the list of people who support the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Memorial Day...

Memorial Day……..an American holiday to honor our dead, killed in the armed forces. I imagine a great many of you celebrated this day with family get-togethers, barbeques and the like. I saw some touching scenes on TV depicting families, gathered together at Arlington Cemetery, to remember their family members killed in action. The saddest part of this program was the fact that since the Iraqi war and the war in Afghanistan, the numbers of our dead are increasing at such a rate that new ground is being prepared for an additional cemetery. We keep on killing our young men, even though it’s pretty obvious that all these years of war have accomplished little. I don’t argue that WWII was necessary, but perhaps Hitler and Mussolini would not have come to power were it not for WWI and its aftermath. We know that violence begets violence and yet it goes on. Man is still convinced that war is the way to get his share of the world’s goods. Pretty discouraging that so little progress has been made, after all these eons. The Muslims hate us, the radical Israelis hate us, in fact, we are probably one of the most despised nations in the world. Perhaps it’s time to ask ourselves, ‘why?’

When we celebrate Memorial Day, how many of us actually remember the ones who died for our so-called freedom. How many of us think about the mothers/fathers and their children who have been denied a parent because of war? I see nothing to celebrate. All the flag-waving parades signify nothing to me but unnecessary deaths, not only of our soldiers but of the countless civilians who are also killed in a war.

I have been pursuing pathways to peaceful solutions ever since my granddaughter was in the fifth grade and I started a group at her elementary school, called Peace Club. Because she attended a public school, I had to present impartial views. I could not pursue an anti-war ideology, unless I also presented a case for war. We even traveled to Washington and the members of the club were invited into the Soviet Embassy (this was at the height of the Cold War). We also met with our Congressman on the steps of the Congressional Building and our pictures were taken. Our only accomplishments were some press coverage and publicity for the Congressman and for the Soviet Embassy. So where are we now? I’ve grown old and the children in the club have grown up and have their own families. Will they remember the things we discussed in our club, or will they be sending their children blindly off to be killed/maimed? Maybe we could revive the Peace Clubs in our schools as a place where we could have an honest discussion about war and peace. It’s up to all of you. I’m running out of steam at the age of 86, so I hope you will carry on.

Verbing & Obama Will Triumph...

I am busy working on finishing my novel... and find myself neglecting my blog. Since I do not have anything original to post today, I have decided to share with you a couple emails and blogs that I found interesting. I hope you find them to be a good read, as well!

This is a from a blog that is written by friend's granddaughter - http://dyannstuff.blogspot.com. I found this particular entry to be very entertaining - especially with all the book writing I am doing as of late!

Sunday, April 18, 2010 Verbing

Making dinner tonight, Trevi said, "It's a lot faster microwaving your food than stoving it." 

Which made me wonder why microwaving managed to become a verb, but stoving didn't.  Mopping did, but brooming didn't. Shampooing did, but toothpasting didn't.  Drumming did, but pianoing didn't.  Tacking did, but magneting didn't.  Batting did, but gloving didn't.  Bikingscootering didn't.  Boating did, but carring didn't.  Waxing did, but razoring didn't.  did, but

Ah, English.  You are such an enigma. 

I think I'm done computering for the night.  Time for some pillowing.

Posted by Dyann at 2:15 PM

I received this in an forwarded email from one of my close friends. Other than a few errors - it is an interesting read (and perspective).

Frank Schaeffer is the son of famed evangelists, Francis and Edith Schaeffer. The subtitle of his book, "Crazy for God" is How I grew up as one of the elect, helped found the religious right, and lived to take all (or almost all) of it back.

Obama Will Triumph -
So Will America

By Frank Schaeffer

Before he'd  served even one year President , Obama lost the support 
of the easily distracted left and engendered the white hot rage of 
the hate-filled right. But some of us, from all walks of  life and 
ideological backgrounds -- including this white, straight,  57-year-
old, former religious right wing agitator, now progressive writer  
and (given my background as the son of a famous evangelical leader)
this  unlikely Obama supporter -- are sticking with our President. 
Why?--  because he is succeeding.

We faithful Obama supporters still trust  our initial impression of 
him as a great, good and uniquely qualified man  to lead us.

Obama's steady supporters will be proved right.  Obama's critics 
will be remembered as easily panicked and prematurely  discouraged
at best and shriveled hate mongers at worst.

The Context of the Obama  Presidency

Not since the days of the rise of fascism in  Europe, the Second 
World War and the Depression has any president faced  more 
adversity. Not since the Civil War has any president led a more  
bitterly divided country. Not since the introduction of racial 
integration  has any president faced a more consistently short-
sighted and willfully  ignorant opposition - from both  the right 
and left.

As the President's poll numbers have fallen, so has his support from
some on the left who were hailing him as a Messiah not long ago--- 
all those lefty websites and commentators that were falling  all 
over themselves on behalf of our first black president during the 
2008 election.

The left's lack of faith has become a self-fulfilling  "prophecy"-- 
snipe at the President, then watch the poll numbers fall and pretend
you didn't have  anything to do with it!

Here is  what Obama faced when he took office-- none of which was 
his  fault:

# An ideologically divided country to the point that  America was 
really two countries

# Two wars; one that was  mishandled from the start, the other that
was unnecessary and  immoral

# The worst economic crisis since the depression

#  America's standing in the world at its lowest point in history

# A country that had been misled into accepting the use of torture 
of prisoners of war

# A health care system in free fall

# An educational system in free fall

# A global environmental crisis of  history-altering proportions 
(about which the Bush administration and the  Republicans had done nothing)

# An impasse between culture warriors from the right and left

# A huge financial deficit inherited from the terminally irresponsible Bush
administration

And those were  only some of the problems sitting on the President's desk!

"Help"  from the Right?

What did the Republicans and the religious  right, libertarians and 
half-baked conspiracy theorists -- that is what  the Republicans 
were reduced to by the time Obama took office -- do to "help" our new
president (and our country) succeed? They claimed that he  
wasn't a real American, didn't have an American birth certificate, 
wasn't  born here, was secretly a Muslim, was white-hating "racist", 
was secretly  a communist, was actually the Anti-Christ, (!) and was 
a reincarnation of  Hitler and wanted "death panels" to kill the elderly!

They  not-so-subtly called for his assassination through the not-so-
subtle use of vile signs held at their rallies and even a bumper sticker quoting
Psalm 109:8. They organized "tea parties" to sound 
off against imagined  insults and all government in general and 
gathered to howl at the moon.  They were led by insurance industry 
lobbyists and deranged (but well  financed) "commentators" from 
Glenn Beck to Rush Limbaugh.

The  utterly discredited Roman Catholic bishops teamed up with the utterly
discredited evangelical leaders to denounce a president who was trying to
actually do something about the poor, the environment, to diminish the
number of abortions through compassionate programs to help women and
to care for the sick!
 
And in Congress the Republican leadership only knew one  word: "No!"

In other words the reactionary white, rube, uneducated, crazy 
American far right, combined with the educated but obtuse  
neoconservative war mongers, religious right shills for big 
business, libertarian Fed Reserve-hating gold bug, gun-loving 
crazies,  child-molesting acquiescent "bishops", frontier loons and evangelical
gay-hating flakes found one thing to briefly unite them: their desire to stop an
uppity black man from  succeeding at all costs!

"Help" from the Left?

What did the  left do to help their newly elected president? Some of 
them excoriated the  President because they disagreed with the bad choices
he was being forced  to make about a war in Afghanistan 
that he'd inherited from the worst president in modern history!

Others stood up and bravely proclaimed that  the President's 
economic policies had "failed" before the President even instituted them! 
Others said that since all gay rights battles had not been fully won  within
virtually minutes of the President taking office, they'd been  "betrayed"! (Never
mind that Obama's vocal support to the gay community is  stronger than any
other president's has been.  Never mind that he signed a  new hate crimes law!)

Those that had stood in transfixed legions  weeping with beatific 
emotion on election night turned into an angry mob saying how 
"disappointed" they were that they'd not all immediately been  
transported to heaven the moment Obama stepped into the White House! 
Where  was the "change"? Contrary to their expectations they were 
still mere  mortals!

And the legion of young new supporters was too busy  texting to pay
attention for longer than a nanosecond. "Governing"?! What  the hell
does that word, uh, like mean?"

The President's critics  left and right all had one thing in common: 
impatience laced with little-to-no sense of history (let alone 
reality) thrown in for good  measure. Then of course there were the white,
snide know-it-all  commentators/talking heads who just couldn't imagine
that maybe, just maybe they weren't as smart as they  thought they were
and certainly not as smart as their president. He hadn't  consulted them,
had he? So he must be wrong!

The Obama critics'  ideological ideas defined their idea of reality 
rather than reality defining their ideas--say, about what is 
possible in one year in office after the hand the President had been dealt by
fate, or to be exact by the American idiot  nation that voted Bush into office.  Twice!

Meanwhile back in the reality-based community -  in just 12 short 
months -- President Obama:

#Continued to  draw down the misbegotten war in Iraq
(But that wasn't good enough for  his critics)

#Thoughtfully and decisively picked the best of  several bad choices 
regarding the war in Afghanistan
(But that wasn't  good enough for his critics)

#Gave a major precedent-setting speech  supporting gay rights
(But that wasn't good enough for his  critics)

#Restored America's image around the globe
(But that  wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Banned torture of American  prisoners
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Stopped the free fall of the American economy
(But that wasn't  good enough for his critics)

#Put the USA squarely back in the  bilateral international community
(But that wasn't good enough for his  critics)

#Put the USA squarely into the middle of the  international effort 
to halt global warming
(But that wasn't good  enough for his critics)

#Stood up for educational reform
(But  that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Won a Nobel peace  prize
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Moved the  trial of terrorists back into the American judicial 
system of checks and  balances
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Did  what had to be done to start the slow, torturous and almost 
impossible  process of health care reform that 7 presidents had 
failed to even  begin
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Responded  to hatred from the right and left with measured good 
humor and  patience
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Stopped  the free fall of job losses
(But that wasn't good enough for his  critics)

#Showed immense personal courage in the face of an armed  and
dangerous far right opposition that included the sort of disgusting 
people that show up at public meetings carrying loaded weapons
and carrying Timothy McVeigh-inspired signs about the "blood of 
tyrants"  needing to "water the tree of liberty".
(But that wasn't good enough  for his critics)

#Showed that he could not only make the tough  military choices
but explain and defend them brilliantly
(But that  wasn't good enough for his critics)

Other than those  "disappointing" accomplishments -- IN ONE YEAR -- 
President Obama  "failed"! Other than that he didn't "live up to 
expectations"!

Who actually has  failed...
...are the Americans that can't see the beginning of a miracle of 
national rebirth right under their jaded noses. Who failed  are the 
smart ass ideologues of the left and right who began rooting for  
this President to fail so that they could  be proved right in their 
dire and morbid predictions. Who failed  are the movers and shakers 
behind our obscenely dumb news cycles that have  turned "news"
into just more stupid entertainment for an  entertainment-besotted 
infantile country.

Here's the good news:  President Obama is succeeding without the 
help of his lefty "supporters"  or hate-filled Republican detractors!

The Future Looks  Good

After Obama has served two full terms (and he will);  after his 
wisdom in moving deliberately and cautiously with great subtlety  on 
all fronts -- with a canny and calculating eye to the possible  
succeeds (it will); after the economy is booming and new industries are
burgeoning (they will be); after the doomsayers are all proved not just
wrong but silly: let the record show that not all 
Americans were panicked  into thinking the sky was falling.

Just because we didn't get  everything we wanted in the first short and
fraught year Obama was in office not all of us gave up. Some of us stayed
the course. And we will be proved right.

Hang in there.

A Bad Bill...

Just when I decide to stop blogging about politics, something happens that needs to be addressed.

This Sunday, Scott Brown, the new GOP wonder boy senator from Mass., was interviewed on Face the Nation by Wally Schafer  He protested that the proposed Wall Street and Bank Reform Bill is a bad bill and he will not vote for it. Oh yes, he is for regulation of our financial institutions but not with this bill. Deja vue…..same song and dance about the Health Care Reform Bill. His objections sounded vague to me. He stated that it covers too many institutions and that too many issues are in the bill. I want to know what these institutions and issues are that he objects to. Did Wally Schafer ask him to be more specific? No. This happens all the time with the media. Why don’t they dig deeper and ask the right questions? As a result, vague allegations and assumptions are thrown out and hang about like a cloud.

This was the cry of opponents to Health Care Reform. “It’s a bad bill. We are for reform, but not with this bill. Please, give me a break. Be specific, if you dare.

Make no mistake. Scott Brown portrays himself as an independent thinker. He isn’t. In this interview, he managed to take the usual snipes at our president and his administration. He praised Sarah Palin and certainly did not distance himself from the Tea Party groupies. He is just another politician in camouflage, fearful of alienating a group of voters. Who knows what he really stands for?

Once more, to the news media………….Please, make your guests be SPECIFIC! Ask the hard questions that matter. We, the voters, can’t be expected to read all of each and every bill that comes before our Congress and Senate. We depend on the news media to help us digest all of these issues.

Post Easter Blog...

This was to be posted shortly after Easter, but since I still need my granddaughter's assistance in getting my entries posted, it was a little delayed. I am happy to say, her business has been keeping her quite busy. In a short couple of months, I will be heading back to the east coast to stay with her and my darling grandson-in-law and she has assured me that I am more than capable of learning how to post these myself. I look forward to that challenge! Anyhow... read below if you are interested in my Post Easter entry.

I hope you all had a joyful and fun Easter. I had all of the above, plus an adventure. My daughter and I roused ourselves at 4:30 A.M. to attend a sunrise service, high on a hillside, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Our view was incredible and added to the spirituality of the occasion. On one side of the site, we viewed the waves breaking on the sand from high above, much as one would view it from a low-flying plane. On the other side, the sky changed from dark blue to bright and brighter orange as the sun rose and broke through the mist. An open-air church, surrounded by the beauty of mother nature, adds another dimension to the worship of a deity, making it even more inspiring. And for us, well worth the narrow, curving climb in my ancient but loveable, stick-shift Honda, vintage, 1990, My husband and I bought her in Virginia and christened her “Honey Child” because she is southern and the color of wild clover honey.

When my daughter and I left the service, faithful “Honey Child” would not move. Her gear shift refused to budge out of neutral. Finally, with a great deal of effort and a few tricks, known only to me, I managed to shift into first. Afraid to attempt another shift, we retraced our winding path back down the curving road and on to home. We had a long following of cars behind us, a virtual Easter Parade, although none of the entries were voluntary. When possible I pulled to the side to let our entourage pass, but I kept the car slowly moving along. In this fashion, we made it home

In my daughter’s car we joined the family for a wonderful family brunch, complete with children and the inevitable hunt for eggs. My Great-Granddaughter, Ella, was as gorgeous as ever in her Easter outfit (see photo below). She wasn’t too interested in the hunt, but humored her mother who followed her around, pointing out eggs and putting them into Ella’s basket. Ella was more interested in driving her toy car and bouncing on the trampoline. Ella’s parents joined her bouncing and this was our entertainment for the day. Really fun to watch, although I feared for Ella’s life. She is 14 months old now and walking everywhere, or should I say waddling? Isn’t it interesting that we begin our walking adventure by waddling from side to side, and as our walking days begin to wind down we come full circle as we waddle away from life? I find that I am waddling more and more at 86 years and that my beloved Honda at 20 years of age is beginning to stiffen up in her gears. Poor baby is still incapacitated while the mechanics operate on her. 

“Honey Child” was in fine shape before her sudden breakdown, similar to the onset of severe arthritis. As proof of this, I drove to the post office just before Easter, only to be confronted by a shocking sight. Two picketers were walking up and down with crudely lettered signs that read “Impeach Obama”. Something within me could not ignore such blatant disrespect. I approached them and pointed to their signs, “Why?” I asked. This was a simple question but was greeted with a torrent of abuse which ended in “If you have to ask you’re an idiot!” My response was my usual in this kind of situation, “It takes one to know one!” Whereupon, I got into my ancient chariot, shifted into first gear and gunned the motor as I triumphantly yelled out the window, “I bet you idiots can’t even drive a stick shift.” Shocking behavior for an 86-year old Great-Gramma, but I’m sick of all this nonsensical abuse. Bad behavior just breeds more bad behavior and I guess I should have told them in my best lady-like voice, “I’ll pray for you”, or something equally ineffective. Anyway, how much do you want to bet they can’t drive a stick shift as well as this 86 year-old great-gramma can?!?! The metaphor I find in this is as follows: sometimes it is the loudest, most screeching problems that give us the biggest headaches and embarrass us the most, but it is the quiet, harder to diagnose problems that can cause real problems. And it takes an intelligent and patient person to handle those problems.

Wishing You All a Happy Easter...

It has been a long winter in more ways than weather-wise, but with Easter comes the season of hope. Whatever your faith, or lack of it, the return of the flowers and blossoms surely gives you an understanding that nothing in our universe dies and is gone forever. Everything renews itself, but often in a different form.

We may differ in how we express our faith, but the order of the universe connects us all to one another in a commonality of man. Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, etc. etc……..we are all connected by this order. No one faith is totally right, making another one totally wrong.  My ideas of right and wrong may differ from yours, but as long as I bring no harm to another life, my differences will not weaken or destroy yours. I wish we could all just live and let live. If everyone followed The Golden Rule, it would mean the end of hatred and war.

Tomorrow, as we celebrate this holiday with family and friends, let’s be loving and kind and respectful in our disagreements. Let’s celebrate the goodness that is in each one of us. ENJOY, ENJOY. These moments with family and friends all pass. Nothing is eternal, except what we carry in our hearts.
 
That goes for the Tea Party people and their message of hatred and fear. I heard about a new group centered around coffee klatches. Their motto is civility as they discuss their differences. Hooray! That’s a group I’d be interested in joining. Why not start one in your home town?

Again, Congratulations for all the Hard Work...

It has paid off and now health care reform will finally be on the table and we can go from there. This really is a turning point for our nation and of course the old die-hards will be full of doom and gloom, however, I foresee a bright future for our nation. Let’s hope that we will finally portray an image to the rest of the world that we are a nation who truly cares about the health and welfare of all its people, not just those who can pay their way. But, we must remain vigilant and become informed on exactly what is in the bill as we move ahead. And, we must be prepared to fight off the barbarians at the gate who are already vowing revenge in the form of not passing any other legislation the present administration proposes, and John McCain has already promised to start proceedings immediately to repeal the bill, before the president has even signed it.

I had the good fortune to hear Dan Rather speak the other night and the most important part of his message was that the citizens of this wonderful country should try to stay informed, and should look beneath the surface of what the media tells us to think to make sure their message is based on fact. This is a lesson we must all heed now. Victory is sweet, but we will still have to stay on top of the facts and know exactly what is in the new health care reform bill, so that we are once more prepared to answer the lies and innuendoes that the GOP will begin anew.  I still think there’s been a lot of confusion as to its contents, and this could account in part for the hesitation of the voters in accepting this big change. Just remember to look at the facts and not be influenced by ‘snarky bloggers’ and sound-byte politics. Fancy slogans and cutesy phrases do not necessarily contain the truth.

We have a lot of important days ahead and a lot of local elections coming up. Let’s remember, it’s simpler to change our leaders than ourselves. So don’t rest on your laurels, but stay involved and connected to all this wonderful change that we have brought about.

NOTE: I heard an interesting statistic today - a shining example of how misleading sound bites can be. In a recent poll, numbers showed about 39% of Americans supported the bill, but apx. 59% opposed it. Disappointing right? WRONG! When they broke down the group in opposition - 13% opposed it because they wanted it to include even more changes to protect consumers. SO... the reality is, 52% of Americans want at least as much as what is included in the current bill, and only 46% oppose reform! It will be interesting over the next months and years to see how much these numbers change.

Hang In There and Pray (or... "Tea" Party, or NOT "Tea" Party)...

This may well be the eve of one of the most historic moments in history. Yes! I believe that we are finally going to get some health care reform. I think we may have enough votes to pull it off.  Like the Medicare and Social Security acts before this, President Obama may be making history if the present bill passes. And what a day it’s been.

Angry protesters from the Tea Party group were at the doors of Congress, many of whom hurled racial slurs at black members of the House. In fact their behavior has been shocking and reminds me of the nastiest days of the 1960’s, when black activists were marching just to get off the back of the bus, and crowds of white people confronted them with such incredible disdain. Many of the black people who were fighting for their equal rights were led by current Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) who was today, a victim of the grotesque behavior displayed by the Tea Party crowd. This kind of behavior is deplorable, but sadly, I have learned to expect it.  The fact that many of them were shouting the N-word over and over is just so sad and appalling. Yet, they are a stark example of the fact that the people screaming the loudest about not wanting this bill to pass, are in fact motivated by racism and prejudice, not intellect!

So, will our members of Congress be intimidated by the mob, or will they vote their conscience? I have faith that they will vote their conscience, particularly now that Harry Reid (Senate majority leader, D-Nev.) brought a pledge from more than 50 of his Democratic colleagues to promptly pass the bill after the house votes on Sunday. This allayed the fears of many in the House that the Senate could not be counted on. So, it looks like a go and I certainly hope so. As I said before, it’s not a perfect bill, but it’s a start. To drop it and start over would be the kiss of death for health reform in the foreseeable future. So, if it passes, all of you who made phone calls and wrote letters should be proud to know you conveyed your wishes in a dignified and responsible way. No, we didn’t get much press and we didn’t call attention to our demands by shouting nasty phrases at our representatives and accusing our president of being a Socialist, a Muslim, and even doubting his birth certificate.

Until their actions today, I thought the Tea Party was just another group of uninformed voters who were looking for simple answers to complicated questions, but I think they showed their true colors today by their racial remarks and disrespect. As scary as it sounds, it’s more obvious than ever that most of this group are still uncomfortable and hostile to the notion of a black president. How sad. I thought we had come so far, only to have an unruly mob, full of hatred, bring us to the brink of disaster. They keep saying that the people don’t want this health care reform bill. These are not the people I know. In a Feb. 22 issue of Time magazine, Joe Klein wrote an article on Sarah Palin in which he gave the best description of the Tea Party world that I’ve ever heard... “In a certain part of America, the land of simple truths, nothing Barack Obama does makes sense. They don’t understand why he would bail out big banks when they’re the ones that caused all the troubles in the first place. And why spend more money when you’re already running a deficit? That’s not what Americans do. They sit around the kitchen table and tighten their belts. And, what’s all this about global warming? This winter, the White House was up to its Truman balcony in snow. And, why not just whack the Iranians before they get the bomb?” This was the essence of Palin’s Nashville speech and Fox interview. And, this is the essence of the Tea Party movement. This is frightening to me and should be to you. This is simplistic thinking at its simplest level. Unfortunately, these people can and do invent truths that are not based on fact. So, I sincerely hope that we, as a nation, are smart enough and care enough to search beyond the simple truth and find the real truth.

At least, we have tried. I know I have made countless phone calls, written letters to the media and tried to inform you to the best of my knowledge. I think our efforts will pay off, and I think we will get a bill! So, hang in there... and pray.

Who Are You Fighting For...

We all know somebody who has been affected by illness, or lack of health insurance. Perhaps you just know somebody who is under-insured because they can't afford comprehensive insurance coverage, or perhaps you know somebody who has lost coverage or been denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Today, Organizing for America is asking us to submit the name of someone we are fighting for - the name of a person who deserves better health insurance coverage. Click on this this link and submit the name of the person you are fighting for!

I am fighting for my daughter who is a Realtor and is under insured. I am also fighting for my granddaughter and her husband who own a small business and would like to expand, but rely on his corporate job for health insurance and coverage of her "pre-existing condition". (Click here to see her story) And I am fighting for everyone out there who is in a similar position, and the belief that it is my responsibility to contribute to a better future for the generations that follow me.