Dare We Hope?

From The Hill via Americablog:

by Joe Sudbay (DC) on 7/05/2009 05:04:00 PM
The thing about Senator Chuck Schumer is that he's a political creature. All Senators are to some extent, but Schumer sees all things through a political lens. So, when Schumer supports the public option in legislation to reform health care, it makes political sense. And, Schumer not only supports the public option, today, he guaranteed it:

The healthcare reform bill that emerges from Congress this year will include a government-run public health insurance option, regardless of the bipartisan negotiations seeking a compromise in the Senate, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday.

"Make no mistake about it, the president is for this strongly. There will be a public option in the final bill," Schumer said on CBS News's "Face the Nation."

Schumer made his prediction just days before the Senate returned to the work of getting a bill passed by the first week of August amid significant disagreement between Democrats and Republicans -- and among Democrats themselves -- over controversial issues such as the public option.

We already know the policy reasons for including the public option. Nothing says the public option is good politics more than Schumer's blessing.

I do hope that Schumer is right.

Adult Content, But Don't Overexpect

Did I ever claim mine was a family blog?

Franken's Noise Will Hurt Broder's Tender Ears

From the Washington Post:

Now that the Minnesota Supreme Court has ended the long count on the 2008 Senate race by awarding the seat to Al Franken, Democrats -- at least on paper -- have the power to pass whatever bills they want, without a single Republican vote.

Nothing would be a bigger mistake.

Franken, the loud-mouthed former comedian, will be the 60th member of the Senate Democratic caucus -- just enough for them to cut off any filibuster threat if they can muster all their members. With solid majorities in both houses, the Democratic leaders, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, could dismiss Republican objections to any bill without a second thought.

So. According to the wisdom of Dean Broder, if the Democrats CAN do it, they shouldn't. All bills must be bipartisan, or else.

Yet when it comes to the big initiatives -- energy, health care and the rest -- the risks of such a choice are obvious. When no Republican votes are in play, the price individual Democratic legislators can extract from the White House goes up. We saw plenty of that with the stimulus bill and the energy bill, both of which were weakened substantively by the concessions Obama had to make to get the last Democratic votes.

It's true that bills may be weakened substantively by the concessions Obama will have to make to the likes of the Blue Dog Dems, but does Broder believe that Republicans can be brought on board without concessions? He doesn't make any sense. Time to think about taking a long vacation, David.

Press on Mr. President and Democrats, and dare to take risks for the sake of doing the right thing, even the enormous risk of not being bi-partisan.

Oklahoma Folks Still Like Bush

From the LA Times via the AP:

Woodward, Okla. -- Former President George W. Bush was greeted by thunderous applause on the Fourth of July as he told thousands of spectators in a rural Oklahoma rodeo arena that the U.S. was "the greatest nation on the face of the earth."

Bush was given six standing ovations as he spoke in GOP-friendly Woodward, a town of about 12,000 residents in northwestern Oklahoma.

About 9,200 tickets were sold for the event -- the biggest crowd for Bush since he left office in January.

Bush spoke of the bravery of injured troops he had met as president, and thanked members of the military for their service. He told the crowd it was nice of them "to give a retired guy something to do."

You should thank the brave troops, George. You sent them to fight.

Please! Give the retired guy something to do. I wonder if Laura is yet tired of having him underfoot.

I wonder, too, if God has the same opinion about the US being "the greatest nation on the face of the earth".

UPDATE: A little bird told me that Ellie was not in the crowd applauding.

Clerical Group In Iran Challenges Election Results

From the New York Times:

The most important group of religious leaders in Iran has called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment.

The statement by the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult — if not impossible.

“This crack in the clerical establishment and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic,” said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. “Remember they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.”
....

The clerics’ decision to speak up is not itself a game changer and could fizzle under pressure from the state. Some seminaries in Qum rely on the government for funds, and the supreme leader and the man he has declared the winner of the election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have powerful backers there.
....

The clerics’ statement called not only for the election results to be thrown out, but also chastised the leadership for failing to adequately study complaints of vote rigging and lashed out at the government’s use of force in crushing public protests over the election.

Perhaps more threatening to the supreme leader, the committee called on other clerics to join the fight against the government’s refusal to reconsider the charges of voter fraud. The committee invoked powerful imagery, comparing the 20 protesters killed during demonstrations with the martyrs who died in the early days of the revolution and the war with Iraq. In doing so, they effectively cast the government as betraying the ideals of the revolution.

Fareed Zakaria answered a question put to him at CNN:

CNN: What about a military strike?

Zakaria: It would be bizarre to bomb Iran-- which means bombing Iranians -- now that we have seen the inside of that country. Moussavi and his supporters want a less confrontational approach to the world. So do many members of the establishment.

Moussavi attacked Ahmadinejad repeatedly for his aggressive foreign policy. So we now know the answer to the question, "Are there moderates in Iran?" Yes, millions of them.

For years now, I've read that there were a good many moderates amongst the people of Iran, but the members of the Bush maladministration were having none of it. Attack was the way to go, and since Iran is quite a large country, invasion was out of the question. What was the alternative? Attack with bombs and missiles from the air and sea.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

I felt a little guilty, thinking that I may not have posted enough about the holiday, so here's more for you.

Mwah! Happy Fourth!

Making It Real - From Марко (Mark)

From Mark in the comments:

Марко Фризия said...

I have seizures from a traumatic brain injury I suffered in the U.S. Army. I also have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I am on the Department of Defense email list and I receive casualty reports. Each name is very painful to read. The last four casualties (all from the same North Carolina National Guard unit) died June 29 in Baghdad from an improvised explosive device planted by the roadside. Their names: SFC Edward Kramer, SGT Roger Adams, SGT Juan Baldeosingh, SPC Robert Bittiker. These men were all in their 30s. I posted a pic of me in uniform taken when I served as a United Nations peacekeeper:

Mark's picture and comment show us a real person behind the numbers mentioned in Mark Harris' post below.

May Edward, Roger, Juan, and Robert rest in peace and rise in glory. May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to all those who loved them.

Mark, may the ever-powerful love of God heal you in spirit, mind, and body.

Lest We Forget The Cost Of War

Read Mark Harris at Preludium:

As of this 4th of July 4,321 American service personnel and 318 other allied personnel have died in Iraq - 4,639 in all. In Afghanistan 719 US personnel have been killed, and 488 other allied personnel, for a total of 1,207.

These two wars have now cost 5,040 American lives. The number of US wounded in Iraq stands at over 31,368, in Afghanistan 3,023. Total wounded over 34,391.

For those in the Armed Forces of our Country

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, p. 823)


For Peace

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, p. 815)

Ads From The 30s

Always a major turn off for me. Do not blow smoke in my face! I hated the smell on my clothes and in my hair. Of course, both my parents smoked, so I never really got away from it for a good many years. At least, we kept the windows open back in the olden days.



I remember the men swearing when the "church key" couldn't be found. Fortunately, one of the guys usually played it safe and carried the object on his key chain and came to the rescue of all the thirsty folks.



Just do it. I'm old enough to remember folks saying that, however, I don't remember the "You could get hit by a bus tomorrow" part.



Who would know better than the docs that Camels are good for you?



I know I was happy when I ate lard. My grandmother's Creole cooking was delicious and full of lard.

Thanks to Doug. Happy Fourth, my faithful stringer!

"Dunlap Print" Discovered In British Archives

From the AP via The Huffington Post:

British researchers have announced the discovery of a rare original copy of America's Declaration of Independence - just in time for the Fourth of July.

Katrina McClintock, a spokeswoman at the National Archives, said Thursday that a researcher accidentally discovered the "Dunlap print," named after a printer, several months ago. The find was announced only after it could be properly catalogued.

Edward Hampshire, the National Archives' specialist in colonial materials, said the find was "incredibly exciting."

"It is likely that only around 200 of these were ever printed, so uncovering a new one nearly 250 years later is extremely rare, especially one in such good condition," he said.
....

The last Dunlap print to be found was sold at an auction for $8.14 million in 2000.

A spokesman for the National Archives helpfully reminds us that the document is important because it "marks the birth of the United States", which would be an item of information, rather than a reminder for perhaps more than a few of the citizens of the US. More's the pity.