Responsibility

[Remains of the Blue Mountain Mall / Strip Mall]

I am not exactly sure which word accurately describes the way I am feeling regarding the current state of Health Care Reform in our country right now. Perhaps fatigued is the closest. I am very excited by the historic passing of "the bill" but it was nowhere near the change I believe we so desperately need, and so far beyond what Americans on the other side of the political spectrum are willing to accept. I am tired, so tired, of the division among my fellow countrymen!

"In the eyes of way too many far-right Republicans, this is a war. They believe the Obama administration, progressives, liberals and Democrats are destroying America and replacing it with some sort of weird Brundlefly composed of communism, socialism, Maoism, Nazism and -- shock horror! --social justice. (Bob Cesca)"

I believe that the hardest issue to overcome is our inability to examine facts from the other's point of view. So, I return to an illustration I've used before and make the claim that there is, in fact, only one truth but that our examination of that truth from different angles leads us to see different realities.

Originally uploaded by ssj_george.

For instance, lets say we are all looking at Rodin's Thinker (or at least copies of said statue.) Our points of view may be different, but like the statue, reality itself cannot be shifted by our narrow vision.

USA-JULY08: Rodin's "The Thinker"
Originally uploaded by Kenneth McN.

Each side has focused on their own particular angle and sees only what is in their particular point of view.

For example, the Republican and Libertarian call for fiscal responsiblitiy focuses on the absolute truth that our nation is seriously in debt up over our heads! How could we possibly fund healthcare? (And why would we?)

But, did their point of view, perhaps, keep them from seeing the big picture?

"This time, when we went for all the marbles, we ended with none.

Could a deal have been reached? Who knows? But we do know that the gap between this plan and traditional Republican ideas is not very big. The Obama plan has a broad family resemblance to Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts plan. It builds on ideas developed at the Heritage Foundation in the early 1990s that formed the basis for Republican counter-proposals to Clintoncare in 1993-1994.

Barack Obama badly wanted Republican votes for his plan. Could we have leveraged his desire to align the plan more closely with conservative views? To finance it without redistributive taxes on productive enterprise – without weighing so heavily on small business – without expanding Medicaid? Too late now. (David Frum)"

all in the details
Originally uploaded by Doubletee.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle have we been hyper focused on the enormity of need our country has for fair access to health care?The heartbreaking experiences of families who have lost loved ones due to inadequate medical attention makes it hard for those of us who are focused on this angle to consider the practical cost of helping those in need.

Just like the mall mess featured above, we cannot only have idealistic plans to meet everyone's needs. We must also be sure we can pay for them so that we don't end up with a half finished mess. But this cannot be looked at in a vacuum. Step back and look at the big picture! If people are healthier, they can be more productive. If they are more productive they could earn more money, If they earn more money, they will pay more taxes, which will help pay for Health Care reform!

I also find it more than a little hypocritical for conservatives to throw the blame for debt at our feet, Clinton left our country with a balanced budget. That balance seemed, in my eyes, to disappear into the black hole of war funding during the Bush administration. Still, I do think that progressives could and should focus more clearly on demonstrating the fiscal responsibility of the policies we champion:

"... Democrats need to clearly show that they're standing up to greed run amuck and saving a disappearing middle class, not taking control of people and redistributing wealth...(Kathleen Reardon)

Watcher
Originally uploaded by Alex T_SF.

But, how do we, as a nation with such polarizing points of view, act responsibly for the future of our country? Certainly not with the violence that is currently boiling up! Certainly not by calling each other liars!

I long for us to set aside our distracting differences, step back from our narrow emotional points of view and look outside the box for new angles and creative solutions to our nation's needs!

But I fear that it is too late!

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One other thought, I have been wondering about the situation with the constitutionality lawsuit. If progressives had been able to maintain the "public option" would it have negated the issue with mandating citizens to purchase service from a private company?

(BTW - Conservatives are not the only ones concerned the possibility of the government overstepping it's bounds!)

---------------------Update-----------------------

I just saw that David Frum may have been fired for the article I quoted above: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts1352

Death Logo?

I had an erie feeling about this year's olympic logo from the first time I saw it. I couldn't put my finger on why, but it just bothered me. I was strangly relieved when NPR's Thursday edition of All Things Considered confirmed that all was not right with the inukshuk logo:

Vancouver Olympic Logo: A Smiling Marker Of Death?

The flag of the nation of Nunavut features a traditional inukshuk, says expert Peter Irniq. In contrast, the inukshuk in the Vancouver Olympic logo has arms, legs and a head — a different kind of marker that is traditionally a sign that someone has been killed.

Morning of Interest

Three interesting things this morning:

1st I listened to most of Diane Rehm's News Roundup - Hour 2 while on the school drop-of rounds:

Special Envoy George Mitchell seeks to shore up the fragile cease-fire in Gaza. Iraqis begin voting in provincial elections and the Obama administration says it’s ready for direct engagement with Iran. A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week's top international news stories.

Guests

Hisham Melhem, Washington bureau chief for Al-Arabiya TV, and Washington correspondent for "An-Nahar"

Daniel Dombey, U.S. diplomatic correspondent, "Financial Times"

Kevin Whitelaw, deputy assistant managing editor, U.S. News and World Report

It was a wonderful discussion, and every single caller was asking about the situation between Israel and Gaza. I love Diane's style of interviewing. She lets everyone say their piece and hold their different opinions, she doesn't shy from the deep questions and she seems to always know when people are skirting the issue.

2nd My Dad emailed me this:

Elizabeth Cheney, Bush Legal Counsel

What a 1988 college thesis by the former vice president's daughter tells us about the Bush presidency.

I found this paragraph extremely interesting:

For [Elizabeth] Cheney, Thomas Jefferson established the path presidents would and should take when dealing with Congress. In engaging American warships against Barbary pirates, Jefferson "chose to inform Congress of his actions at his own convenience." When he did, he fabricated an attack on an American ship to secure their support.

It sounds so much like the 911 Truther's claim that the 911 attacks were used to secure support for the invasion of Iraq.

3rd I watched the amazingly creative and beautiful music video also emailed to me, perhaps because they know I am trying to fight my urge to sleep in:

Bullies!

"In 2009 may all the barriers that oppress the people of the world fall."

I haven't taken much time for news lately, but had been mourning the news out of Palestine. I don't think it really sank in though until my hubby turned on the news last night as we headed to bed. CNN had special live coverage of the the ground offensive and we watched as smoke rose from the distant city and bright rockets slammed down towards the terrified people below sending more smoke rising up into the otherwise beautiful blue sky.

Un niño palestino falleció y otras 11 personas resultaron heridas este sábado debido al disparo de un tanque israelí, convirtiéndose en las primeras víctimas del ataque terrestre que la nación judía inició sobre la franja de Gaza. (radio mundial)

A palesinian boy died and 11 people were hurt this Saturday due to the firing of an Israeli tank making them the first victims of the ground attack that the Jewish nation began against the Gaza strip.

I am not an expert on the Middle East by any means, but I agree with this analysis by David Bromwich:

There is a word for the straightforward killing of enemies by a superior force where the victims are sparsely equipped and the odds one-sided. Much of the world is calling Israel's actions in Gaza a massacre. By contrast the American press has been cleansed and euphemized. "3rd Day of Bombings," said the New York Times headline on December 30, "Takes Out Interior Ministry." Takes out. The Times paid an involuntary homage to George W. Bush: "I think it's a good thing for the world that we took out Saddam Hussein." Under that phrase are half a million Iraqis killed and a country destroyed. And for Israel in Gaza?

..."It was Israel at its best," writes Yossi Klein Halevy, a typical war broker, in a New Republic column posted on December 29. "In response to random attacks aimed at civilians, Israel launched precise attacks aimed at terrorists." Halevy does not add that the precise attacks killed almost 400 persons and that one death in every four was civilian.

Back in 1991 I sat, awed, in front of my family's TV in Southern California and watched the green and black pictures of Smart Bombs targeting specific military buildings. My teenage mind was impressed and thrilled to see that we could defeat the "bad guys" while avoiding civilian deaths. My boyfriend (now my beloved husband) was watching very different video clips of the same war on his family's TV in Entre Rios, Argentina! He saw fathers digging out their dead and severely wounded children. He saw the bombs destroying homes and other civilian buildings.

I didn't believe him when he told me.

"No!" I said, "We have smart bombs, we aren't hurting civilians!"

I couldn't believe him, wouldn't believe him, did not want to believe him, but over the years I have been forced, by the sad, sorrowful, awful facts, to have to believe him. American news does not tell us the WHOLE truth. It is whitewashed and twisted so that we can hear a clip, watch a distant explosion, perhaps sigh and mumble a wish for peace, but then go back to Christmas gift exchanges and New Year's resolutions to loose the weight put on a Christmas feasting.

The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel and expressing concern at the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas. (read more)

The voice on CNN reported the news without expression.

"I feel so helpless." I whispered to my sleepy husband.
"What?"
"I wish I could do something!"

The only thing I can think of to do is to write to my congressmen. You can write to yours as well. I have links in the side bar, titled Be Heard, that you can use to look them up and send an email or snail mail, and tips about the proper way to do so.

Although I sadly agree with my blogging friend Dade:

It's a mess, pure and simple. There may well be no solution. But I'm disgusted at how the cowards in Washington (and in Cairo, Riyadh, and everywhere else) are willing to let the Israeli blitzkrieg --and, yes, let's call it what it is-- roll over a defenseless people.

I have to try something!

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Update 1
-------------------------------
Sent e-mails to both of my Senators and my Representative. I didn't send a copy to still President Bush, I figured it wouldn't do any good. Feel free to copy any part of my e-mail to send to your representatives. But most likely you can write a better one on your own:

_______________________

I am writing in hopes that you may have some way to influence our national
position on the situation in Palestine. I was appalled to hear that:

"The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security
Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip
and southern Israel and expressing concern at the escalation of violence
between Israel and Hamas."
-Huffington Post (although I first heard it on CNN)

I am trying to do my small part by writing to you, but I truly feel helpless
when faced by what appears to me to be a vast overreaction on the part of
Israel.

Thank you for your concern,

____________________________

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Update 2

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I read another blog on this topic that describes well my view of Israel as bully:

In professional boxing they do what? Men are weighed to match each others mass. Their skill levels are matched to see how they can be challenged in a fair fight toe to toe. Now imagine, one boxer starves the other boxer. Imagine that the same boxer not only starves the other boxer but breaks one of his hands and two of his toes. Now that same boxer gets to take a bat into the right with him and the other boxer doesn't even get to wear his gloves. The referee is also paid off by the bat weilding boxer not to distrub him as he pummels his opponent. The news all portrays this sporting event as a "fair fight." Is it actually a fair fight?

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Update 3
--------------------------------
I was just talking to my dad and he was telling my cousin and I about a book he's been wanting to share with us:

Once Upon a Country
by Sari Nusseibeh

He mentioned that one point made in the book was that Israel encouraged the formation of Hamas because they preferred to have an extremist group with which to fight, than a group that would negotiate with them. This thought blows my mind, and also reminded me of an interview that I heard on NWPR last week. (I'm still looking for the link.) In the interview a Palesinian representative, I don't remember his name, claimed that he did not believe that Hamas was actually firing the rockets, but that Israel had sent people in to do so and thus give them a reason to invade. I do not know if there is any proof of this at all, and kindof dismissed it as crazy, but when my Dad mentioned the info from the book above it made it a bit more believable.

The Funnies!

I find Doonesbury awesomely logical:

And with the stories of faulty voting machines The Wizard of Id rings too true:

Time Sketch

A quick sloppy sketch and a haiku on my relationship with time:

TIME

A train racing on!

Can I ever really board

or is it too late?

Adventure World Map

Adventure World Map
Originally uploaded by Christian Sisson.

Just thought this was a really interesting piece of art!

"Adventure World Map" is a poster featuring cartooned representation of famous stories like Robinson Crusoe, Toilers of the Sea, The Three Musketeers, Ben-Hur, Don Quixote, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Around the World in Eighty Days, Robin Hood, One Thousand and One Nights and many others.

Courage!

Frog Prince Slides Again
Originally uploaded by gehmflor.

Always do
what you
are afraid
to do.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ocean Blue

float art
Originally uploaded by gehmflor.

For some reason this float reminds me of how much I miss living near the ocean. Standing on the beach, looking out into the seemingly infinite horizon, digging for sand crabs, diving under the waves, decorating sandcastles with seaweed, standing on a pier watching a storm whip up the waves, the smell of salty air whipping through my hair....hmmm, I think I'm a bit homesick.

Mosaic

My recent favorites!
Originally uploaded by gehmflor.

My Flickr friends take such lovely photos! (Click on the picture for links to individual photos and photographers.)