Government Shutdown 2011: Barack Obama remains optimistic to resolve differences over the budget

President Barack Obama expressed hope that a US government shutdown 2011 can be averted on Saturday after late-night talks with the Republicans at the White House on Thursday night aimed at agreeing a budget deal.

US President Barack Obama remains optimistic as staff work through the night to try to resolve differences over the budget. Obama says the two sides have narrowed their differences and staff will work through the night to try to close a deal.

After meeting the house speaker, John Boehner, a Republican, and the Senate leader, Harry Reid, a Democrat, Obama said the two sides had narrowed their differences and staff would work through the night to try to close a deal.

Obama said: "I have just completed another meeting with the speaker. We made some additional progress this evening."

He said he expected to announce on Friday that the shutdown had been averted. But, he added, there remained significant differences. "I am not prepared to express wild optimism," he said. "But I think we are further along today than we were yesterday."

With the federal government due to shut down at midnight Friday, Obama said contingency plans would have to be put in motion to begin closing services and so he needed an answer from Boehner early on Friday.

Without a deal, about 800,000 federal staff face being suspended without pay and a range of government services will be withdrawn as hundreds of agencies either continue with a reduced operation or close altogether.

Boehner and Reid issued a joint statement confirming they had narrowed their differences but they had not yet reached agreement and that their staff would work through the night.

Obama postponed a trip on Friday to Indiana where he planned to make a speech which has been postponed because of the budget crisis. The president wants to be on hand for any further budget negotiations.

The US Congress has begun sending out letters warning staff they will be suspended from this weekend along with hundreds of thousands of other workers as part of a looming federal government shutdown.

The letters inform staff whether they are regarded as essential – necessary to maintain security and keep Congress running – or non-essential. The process will be repeated at the White House, the Pentagon and hundreds of federal agencies that are preparing to scale back or cease operation from midnight on Friday.

If no last-minute agreement is reached, the government will begin stopping everything from tourist visits to the Statue of Liberty and Alcatraz to wages for about 800,000 federal employees. In Washington, libraries will close, there will be no parking attendants and, for one week, no rubbish collection, and the University of the District of Columbia would also be shut.

One of the most emotional issues is that troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere would not receive pay cheques until the crisis is resolved. But they would at least continue earning during any shutdown, unlike civilian employees.

The Republicans want a cut in the federal deficit of $40bn (£24bn). The Democrats made a compromise offer of $34.5bn on Wednesday. The new sticking points are mainly the areas where the Republicans want cuts – abortion programmes and environmental protection, on which the Democrats refuse to give way.

Reid, speaking in the Senate early on Thursday, said: "The numbers are basically there. But I'm not nearly as optimistic – and that's an understatement – as I was 11 hours ago. The numbers are extremely close. Our differences are no longer over how much savings we get on government spending."

He added: "The only thing holding up an agreement is an ideology." He said the Republican leadership had drawn a line in the sand over abortion and clean air, issues he said had no place in a budget bill.

But Boehner's office disputed that there was even agreement on the numbers.

The House, which is controlled by the Republicans, passed a bill that would keep the federal government going for at least another week. But the Senate, which is Democrat-controlled, will not pass it and Obama said he would veto it anyway.

The Democrats say they are not interested in another stop-gap measure and insist is only a Republican attempt to avoid blame for a shutdown. As evidence, they say that the bill includes $12bn in cuts.

Source:

• Guardian.Co.UK
• Washingtonian

RIP: Geraldine Anne Ferraro

Geraldine Anne Ferraro was born in Newburgh, New York on August 26, 1935. She was an American attorney, a Democratic Party politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives. She earned a place in history as the first woman vice-presidential candidate on a national party ticket.

Geraldine Anne Ferraro grew up in New York City and became a teacher and lawyer. She joined the Queens County District Attorney's Office in 1974, where she headed the new Special Victims Bureau that dealt with sex crimes, child abuse, and domestic violence. She was elected to Congress in 1978, where she rose rapidly in the party hierarchy while focusing on legislation to bring equity for women in the areas of wages, pensions, and retirement plans. In 1984, former Vice President and presidential candidate Walter Mondale selected Ferraro to be his running mate in the upcoming election. In doing so she became the only Italian American to be a major-party national nominee in addition to being the first woman. The positive polling the Mondale-Ferarro ticket received when she joined faded as questions about her and her husband's finances arose. In the general election, Mondale and Ferraro were defeated in a landslide by incumbent President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush.

Ferraro ran campaigns for a seat in the United States Senate from New York in 1992 and 1998, both times emerging as the front-runner for her party's nomination but losing in primary elections both times. She served as a United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights from 1993 until 1996, in the presidential administration of Bill Clinton. She also continued her career as a journalist, author, and businesswoman, and served in the 2008 presidential campaign of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Ferraro died on March 26, 2011, after a 12-year battle with multiple myeloma.

Ferraro continued to battle multiple myeloma, but died from complications of it on March 26, 2011, at Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to her husband and children, she was survived by eight grandchildren.

President Obama said upon her passing that "Geraldine will forever be remembered as a trailblazer who broke down barriers for women, and Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life," and said that his own two daughters would grow up in a more equal country because of what Ferraro had done. Mondale called her "a remarkable woman and a dear human being . 

She was a pioneer in our country for justice for women and a more open society. She broke a lot of molds and it's a better country for what she did." George H. W. Bush said, "Though we were one-time political opponents, I am happy to say Gerry and I became friends in time – a friendship marked by respect and affection. I admired Gerry in many ways, not the least of which was the dignified and principled manner she blazed new trails for women in politics." Palin paid tribute to her on Facebook, saying, "She broke one huge barrier and then went on to break many more. May her example of hard work and dedication to America continue to inspire all women." Bill and Hillary Clinton said in a statement that, "Gerry Ferraro was one of a kind – tough, brilliant, and never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believed in – a New York icon and a true American original."

Hosni Mubarak, The Second Richest in the World

Is Hosni Mubarak The Second Richest in the World?
If that’s true that the wealth of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reached U.S. $ 70 billion, then he should have a more appropriate title of the world's richest.

"We at Forbes do not claim to know how much all of Mubarak wealth. But it could not close to $ 70 billion as claimed, "said a senior editor of Forbes who participated in compiling a list of the Richest People 2011, Kerry Dolan.

If Mubarak was so rich, so he'd be in second position, under Carlos Slim Helu from Mexico that his total wealth reached U.S. $ 74 billion. While Bill Gates, currently in second place with a wealth of U.S. $ 56 billion.

"Could Mubarak be richer than Carlos Slim? I doubt it, "added Dolan. Mubarak was ousted by his people on February 11 last, after a massive demonstration in Egypt. Forbes’s The World Richest List 2011 reported yesterday.

The Colonel’s Troops Attacks Back at Rebels on Central Libya Oil Refinery

The attacks by the colonel’s troops on an oil refinery in central Libya and on cities on either side of the country unsettled rebel leaders - who have maintained that they are close to liberating the country - and showed that despite defections by the military, the government may still possess powerful assets, including fighter pilots willing to bomb Libyan cities.

Rebel leaders said the attacks smacked of desperation, and the ease with which at least one assault, on the western city of Zawiyah, was repelled raised questions about the ability of the government to muster a serious challenge to the rebels’ growing power.

In an interview with ABC News, Colonel Qaddafi said he was fighting against “terrorists,” and he accused the West of seeking to “occupy Libya.” He gave no hint of surrender. “My people love me,” he said. “They would die for me.”

Those unyielding words, and the colonel’s attacks on Monday were met with both nerves and defiance by rebel military leaders as the two sides seemed to steel themselves for a long battle along shifting and ever more violent front lines.

Source : NY Times 

Moi?

My Liberal Identity

You are a Working Class Warrior, also known as a blue-collar Democrat. You believe that the little guy is getting screwed by conservative greed-mongers and corporate criminals, and you’re not going to take it anymore.

Take the quiz at
About.com Political Humor

What doesn't make the top of the news

I find it quite extraordinary that this item, which leads the BBC headlines, does not lead in the U.S. We are so distracted by our internal battles (which are, admittedly, nasty and getting nastier --and frightening) that we have not noticed this major step in foreign policy. Fifteen years ago this would have been major news.

I know. It's far from enough. But this administration is moving the previously frozen. I don't think most of us realize how significant this is.

All numbers are estimates because exact numbers are top secret.

Strategic nuclear warheads are designed to target cities, missile locations and military headquarters as part of a strategic plan.

Additional comments on map here.

Yesterday's presidential speech to the Democrats - health insurance reform (a first step)

President Obama spoke at length to the Democratic Caucus yesterday. This is Part III. You can find Parts I and II when you get to YouTube via the link.

Or you can watch the White House video here.

G'wan. Call your Rep one more time.

All right, I'm pulling out all the stops. BO WANTS YOU TO CALL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS ONE MORE TIME. Seriously. Help the humans.


P.S. I say "a first step" because this plan is far from what many of us want, but politics, my purist friends, is the art of compromise, and we have to start somewhere. I'm with Rep. Dennis Kucinich on this.

50th anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre

21 March 1960. Remember.

The President's health care speech to joint session of Congress: text and video

With thanks to the Huffington Post (a.k.a. HuffPo), here are the text of the speech and, toward the bottom of the text, the full video. (The other videos are just clips.)

Presidential speech to school children and adolescents AND a transcript of Q&A with students in Arlington, Virginia

Here's a transcript of the discussion between President Obama and 9th grade high school students in Arlington, Virginia.

Here's the infamous speech to the students -- really a conservative's dream. Work hard, believe in yourself, understand planning and delayed gratification. It reminded me of my grandfather the summer camp director, my uncles the school principals, and my mother. (None of them political conservatives, but that just goes to show that the categories we use are sometimes useless.)

It's Write Your Congressfolks Day! Labor Day in the "DO SOMETHING for Health Care Reform" series

It's Labor Day, I taught and held office hours all morning, went home and had a late lunch, went to bed for a nap (not enough sleep last night), and slept for four hours instead of two -- so I am running behind on my Congress post. More in an hour or two in this space!

...and....

Here we go. Happy Labor Day! Health care reform. Contacting Congress. That's today's action.

I mentioned NETWORK yesterday. NETWORK has a very useful resource page which I mentioned yesterday. On this page, among other resources, are those on citizen lobbying. They include, among others, guidelines for communicating with people who think differently (how 'bout that?), tips for writing and calling your Member of Congress, and tips for visiting your Member of Congress in Washington or in your district. Also tips for writing letters to the editor.

The page also includes reflection, meditation, and prayer resources. (NETWORK is a religious organization founded by Catholic Christians, though you will find that the reflection resources are ecumenically pertinent and may even be helpful for persons outside the Christian tradition.)

For now, let's keep it simple:

1. Write or phone your Member of Congress and your two Senators. Tell them where you stand on health care reform. Tell them clearly. Tell them now. Tell them to act. If they are working actively for either a robust public option or for single-payer care, thank them. Remind them that you are a constituent and that you vote. Stay courteous.

If, like me, you are from Greensboro, NC, here is contact info for your reps and Senators; the Senators, of course, are Senators for all North Carolinians.

2. Here are tips for writing them.

3. Here are tips for phoning them. I found this page particularly helpful.

...more below the photo....



4. Here are tips for visiting them. This is a good one to do with a group of people. Very helpful prep and check sheet. Note: You have to do your homework! Just as the President is about to say to the kidlings.

If you're not in Washington or can't get there, there's always the district office. (The document to which this links includes a link to a directory of Congressional district offices.)

*****Got some spare time tomorrow after the three-day holiday weekend is over? Are you unemployed? Use your time for the common good! You'll feel great.

5. And here, for your meditation, is "Engaging Differences," a reflection, with a few guidelines, on communicating with people who think differently from you.

6. Want to have a resource to watch with your friends, your religious community, your class, your union, your youth group, your family, your community action group, your retirement community? For $5 you can get a video and study guide (which can be used without the video) either in English or in Spanish. It's called "Your Voice Counts" or "Tu Voz Cuenta."
Here is the link to the order forms. The study guide includes all the tip sheets above and more.

Stay on message. Keep it simple. Even a very short note or phone call can make a difference. They count 'em, you know.

A personally written letter carries much more weight than those form postcards they distribute at community events.

If you're not feeling too shy, a phone call is also great. Have a phone-calling party, or buddy up with someone!

I know I'm getting this to you late in the day, but you can do a little prep this evening and then make calls tomorrow when the offices are open. Great time to do it. Skip the gossip at the water cooler and write a letter supporting single payer health care or, at the very least, stating that "the public option is not optional!"

THE PUBLIC OPTION IS NOT OPTIONAL. I just made up that sentence. Use it.

Thank you.

P.S. Feeling uninformed? AARP (which is actually for anyone over 50, you don't have to be retired, and yes, I'm a member) has a handy info page called Health Care Reform: Get the Facts.

P.P.S. The Congressional Progressive Caucus's letter to President Obama supporting a robust public option is here.
Photos: 1) American Planning Association, California Chapter; 2) At Your Service for Seniors.

Tomorrow, Labor Day, we write our Congressfolk; meanwhile, some resources on the legislative process

I will put more details up tomorrow, since it is late and I am prepping for class. Yes, I have to teach on Labor Day, at 8:30 a.m.

Meanwhile, here is your promised civics lesson: how a bill makes its way through the Congress. This comes from Health Care for America Now and it refers specifically to bills on health care reform and especially to HR 3200. Bills, committees, House, Senate, oh my! There is an item called "The Lay of the Land."

Setting aside health care, if you want a nonpartisan "How Congress Works" lesson, this one from Indiana University's Center on Congress is pretty good.

If you want a simple one-page summary of how Congress works, you can look here at a page prepared by STAND, the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network.

One of my favorite resources is NETWORK - A NationalCatholic Social Justice Lobby. Founded by sisters in 1971, the network is an excellent civic resource. Like everyone else, NETWORK has gone online. See here and click your way around. I wish the Episcopal Public Policy Network were half as helpful. NETWORK's health care efforts, with some good information, are visible here.

One of the things I like about NETWORK is that they are accessible. The material is clear and user-friendly. It also is religiously and ethically informed. There's a legislative action center. And there are educational resources. More tomorrow from these good folks, especially how-to tips. (Some of the how-to tips are from that page of resources, but I'll zero in on the ones we need to contact our Congressfolk.)


Click to enlarge.

Tomorrow: How to contact those Senators and Representatives, and a little pep talk as usual.

Tuesday: A mindfulness practice related to health care and health care reform.

Later in the week: Media-related things, as promised.

Blessings, all.

"Do Something" Series: Dear Mr. President...

Tomorrow is letter-writing day.

No, it's not a national holiday or some Hallmark-fabricated day. It's letter-writing day tomorrow because we all needed time off today (I am writing this very late on Saturday night - in fact, after midnight, but I'll back-date this post), because it's a long weekend and we have time to write a couple of letters, and also because I said so.

I hereby pledge to write President Obama tomorrow, Sunday, September 6.

On Monday, Labor Day, I will write my two Senators and Representatives. But we'll get to that tomorrow.

I'm keeping things simple in this DO SOMETHING About Health Care Reform Series. There are other more sophisticated bloggers to whom I will eventually link. I'm just a citizen trying to inform herself and her friends and determined to act. I can't stand apathy.

I invite you to keep me company and to write the President as well. Tomorrow. Today, by the time you read this. Sunday. September 6.

Once you have done this, check in with us here and leave us a comment to confirm that you wrote President Obama. Yes, this is a support group, and also a kick in the pants. Call it what you will, but DO SOMETHING. Politely, of course.

Details, information, and help below.

1. Remember the President is giving a speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. The speech will be about health care reform.

2. Bill Moyers is (in the words of Father of Acts of Hope in a book review a few years ago) a national treasure. He socked it to us, and to President Obama, and to the talk shows and Pfizer and a few other entities, in a special message at the end of his show on Friday night.

"....As it is, we're about to get health care reform that measures human beings only in corporate terms of a cost-benefit analysis. I mean this is topsy-turvy — we should be treating health as a condition, not a commodity.

As we speak, Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker, has been fined a record $2.3 billion dollars as a civil and criminal — yes, that's criminal, as in fraud — penalty for promoting prescription drugs with the subtlety of the Russian mafia. It's the fourth time in a decade Pfizer's been called on the carpet — and these are the people into whose tender mercies Congress and the White House would deliver us?

Come on, Mr. President. Show us America is more than a circus or a market. Remind us of our greatness as a democracy. When you speak to Congress next week, just come out and say it. We thought we heard you say during the campaign last year that you want a government run insurance plan alongside private insurance — mostly premium-based, with subsidies for low-and-moderate income people. Open to all individuals and employees who want to join and with everyone free to choose the doctors we want. We thought you said Uncle Sam would sign on as our tough, cost-minded negotiator standing up to the cartel of drug and insurance companies and Wall Street investors whose only interest is a company's share price and profits.

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. "

That's the end of the message. To watch the whole thing, go to Moyers's website and click on the video here. (The video is also bopping around on YouTube.)

You can also read the text of the message here or at DailyKos.

3. The major House bill on health care (there are others) is HR 3200. A helpful site from the Annenberg School called factcheck.org debunks some of the lies about it here.

4. Sometime this week we'll post various information sources, but for now, here is a link to one of the more reliable ones, the Kaiser Family Foundation. The health care reform part of the website is here. For a comparative chart of the various health reform plans, go directly here, or click the link on the health reform page. For a history of health care reform efforts in the U.S., click here.

5. Head spinning? You can always go back to this simple presentation.

6. I support single-payer health care. You may or may not. Whether or not you do, I am assuming that you want some kind of health care reform in this country. Write the President and tell him. Be as specific and clear as possible. A brief letter is fine. In fact, it's best.

7. Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) supports single-payer health care, and explains it, too. There's a petition at PNHP, if you are feeling lazy about writing a real letter to the President. There are petitions everywhere. I suggest you do both: sign one of those easy petitions AND write a real letter, which can be an e-mail.

8. Easy e-mail form to contact the President here. Use it.

Also:
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
(They ask that you include your e-mail address even if you write snail-mail.)

Phone contact:
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414\
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD
Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitors Office: 202-456-2121

Tomorrow: A little civics lesson on bills and Congress, and another letter-writing day, with information on how to contact your Congressfolk.

Soon: Write your local newspapers. Write the TV stations. Write a magazine. Peeved at the media? Do something about it. We'll help you to do so.

Remember: We welcome your suggestions, stories, and links. I am the final editor, in consultation with the local feline, but I will read whatever you send mindfully.


Photos nicked from my friend janinsanfran's blog, "Can It Happen Here?", one of the best personal blogs on public issues. The photos are from a rally of elders for health care reform.

Greensboro, NC people: Health Care Forum TONIGHT

Citizens, time to show up.

Especially
a) if you are sick of uninformed, stupid, and hate-filled rhetoric
and b) if you would like us to we have genuine health-care-delivery and -insurance reform and keep the public option* on the table.
* or some proven workable alternative, see Krugman or better yet, this (which also quotes Krugman but is more factual and is a nice clear summary of the options)
******************
Oh, and c) if you have a body and are a U.S. citizen or resident.

* * * * * * *

The State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEANC) is hosting a

***************

Town Hall Meeting on Health Care Reform

***********

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19 (tonight)

6:30-8 p.m.

**********

at the Teamsters Union Hall (Sandy Ridge Road & I-40)

Greensboro

The meeting is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. It will give state employees, retirees and other community members the opportunity to ask questions to elected officials, and medical and business professionals about how the current debate over health care reform will impact people in N.C.

Please help spread the word about this event. (Jane says: Please show up!)

For more information about the Town Hall Meeting, contact Heather Welborn at (704) 609-5906 or hwelborn@seanc.org.

If you would like to contact your U.S. Senator or U.S. Representative directly, contact information is listed below. Web sites listed have "Contact" links for sending e-mails.

Senator Kay Hagan
Greensboro Phone: (336) 333-5311
Washington Phone: (202) 224-6342
Web site: hagan.senate.gov

Senator Richard Burr
Winston-Salem Phone: (336) 631-5125
Washington Phone: (202) 224-3154
Web site: burr.senate.gov

Representative Brad Miller (District 13)

Greensboro Phone: (336) 574-2909

Washington Phone: (202) 225-3032

Web site: bradmiller.house.gov

Representative Mel Watt (District 12)
Greensboro Phone: (336) 275-9950
Washington Phone: (202) 225-1510
Web site: watt.house.gov

Representative Howard Coble (District 6)

Greensboro Phone: (336) 333-5005

High Point Phone: (336) 886-5106

Washington Phone: (202) 225-3065

Web site: coble.house.gov

Fabulous Father of Acts of Hope Takes on Health Care Reform

Current Events:

PRESENTERS:

[Father of Acts of Hope] & [FoAoH's Friend], MD

OBAMA AND OUR HEALTH:

THE BATTLE OVER HEALTH CARE REFORM

*************

What's wrong with our present system?

What are the proposals for reform? What are the options for reform?

What is the "public option" ?
What about single payer?
What is the timeline?
What's the issue over money? How do we finance reform?
Who are the stakeholders?
What can we do as active citizens?

To discuss this and other related questions

in one of the most crucial
issues of our time,

the next Current Events forum will take place on

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

[time, place]

[at my parents' retirement community]

*************

Both presenters are ninety-ish years old. Go, Daddy!

***************

P.S. FoAoH favors single-payer health care.

Listen up! Howard Zinn, once again, with a healthy reminder to the citizenry

I quoted Howard Zinn and referred people to his "Election Madness" essay during the presidential campaign till I was blue in the face.

It won't hurt you to re-read that essay. Seriously.

Previous related posts on this blog:here and here and here and here.

Now Zinn has a follow-up for all those of us who are starting to gripe about the President and the new administration. Once you have read the essay to which I refer above, read the follow-up, "Changing Obama's Mindset," which just came out.

Same message: It's up to us. Politicians, even the most exciting of politicians, are still politicians. We're the citizens. We've got to act. End of speech. (Mine. But read his, it's better.)

Both are essays were published, on paper and online, in The Progressive, where Zinn is a columnist.

More on Howard Zinn here. One of my heroes.

By the way, his A People's History of the United States has now been adapted for young people (with Rebecca Stefoff).

Tolle lege. Or if you want the Anglican version of that: Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest.

Photo by Roslyn Zinn, nicked from the Zinn Education Project.

Killed by the health care system

Doxy, of recent fabulous wedding fame, has a post up this evening about a friend who just died of uninsured causes. I phrase the cause of death this way because if Terri-Lynn had had health insurance she would be alive today. Do not "individualize" her case. The loss and grief we feel are for a unique person, but the problem is a systemic one. If we had a decent national health system, Terri-Lynn would have been insured.

Terri-Lynn leaves a ten-year-old child with a chronic illness.

Read Doxy's post, "Elegy."

Once we have wept and prayed, or perhaps while we still weep, let's act. Stay tuned. Doxy has one suggestion, but I am sure she and others will follow up.

Here is a clear, persuasive, factual presentation from 1999 on "The Case for Universal Health Care." More recent, and unconnected with the Green Party (to which you will see a reference in the presentation) is the national association Physicians for a National Health Program.* Tolle lege.

* Physicians for a National Health Program is a non-profit research and education organization of 16,000 physicians, medical students and health professionals who support single-payer national health insurance.

Health care is a human right.

The urban president

"This president does not chop brush"

Cross-posted on Facebook with this note:

This city kid is pleased -- and misses urban life. (Don't tell me Greensboro is a city. A city has sidewalks and public transportation.)

"He'll be as good a president as we make him"

It's been a while since I have posted a link to the fine commentary of Janinsanfran of Happening Here and Gay and Gray fame. Here is her most recent essay, reflecting on President Obama in the light of recent news. A sobering and salutary reminder. (P.S. Newsflash to Nancy Pelosi: With the little we peons knew, we knew torture was happening and we knew it was wrong. Stop making excuses.)

Once again, this reinforces the message of the essay by Howard Zinn that I keep quoting to people, over and over until my face turns blue. I'll keep quoting it and telling people to read it. And re-read it. And act in consequence.

I love our President. And he's a politician. And we are the people. Be the people, all y'all. The active, vigilant people.

The banality of evil, here at home

Frank Rich's column is a must-read.

And his evoking of Hannah Arendt's "banality of evil" is right on.

This is not about somewhere else or someone else.

Shame, writes Dorothee Sölle --quoting Karl Marx, actually-- is a revolutionary emotion.

It's time we felt some of it.

... We’ve learned much, much more about America and torture in the past five years. But as Mark Danner recently wrote in The New York Review of Books, for all the revelations, one essential fact remains unchanged: “By no later than the summer of 2004, the American people had before them the basic narrative of how the elected and appointed officials of their government decided to torture prisoners and how they went about it.” When the Obama administration said it declassified four new torture memos 10 days ago in part because their contents were already largely public, it was right.

Yet we still shrink from the hardest truths and the bigger picture: that torture was a premeditated policy approved at our government’s highest levels; that it was carried out in scenarios that had no resemblance to “24”; that psychologists and physicians were enlisted as collaborators in inflicting pain; and that, in the assessment of reliable sources like the F.B.I. director Robert Mueller, it did not help disrupt any terrorist attacks. ...

... as additional fact-finding plays out, it’s time for the Justice Department to enlist a panel of two or three apolitical outsiders, perhaps retired federal judges, “to review the mass of material” we already have. The fundamental truth is there, as it long has been. The panel can recommend a legal path that will insure accountability for this wholesale betrayal of American values.

President Obama can talk all he wants about not looking back, but this grotesque past is bigger than even he is. It won’t vanish into a memory hole any more than Andersonville, World War II internment camps or My Lai. The White House, Congress and politicians of both parties should get out of the way. We don’t need another commission. We don’t need any Capitol Hill witch hunts. What we must have are fair trials that at long last uphold and reclaim our nation’s commitment to the rule of law.

Emphases mine, in boldface.