Honor and Rememberance on Memorial Day

I listened yesterday to the Memorial Day tributes and talks and I came away with a sense of sadness. The majority of the speakers and interviewee's spoke of the deaths of our service men and women as the reason we have freedom and liberty and I ask how can that be. Their deaths to be sure are the price of keeping that freedom but they are not what that freedom is. We have freedom and liberty only so long as we participate in our government and communities.

How can we say we are free when less than 30% of the registered voters even bother to vote in the primary elections. How can we say we are free when 66% is considered a great turnout in the general election. Did we fight and die to guarantee the benefits of freedom and liberty to so few? How many of us can even be bothered to go to a rally for something we say we really believe in? How many of us would even consider running for elected office at the most basic local level?

We say we honor and remember our fallen hero's on Memorial Day and remember them we do but we need to do more to honor their sacrifice. We need to run for elected office. We need to serve on a local board or commission. Volunteer at the Veteran's Home or nursing home. Become a volunteer firefighter or EMT. Be a police volunteer. Go to a rally for something you really believe in and carry a sign with your message. Vote. We all need to vote in each and every election. Only by voting can we insure our freedom and liberty will live on in strength as a beacon to all the world. Only then will our service men and women truly be honored on Memorial Day.

Hi Y'all I'm from Eyedeho

I was listening to one of the talk radio shows today and while I laughed myself silly listening to the callers, I was also more than a little disturbed. The callers were from here in the Boise area and the topic was the attempted bombing of the airliner from Amsterdam going to Detroit. I want to know why so many of these callers have very stereotypical southern accents and drawls that would make a Texan proud. To me the majority of these folks sound like undereducated illiterate hicks. Several of them had some rather good ideas but I was having such a hard time with the drawl that I couldn't hear their point. My grandfather came from Norway to the United States in the early 1900's and only learned English after he arrived in North Dakota. Grandpa John never spoke with an accent and laughed at those that did saying it was really just laziness on their part. Grandpa was in fact very offended by the typical depiction of Norwegians as having the Sven and Ollie accents. Like my grandfather I tend to believe that these accents and drawls that drive me crazy are more affectations and laziness than anything else.

The other thing that bothered me about these callers were the demands for very draconian solutions. The scariest of these was the older gentleman that thought we should use nuclear weapons on countries like Yemen and Afghanistan for harboring terrorists. Many callers thought the problem is the government always with the statement " when has government ever done anything right". They of course never can tell you what it is the government has done wrong but it is a article of faith with these folks. Then they want the military put in charge of homeland security but the last time I looked the military was part of that government. Between the accents and the hare-brained ideas I'm sure glad to be living in Idaho.

Do Overs

The President's choice to fill the vacant Supreme Court position, Sonia Sotomayor, made a comment in 2001 that many now consider to be a racist statement. To paraphrase she said that an older Latina woman because of her fuller life experiences would always make a better decision than an older white male. This comment was made in a panel discussion that she was a part of at U of C Berkeley. At first look it really doesn't seem that bad, a bit ill conceived perhaps but not bad. Of course Rush Limbaugh and other even more inarticulate Republicans have latched onto this as a reason to deny her the appointment. To make the matter even worse, in my belief, the President and his spokespeople are now saying that she misspoke that this is not part of her core belief in judicial matters. I'm not so sure now. In 2001 she was not a Supreme Court nominee and perhaps didn't see herself as a future nominee. Because of this I believe that she didn't feel constrained in anyway and rather clearly spoke her mind. In that context it is a very racist remark. A remark that is not fitting for anyone in the judicial system let alone a Supreme Court judge.

This country was founded and started by old white men. These old white men wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Until this year this country's presidents have been old white men. The majority of the Congress over the years have been old white men. While many people of many races, colors and religions have willing and unwilling made this country what it is today they were able to do it because of the work of those old white men. Ms. Sotomayor is intitled to her belief that old Latina women could have done it better but I think she should do it as a private citizen rather than a Supreme Court Justice.

Credit Card Concealed Gun Protection

Today the Congress passed a Credit Card Bill of Rights and that should be a good thing. Of course the credit card companies are all saying that they will find other fees and charges to hit us with and I believe they will. They will hit us with interest from the date of purchase and annual fees to have the card. They will limit the amount of credit and make it harder to get. We will pay but Congress will do nothing more because they passed a Credit Card Reform Bill.

The thing that has really gotten me mad is the rider that was attached to the bill. The rider will allow the carrying of concealed weapons in National Parks and Wildlife Refuges. This was attached at the instigation of the National Rifle Association. These gutless wonders did this because they knew that if they could get it attached to this bill it would be hard for Congress to vote against it. Why a bunch of penis-less men need to carry concealed guns in National Parks is beyond me, maybe Al Qadea has a grizzly bear sleeper cell.

This form of legislative slight of hand has been used for a long time and there is hardly a bill that doesn't have at least one rider attached. Most of these riders are for things that are pork barrel spending at best and they are always attached to bills for something that would be very difficult to say no too. They are sometimes the price that is paid to get the votes needed to pass a bill but mostly they are added to feather the nest of individual legislators. What is needed is a rules change that stops this practice or the President needs a line item veto. I'm not saying that these riders should all be done away with. If they are good ideas they should be able to stand by themselves and get the votes to pass.

At least for now the National Parks and Wildlife Refuges will be safer because of the work of a few legislators and the NRA. A few rednecks with guns and we are all safer. Only in America can the 2nd Amendment replace the Declaration of Independence's... "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness..."

New Blog Same Old Bob

I have been wanting to do another blog lately, one where I can be the crotchety old man that I have been slowly turning into. There are things that are happening in this world that I feel I just have to rant about. Some are political and most are just personal foibles that have been taking over my life.

As I have gotten older I find that I worry more about the future than the past. Don't get me wrong here I do believe that those who don't understand the past are doomed to repeat it but there are some things about the future that scare me silly. Social Security. I have always said that just as I would be able to collect it will go bankrupt. Well guess what children, tonight on the news that is exactly what the government is saying. Both Medicare and Social Security will be out of money by 2017 and 2037 respectively. I will be 65 in 2017 and believe me this fat old diabetic is going to need Medicare. All the medications that I take are expensive. The insulin runs to about $1000 for 20 pre-filled injector pens that last about a month and I need two different types. Where the hell will that money come from. Believe me Caroline Jane will only work for the City of Trees until she has all her retirement points in and most likely not a minute longer. And she shouldn't have too either.

I have always thought that government exists to help those that are either unable to take care of themselves or those that needed a hand to carry on. I think that affordable health care is not all that much to ask for. I don't want a socialized medical plan but I sure want one I can afford and right now I don't care if that is a private or public plan. We have the best health care in the world. Our hospitals are second to none and our doctors and medical schools are the best in the world. The medical research groups come up with new and more amazing things everyday. But the delivery system we use is just plain crazy and insurance seems to be at the root of every problem in the system.

Insurance costs are in most cases astronomical if you don't belong to a big group plan. If you have a preexisting condition they will not take you on or at a price that is unsustainable for the long haul. Doctors and hospitals will not see you if you don't have insurance. Hospital ER's are used by people that don't have insurance to provide care that is best given by a doctor at his office that is if you had insurance. Insurance companies decide if you will get the latest in medical care based on cost and what they think is necessary not what your doctor or even a group of doctors say you need. I'm not saying that government could or even would do it better but they sure as hell can make regulations that make it work better for the patient and the doctor and the hospital.

The unnamed they say that health care costs will take a bigger and bigger bite out of businesses bottom line, workers pockets and retirees fixed incomes. It will take more and more money out of all government budgets. I don't like it but that is the way it is shaping up. So people we need to get up off our cans and and let Congress know that they need to get working and give us something that will work. I for one want to live to a ripe, nasty and crotchety old age.