Washington Ding

Message to President Obama and the DNC

2009-11-10T06:43:00.002-05:00

Please!

Will the Democrats and all the other causes which bombard us, the faithful, daily with emails (primarily from the DNC) begging for money that we the people are sick and tired of receiving, lay off for a while, already? Really!

How much cash do you think we have anyway? Who do you think reads all those e-mails? Lately, I don’t even open yours, Mr. President.

Please go hammer the doors of the rich! We the people, the grunters, the gofers who do all the down and dirty work: the canvassing, the phone calling, the baking, the making, the driving, the lit drops, the sign installations, the sign pick-ups, the sign recycling, the manning of the polls on E-Day from dark to dark distributing the sample ballots, the reporting, are worn out, and your constant solicitation is aggravating. You don’t believe me? Take a gander at last week.

Please (in case my message is not clear): Lay off for a change. Go lay on the wealthy. Thank you. This word is brought to you from We The People.

And by the way: Please get us out of Iraq and Afghanistan immediately.

From: President Barack Obama [mailto:info@barackobama.com]
Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 1:23 AM
To: Patricia
Subject: Making history

Patricia --

This evening, at 11:15 p.m., the House of Representatives voted to pass their health insurance reform bill. Despite countless attempts over nearly a century, no chamber of Congress has ever before passed comprehensive health reform. This is history.

But you and millions of your fellow Organizing for America supporters didn't just witness history tonight -- you helped make it. Each "yes" vote was a brave stand, backed up by countless hours of knocking on doors, outreach in town halls and town squares, millions of signatures, and hundreds of thousands of calls. You stood up. You spoke up. And you were heard.

So this is a night to celebrate -- but not to rest. Those who voted for reform deserve our thanks, and the next phase of this fight has already begun.

The final Senate bill hasn't even been released yet, but the insurance companies are already pressing hard for a filibuster to bury it. OFA has built a massive neighborhood-by-neighborhood operation to bring people's voices to Congress, and tonight we saw the results. But the coming days will put our efforts to the ultimate test. Winning will require each of us to give everything we can, starting right now.

Please donate $5 or whatever you can afford so we can finish this fight.

Tonight's vote brought every American closer to the secure, affordable care we need. But it was also a watershed moment in how change is made.

Even after last year's election, many insider lobbyists and partisan operatives really thought that the old formula of scare tactics, D.C. back-scratching and special-interest money would still be enough to block any idea they didn't like. Now, they're desperate. Because, tonight, you made it crystal clear: the old rules are changing -- and the people will not be ignored.

In the final phases of last year's election, I often reminded folks, "Don't think for a minute that power concedes without a fight," and it's especially true today. But that's okay -- we're not afraid of a fight. And as you continue to prove, when all of us work together, we have what it takes to win.

Please donate to OFA's campaign to win this fight and ensure that real health reform reaches my desk by the end of this year:

https://donate.barackobama.com/History

Let's keep making history,

President Barack Obama

Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Monetary contributions to the Democratic National Committee are not tax-deductible.

NYT abandons American troop casualties in Afghanistan

2009-10-28T06:58:00.007-04:00

Usually, when a news alert arrives from either the New York Times or the Washington Post, another arrives from the competitor within minutes.

Not so yesterday.

At 10:28 a.m. the Post sent an alert: Bombings kill 8 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan

When did the alert arrive from the NYT? Five and a half hours later when the Times put it in its lead in the 4 p.m. online edition.

Importance?

Obama's Afghan policy affects Virginia governor's race

2009-10-18T22:11:00.005-04:00

Why should we, the former impassioned, bother? After all we did last year to elect Barack Obama? When he continues the Bush policies in another country? Our vigor is gone, our enthusiasm, dimmed, by the wishy-washy administration policy of no change after all.

For what? To "defeat" the Taliban? Al-Qaeda? Cockroaches are infinite; they cannot be extinguished.

We continue pouring blood and money into a foreign nation a la Bush.

What change?

What next?

Pakistan?

India?

Mr. Deeds: Here is where many of your Northern Virginia voters are: misled, fed up, and disillusioned anew.

Letter from Sen. Mark Warner re: Afghanistan

2009-10-15T22:47:00.005-04:00

What does this say other than he's taken a trip to Afghanistan? Absolutely nothing. A great example for p.r. classes in how to write meaningless letters with content of empty words.

Dear Ms. ____________,

Thank you for contacting me regarding additional troops in Afghanistan. I share your concerns about the need to resolve the conflicts throughout Afghanistan and improve the lives of those living in that region of the world.

This is a very complicated and important issue. Last spring, I traveled to Afghanistan to get a first-hand look at operations on the ground. While in Afghanistan, I received several briefings from our top military and diplomatic leadership. I also conducted a site visit at the Kabul Military Training Center where our U.S. forces are working hard to train the Afghan troops. In addition, I traveled to Kandahar and met with Virginia troops and the US and Allied Commanders to get an accurate assessment of the situation.

In the coming weeks our military and civilian leadership will review our strategy and consider the resources required to ensure we have the most effective policies for Afghanistan, and the right equipment and training to protect our troops. I will continue to keep your thoughts in mind as the situation unfolds.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me with your views. As we move forward with the 111th Congress, please continue to be in touch with your opinions and concerns.

Sincerely,
MARK R. WARNER
United States Senator

Why bother, Washington Post?

2009-09-27T23:56:00.004-04:00

Buried in the left corner at the bottom of page A10 in Saturday's (September 26, 2009) paper in the section "World Digest" under Afghanistan, are four paragraphs with a heading (not big enough for a headline):

5 U.S. Troops Killed in Attacks in South

Why bother, Washington Post? They were only five. Five soldiers who don't matter. Why even bother to put them in at all? The huge stories you have on Indian defense and mandatory flu shots are surely more important, but what? One hundred paragraphs on them was not enough and you had to squeeze the deaths? You supporting the Defense Department's order for more troops and you're trying to minimize more losses? Or maybe it's the green crew you've got in now, which can't exactly pinpoint Afghanistan's location nor does it know anything about our troops there or the past. Maybe Washington Post, you better get in some people with some history who know a thing or two about world events, more than the crew you've got now which relies on wire service stories and can't tell a dead soldier from a fighter jet.

The news is all the same

2009-06-07T21:23:00.004-04:00

Do you flip back and forth between the networks and wonder how and why they place their stories in the same order? And devote more or less the same amount of time to each?

The front pages of Friday's Washington Post and New York Times are almost the same above the fold. They must have been made up by the same editor!

In the left single column in both papers is the SEC story charging the Countrywide leader with fraud. The headlines are similar; not exact, but similar. Well, you say, it's the same story!

Then splashed across the rest of the top fold of both papers is the Obama Mideast speech with several color pictures of individuals and groups from the Mideast and Asia watching the speech. The only difference is that all the NYT pictures show males only. A family picture in the Post has some females.

Wouldn't you think one or two of the photos would be of Obama? Or some of the other leaders? Or the locale of the speech?

Is the main stream media now under the same ownership and direction and the announcements have not been made? Do they collaborate? Do the networks collaborate? Are the editors out of the same school? Of thought? Just wondering.

Timeline of Sotomayor announcement

2009-05-26T23:50:00.004-04:00

As received via e-mail:

The Supreme Court nominee announcement is coming! NYTimes 8:25 a.m.

The Supreme Court nominee announcement is coming! Washington Post 8:34 a.m.

The Supreme Court nominee is Sonia Sotomayor! NYTimes 8:39 a.m.
(Interesting that the story in this link shows a time posted as 8:15 a.m.)

The Supreme Court nominee is Sonia Sotomayor! Washington Post 8:51 a.m.

But I understand MSNBC and the AP beat them both.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at Brookings

2009-05-26T23:31:00.003-04:00

Speaking to a SRO crowd at Brookings recently, Arne Duncan endorsed the concept of using school buildings year-round, night and day. “School buildings do not belong to me; they belong to taxpayers.” he said.

“The more schools become part of community life, the better the community becomes"
since “families learn together.” Non-profits could use school buildings from 3 – 9 p.m. like some Chicago schools have done, and no rent is collected: “Whose room is it?” he asked.

Schools can be safe havens in crime areas. One questioner from the Service Employees Union said schools “are the safest places” in some communities.

A retired math professor said it was common knowledge that students now enter college less prepared than they were five years ago, and students five years ago were less prepared than their predecessors: “What are we doing about this?”

He lamented the lousy teaching of fractions, often taught by professionals who do not understand them themselves, noting “A massive amount of money is being spent on pedagogy” which would be better spent on “teaching content.”

Secretary Duncan said the massive infusion of stimulus dollars will save “hundreds of thousands” of teaching positions.

What should be a goal for 2012? Sec. Duncan said one goal should be to close the 500 “chronically underperforming schools.”

Managing federal money is not easy: The dilemma to use the funds “short-term” (before their two-year expiration) while trying to solve long-term problems puts schools in a quandary.

Nine states have already spent their stimulus money. Russell Whitehurst, a member of the panel which convened after Duncan's presentation, said $100 billion flowing from the U.S. Department of Education is a huge amount to manage.

When asked by a member of the audience, Velma Sawhill, another panelist, said there was a risk that some federal dollars would be spent unwisely since it is “so much, so fast.” Mike Smith, another panel member, said “it takes a long time to go through all the channels.”

Dr. Whitehurst said a recent study of technology in the classroom showed about the same level of performance by students who had technological classroom benefits as those students who do not. He said tech product developers protested the results of the study saying time and teacher training to implement the new technologies damaged the results.

100% troop deaths: noncombat related

2009-05-20T23:15:00.009-04:00

In the May 14, 2009 edition of the Washington Post on page A10, the names of seven dead American troops are listed. They all died as a result of "noncombat injuries."

Five of them were killed by the mentally-ill Army sergeant who shot and killed them May 11 at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

Why do so many of our troops die from noncombat related reasons?

This morning NPR (and the Post) featured a story on three troop deaths due to electrocutions in "sewage showers." An engineer claimed that 90% of military electrical work done in Iraq was faulty. The inferior work has been attributed to KBR, formerly of Halliburton,Inc. Dick Cheney's old firm, whose public relation officer responded: "Us? No way. We are not to blame."

Is Patrick Tillman's death the only cover-up?

How do these numbers compare to those in other conflicts? Are soldiers rushed into combat so quickly they are not trained sufficiently? Does the Defense Department need numbers so badly that soldiers are sent to harm's way without adequate training about the deadly weapons they carry? The mentally ill carry them!

Does the Defense Department investigate these deaths and the reasons behind them?
What changes has the Defense Department implemented to stop them? Any?

Family members and taxpayers would like to know.

The five soldiers shot by their comrade were:

Spec. Jacob Barton, 20, Lenox, MO

Sgt. Christian Bueno-Galdos, 25, Paterson, NJ

Maj. Matthew Houseal, 54, Amarillo, TX

Navy Cmdr. Charles Springle, 52, Wilmington, NC

Pfc. Michael Yates, Jr., 19, Federalsburg, MD

Two other soldiers are listed in the May 14 paper who died from "noncombat injuries" were:

Pvt. Justin Hartford, 21, Elmira, NY

Spec. Omar Albrak, 21, Chicago

We hang our heads in sorrow.

Code Pink Rallies at the White House on Mother's Day

2009-05-16T23:51:00.014-04:00

Emerson, the driver, Joshua, and Julian provided transportation (right)

The handmade banners commemorate the lives of dead soldiers from the Iraq War

To know Code Pink is to love Code Pink, its presence at the Capitol Hill hearings and the pictures and signs members hold aloft behind the heads of the Big Shots testifying as they try to wrangle out of their (mis)deeds or vie for government dollars.

For a small group, Code Pink garners an unusually large amount of media attention. Hurray for Code Pink!

With admiration for its unceasing efforts and always applauding its goals, I joined the group last Sunday at Lafayette Park for a small and sincere rally to stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On a gorgeous Mother's Day afternoon we carried the long banner made by women from 20 different countries who sewed more than 4,000 squares in pink of many different shades. We marched in front of the White House chanting "I will not raise my child to kill another mother's child'" which is based upon the 1870 Mother's Day Proclamation composed by Julia Ward Howe

Code Pink leaders charmed the White House police corps which waived an arrest for one Pink member (for what I don’t know), and permitted, after denial, the laying of hundreds of pink, white, and red roses at the base of the White House iron railing.

Sadly, the withering roses represented the brief lives of soldiers and citizens
who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Al Franken carries baggage!

2009-05-12T23:15:00.004-04:00

Seen at National Airport in D.C. on Saturday afternoon May 2, Al Franken in person waiting at the luggage carillon to pick up bags.

Yeeks! A senator carrying baggage? Well, maybe it’s because he ain’t quite a senator yet so he lugs his own stuff.

Everyone knew who he was, and he graciously signed a book for an autograph seeker.

It was about three years ago that I saw him speak and sign books at the packed “Books a Million” shop in McLean and he cried, I mean he shed real tears, about Iraq. Most of the rest of us cried, too. (Don’t get me started about Iraq.)

Al, I hope you’ll always keep your head above water and continue to be part of us, the commoners, the voters, the people who matter, and resist "going out of your head" when you get to the Senate. Thank you.

75% Die in Iraq from Non-Combat Related Causes

2009-04-15T23:20:00.007-04:00

The causes of deaths of our soldiers listed in the Washington Post today are: non-combat related (6) and military action (2).

Why are these numbers so high?

Inadequate training? Friendly fire? Suicide?

I have raised the question with the Defense Department which sent me to its Web site and later, did not return a telephone call inquiring about the statistics of the dead.

Is anyone with any power asking these questions?

The names of the dead from non-combat related reasons listed today are:

Sgt. Jose R. Escobedo, Jr., 32, Albuquerque

Staff Sgt. Raphael A. Futrell, 26, Anderson, S.C.

Lance Cpl. Nelson M. Lantigua, 20, Miami

Sgt. Devin C. Poche, 25, Jacksonville, N.C.

Sgt. Daniel J. Beard, 24, Buffalo

Lance Cpt. Stephen F. Dearmon, 21, Crossville, TN

The two soldiers who died from combat-related causes were:

Spec. Gary L. Moore, 25, Del City, OK

Spec. Israel Candelaria Mejias, 28, San Lorenzo, P.R.

The Book: "Know Your Power" by Nancy Pelosi

2009-04-04T13:32:00.006-04:00

Did you know Nancy Pelosi had written a book?

Nor did I until I spotted it at the library.

There’s a good reason it’s “under wraps.” It’s really not a book but a magazine piece written by a p.r. firm.

Not much in it except the last few pages offering encouragement to women who are considering a run for public office. The subtitle is: A Message to America's Daughters. We need more women in public office, Nancy (and Amy Hill Hearth, co-writer, likely the writer) cry.

Oh well. The writing style is what I call “chop, chop” or sentence structure something a bit more advanced than “Dick and Jane.” If you are looking for vocabulary and content, it ain't here, babe.

Pictures would have added something like maybe one of her dad? Her mother? A picture of Nancy with JFK? She writes so much about each! Her children? What does her husband look like? He has got to have wings and a halo.

But pictures cost more which would have reduced sales, and God forbid, that’s the only reason to write one of these, isn’t it? I mean look at the money Obama is raking in with his books.

The only issues Nancy (written in first person) describes at any length (which is not much) are AIDS and human rights violations in China. She does lambaste Bush for Iraq and that tragedy, but it’s a pity she didn’t use her bully pulpit when he was in office.

The book has no negatives in it, except for her friends (no names) who attacked her when she decided to run for office. That she had five children in six years, and she is still Pollyanna! Her life has been a bowl of cherries. Yawn. She could have told so much more. Maybe later, when she’s out of office and doesn’t have to fear backlash from colleagues, but I don’t think they open up then either. Dull, lackluster. Save your money but more importantly, save your time.

Lincoln Davis: Looking Good!

2009-04-04T12:52:00.005-04:00

At the Tennessee State Society, the South Carolina State Society, and the Alabama State Society joint fete the other night at the Rayburn House Office Building...

Has Lincoln lost weight?

Had a face-lift?

He is lookin' spry!

What Is Wrong With These Pictures?

2009-03-12T23:58:00.012-04:00

On a day the Washington Post reports that the Obama administration is going to put more emphasis on placing women in top posts, a picture of 11 men appears above the fold on the front page of the Metro section touting federal commitment dollars for the Dulles Metro extension.

Maybe one individual with red hair on the back row is a woman. It's hard to tell, and her/his name, of course, is not supplied. Two African-American males did make it in.

(The story quotes U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood: “If this is not the greatest day for Virginia, I don’t know what is.” Good grief! And he is a cabinet official? That Virginians are celebrating a railroad track as "the greatest day"?)

In Women's History Month and the week the Washington Post reports that President Obama is going to place more emphasis on placing women in top slots, the Post carried a little one-paragraph story about the lashing and four-month prison terms of two men and a 75-year-old woman in Saudi Arabia found guilty of being together.

She is a grandmother. The men were delivering bread to her. One is the nephew of her late husband. Forty lashes for each perpetrator (for what? Delivering food to an old woman?) says a much lengthier story at YahooNews Canada.

Do we do business with Saudi Arabia? We know Bush and Cheney slept with Saudi Arabia.

By ignoring the plight of women in Saudi Arabia and other countries which actively discriminate against us, by remaining silent we condone its actions.

I wish the Obama administration, Michelle Obama, Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Barbara Boxer, Valerie Jarrett and other powerful politicians and celebrities would pick up their telephones and microphones and from their bully pulpits beseech the government of Saudi Arabia to cease and desist exploiting, raping, pillaging women.

How can a civilized nation rationally continue doing business with a country which treats women like possessed animals?

I wish a powerful person would adopt the plight of women in the Middle East and do something besides talk, talk, talk to colleagues about raising the stature of women. I wish someone would act, act, act. Why not use their ammunition and aim their weapons of strength at readily identifiable targets? Like boycotting Saudi Arabia. Who needs its stinking oil anyway? We American consumers continue to show a diminished need for it. The actions of the United States would encourage other nations to follow suit.

Pass it on. And act. It's Women's History Month.

Women Legislators Speak at Archives

2009-03-08T13:15:00.010-04:00

From left to right: Rep. Grace Napolitano, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Gov. Madeleine Kunin, Rep. Mazie Hirono, Lt. Gov. Jennette Bradley, and Eleanor Clift

By The Queen of Free

Anger and passion are not always negative. Use them!

As fuel for internal fire to make living conditions better for you and your children. To drive you like it propelled into politics female legislators who made up a panel Thursday night at National Archives: "Big Strides, Diverse Paths: Women's Journeys to Political Leadership."

The marvelous, the sharp, the witty Eleanor Clift served as moderator. (Now really, is there any better talk show on Sunday than “The McLaughlin Hour”? Eleanor started off the evening with “Well, it’s nice to be able to finish a sentence.”)

The presenters’ diversity was commendable: one Latino (Rep. Grace Napolitano,D-CA), an Asian American (Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-HI), an African-American (Jennette Bradley, former Lt. Governor, Ohio), and two Caucasians (Madeline Kunin, former governor, Vermont, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-TN).

Throughout the evening the panelists addressed their remarks to prospective candidates.

Strong mothers were identified as major components of the political successes of Gov. Kunin and Rep. Hirono.

After she protested the Vietnam War Rep. Hirono said she “eased” into political life “unlike the guys {who} never let incompetence stop them.”

Gov. Kunin said her worry and anger over railroad tracks which her children had to cross daily on their way to school ignited her political career. “I learned you can fight city hall,” she said. She collected signatures and learned to speak before groups, all great experiences for later political battles.

“Be angry about something, be imaginative, and be an optimist,” she suggested.

Rep. Blackburn frequently endorsed the advantages of having a non-risk adverse personality which voters perceive as an attribute. Women are usually not risk-adverse, she noted.

Rep. Napolitano’s parents divorced when she was 3 ½, and she began working at age 12 and has never stopped. She has a high school education.

“Use common sense,” she recommended. Her most important role in California, she said, is to represent “the people who sent me” to Congress. (Who in Congress would disagree?)
“Believing you can makes a difference” makes a difference, she said. Her children “hate” politics but “they’ve learned to accept it…You sacrifice your personal life." Be prepared to skip your daughter’s dance recital and your children’s sporting events.

And by the way, “Develop a thick skin because they’re going to come after you with everything but the kitchen sink.”

Former Lt. Governor Bradley, the first African-American female to win a lieutenant gubernatorial slot in the nation, said she refused to believe the naysayers who said she had no chance of winning since she was 1. Running against an incumbent and 2. Is black. The perceptions increased her anger and motivation. Other women helped.

Gov. Kunin, the author of Pearls, Politics and Power and Living a Political Life, said “Politics is not a dirty word.” Nor is “power.”

Why is it that more women than men need to be asked to run than run?

“Don’t wait to be asked,” Gov. Kunin urged the crowd. “Ask yourself.”

The panel noted female representation in Iraq’s parliament is mandated (what is the origin of that word?) at 25% and at 27% in Afghanistan, but in the U.S. where it is not mandated, only 17% of representatives in Congress are female.

Rep. Blackburn said being a PTA mother, hosting birthday parties and fundraising for non-profits are all good experiences for running a campaign.

Knowing how to speak, write, and read help, too, said Gov. Kunin.

Rep. Hirono said women must learn to open their checkbooks to political races like they open them to buy shoes.

Rep. Napolitano took loans out on her home to finance her race while Gov. Kunin never used her own money. She had to ask for it.

“Get over your fear of failure,” Lt. Gov. Bradley said. “What you don’t know, you can learn.”

When Ms. Clift queried the group about obstacles Rep. Blackburn noted it was her own fear of failure and worry about what people would think if she lost.

The audience, which almost filled the William McGowan Theater, was about 90% female, mixed ages, mostly Caucasian.

“George,” a 20-something who said his major was women’s studies, asked what men can do to spur more female candidates.

Rep. Napolitano: “Volunteer!”

Eleanor Clift: “Share the housework and child care!”

Gov. Kunin: “Be emotionally supportive.”

Another question from the audience concerned media bias against female candidates and Ms. Clift noted the cable news networks are male dominated with a lot of time to fill.

Gov. Kunin urged women to get mad and push back.

Introducing the panel, Carol Hardy-Fanta, the director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at U. Mass., a sponsor, noted that the U.S. is certainly not a model for female political achievement since the U.S. ranks 71st in Democratic countries in female membership percentage in a national congress or parliament.

How do you enter politics?

Unanimous group answer: “Volunteer!” Ask questions, keep up with the news.

Gov. Kunin: “Be curious. Hold on to your ideals.”

Lt. Gov. Bradley: “You must be willing to break barriers.” She did. We can.

Cartoon idea: The Mountain of Cash (Before and After)

2009-03-03T23:35:00.002-05:00

BEFORE:

Standing on a plateau on a big mountain top composed of dollars spewing everywhere are the rich people lolling around their swimming pools, jetting here and there, bedecked in their jewels, wrapped in fur, slurping drinks, shopping at the “high end” shops, driving fancy cars.

Holding them up “down below” inside the mountain with their cash infusions are the poor middle class people working hard at cash registers, assembling cars, taking food orders and dry-cleaning, standing in line to spend their precious dollars at low-end shops, driving trucks

AFTER: The rich are frantic, pulling their hair out, beads of sweat everywhere on their mountain plateau. Gone are the jewels, the furs, the jets because: “down below,” the mountain crumbles: The poor and middle class stand in lines waiting for food boxes. Their cash to support the rich class’ way of life has disappeared and along with it, the rich, now engulfed by the cashless monster

With apologies to Johnny Rivers and Charley Pride:

Standin' on a mountain lookin' down on a city
The way I feel is a doggone pity
Teardrops fallin' down the mountain side
Many times I've been here, many times I've cried
We used to be so happy when we were awash
High on a mountain of cash

Mountain of cash, the mountain of cash
You should be ashamed
You used to be my mountain of cash
But you just changed your game

Way down below there's a half a million people
Somewhere there's a bank with a lot of bankers weepin’
Inside the bank, there's an altar filled with dollars
Courthouse bells are ringin' and they should've been all ours
That's why I'm so upset, my dream is gone so fast
High on your mountain of cash

Night after night I'm a-standin' in the cold
Cryin’ out for you, I’ve never been so old
Prayin' you're not hungry and you'll buy something quick
Hopin' just by chance that you won’t call me a ----
Trying hard to find you somewhere in the mash
High on my mountain of cash

Mountain of cash, the mountain of cash
You should be ashamed
You used to be my mountain of cash
But you just changed my game

BredeSIN and Jen Doll

2009-02-25T23:40:00.007-05:00

Jason enters and presents:

Democratic Governor Considers Turning Down Stimulus Cash!

By Eric Kleefeld - February 24, 2009, 8:36PM

We now have another governor who says he's thinking about turning down the small portion of the stimulus package for unemployment benefits -- and he's a Democrat???

"We are evaluating this piece of money, whether it makes sense for us to take it," Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "We may well be one of the states that say we can't take on that portion of it."

Well, if this guy was ever on the HHS short-list before...

Patricia responds:

So typical of that pseudofraudclosetimpersonatin'DemocratRepublican! Yep! Just see if he gets HHS now! HAHAHAHAHA. A blog at the Tennessean yesterday was reporting that the gov. said he wasn't out of the running.

Hey Guv! You're a G O N E R now.

(Portions referring to the governor's physical appearance have been deleted to preserve sophistication.)

That makes sense, doesn't it? To turn down unemploymt dollars like Jindahl (sic) is saying he may do for LA. I wonder how that will go over wi. the voters. OH, YUCK YUCK YUCK. Let's add that seat to the Democratic list!

Jason changes subject:

Did you see Bobby Jindall’s (sic) speech last night? HAHAHAHAHA it was so bad, even on Fox they were panning it. David Brooks said it was the worst response EVER to a president’s address to the nation.

Patricia replies:

I was so glad he came on since I needed to shower, wash and dry my hair and when doing all that, I can't hear the telly, so no, I didn't hear him, but welcomed the timing of his address. You MUST read My Dana today about all the twittering during the speech. He raises an excellent point! Yes, I told my colleagues today: Jesus came...on Shrove Tuesday!

The Defense Dept. Answers RE: Non-Combat Related Deaths

2009-02-23T19:24:00.010-05:00

(Thanks to Sen. Jim Webb for forwarding my questions to the Department. The main thrust of the DOD letter follows. After studying the numbers and percentages, the question rises: Why have non-hostile deaths of our troops risen 250% from the Korean to the Iraq wars? Look at the numbers at the DOD Web site. Am I figuring incorrectly?)

Dear Patricia,

The Department has a casualty reporting system…and both combat and non-combat related deaths are posted weekly…along with the cause of death…at http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil.

[Click “Personnel,” then “Military Casualty Information.”]

Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom each have a report titled “Casualty Summary by Reason Code” [which] …contain the reasons for all deaths, hostile and non-hostile.

Each Service analyzes the information…and they have safety boards to address deaths as a result of unsafe actions, equipment, etc. to try and prevent any additional harm to Service members….[including] suicide prevention and early detection. All of this information is used by the Department to try and prevent further injuries and deaths. Individual causes…are withheld to protect…privacy….

If you have any questions, please contact Kris Hoffman at 831-583-2500.

Sincerely,

Mary Snavely-Dixon
Director, Human Resources Activity
Defense Manpower Data Center

I appreciate the letter and Sen. Webb’s attention. I will send my computations below to Senator Webb after I receive an answer from Ms. Hoffman about reasons, if any are known, about the leap in non-combat related deaths. I talked with her February 23, 2009.

At the Web site supplied above I discovered approximately 20 percent of the deaths (830 of 4,228)of all troops in Iraq from March 19, 2003 through January 31, 2009 result from nonhostile actions:

20% of Army deaths (613 of 3,072) are from nonhostile actions

35%, Navy (including the Coast Guard) (34 of 97)

16%, Marines (162 of 1,010)

almost 43%, Air Force (21 of 49)

More than 62% (518) of all non-hostile deaths in the Iraq War have resulted from accidents; more than 21% (176), “self-inflicted” causes. You have seen the recent stories about the increase in suicides among veterans and at West Point.

Compare “In-Theatre” deaths of other conflicts (which are not broken down "In Theater" or "Non-Theater" for Iraq casualties):

Gulf War non-hostile deaths: 61.5% (235 of 382)

Vietnam non-hostile deaths: 18.5% (10,786 of 58,220)

Korea non-hostile deaths: 7.75%(2,835 of 36,574)

Why did the percentage of nonhostile deaths increase so dramatically from Korea to Vietnam? Reduced training? Lowered standards? Different measuring means? On Friday at Ft. Campbell, KY, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, told soldiers increased suicides among troops may be related to long and repeated deployments.

Many Vietnam troops were drafted and joined the service unwillingly. With economic conditions today and the Army’s lowered standards (accepting felons, more high school dropouts, more with lower intelligence levels) yet with supposedly additional safety measures in place, why has the number increased? Who measures the effects of the Army’s lowered standards? Also, I refer you to this site for casualty count:www.antiwar/com.casualties

Gwen Ifill on Stage at GWU

2009-02-14T01:00:00.009-05:00

(Top) Frank Sesno interviews Gwen Ifill and (right) they watch Eugenie Pete describe what Barack Obama's swearing-in meant to her.

By the Queen of Free

Utterly charming, comedic, uplifting, inspirational, engaging, informative, confident, knowledgeable, and captivating.

Can you tell she is quite likable? Gwen Ifill for public office! (Hey Gwen: I know a Secretary's spot which is open!)

On Thursday night Frank Sesno CNN special correspondent and director of the public affairs project at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs masterfully interviewed Ms. Ifill who had plenty to tell to keep the “sold-out” (seats were free but all taken) listeners (it was taped for radio) on their ears.

She was much more talkative (of course) and animated (of course) than she is on THE shows. She came to promote her new book: The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, and she told a lot more.

The book contains interviews with black politicians and a look behind their scenes: How did they do it? So many, she said, were told “it’s not time for you yet.”

Race ceased to be an issue in last year’s presidential campaign after The Rev. Jeremiah Wright was shut up. She said Barack Obama never wanted to bring up race as an issue but Wright forced his hand.

About President Obama's term so far: He's figured out how hard it is to come to Washington which is "complicated. Every president says he's going to change Washington." And "one thing we all know: Honeymoons end." She said she never thought Obama would be elected. Her predictions "are always wrong," she said.

Two days before Gwen Ifill moderated last fall's vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin (a clip of the "Saturday Night Live" takeoff on the debate was screened during the interview), she fell at home coming down stairs and broke her ankle.

She received hundreds of questions to ask the debaters, "about 99% of them for Palin." She said the key to crafting questions for debaters is to try to steer them from their pat answers and get them into new arenas. As for the 2004 vice-presidential debate, John Edwards was "over-rehearsed and Dick Cheney just didn't care."

When asked about the dearth of female politicians in her book, she said few under age 60 exist, sadly.

She began her journalism career as an intern at the Boston Herald American where a crude note addressed to her about her race led to her hiring. Never one to look back and wallow in self pity, she said she seizes circumstances as opportunities to use for her own betterment.

Later working at the Washington Post and covering the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Ifill said she likely is the only Post reporter to cover that beat who actually lived in public housing at one time.

A clip showed a black lady on Inauguration Day, Eugenie Pete (unsure of name), who caught Ms. Ifill’s attention. She beamed when describing Ms. Pete who was practically unable to speak amid her emotions about the momentous day and what it meant for blacks.

The crowd of about 300 was approximately 20% students (based on a show of hands) with the rest, alumni, a smattering of faculty, and the remainder, interested bystanders. Probably two-thirds of attendees were female. Ms. Ifill graciously answered several questions from the audience.

After the interview we happily partook of varied and delicious desserts and beverages at a reception while Ms. Ifill signed about 250 books.

Thank you, GW! A fitting way to launch Presidents' Day weekend and to recognize Black History Month, too.

Chevy Chase Bank Card Customers at Risk

2009-02-14T00:19:00.003-05:00

What? Is this happening so frequently now that there is not even a press announcement warning customers their cards may be vulnerable? Or maybe there was and I missed it. But when?

I just opened a letter from Chevy Chase:

Recently, Visa, U.S.A. notified [us]...that an unauthorized party accessed a large national payment processor of credit and debit card transactions, Heartland Payment Systems. Unfortunately, your...card number may have been...compromised...[which]means that an unauthorized party may [underlined] have access to your Card information...[but it] does not [underlined] mean than [the]...party actually has used your Card number.

Gee, thanks, Chevy Chase Bank whose envelope looked like so much junk mail I nearly tossed it without opening it. The stamp: Presorted First Class. How many thousands were compromised and shouldn't there be some kind of public warning issued?

No warnings or alerts on Chevy Chase's web site. No warnings or alerts at Visa, U.S.A. Wait a minute, down in the lower corner of Heartland's site is a sentence about "security breach" which, if you click on it, takes you to information saying the breach occurred January 20, 2009, and yet, and yet, it took Chevy Chase Bank three weeks to notify its own customers and who knew Chevy Chase Bank had any relationship with Heartland which I've never heard of, have you?

Yep, this is a fine example of NON customer service at Chevy Chase Bank, another reason not to do banking there. I spoke with a teller and manager at a nearby branch last Saturday, February 7,2009, and did either mention this compromise on my account? You guess.

Uncover the Coffins

2009-02-12T22:14:00.009-05:00

At Monday's press conference the AP reported President Barack Obama said policy change would be considered to possibly end the media ban photographing caskets holding our military dead from Iraq and Afghanistan as they arrive back in the U.S.

In yesterday's Washington Post (p. A-8) Defense Secretary Robert Gates "said he was told that, if media were allowed to cover the fallen service members return to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, many of the service members' families would feel compelled to attend, which would pose a financial hardship for them and slow the return of the remains."

How grotesque: "would feel compelled." And "slow the remains."

What words are there to describe Gates' callousness and total disregard for affected families? He nonchalantly tosses words around with no thought of their impact.

Should not the affected families be allowed to make their own decisions rather than the defense secretary quoting hearsay and making decisions for them?

At this most terrible times of their lives, affected loved ones can stand on their own without the Defense Department exploiting their losses so it can cover up its dead and the 65% who died of "non-combat related" causes. Enough of Defense Department cover-ups!

Would not local communities rush to raise money for Dover expenses for those in need? Those who want to come to praise, salute and honor their war dead? Theirs.

President Obama: Uncover the coverup of the coffins. We want to see them. We want to see how the military treats the return of our human treasures. We want to see the containers holding our dead on their last journey. We want to recognize their bravery and their sacrifices for us. We want to be stung with reality that inside the boxes are remains of troops who lived and whom we glorify.

President Obama: You said "change." The Bush/Cheney regime ended, praise God, on January 20, 2009. Please bring change.

65% of our Soldiers' Deaths in Iraq: Noncombat Related

2009-02-09T22:56:00.010-05:00

Dear Senator Webb:

“Nonhostile circumstances” have caused the deaths of almost 65% (14 of 22) of our soldiers in Iraq this year in a story reported by CNN today about four American soldiers who were killed in a suicide car bombing in Mosul.

This morning NPR carried a story about the Army meeting its enlistments goals, likely due to economic conditions, but the article listed felons who are now part of the service now that the Army has relaxed its standards. Does this play a role in the huge numbers of “nonhostile” (or as the Washington Post calls them, “noncombat related”) deaths?

Who investigates “nonhostile/non-combat-related” deaths of our soldiers? Who reports them? How do numbers compare to previous conflicts? Is training minimized in a rush to get soldiers to battlefields?

Taxpayers want a return on our investments of our human resources, equipment, and time. Answers would be required of any board of directors. Who is our “Board of Directors”? Who speaks for us? The voice is silent.

Sincerely,
Patriciadc

Darling Dangling Dapper Daschle Dashes

2009-02-03T22:38:00.006-05:00

Enter Jason who speaketh:

No statement yet but it's happening soon. Personally, I could care less about him not paying his taxes on a driver he employed to take him around town in a car. Nor do I care about Tim Geithner's tax problems or anybody else's tax problems. For heaven's sake, we elected a complete idiot for eight years and somehow he was allowed to escape practically unharmed by the media and now a lowly department head gets the ax grinded into him and has to withdraw his nomination??? We had Rummy issuing torture memos and orders to violate international treaties, and where was Anderson Cooper's outrage then? The VP is holding secret meetings with oil industry lobbyists and never a word said or uttered. Where was the NY Times editorial board then? Oh, yeah the NY Times was too busy employing figure heads who took the notes passed along by the VP's guy pal Scooter and printing them on page A1 all in an effort to appear patriotic. Well where is their patriotism now?

All this has done has poured more blood into the water, just as the stimulus bill is going to be voted on in the Senate. Now, watch every Repub but three or four will vote against the stimulus bill and all will have been for naught. Are we to allow every editorial board in this country the right to veto a president's pick to head an agency? Who sits on the NY Times editorial board anyone? And what exactly is their expertise when it comes to dealing with issues that face the country. The NY Times will be an online only publication in about 10 years, so apparently they're not even good at what they're supposed to be good at! Are we going to allow the minority party to dictate the stimulus bill? The reason why they're the minority party is because a minority of Americans agrees with them. Include them in the discussions, but I would rather see no Repubs vote for a bill than to see half of them vote for it, because in the latter's instance something would definitely be wrong with the final bill.

I suppose it's good to get all of the bad stuff out of the way now. Although, the timing really sucks. The president is going to be speaking to all the networks tonight and instead of talking about trying to reboot the economy and pass his stimulus package, the network anchors are all going to imitate O'Reilly and Limbaugh and try and outmaneuver each other on who can play the best gotcha, inside-Washington parlor game. No wonder good help is hard to find in DC. Who would want to go through this process?

Patricia enters and has her turn:

I am glad! Really! O campaigned on CHANGE and with the treas. sec. and Daschle's IRS problems and all Daschle's connections, I thought this a.m.: What has changed? I say; GOOD RIDDANCE. It was like all his own cronies coming out of the woodwk to talk about how great he is. Oh yeah, if he's so great you mean to tell me he didn't know about the $ due to the IRS 'til Jan.? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. He got caught wi. his pants down and oh no, he paid the IRS and now it looks like he could have put it off even longer! Poor old Tom. I guess he'll now have to forgo the taxis he started taking yesterday to Cap Hill for his limousine. Cry me a river.

Jason replies:

HAHAHA, cry me a river, yes. I don't feel sorry for Daschle. All these public officials should no better. My point has more to do with the media. We just found out that billions of dollars of our money was spent by Wall Street on bonuses and where is the media outrage? You don't see those managers of CEOs getting fired or having to repay the money? Why aren't those people blacklisted like these appointments to be cabinet secretary? It seems that they made mistakes and they have owned up to their mistakes and then some but still they get crucified? This is the kind of thing which led that guy in the Clinton admin to kill himself. It's petty, stupid, and ridiculous at a time when the country needs the best and the brightest to handle our nation's most stressing problems, and the NY Times editorial board is wasting its space on this??? Good thing I never went through with my daily subscription to them. I hope that ten years from now their print addition will be in a museum along with the dinosaurs!!!

Maureen squeaks:

p., relatively speaking, i think i am with jason on this one. m.

DeeDee comes in and adds her two cents:

Daschle knew he has tax problems but didn't take care of it immediately. Why didn't he tell the truth to Obama team? That should solve all the probs from the beginning.

OK, bets?

Patricia exclaims with vengeance:

I totally agree, DeeDee! Like whatzizsis name at Treas. now. Daschle didn't pay the tax since he thought he could get away with it until discovered by the vetting process. You'd think someone wi. that much $ would consider his tax debt a mite, but oh no, those greedy pigs get greedier. Show me to the trough, please, so I can load up some more.

What president has had this much trouble wi. so many Cabinet nominees so early in the game? Oh, oh...I can hear the Washington insider comments growing by leaps and bounds.

DeeDee responds:

Tim Geithner.. oh no, there's another one in line, Obama's choice for Chief Performance Officer..via TPM..

Presidents need to think big, isolate the source of problems and act to fix them. So I think Obama needs to abolish the IRS so his appointees can get confirmed and his program move forward. (Ed's note added later: Abolish the IRS....oh, hahaha, tweedledum and tweedledee, hahaha. Then who would pay for the Fat Cats' Bailouts? hahaha)

Jason fumes and adds a diatribe by Andrew Sullivan which The Editor chose to omit since this is getting lengthy and is anyone still reading?

From Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic: just goes to show what a truly shameful thing that has happened. Now we’ll get an more second-rate nominee who will have no clout to do anything about the uninsured, sky-high insurance rates, prescription drug costs, all of that. All because of petty, Washington politics. It’s a good thing I no longer live anywhere near the place. I would be ashamed.

Patricia's anger is not assuaged:

Yep, Daschle certainly knew the industry all right since it forked over to him $zillions. Line thy pockets, knave! Why, methinks this rings true of Duchess Clinton, TO WIT. Prayeth, what change hath El Presidente Obama wrought with his Knights of Greed?

Jason exclaims as he drives out of sight:

Oh you are going to hang on this one!!!!!
The Politico is reporting that Phil Bredesen, Jim Cooper, Howard Dean, and Bill Bradley are possibilities for HHS Secretary!

Patricia cries:

Show me the noose!

Letter to Sen. James Webb RE: Non-Combat Related Deaths

2009-01-28T21:55:00.003-05:00

Dear Senator Webb,

I received an e-mail from you dated December 16, 2008 in which you said you had referred my questions about non-related combat deaths of our soldiers in Iraq to the Defense Department.

I know it's a huge agency with much on its plate, but, alas, more than a month later and no reply!

The Washington Post listed yesterday the names of five more of our soldiers killed in Iraq (p. A-13), and of these, SIXTY PERCENT died as a result of "non-combat related" causes. I researched their names and found on the Web that one died as the result of a forklift accident and one died from a gunshot wound. (His father was quoted in the local press, and he was quoting the military.)

Above the names of these dead soldiers was a story about the crashes of two U.S. helicopters which killed four U.S. servicemen. It was listed as "non-combat related."

I would like to know about all the "non-combat related" deaths of our troops, their causes, and what changes Defense is making to stop these tragedies. Are our troops not trained adequately? Is Defense rushing troops to Iraq with insufficient training and therefore, equipment and gun accidents happen more frequently than in prior combat? Than on Army bases? A comparison would be revealing. We read constantly about the Army's lowering its standards to accept those without a high school diploma and to accept some with criminal charges which may factor in "non-combat related" deaths.

With the decline in our activity in Iraq, media, and therefore public, attention dwindles, and we tend to forget about 150,000 troops stationed there which plays to Defense's hands to ignore questions about anything Iraq.

With your military knowledge, experience, and interest, I would think Defense would pay more attention to you and to your requests for explanations. An entire summary of these deaths and their causes may shatter the public's mindset about our troops' training, or it may not. Whatever, since it is our money, time, equipment, and most importantly, human resources, we deserve to know.

Sincerely,
Patriciadc