What kind of dysfunctional democracy do we have [...]]]> Last November, America said a resounding NO to Republican ideas and a full-throated YES to change, including a new and sensible health care system. By what tortured logic, then, is the committee drafting new health legislation composed of an EQUAL number of Democrats and Republicans?

What kind of dysfunctional democracy do we have when the shape of that legislation rests in the hands of six senators from some of the smallest states in the Union? When passage of this vital measure is in the hands of just ONE of those senators — Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine – OLYMPIA SNOWE, for God’s sake!

No wonder Americans are taking to the streets. What’s puzzling is why even more of us aren’t storming the barricades to protest this insult to our intelligence and the violation of our public will.

Lord knows we need to reform our broken health care system. But to put the task in the hands of senators who are beholden to the very institutions we’re trying to reform is both futile and idiotic.

There will be no reform of this or any other aspect of our society until there is federal funding of all elections and we have removed the corrupting influence of campaign contributions from our political life.

Group 1:The Right Wing of the GOP (McConnell, Boehner, Cantor, Grassley, et al) that has spread misinformation and sown fear in the hearts of their constituents, aided and abetted by Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck and [...]]]> If Health Care Reform dies in Congress, its blood will be on the hands of two groups of people and one individual:

Group 1:The Right Wing of the GOP (McConnell, Boehner, Cantor, Grassley, et al) that has spread misinformation and sown fear in the hearts of their constituents, aided and abetted by Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck and other Conservative commentators who are producing more heat than light.

Group 2: The ignorant, uninformed and gullible Americans who swallow those lies and distortions because they don’t have the information or the intelligence to challenge them and separate fact from fiction.

The Individual: President Obama, who won a resounding electoral victory in November…whose party controls the House and Senate and who has (HAD) the support of the overwhelming majority of citizens to bring about the change he promised during the campaign.

If he fails to use that mandate, he will have blown a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring about the kind of progressive change the country elected him to accomplish.
He should remind the GOP that he won and they lost, and that it’s now time for them to get out of the way.

During last year’s primary, I had doubts about Obama’s willingness to fight for what he believed in, and often thought he could use some of Hillary’s toughness.

Now, during this crucial health care battle, I find myself wishing that he could borrow a pair of balls from his Secretary of State.

Not content to have precipitated the current economic crisis with their disgraced supply-side, trickle-down tax cuts obsession, Republicans are pushing the same proposals to fix the economy that created the mess in the first [...]]]> Once again, the Neanderthals in the Republican party are wielding their ideological wrecking ball against the foundations of the American economy.

Not content to have precipitated the current economic crisis with their disgraced supply-side, trickle-down tax cuts obsession, Republicans are pushing the same proposals to fix the economy that created the mess in the first place.

Why anyone — least of all a president who received a huge popular mandate just 90 days ago to abandon those policies — would even LISTEN to Republican ideas about how to stimulate the economy – defies logic. To sacrifice an effective rescue plan on the chimerical altar of “bipartisanship” is at once infuriating and insane.

Republicans have absolutely NO credibility on economic matters. This is the same gang of know-nothings who never opposed any of George W. Bush’s massive spending and tax cut bills that created the current crisis.

Obama should remind them of that, tell them that he’s pushing through a bill heavy in spending and job creation with a minimum of tax cuts, then DARE them to oppose it with a filibuster.

It’s time to call the Republicans’ bluff

This is the same Saxby Chambliss who ran for the Senate in 2002, defeating the Democratic incumbent, Max Cleland…the same Chambliss whose campaign against Cleland focused on the issue of national defense and homeland [...]]]> John McCain…that self-desribed paragon of integrity and honor…the straight-talker who always puts country first… is in Georgia campaigning for Senator Saxby Chambliss.

This is the same Saxby Chambliss who ran for the Senate in 2002, defeating the Democratic incumbent, Max Cleland…the same Chambliss whose campaign against Cleland focused on the issue of national defense and homeland security, but drew criticism for an attack ad featuring Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein that questioned Cleland’s record on the issue. Cleland was one of the senators who was blocking the passage of the homeland security bill, voting against the bill.

Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona said of one Chambliss ad, “It’s worse than disgraceful, it’s reprehensible.

And yet, today, John McCain has gone to Georgia to extol the virtues of that same Saxby Chambliss.

The John McCain of 2002 got it right when he spoke out against Chambliss.

But by supporting Chambliss now, the John McCain of 2008, who sold his honor and integrity in a desperate attempt to win the presidency, has now lost whatever was left of his once honorable name.

Sixty-one years ago, I saw Jack Roosevelt Robinson become the first black man to walk on big-league grass, and it made me proud not only [...]]]> One of the benefits of having lived seven decades is that I’ve been witness to events that were not only personally thrilling, but that were memorable and historic for our country.

Sixty-one years ago, I saw Jack Roosevelt Robinson become the first black man to walk on big-league grass, and it made me proud not only to be a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, but to be an American.

In all the years since, I’ve been unable to reflect on that powerful moment without suppressing a lump in my throat or wiping a tear from my eye.

Some months ago, I saw Barack Obama claim the nomination of his party as President.
Once again, that lump appeared (and the tear, too) and I again felt enormous pride in my country.

Tonight, I’m looking forward to the next chapter in this stirring American saga and to experiencing that feeling again.

But the statewide survey of 550 registered voters has one very surprising finding: 23 percent of Texans are convinced that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim.

Obama [...]]]> A University of Texas poll to be released today shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain and GOP Sen. John Cornyn leading by comfortable margins in Texas, as expected.

But the statewide survey of 550 registered voters has one very surprising finding:

23 percent of Texans are convinced that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim.

Obama is a Christian who was embroiled in a controversy earlier this year about his two-decade membership in Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Yet just 45 percent of those polled identified the Illinois senator as a Protestant.

The Texas numbers are unusual because most national polls show that just 5 to 10 percent of Americans still believe Obama is a Muslim —

less than half the number of Texans who buy into the debunked theories.

Texas has never been mistaken for the western headquarters of MENSA. And voters in any number of other states would probably — and sadly — produce the same poll results.

After two years of campaigning, and extensive coverage by national and local media, it’s stunning — and embarrassing — that one in four of the people polled still hold this view.

Anyone still think they should be permitted to vote?

Mr. Straight Talk, the War Hero is surely in a state of shock as he once again sees his dream of the White House slipping away, [...]]]> As his poll numbers continue to drop, there must be chaos inside John McCain’s campaign…panic among his advisers …and absolute madness (and rage) inside the head of John McCain himself.

Mr. Straight Talk, the War Hero is surely in a state of shock as he once again sees his dream of the White House slipping away, just as it did in 2000 when an undistinguished Governor from Texas…a spoiled rich kid who had never even served his country …beat him in the party’s primaries.

It must be déjà vu for John McCain, as this time he appears headed for defeat at the hands of a freshman Senator who, in McCain’s mind, doesn’t even belong on the same stage as the GOP candidate.

John McCain has always been frank about his burning desire to be president. He wants it not for any noble reason but just because he considers himself uniquely qualified to hold that office…because he feels he’s entitled to it, and because…well…he wants it.

McCain’s actions and words confirm that it’s a goal he’s willing to pursue at any cost. And so it must be particularly galling to see an “uppity black man” – with just a fraction of McCain’s experience – leading him in the polls and poised to snatch the prize from him.

Couple this bitter disappointment with McCain’s notorious temper and flyboy recklessness and perhaps his belligerence towards Obama and his erratic behavior in recent weeks isn’t so hard to explain after all.

The way you’ve done it — behind my back — reminds me of that [...]]]> “Senator, you’ve spent the last month making accusations about me that you know are false. You’ve been lying about my record, my position on the issues and about the people I’ve associated with…all in an effort to scare the American people.

The way you’ve done it — behind my back — reminds me of that classic American figure – the schoolyard bully.

We’ve all had someone like that in our lives at one time – you know, the obnoxious kid who strutted around trying to intimidate the other students by telling lies about them and trying to show how tough he was. And he got away with it until someone stood up to him and said, I dare you to say that to my face.

That’s when the bully caved in. He didn’t have the courage to look the other kids in the eye and tell those lies.

Senator, you never tire of telling us how brave you are. Well, here’s your chance to prove it. I’m challenging you to say directly to me now what you’ve been saying to everyone else. That I’m dangerous. That I’m not patriotic. That I support terrorists.

Here’s your chance, Senator. America is waiting.”

When you say, “I’m John McCain and I approve this message,” you are saying it’s okay to distort the facts, lie about my record and question my patriotism.

What you fail to understand [...]]]> Senator, all Americans – Republicans and Democrats alike – honor your military service.
But we do not honor the way you are running this campaign.

When you say, “I’m John McCain and I approve this message,” you are saying it’s okay to distort the facts, lie about my record and question my patriotism.

What you fail to understand is that your military service doesn’t give you exclusive rights to be called a Patriot. What you fail to acknowledge is that I love this country as much as you do, and I resent it when you question my patriotism.

The John McCain we once knew would never have made such a despicable and desperate charge.

That John McCain would have known that such statements by anyone – but especially from the candidate who had promised to run an honorable campaign – were beyond the bounds of decency.

That John McCain would not have approved such deliberate lies.

I knew that John McCain, and Senator, you’re no John McCain.