Month: August 2008

This year we have a decent chance of electing Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire to replace John Sununu, and Kay Hagan of North Carolina to replace Elizabeth Dole. That would only be a pickup of one net woman in the Senate, but it would be a pickup of two for the Democratic caucus.

In 2010, there will be thirty-three senators up for reelection. And there is a real possibility that the Democrats will be in a position to add as many as eight new female senators. If Barack Obama wins the presidency, his senate seat will be filled by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Two top prospects are Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth and Chicago-area Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Either one of them would face reelection to a full six-year term in 2010.

Governors Janet Napolitano and Kathleen Sebelius will be frontrunners to win their nominations. Napolitano would be looking to fill John McCain’s (probably open) seat. Kathleen Sebelius would be looking to fill Sam Brownback’s (probably open) seat.

In Connecticut the rumor is that Chris Dodd will not seek reelection. If true, Rep. Rosa DeLauro would have a good chance of winning the nomination. She’ll be 67 years old in 2010, so age could be a factor. But she’s the longest serving member of the congressional delegation, and she would have a good claim on the seat.

I expect Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii to retire, opening up the possibility that freshman Rep. Mazie Hirino will fill his spot.

In Florida we could see Debbie Wasserman Schultz use her positions as Dem. Chief Deputy Whip and co-chair of the DCCC’s Red to Blue program to gain the nomination to take on unpopular Sen. Mel Martinez.

New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg will probably seek reelection. One possible competitor is freshman Rep. Carol Shea-Porter.

Finally, I don’t know if Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter will seek reelection or not. But I do know that Rep. Allyson Schwartz will be a formidable candidate if she chooses to challenge for the nomination to take over his seat.

Currently, only 16% of senators are women.

1. Sen. Boxer, Barbara (D-CA)
2. Sen. Cantwell, Maria (D-WA)
3. Sen. Clinton, Hillary (D-NY)
4. Sen. Collins, Susan (R-ME)
5. Sen. Dole, Elizabeth (R-NC)
6. Sen. Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)
7. Sen. Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX)
8. Sen. Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN)
9. Sen. Landrieu, Mary (D-LA)
10. Sen. Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR)
11. Sen. McCaskill, Claire (D-MO)
12. Sen. Mikulski, Barbara (D-MD)
13. Sen. Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK)
14. Sen. Murray, Patty (D-WA)
15. Sen. Snowe, Olympia (R-ME)
16. Sen. Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)

Yet, if we were to win all of the races discussed above, that number would skyrocket to twenty-five percent. In the Democratic caucus, women would probably be at least a third of the caucus.

That would be nice to see.

Just google “Gustav” and “redemption” to see what I mean:

GOP sees potential redemption in Gustav

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Republican officials say their radically curtailed convention offers a big political opportunity for the party to redeem itself on the competence issue — and for John McCain to step out of President Bush’s shadow once and for all. […]

Republican officials said the images from here will present a positive contrast with the celebratory Democratic convention last week in Denver. The storm could paralyze Democratic efforts to hit McCain on several fronts.

“The contrast between McCain’s responsibility and the fanatical followers in the temple of the Lord Obama won’t be lost on everyday husbands and wives trying to meet their own responsibilities,” a Republican official said.

I’m sorry, but a natural catastrophe is not a chance for political redemption. It isn’t an answer to a politician’s prayers. And it’s downright despicable spin doctoring of the lowest order. But then, what would you expect from the party that promotes supporting the troops by cutting their benefits and medical care. From the party that claims Americans in need because of the worst economy in years, one brought on by their own party’s policies, corruption and mismanagement of the federal government are whiners in a mental recession. The party that insisted on protecting telecoms from lawsuits over protecting the civil liberties of American citizens. The party of George Bush and Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, Larry Craig and David Vitter, Jack Abramoff and Halliburton’s former CEO Dick Cheney.

I’m sorry Republicans, but a hurricane which could kill people and destroy homes, businesses and families’ livelihoods in the same region where one killed thousands little more than three years ago while George Bush and John McCain ate birthday cake isn’t a chance for political redemption. To even float that opportunistic “balloon” is simply beyond disgusting, it’s immoral.

One way to avoid competing with the Democratic convention is to basically cancel the Republican convention.

ST. PAUL —Senator John McCain said Sunday afternoon that Republicans would suspend most activities on the first day of their convention on Monday because of Hurricane Gustav.

Mr. McCain, speaking by satellite from St. Louis, also said he was optimistic that the mistakes of Katrina would not be repeated. And he called on his fellow Republicans to “take off our Republican hats and put on out American hats.”

On Monday, the Republican Party will conduct only its essential business of convening the convention, adopting its rules, electing its officers and adopting the party platform. Rick Davis, a top McCain aide, said the convention would only be convened from 3 p.m. Central time to about 5 or 5:30 p.m. The Republicans need a quorum on the floor to conduct their business.

Mr. Davis left open the possibility that Mr. McCain might not attend. He said the nominee is not required to attend, but since this convention is “the culmination of his political career,” he wants to be here but he “won’t do anything deemed inappropriate.”

Earlier in the day, President Bush said he would not attend the convention on Monday because of Gustav, and the White House spokeswoman, Dana M. Perino, said Vice President Dick Cheney also would not attend it.

I can’t imagine there will be much bounce for McCain out of a convention that is only half-hearted. I don’t disagree with their decision. But, it sure seems like McCain can’t catch a break.

Well, now that I have that Fantasy Football draft out of the way, what have I missed? What’s going on out there besides the hurricane?

I don’t know if Hurricane Gustav is going to deliver a devastating hit to the Gulf Coast but it will be a significant storm that produces a lot of damage. And…it will be have political ramifications. The Republicans know that they cannot afford another failed response. The federal government needs to perform, and if they perform well enough they may even be able to turn it into a plus for them. More likely, however, the storm will simply remind the public of the Bush administration’s second biggest failure. While New Orleans’ levees failed and it citizens drowned, Condi Rice went shoe-shopping on Fifth Avenue and George W. Bush ate birthday cake with John McCain.

McCain knows he’s vulnerable. That’s why he is traveling to Mississippi with his running mate to send the message that they care. That’s why Bush has canceled his Monday speech at the Republican convention. And that’s why John McCain is saying he might deliver his nomination speech from the ‘disaster zone’. The Republicans are in a bind because they can’t allow themselves to be seen fiddling in Minneapolis while the Gulf Coast burns. But they also can’t allow themselves to be seen as overcompensating for their failure during Katrina. An acceptance speech from the disaster zone is overcompensation.

We’re all very concerned for Americans in the path of this storm. Yet, the timing of this storm is some kind of divine justice. It’s as if all the souls that succumbed to the Katrina floodwaters have whipped up Hurricane Gustav and sent it to breech the levees protecting what remains of the Republican Party. Gustav will slam into the mainland just around the time the Republicans planned to start their convention, and that timing will not be lost on anyone that harbors even a modicum of superstition.

The best the Republicans can do is to show concern and make sure the federal government does a competent job of taking care of the victims. They seem to understand this but it remains to be seen if the Bush-led federal government is capable of competence. And McCain’s making a mistake if he’s serious about accepting the nomination from the disaster zone. That will be seen as exploitative and defensive at the same time.

Gustav may or may not prove to be the “Mother of all Storms” but clearly Mayor Nagin doesn’t want to wait to find out. It will be either a Category 3 or 4 storm when it does reach landfall on the US coast sometime Monday.

NEW ORLEANS, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Hurricane Gustav churned toward the Louisiana coast through the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico on Sunday with strength that could rival 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, prompting low-lying New Orleans to begin evacuation.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin late on Saturday ordered the city’s 239,000 residents to leave in the face of “the mother of all storms.”

If Gustav lands west of New Orleans as expected, as a Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds up to 155 mph (249 kph), its 25-foot (7.6 metre) storm surge could break through the same levees that failed three year ago and swamp the city.

More than 11.5 million U.S. residents in five states could feel the impact of the massive storm.

This is frankly, the worst thing that could happen to the people of the Gulf Coast only 3 years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. My prayers and thoughts go out to everyone living there. And please, if any of our readers are still in the area where this storm is expected to hit, please leave as soon as possible. Don’t take any chances.

Don’t think about the Iraq war much.

I am listening to Fox News Sunday.  Truly, I have begun to wonder about McCain’s basic mental stability.

He has said some of the most amazing things I have ever heard on this program.

1. She was in the PTA, which is part of her qualifications for VP.
2. She is a good family woman, which is part of her qualifications for VP.
3. She has more experience than Barack Obama, which is part of her qualifications for VP.
4. She is a wonderful person, which is part of her qualifications for VP.
5. He has also claimed, yet again, that he is a gigolo.  He discussed, again, how wonderful Cindy’s father was.  Amazing.  I have never heard of a person claiming to be a gigolo.
6. He’s for a living wage for Americans, but has voted against the increase in the minimum wage “19 or 29 or 49 times, I don’t know”

7. He claimed, falsely, that he is against torture. This is clearly a lie, since he voted earlier this year to support Bush’s veto of an anti-torture bill (yeah, I know, triple-negative). It comes down to a vote in favor of torture.

Now I am listening to Cindy McCain on “This morning with George”. Again, amazing stuff:

1. CM claims again that Palin has plenty of experience.
2. CM clearly understands nothing about Georgia. She has stated 4-5 things, all of which are wrong (Georgia started the conflict).
3. CM indicates that she will be the foreign policy specialist in the McCain administration!!
4. She is resentful about the Democrats critiquing her wealth. Of course, what is hysterical about this is that Cindy did nothing but ensure that her half-sisters were disinherited. She also did nothing to dispell the fact that John McCain is a gigolo.

WOOO!! George just stunned Lindsay Graham. Graham claimed, falsely, that Palin was against the “bridge to nowhere” when, in point of fact, she was FOR the bridge before she was AGAINST it. Lindsay was visibly shaken by this.

Lindsay has now said that she has more experience than Obama.

What exactly was the point of last week’s announcements for vice presidential picks?  On one hand we have a shell of a candidate promoting “change” but doing everything in his power to establish himself as an establishment candidate, picking a Washington, D.C. insider with a record of corporate whoring and unquestioning support for U.S. imperial policy.  Small wonder Barack Obama is either neck-and-neck with or trailing John McCain in the polls; he insists on turning off the very people he needs to put him over the top, including the Clinton supporters.  On the other hand we have the Republican candidate picking a “hockey mom,” with even less political experience than his Democratic counterpart (the very thing he chides his rival for), just so he can pander to the bloc of Clinton supporters inclined to vote for McCain out of spite.

In all the hype and bluster, though, one important question remains: what does either VP pick actually add to the ticket?  Joe Biden, a typical DLC insider with a hawkish foreign policy record and a habit of voting for bills that hurt working Americans, is just the sort of candidate likely to further alienate progressives — the very people Obama needs to put him over the top against McCain.  Assuming progressives will get behind the Democratic nominee simply because he and his followers choose to deny any other alternative exists has always been a recipe for disaster.  Just ask Al Gore and John Kerry.  Obama has done everything he can to blow this election by turning off all those who put their faith and hopes in him thinking he represented a departure from the DLC.  Picking Biden, though it allows for a tough yet compliant attack dog in the general election who makes up for a perceived lack of experience, really does nothing for the Democratic nominee’s chances.

Then there’s Sarah Palin.  I get that she was tapped to be McCain’s veep because of her youth and sex, but those are really the only two things she has going for her as a candidate.  As Michael Moore explained to Keith Olbermann the other night, McCain’s cynical pander is based on the assumption that American women are stupid — that they’ll vote for a woman because of her gender and not her politics.  Her record and positions are typically extreme right-wing: opposed to abortion rights, opposed to gay marriage, supports tax cuts for the wealthy and police state thuggery, among other horrendous policies.  None of those qualities, however, have won a presidential election — not for the past sixteen years, anyway (the last two were rigged, so they cannot be counted on as legitimate examples of right-wing extremism winning anything).  Women who actually care about their reproductive rights and are offended by Stepford wife-type politicians may be galvanized to vote against McCain and his so-called “hockey mom.” There’s also her firing of Alaska’s public safety director, Walter Monegan, for refusing to fire her former brother-in-law. This scandal is so outrageous there that the Alaskan legislature is investigating what the Washington Post is dubbing Palin’s own “trooper-gate.”

This may be the first time since George H.W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton that a Republican candidate blew an election by dubious virtue of being dumber than his Democratic counterpart, but don’t count McCain out yet; there are plenty of caging lists, hackable electronic voting machines, and bought state secretaries with which to steal this election, along with a Democratic rival who insists on replaying the Kerry campaign.

Many of us, especially Veterans who are Advocates for our brothers and sisters and those Civilians who join that advocacy, have been writing about the Veterans Administration and especially Veterans Care, which in these times of conflicts also encompass the Military Care system as well. With this technology we can push our advocacy untill it’s paid the attention it should already have by those who do the job of reporting as a profession. And because of the extreme lack of oversight and concern by the representatives we hire, as the drums of war were first pounding and the years following, we find breaking stories far to often in these last months. Months that have brought out the problems with the care, the overwelming numbers needing care and being denied for months or just denied, the living conditions of those receiving the care and even serving, and so much more.

When we write about the needs or the lack oversight and funds we far to often, myself included though I try and remember in my rage, leave out the facts of the true dedication of the workers in the VA System. The workers, who like most of us working stiffs, give their all to the jobs and professions they perform and have to deal with what’s lacking from the administrations, top on down, of these agencies. In the government that administration starts with the Executive Branch, the Congress, the Political Appointee’s to head and the Political Appointee’s they bring in, and Especially to the Governed, Us, who fight the costs needed or follow political ideology leadership if not wanted.

Every once in awhile a report will surface of that dedication within:

VA nurse pens book of poems

Drea Horton tends to America’s war wounded during the day and writes about them at night.

Like in the poem she wrote about “a young Joe” who cried in her arms in the Louis B. Stokes Veterans Administration Medical Center in Brecksville, Ohio, where she works:

   

“Anxiety and nightmares take turns taunting him
    Scattered sand and ghosts visit almost every day
    Substance abuse, PTSD; the diagnosis given to him
    He cried as he told me this. He said do they know?”

The poem is included in Horton’s second book, “Her Stars and Stripes: A nurse’s diary”, published by Author House. It’s full of prayers and thoughts for the men and women who pass through those VA hospital halls where she has toiled for the past 10 years. Horton, 45, says she has been taking care of others since she was 7 years old and going to work with her mother, who was a nursing assistant.

“She had three girls,” Horton said during a phone interview from her Akron, Ohio, home. “All of us are nurses now.”

Nursing can be a frustrating life, she said, especially in VA hospitals.

“We have a lot of homeless veterans here,” she said. “They came back from the war, got discharged and then couldn’t find a job. We patch them up, get them a place to live and do everything we can to get them back on their feet.

“But just a small percentage actually make it.”

Like the Vietnam veteran who flagged her down for a ride to the hospital one day:

   

“On my way to work I stopped at a traffic light
    There stood a man on the corner to the right
    He was pushing a buggy full of his belongings
    Looking for what I thought were cans …”

The vet needed a ride to the VA medical center. “In his travels he had injured his right hand,” Horton wrote. She took him to the emergency room and handed him over to an on-duty nurse.

   

“He winked and smiled weakly at me
    With all that pain in his hand
    Thank you nurse, he said
    For not passing me by like the others.”

The book of poetry reads like a diary. It’s an accounting of the battlefield heroes who awaken in the middle of the night screaming at shadows and the men and women who care for them while trying to not get too close, too personal, lest they begin to share in their suffering.

   

“My heart bleeds
    For my patients and their families
    I store those memories in my heart …
    Drying their tears;
    While we cry only in our hearts.”

Horton said she has self-published one other book of poetry and has several other manuscripts, including a novel, in the works. But “Her Stars and Stripes” was not planned.

“It just happened,” she said. “I started writing a poem about the bond formed between a nurse and a wounded soldier and suddenly saw I had 11 poems completed about these heroes.”

Horton said she wanted to give human faces to the veterans and the people who care for them.

“We read in the papers about someone being wounded and then never hear about them again. This book is about what happens next,” she said. “We nurses become their mothers, their sisters, their families. When they’re crying, we’re there holding and rocking them.

“We’re not supposed to cry. We were taught in school not to cry, to be their stoic helpmates. But sometimes you just can’t hold it in.”

Horton said she’s been writing since age 11, but abandoned the craft while she embarked upon a career of nursing, married and raised two daughters and a son.

Now, with her children grown and the marriage ended, she has picked up her pen and returned to her first love — writing.

    “Finally I am able to tell it as I see it
    Forever now I can sing my own song …
    I’m happy for my missing piece that suddenly awakened
    Look as I stretch and spread my wings.”

The book is available at most major online bookstores and from her Web site at Drea Horton.

Reviews at her site and I’m sure she’d be willing to add yours.

Publisher AuthorHouse is at Author House.