Bill Moyers - "Mr. President, We Need A Fighter"

Bill Moyers gives us the truth instead of truthiness on health care reform.

Here's a suggestion, Mr. President: ask Josh Marshall to draft your speech. Josh is the founder of the website talkingpointsmemo.com. He's a journalist and historian, not a politician. He doesn't split things down the middle and call it a victory for the masses. He's offered the simplest and most accurate description yet of a public insurance plan; one that essentially asks people: would you like the option — the voluntary option — of buying into Medicare before you're 65? Check it out, Mr. President.

This health care thing is make or break for your leadership, but for us, it's life and death. No more Mr. Nice Guy, Mr. President. We need a fighter. "

Watch it if you haven't seen it. It's a little over 5 minutes. You can do it. Or read the entire text of Moyers' special comment to President Obama.

Today many of us will write to the president about health care reform. Remember President Obama gives his big speech on Wednesday. Here is the link to send a letter by email, or you can sign one of the many petitions circulating on the internet. Sorry to be late in posting.

H/T to Jane R. at Acts of Hope. Jane said, "Do it!" so I had to do it.

UPDATE: I'm angry now. Not that it does any good. Why must we beg for decent health care reform from a Democratic president?

The Gret Stet Of Loosiana

From JohnByronKuhner:

In writing there are only two things, matter and treatment. In Abbott Joseph Liebling’s The Earl of Louisiana we have matter so interesting that it still holds the attention fifty years later in itself, and treatment so virtuosic one is tempted to proclaim Liebling a literary figure rather than a journalist.

As far as matter goes, all you really need to know is that this book is about Louisiana. Louisiana attracts nonfiction the way rotting trees attract fungus. A visit or two to Louisiana easily takes the place of what is today called imagination. Finding something interesting in Louisiana is like shooting a hanging possum with a shotgun. All you need to do is get close enough to see it.

Yes, indeed! I don't know how I stumbled upon JBK's blog, but I enjoyed reading his review and the quotes from Liebling's wonderful book. Here's a quote from the book on how Uncle Earl Huey integrated the nursing staff at Charity Hospital in New Orleans:

“Earl is like Huey on Negroes,” Tom said. “When the new Charity Hospital was built here, some Negro politicians came to Huey and said it was a shame there were no Negro nurses, when more than half the patients were colored. Huey said he’d fix it for them, but they wouldn’t like his method. He went around to visit the hospital and pretended to be surprised when he found white nurses waiting on colored men. He blew high as a buzzard can fly, saying it wasn’t fit for white women to be so humiliated. It was the most racist talk you ever heard, but the result was he got the white nurses out and the colored nurses in, and they’ve had the jobs ever since.”

Huey Long got the job done. If you want to understand politics in Louisiana, Liebling's book is a good place to start. Our present governor, Bobby Jindal, seems an anomaly, but in the long run, he may fit the pattern of Louisiana politics in a way that I can't see right now. Bobby is unusual in that he lacks both a sense of humor and a sense of irony. The only laughs I've had from him are when he's dead serious, making statements worthy of ridicule.

Every Once In A While...

...in life...you run into a genius with a talent!!

THINGS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:

1. Innovative
2. Preliminary
3. Proliferation
4. Cinnamon

THINGS THAT ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:

1. Specificity
2. Anti-constitutionalistically
3. Passive-aggressive disorder
4. Transubstantiate

THINGS THAT ARE DOWNRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:

1. No thanks, I'm married.
2. No, no more booze for me!
3. Sorry, but you're not really my type.
4. No thanks, I'm not hungry.
5. Good evening, officer. Isn't it lovely out tonight?
6. Oh, I couldn't! No one wants to hear me sing karaoke.
7. I'm not interested in fighting you.
8. Thank you, but I won't make any attempt to dance, I have no coordination. I'd hate to look like a fool!
9. Where is the nearest bathroom? I refuse to pee in this parking lot or on the side of the road.
10. I must be going home now, as I have to work in the morning.

Your pre-Labor Day holiday humor from Doug.

Two Calls For Prayers

From my brother-in-law:

Got a special request: Yesterday about 11:15 am , I left the office at the PD for a doctor's appointment. My co-worker, an officer 45 years old with 23 years on the department left at the same time for a meeting at headquarters. He was almost there (it was raining) when an elderly man darted out in front of his car. He was thrown about 50 feet and killed instantly. My co-worker is taking it extremely hard - cried most of the day. He is probably the most soft hearted police officer I have ever met - and is taking it very hard. A few prayers would be appreciated for him and the victim. Thanks.

Frank


From Caminante:

Very hard news from El Salvador

Monday at 12.30 in the middle of the day, in the middle of a medical campaign at the Church of Sta Maria Virgen in San Bartolo, a suburb (barrio) of San Salvador, gang members came into the newly consecrated church building and assassinated a devoted and faithful young member, Alejandro. A woman patient was also injured. Motives behind the slaying remain unknown, but the entire church community has been greatly affected by this tragedy, especially for the fact that it took place in the church. A group of visitors from the United States, participating in the campaign, were witnesses to the murder.

Bishop Martín Barahona, Bishop of El Salvador and Archbishop of the Anglican Church of the Region of Central America (IARCA), writes: 'Let us come together in prayer to ask God that there be no more violence in our country and we can refind the values that we have lost, especially the value of life.

'All your solidarity and prayers are welcome, not only for this moment but for our poor and humble people who suffer the strikes of this pandemic.

'My most sincere thanks and may God have compassion on us.'

Bishop Barahona is one of my heroes. I have his quote on my sidebar.

Lord, have mercy.

Please Join Me...

...in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was considered a very smart cookie, but wasted much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, three children: John Dough, Jane Dough and Dosey Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

If this made you smile for even a brief second, please rise to the occasion and take time to pass it on and share that smile with someone else who may be having a crumby day and kneads a lift.


Israeli box.

All right, Doug. I passed it on. Enjoy.

Update On Myron

Hello Everyone,

Myron's activity has slowed down a bit and so has my reporting those events to you. On Thursday he spent most of the day resting after spending a short time in the recliner. there is some difficulty in weaning him from the ventilator, but he opens his eyes and can move his right hand.

He still had fever at this point and the nurses tell the family that his pneumonia has not resolved and now he has a bad sinus infection.

On Friday he was still ventilator dependent, but he was up in the recliner for a couple of hours, then back to the bed. He was fitted with a boot for the left foot to help prevent foot drop. He was visited by the social worker on Friday and Maryann was told Bryn Mawr Rehab would be in on Tuesday to evaluate Myron for the brain injury program.

I hope you all have a good weekend and a safe Holiday. Remember if you ride a bicycle wear your helmet!

Sue

“Who Can Adopt This Covenant?”

From the Anglican Communion Institute:

The Anglican Covenant: Shared Discernment Recognized By All

Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009


The Reverend Canon Professor Christopher Seitz
The Reverend Dr. Philip Turner
The Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner
Mark McCall, Esq.

The Rt. Reverend Dr. N. T. Wright
Bishop of Durham

The approved text of the Anglican Covenant is already serving as a lens through which individual Anglican churches are inevitably and accurately being measured in terms of their character as “Communion churches.” Thus, in ways not yet properly noted by all, the text endorsed by the Anglican Consultative Council, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Joint Standing Committee in May 2009 has already raised and to a large extent provisionally answered the question “who can adopt this Covenant?” It is the purpose of this paper to explain why and how this is so, and to do this in relation particularly to The Episcopal Church, although it should be noted that the Covenant’s defining substance can be applied analogously to other Anglican churches as well.

The substantive sections of the Anglican Covenant, Sections 1-3, are now in final form. They will be sent to the churches of the Communion for adoption within a few months. A fourth section containing procedural provisions will be added to the other three at that time, but it remains subject to further review and “possible revision.” Section 4, however, either as it now stands or as revised, will not change the fundamental substantive commitments given by the covenanting churches. The scope of the fourth section is purely procedural.

This cuts directly against the claim of some “progressive” elements that it would be perfectly possible for The Episcopal Church, as it stands and even with the recent General Convention decisions in mind, to sign the first three sections. Following the recent reflections by the Archbishop of Canterbury on the actions of the General Convention of The Episcopal Church, some in the Communion are urging TEC to sign the Anglican Covenant even while continuing to reject the teaching of the communion on same sex ordinations and blessings and the moratoria that now have been affirmed by all four Instruments of Communion:
....

CONCLUSION

An Anglican church cannot simultaneously commit itself through the Anglican Covenant to shared discernment and reject that discernment; to interdependence and then act independently; to accountability and remain determined to be unaccountable. If the battle over homosexuality in The Episcopal Church is truly over, then so is the battle over the Anglican Covenant in The Episcopal Church, at least provisionally. As Christians, we live in hope that The Episcopal Church will at some future General Convention reverse the course to which it has committed itself, but we acknowledge the decisions that already have been taken. These decisions and actions run counter to the shared discernment of the Communion and the recommendations of the Instruments of Communion implementing this discernment. They are, therefore, also incompatible with the express substance, meaning, and committed direction of the first three Sections of the proposed Anglican Covenant. As a consequence, only a formal overturning by The Episcopal Church of these decisions and actions could place the church in a position capable of truly assuming the Covenant’s already articulated commitments. Until such time, The Episcopal Church has rejected the Covenant commitments openly and concretely, and her members and other Anglican churches within the Communion must take this into account. This conclusion is reached not on the basis of animus or prejudice, but on a straightforward and careful reading of the Covenant’s language and its meaning within the history of the Anglican Communion’s well-articulated life.

I've included quotes only from the beginning of the document and the conclusion. I did not read the statement in its entirety. I tried, but I did not finish. It is long. I read enough know that those who wrote the document seem to believe that the Episcopal Church cannot sign on to the covenant, even should it choose to do so, unless GC12 reverses resolutions B025 and D056. The conclusion states as much.

The group's strategy is to create "facts on the ground". (Thanks Doxy!) Say something is true, and it will, in fact, come to be true. That this flies in the face of logic did not prevent the transformation of the Windsor Report into the Windsor Law. The Archbishop of Canterbury seemed to buy into the strategy for the Windsor Report, so will he follow suit and come to the same conclusion as the writers of this document? Has he already done so in his talk of a two-track solution? Has he already consigned the Episcopal Church to the out-of-the-covenant track?

UPDATE: Meanwhile, across the pond, Pluralist is busy.

Gay Pride March In Manchester UK

Have a look at the wonderful post and pictures on the Gay Pride March in Manchester at The Changing Attitude Blog.

Of course, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were there.




See them all at CA.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.

"We Are Echos Of Each Other...."

From Elizabeth Kaeton at Telling Secrets:

This has been a wonderful summer, filled with visits from good friends, good conversations, and GREAT food.

A bitter sweet note has been the visit with my brother. I am so deeply grateful to have had this time with him and to sort through some stuff that had been cluttering the corners of my heart and mind and soul.

I'm no where near done, but I've made a good start. I'm deeply grateful for that.

I did get a note from my sister-in-law this morning. She took my brother to the Eye Doctor yesterday where it was learned that half the vision in both eyes is gone. It seems the plaque that attaches itself to the brain has gotten to the optic nerve and occluded half of it to both eyes.

That's the Bad News. The Awful News is that it will progress.

The Really Bad News is that this sort of wild-fire progression of Alzheimer's is signature of its manifestation in its younger victims.

I will call him Sunday night, as has become our routine, to see how he's feeling about all of this. When we talked when he was here, I saw on his face and in his eyes, and heard in his voice a combination of being overwhelmed mixed in with a bit of disbelief, confusion and amazement, all while attempting to resign himself to his situation with some manner of good cheer and dignity.

"Hey," he would say every so often, "What else am I going to do, right?"

Oh, I don't know. I can think of a few other options that would at least cross my mind as distinct possibilities.

I covet and cherish your prayers for my brother. Go ahead. Put that request on your prayer lists. I haven't wanted to be a bother but now I'm thinking it's time to 'storm heaven' on his behalf.

John. His name is John. He's 56 years old - just turned in July.

Pray for a miracle - without condition or specifics. I don't know what God has in mind in all of this, but I do know that when things get this bad this fast there's usually a miracle just around the corner which often doesn't have as much, if anything, to do with a 'cure' or 'healing' of that which gave rise to the prayer in the first place.

It's about "something else" that needs curing or healing, by which the party of the first part finds hope and strength and solace, through which the parties of the second, third and fourth parts play a significant role - which changes and transforms everyone and everything.

I know that sounds confusing, but I'm actually crystal clear in my head and heart.

I don't know how any of this works. I only know that it does.

So, in these last days of summer, I have been given the unexpected blessing of some stamina and courage to walk into the dyings of Autumn and through the harsh, cold realities of Winter, knowing that the new life of Spring is really only just around the corner and Summer will return again.

I entered this poem in my journal early this morning, after prayer. I think it sums up my state of mind in this:

Echos of Summer

Summer boldly infringes on a day
the calendar claims for Autumn

The sun rises hot in the Eastern sky
a cool wind blows in from the North

Mortals cling to flip flops and bathing suits
the cosmos revolts against the status quo

does not stand still
refuses to feed our fantasies
fuel our anxieties or
soothe our sadness

Two abandoned crab shells cup my ears
listening to the whispers of summer

My sisters' giggles
My brother's taunting
My mother's warning
My father's scolding

We are echos of each other
Very present and near and now

Whispering truths
Telling our tales, one day to the next

I close my eyes and listen
I open my heart to hear

These are not the last days
but days of beginning

All our days
all our livings
all our dyings -
- all miracles awaiting birth.

Listen to the echo
not the calendar

Put John on your prayer list. Pray for a miracle. Put his wife Mary and his sister Elizabeth on your prayer list. Put his children on your prayer list. There they all are in the photo above.

OREMUS.

Please express your sentiments and support at Telling Secrets.

Gov. Jindal, Pay Your own Way To Church - Pt. 2

Once again from the Advocate:

Gov. Bobby Jindal on Thursday defended his taxpayer-funded visits to churches and dismissed criticism from a national religious organization.

Jindal rejected suggestions by the Interfaith Alliance that he should reimburse the state and apologize for using a state helicopter to worship at Protestant churches in north Louisiana.

Interfaith Alliance, based in Washington, D.C., alleged that Jindal’s taxpayer-funded worship trips blurred the constitutional line separating church and state.

The governor said his trips are “absolutely appropriate.”

Aren't we all surprised that Jindal defends his actions? It seems that yesterday's article from the Advocate went viral in the regular media and on blogs on the internet, including mine. Rachel Maddow invited the president of Interfaith Alliance, the Rev. Welton Gaddy, to appear on her show. The video is here. (Thank you, Pseudopiskie.) Note that the Rev. Gaddy is from Monroe in the Gret Stet of Loosiana. He's a man after my own heart.

Back to the Advocate:

Between March 2 and July 20, Jindal traveled to churches, mostly in north Louisiana, on a state helicopter at a cost to the taxpayers of about $45,000, according to State Police records.

In May, June and July, there was rarely a Sunday when Jindal did not fly a taxpayer-funded helicopter to church services in a remote part of the state. Two aides usually accompanied him along with his security detail and pilots.

The Governor’s Office refuses to tell the media ahead of time about Jindal’s church visits.

The governor rarely pays attention to criticism outside his narrow circle of insider advisers, who rarely disagree with him.

Gov Jindal is a Roman Catholic. Does he never attend his own church on Sunday?