Soap Box

This is a two-fer today ;). I just heard a story on the radio about a subject that really gets to me – medical marijuana bans. California and 10 other states have laws on the books permitting the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The Federal government however, in its desire to be not only in our bedrooms but have the power of life and death over normal non criminals has decided that they have the right to prosecute medical marijuana users, claiming Federal Interstate Commerce Law trumps State law.

Now, we are talking the GOP administration here – the gang that says they believe in States’ rights, but I guess that only applies to the rights they want states to have. This is supposedly the smaller government party, the party that supposedly supports freedoms so much so they want to bestow it on other nations whether they want it or not, and for sure they support corporate freedom! We have seen what they think of our privacy concerns while they guard theirs even when doing government business examples include but are not limited to: Cheney’s energy task force – who attended and what was decided; Bush’s youthful or other probable drug use; Bush’s military AWOL records; etc.

Today’s debacle is a woman in California who is suffering, perhaps dying, from Brain cancer and other ills. Her doctor has testified that without marijuana every couple of hours to help stimulate her appetite and manage her pain, she would die. The Federal government prosecuted her saying marijuana is against the law, even with a prescription and even when used in compliance with the law of the state in which she lives! She won in state court and lost in Federal on the government’s appeal. This case will go on but in the meantime she has to live in fear of being sent to jail, or not live at all without the drug.

There are so many issues and questions here so I will only start with a few that occur to me immediately (feel free to add your own):

1. What business is it of the Federal government to get between a doctor’s advice and his/her patient’s treatment? (I am not going to touch the issue of choice this time.)
2. If Merck or Pfizer or {insert drug company of your choice} were marketing this for profit, do you think the Federal government would be prosecuting this and other cases?
3. Why is marijuana more dangerous than say morphine, or Vicadin, or Fentanyl, or Oxycodone, among others? For that matter how is it more dangerous than some of the drugs approved by the FDA that are supposedly non narcotic like Vioxx?
4. What gives the Federal government the right to say a patient should not be treated in any way possible to save their life by licensed practitioners – heck by any practitioner if the patient chooses it?

The answer to the first question is obvious – they are control freaks who think they have the market cornered on morality and right vs. wrong. Their beliefs and their convictions are the only things that matter. It’s like the old joke about being a Christian Scientist with appendicitis – only in this case the patient wants treatment and is being denied it by a repressive conservative ill informed government.

The answer the second question is also obvious – if a major drug manufacturer (major donor to the campaign funds dontcha know) were selling marijuana, it would be FDA approved and used without issue. But alas, it’s a plant that anyone can grow successfully. We are talking a free market solution here – open source treatment if you will! No corporate profit then it must be stopped! The answer to question three goes hand in glove with question two. (In this same vein [sic] think about the attitude toward herbal and holistic treatments – I can grow my own Echinacea thank you very much, I don’t need a drug company to compound a chemical and make it into pill form.)

And the answer to question four is also obvious – we are dealing with fanatics. Yes ladies and gentlemen, they are jihadists just not of the Muslim faith. Fanatics have commonality regardless of their fanatical basis – to make others knuckle under and conform to the rules and world as they dictate it. This government is not stoning people in the street for not obeying, but rather they are preventing people from getting humane treatment for illness. They are making this country regressive. And we are the losers, the sufferers, the victims!

Values

While I am a political junky, admittedly, I do have to wonder why we are campaigning for an election that is still a full 18 plus months away. Part of it I guess is because there is no obvious incumbent out there so the field is wide open. Of course that wide open has strings attached – it is wide open to the very rich and/or the extremely good fund raiser/party loyalist and/or those with lots of name recognition (think Hollywood actor). If you do not fit those criteria then I am afraid your chances of election are pretty well in the dumper. The other and perhaps more compelling reason I think is that people are so fed up with the current administration and the direction they are taking the country, that the potential for new leadership is very seductive.

This last week or so has been filled with revelations that truly highlight the current crop of (nominal) conservatives’ real values. I may be incorrect here, but as I recall one of the main themes of the GOP after the Clinton years was to restore dignity, morality, values, to the government. Of course it is obvious that those terms are as defined by them not necessarily to definitions that are commonly accepted or even in the dictionary! So with that, shall we just itemize some of the most recent aberrations?

Family Values:

Fly of Newt (wish I could take credit for that but I saw it on Olbermann) admitted publicly, to of all people but Pastor Family Values himself, Reverend Dobson, that he was having an affair at the time he actively pursued the impeachment of President Clinton for a similar offense. It is notable here that this affair was with a Congressional aid… I guess he is glad it was a woman or he might be in REAL trouble and need three weeks of rehab a la Rev. Ted Haggard. Now lest we should forget that Mr. Family Values Voters Gingrich has been married three (count them – 1, 2, 3) times. And he discussed the divorce with, some say even served the papers on, his first wife while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery. Ayup… gotta love the Newtie version of those values.

While we are on the subject – Rudy Giuliani is also on his third wife. One of his wives found out he was divorcing her when he announced it at a press conference. As I recall (my recollection may be a bit faulty but I think I have the essence right), his then wife got to stay in the Mayoral mansion while he – the serving mayor – had to move out. That gives me a feel for what the citizens of NY thought about it.

The point was made by one of the talking heads that the four front-runners for the Republican nomination have 9 marriages between them, and the only candidate who has been married only one time is the Mormon! The front-runners for the Democratic ticket are all married to their first and only spouse.

Mind you I am not trashing divorce here – more the difference between what is said and what is done. It’s the old do as I say (and I really wish they would all get out of my bedroom so I don’t feel it’s important to our future to know what goes on in theirs!) not as I do.

Justice

The forced resignation (read: firing) of eight U.S. Attorneys on December 7 (interesting date choice) for obviously partisan political reasons is getting deserved air play. Before proceeding I want to defuse the right wing talking point that Clinton fired 93 U.S. attorneys when he took office. They key here is he did it upon entering office, as many presidents have done when they take office – these are political appointees and a new party administration frequently cleans house by asking for the resignation of all appointees and then appoints their own people. The eight prosecutors in this case appear to have been dismissed because they did not support the administration’s desires. One in particular was pressured for not prosecuting a Democrat more vigorously at the time of the last election; another was dismissed seemingly for investigating Republican officials. Most appear to have lost their positions not because the administration was doing a house cleaning upon taking office (which would have occurred in 2005) but as retribution to those who did not carry out the political agenda. One was dismissed to make way for a buddy of the Architect (Karl Rove). And overseeing all of this is the Crony General Alberto Gonzalez – who indicated yesterday in one of the shortest press conferences on record (I don’t think anyone even got to ask a question) that some mistakes were made but he’s not resigning. Personally I think Alberto better watch out because the Shrub is on record this week as saying he has complete confidence in the attorney general… didn’t he say that about Rumsfeld right before the election?

And so it begins for the AG… I just saw an article in Newsday stating: “President Bush said Wednesday he is troubled by the Justice Department's misleading explanations to Congress of why it fired eight U.S. attorneys and expected his Attorney General to fix them.” He stands by the firing, he doesn’t stand by the fact they were discovered.

Foot in Mouth

There are just too many to go into here but the highlights include:

1. General Peter Pace saying homosexuality is immoral and is akin to adultery – which, for those who don’t know, is reason for prosecution in the military. He later said he should have confined his comments to policy (ask don’t tell) rather than expressing his personal opinion.
2. General Kiley (now up for retirement) who had the insensitivity to talk about jogging around base and stating that even though he lived across the street from Building 18 – he didn’t see the situation first-hand because he didn’t DO barracks inspections. And perhaps the award winning foot in mouth comment was saying the rodent and cockroach infestation was the fault of the patients for having food in their rooms… can you say “HUH?”

And so it goes . . .

Implausible Deniability

Many years ago the euphemism “drank the Kool-Aid” gained common usage after the Jonestown Massacre of 1978. It made sense indicating anyone who was willing to drink said Kool-Aid would be willing to die for their belief/cause/leader. It is less strict in common usage with the current meaning more that one has bought into the line they are spouting regardless the evidence to the contrary, or perhaps in ignorance of evidence to the contrary.

We should coin a new version of this – something like drank the BushCoCola. Certainly that is a malady that is going around more than normal of late. Along with Cover-Your-Ass-ulosus and lots of others we can think of in this context. I am appalled (though sadly this is nothing new during the last six years) at the goings on that are reported daily in the news media, blogs, talk shows, etc. And worse I am amazed at the number of people who at one time we would have considered to be “thinking adults” who are snarfing the BushCoCola they have drunk.

We have been seeing throughout this last week the appalling conditions at Walter Reed Medical Center outpatient care, and it extends to outpatient care throughout the country, most of which has only been hinted at but not fully reported. Our troops have been sent into this war of choice along with the war that needed to be fought in Afghanistan, and while lives are being saved in ways that were not medically possible in wars past, the post immediate care and conditions are lacking – severely. Yet the commanders, the Generals, by turns said it wasn’t so bad, it was only a few rooms, the infestations were really the fault of the patients who had food in their rooms, yadda yadda yadda. Yup, cover-your-ass-ulosis. And then they blame it on the sergeants… that one is an all time favorite of mine. We saw it in Abu Ghraibe and now it has come to a hospital near you! Whatever happened to Truman’s infamous “the buck stops here?”

And while I don’t want to keep harping on the same issue it has come out that General Kiley who was in charge for the last several years knew about this since 2003 (or before?) and did nothing!!! Black mold folks, with open wounds – an 18^th century housewife wouldn’t have allowed that condition to exist!!!

And another one that got me this last week is Laura Bush, a woman for whom I used to have some respect. While none of us are completely sure what her husband might be drinking, we sure know that she is being fed a diet of BushCoCola. She was speaking about all the good that is going on in Iraq but that the media only reports the one (1) bomb a day that goes off there!!! ONE??? Man whatever she is smoking (besides the tobacco I was surprised to learn she does smoke) I want some! More like 1,000 bombs a day!

Then we arrive at federal prosecutors being removed for non-performance issues (BushCoCola – another case here please)… yet the evidence points to removal because they didn’t live up to the thinking that they would ignore Republican corruption and go after Democratic, whether or not it was verifiable. This situation is made possible by the modification of the law under the (un)Patriot Act allowing the administration to appoint U.S. Attorneys for an indefinite term without Senate confirmation. Can you imagine how ungrateful the eight who were removed are that they didn’t drink the cola and follow orders?? Attorney General Gonzalez, the man who brought us Abu Ghraibe and sanctioned torture, not to mention his interpretation of the non-promise of habeas corpus in the Constitution, says he would NEVER remove a U.S. Attorney for political reasons. (Hello Laura? Can I have some of whatever you’re smoking please?)

I still cannot understand the persistence of our newly elected congressional majority in keeping the I(mpeachment) word off the table. While I know threats don’t work particularly well with this gang, at least knowing it might happen, or is in the works, could cause something good to come or stop something bad.

Administration Imitates Art

It seems that we are constantly being reminded of the similarity between “art” and reality… at least in this current administration. For example, the events of September 2001 were horrific, but what we heard from the administration officials, who were incapable it seems not only of imagination but also of speaking the truth, was incredulity that this could happen. How many times did we hear someone from the in-crowd say “who could have imagined that someone would take airplanes and use them to fly into buildings!” Tom Clancy foresaw that eventuality in not one but two novels - Debt of Honor, 1994 and Executive Orders, 1996. But that’s old news to those who follow the news. Someone in one agency I heard had hired film and TV writers to help come up with potential scenarios for training purposes – I don’t know whatever became of that but at least they chose people who have some imaginative competence.

But again, I find myself seeing similarity between “art” and reality. Many years ago, there was a Star Trek the Next Generation episode where a man and some of his fellow prisoners escaped from a prison colony. He was brought on board the Enterprise and it eventually came out that he and his fellow prisoners had been trained and genetically modified to be optimum warriors. These warriors fought the society’s wars and when it was time to go home, there was no place for them. Those that created them did not want to take the time or devote the resources to healing them, making it so they could fit back into society without being a danger to themselves and everyone else because of their extraordinary modifications, training, experiences . . . So society’s leaders rationalized it was all for the best and put them in a colony where they dealt only with each other. That was their reward – not welcome back heroes, but thanks now go away where we don’t have to be reminded.

Perhaps it is not as closely analogous, yet listening to and reading the articles written by Dana Priest in the Washington Post about the horrendous conditions our wounded are placed in for rehabilitation and convalescence, horrified me and brought back the lessons from that long ago Star Trek episode. You see, we have improved medical techniques, battlefield triage, wounded evacuation, to such a degree that deaths are way below what they would have been one or two wars ago like say Viet Nam, but our wounded have increased ten fold. The facilities are overwhelmed with injuries that are not only horrendous, both psychologically and physically, but require complex and comprehensive long term care. There are more coming everyday, forcing those that aren’t ready to go home into another facility for rehab.

One such facility was detailed in this article… affiliated with the renowned Walter Reed Medical Center, it’s an old hotel across the street where they are currently housing 700 convalescent wounded soldiers. This building known as Building 18 is infested with rats and cockroaches; there is mould in the rooms; there is dry wall peeling off the ceilings and walls; showers are rotting to the degree you can see the bathtub in the room above when you take a shower. And NONE of this was being addressed until this story hit the stands – then crews started going in and cleaning it up and repairing the drywall. Why did none of the vaunted visitors, senators, cabinet secretaries, White House officials, et al see these conditions?

This administration in an effort to at least partially pay for the debacle that is Iraq is cutting back on VA funds, talking about closing bases that are medical facilities around the country, leaving so many of our wounded untended, and incapable of getting to a facility for the help/treatment they require. It was left to private donations to build a hospital in Texas – the government wouldn’t do it. It feels like if they can’t be patched up well enough to be cycled back in… then they take what they get.

The story is worse than what I have detailed above; there is so much more wrong being perpetrated on our wounded – but we are told we must support our troops! Tell me, where is the support from the administration – from those that created the situation that caused the wounds – that continues to perpetuate it?

Is this how we repay those who gave their best along with time out of their lives, psychological well-being, arms, legs, arms, etc.? Is this the way this administration thinks you should treat your heroes! Is this supporting the troops???

What about Over Here?

So – how many of us remember the old westerns where the cavalry is in an outpost protecting the settlers. All seems relatively safe; the troopers relax and socialize with the community, with a relaxed sentry posted on the walls. Then along comes a scout or an old west neocon saying the Indians are massing for an attack. The green commander then orders his troops, virtually all but the impaired and incapable, out to the field to combat this supposed threat. And of course, while they are gone, guess who attacks the fort! This same scenario plays out in different venues portrayed in many movies as well as in real life – think the French Foreign Legion as just one example. The question here is, who is minding the store? Who is here protecting the home front?

This question arises in response to the obvious evidence that our nation, our home soil, the “over here” W talks about is left largely unprotected from terrorists, national disasters, et al because most of the National Guard (National Guard – guard the nation!) has been deployed to Iraq along with their equipment. Last year with Hurricane Katrina we saw a shortage of personnel to go to New Orleans among other affected areas, and an even more severe shortage of equipment to use for rescue work.

At least once a week a mainstream media source exposes chemical plants, nuclear facilities, and trains, among so many other potential targets that have been left vulnerable – lacking procedures for security – and where is the National Guard? They departed, without even the fanfare accorded Custer’s cavalry, for “over there” while the folks “over there” are working hard to come create mischief “over here”.

There was a story this morning reported by several world media outlets that an Al Qaida group in Saudi Arabia is calling for attacks on oil resources world-wide, including Mexico, Venezuela, and Canada, to stop or severely curtail the flow of oil to the United States. Sadly, if they did that, not only would it be horrible for any who were harmed during those attacks, but who do you think would lose out on the oil? I bet the oil remaining would be sent to Iraq while those struggling to heat their homes this winter would be forced to pay exorbitant rates, if they could even find product to purchase. Meanwhile I am sure Exxon Mobile will continue to post record profits.

And spring is coming. The Shrub (thank you Molly) spoke today saying the Spring thaw in Afghanistan is expected to bring a large surge of Taliban fighters trying to re-establish their position in that country. But alas, like Custer, W has split his forces and hasn’t got enough in either place to do the job. It is interesting to note that Custer thought before his final battle at Little Big Horn that the Native American force, even though they had superior numbers and were on their home turf, would run away from the U.S. Cavalry. I wonder if he also thought they would greet him with flowers and gratitude.

Trust us - the wolf is at the door

I guess I am dating myself when I say that I remember a time in the not too distant past when you could believe it if the government said it. It was like – well … money in the bank. Back in the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, I was a kid and remember well hearing JFK on TV telling us the situation, and how he was sending war ships to Cuba to blockade the ports literally daring the Russian Bear to challenge our position. He said that he had every confidence that things would work out fine – and we believed it! Sure we were a little scared but we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this man, our president, wouldn’t lie to us and if he had confidence it would be all right, then we should too. Here was an example of a leader who could lead in a positive way and bring along we the people to understand and believe that he was doing his best and all would be fine.

As an adult I know that politicians don’t always tell the truth, and blind faith can be a problem under any circumstance, but when your government has never openly given you reason to disbelieve their good intentions, has never overtly lied and dared you to tell them they haven’t been honest, has done things in a way that makes you proud to be a member of we the people, you believe them and are glad to know they are there as your representative and leader.

We are currently being ‘led’ by the wolf is at the door administration. A group that flies in the face of all the positive we have come to expect, all the comfort and sense of fair play we believed was part and parcel of our country. They have taken all that shepherded us through the dark times and turned it into worry and often despair.

FDR said there is nothing to fear but fear itself… BushCo says, be afraid -- be VERY afraid. Fear is their battle cry, their MO, their means to control the sheep they should be shepherding instead of leading to slaughter. We have seen color coded fear; we have heard veiled threats of what might be happening to cause fear; we have heard that we are unpatriotic if we question this fear; and on and on and on. Yet each time it appears that the ones of whom we should be afraid are the very ones who should be protecting us from that which we fear.

How well I remember the hype that led us into the debacle that is Iraq – the mushroom cloud image, the WMD of every possible variety from poison gas to nuclear warheads; the imminent threat posed to our homeland, our homes, us! We are now seeing from sources and studies, so numerous they appear to be falling out of the sky, about the inaccuracy of the touted threats, the cooked intelligence, the skewed logic, the arrogant certitude, that led us into a war of choice – the deaths of over 3100 of our brave fighting forces, uncounted thousands of Iraqis, many thousands moreAmericans and Iraqi civilians wounded with life altering physical injuries, a full blown civil war that deteriorates minute by minute to the tune of billions of dollars and blood.

And now the wolf at the door has a new name – Iran. Do you recognize the hype and the accusations? Iran’s government is giving weapons to Iraqi insurgents… but wait the insurgents are Sunni and Iranians are Shi’a. Iran’s government has said show us the proof you have that we are giving weapons to Iraqis because it is against our foreign policy. But no, the administration won’t show them the proof. Could it be because they don’t have it? Or is it the schoolyard logic of being unwilling to talk to evil doers.

Another Roosevelt, a Republican, said “Speak softly and carry a big stick” . . . the stick (our military might) is getting smaller and smaller while the voice is strident and loud – saying nothing and endangering everyone.

Famous Values

Recently we have experienced the passing of some who were noteworthy, famous, somewhat famous, and infamous. All their passings were noted by the country and media to lesser or greater degrees but not necessarily equivalent to their contributions to society, the world, the country, the emotions of the people.

Two touched me more than the others. One was Molly Ivins – a remarkably talented journalist who told it like it is no matter who agreed or disagreed with her. She lost her long battle with breast cancer and went down fighting, writing one of her signature progressive columns only a short time before she died. The other that touched me was Barbaro… I have always loved horses and this one was a winner all the way both on and off the track. He fought the good fight as hard as he could and finally couldn’t defeat the injury that ended his racing career. He was a happy horse to the end according to all who were with him – and his loss is very sad, at least to me.

Others who left this world recently were singers Frankie Lane and James Brown whose talents contributed to the entertainment and culture of generations. Whether their style was compatible with your style doesn’t matter, they still contributed to the culture of the times and were part of a distinctly American form.

And then there was Anna Nicole Smith, a woman whose childhood and life were tragic and sad creating a sad figure who managed to parlay her face and figure into a multi- million dollar fortune. She was famous for being famous, not for any accomplishment or talent or contribution other than to the salacious appetites of the country at large. That is its own commentary on this country which is perhaps even more tragic and sad.

That Anna Nicole Smith’s death has received the volume of media attention that it has when the others were mentioned, given a story or two on the evening news, more in passing than in depth, to my mind is truly a condemnation of our values. Yes, it is tragic that someone 39 years old died, leaving a 5 month old baby who cannot even claim clear paternity; that she may well have died because of her own addiction is even more tragic and sad; that the country and people around her were more into profiting from her rather than really helping her is the worst tragedy of all. But does that deserve hours of coverage on cable news stations, main stream media networks, print media, etc.?

Watching that spectacle makes me understand more what is going on in our government. It is not the positive that is celebrated but the negative; it is not the good of the people but the special interests that matter; it is not the real moral values that are prized but the superficial ones that act as hot buttons for fanatics.

What does it say about an administration that wants to build more bombs while cutting funding to the arts? An administration that cuts back on health care for the uninsured but gives tax breaks to impossibly profitable oil companies? An administration that cares about your morals but not their own? An administration that doesn’t care who suffers and dies as long as it’s not them or one of their own?

And what does it say about we the people who allow this to continue, sitting back and watching while our elected representatives seem reluctant to see the message we tried to send in November – that we are fed up and want CHANGE!!!!