Thought Docket

Healthcare is one of my favorite subjects.  As a compassionate conservative (no, really), I am disappointed that the world’s greatest economy (no, really) should have so many uninsured and underinsured.  I am in favor of providing some type of basic healthcare to everyone, but the devil is in the details.  I can remember when Bill Clinton won in 1992.  Although I did not vote for him, I was sort-of hoping that he would be able to do something with healthcare.

And this leads me to the real topic of this post. Democratic supporters have viewed healthcare reform (such as universal healthcare) as a realistically attainable part of the Democratic platform since Bill Clinton. The circumstances by which this has come to be are, I think, interesting and worth recounting.

H. John Heinz III (John Heinz) was a popular republican senator of Pennsylvania when he died in an unfortunate mid-air collision between a helicopter and the plane that he was in on April 4, 1991.  Incidentally, John Heinz was the husband of Teresa Heinz, now Teresa Heinz Kerry.

With the vacancy in the senate, the Pennsylvania Governor, Robert P. Casey, was required to appoint a replacement until a special election could be held.  After considering Lee Iacocca (who turned down the appointment), Casey selected Harris P. Wofford in May of 1991.

In a special election to be held in November of 1991, Wofford would face Dick Thornburgh, a former governor of Pennsylvania and U.S. Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.  Initially, Thornburgh was so far ahead of Wofford that the election was almost considered a foregone conclusion. However, Wofford turned to little-known Paul Begala and James Carville as campaign managers.  It was during Wofford’s campaign that Carville first coined “It’s the economy, stupid”.  Wofford ran on a platform of universal healthcare and eventually won the special election by 10 points.

The amazing success of Wofford immediately catapulted Begala and Carville to national prominence.  Begala and Carville were then retained by the Clinton campaign as advisor and strategist.  In this capacity, they successfully transferred the issues that resonated with Pennsylvania voters - The Economy Stupid and Healthcare - to the national campaign.

It is interesting to trace the trajectory of Carville, Clinton, and universal healthcare to an unfortunate mid-air collision.  The political talents of Carville are immense, and voters have a healthy appetite for anything that appears to be free.  So I think it certain that universal healthcare would have worked its way into the Democratic platform somewhere along the line, regardless of the unfortunate events in April, 1991.  But when and to what extent?

In the November 9, 2008 Outlook section of the Washington Post, there is an opinion piece by Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Desmond TuTu.  Archbishop TuTu wastes no time in venting his spleen over the transgressions of President Bush.  According to TuTu

“A few days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, we had our first shock, hearing your president respond not with the statesmanlike demeanor we had come to expect from a U.S. head of state but like a Western gunslinger.”

Really Archbishop?  Your first shock was a few days after Sept. 11, 2001?  We’re very different, you and I.

Tutu continues with “…a string of other policies that have damaged the standing of the United States in the world…” To the list, he adds “restrictions on the use of U.S. funding to fight AIDS”.

But later on, he states

“On humanitarian issues, he [President Obama] will be hard-pressed in the ongoing global financial crisis to match the current administration’s generally admirable record. President Bush has succeeded in working with Congress to devote unprecedented amounts of money to fighting malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.”

Well, which is it? With respect to HIV/AIDS, have we damaged the standing of the United States, or has the record been admirable?

Tutu goes on to suggest that

“…it would be wonderful if, on behalf of the nation, he [President Obama]  would apologize to the world, and especially the Iraqis, for an invasion that I believe has tuned out to be an unmitigated disaster.”

Say it ain’t true, Tutu! Let me tell you what an unmitigated disaster would be. An unmitigated disaster would be what we would have experienced if all the “This War is Lost!” democrats had their way and the US pulled out of Iraq prematurely, leaving the Sunnis and Shia to their civil war, possibly spilling over into the region. Instead, Iraq is preparing for provincial elections in late January and national elections after that, possibly in late 2009. Yes, mistakes have been made, and yes the US has paid a heavy price. But the current situation in Iraq is not an unmitigated disaster by any stretch of the imagination. But it could have been if President Bush had been swayed by those that stood up to announce a lost war that was not lost, simply for political benefit. Those that announced the war as lost, and their go-along minions, are the real betrayers of the United States, not General Petraeus, as the MoveOn asshats would have us believe.

TuTu would do well to focus more on problems closer to home. I mean, I can put “war torn” before many African country names. Burundi, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Chad, Congo, Rwanda. The list keeps on growing. And the international community and the UN (as usual) have been feckless in the face of these problems.

Tutu speaks of “horrific images from Abu Ghraib”.  But perhaps the world would be best served if the Archbishop devoted his energies to eliminating the practice of female genital mutilation throughout Africa. That this is still practiced today is a blight on humanity. Let’s take a poll: genital mutilation, or a stay in Abu Ghraib. Sometimes a little perspective helps crystalize thought. Here is a map that the Archbishop can use to help locate this problem.  Does this ring any bells, Archbishop?

Female Genital Mutilation

Rather than pontificating about the apologies that the US owes others, I would enjoin the Archbishop to identify some people and countries that owe an apology to the Untied States. A good start would be all those involved with the oil for food scandal that effectively influenced the governments of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and that made impossible adding teeth to proposals which might have averted the invasion of Iraq in the first place. This list of international patriots includes Kofi and Kojo Annan, Benon Sevan, and dozens of French and Russians, including the then French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua. Does anybody remember Freedom Fries? Does anybody remember the pouring of French wine into gutters?  Does anybody remember why?

Unmitigated disaster?  Sorry TuTu, but you are tootoo confused.

I’ve always liked the term “muckety-muck”, meaning an important and often arrogant person. To me, it strikes the right balance of respect and disdain (i.e., about 20% respect and 80% disdain). According to Merriam-Webster, muckety-muck is derived from jargon of the (Native American) Chinook of the Pacific Northwest.

Now we have a graphical aid for evaluating just how high a high muckety-muck is.  I am referring to MucketyMaps available on muckety.com. Muckety describes itself as an objective news site that offers MucketyMaps that show relationships for people and organizations.  To call up a MucketyMap, you enter the name of a person or organization. The map is presented as a static image at first.  When you then click on the map, it becomes interactive, assuming your browser is Java-enabled.  Here, for example, is the map for newly-appointed Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Rahm Emanuel MucketyMap

As Obama continues to appoint aids and cabinet members, and as the Republicans begin to reshape themselves with what I assume will be new leaders, I think I will be calling up some more maps.

My first reaction to the announcement of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff for Obama was negative. I always thought of Emanuel as the sort-of nasty guy beside Bill Clinton the charmer. He is considered a fierce partisan, so the post-partisan rhetoric of Obama takes another hit.

But the more I think about it objectively, the more I suppose he is a logical choice. He is definitely focused on getting things done, he definitely knows Washington, he definitely knows Wall Street, and he is well-acquainted with Obama. I do have concerns about establishing a Chicago Political Machine on the East Coast, however. Does this mean that we will need to refer to Boss Obama?

Emanuel is known for being fiery and passionate. He is also known for dropping the F-bomb like Client Nine drops trousers. He has an interesting family story and he seems even-handed with respect to the Israel-Palestine issue.  He is also known for a quick, biting wit:

• On the Clinton Administration: “Back then, stimulus and package had a whole different meaning.”
• On Fred Thompson: “He had an interesting take on No Child Left Behind. He married one.”
• On his marriage: “I tell my wife I love her — she says I’m likable enough.”

Will Obama’s supporters hold Obama to his post-partisan rhetoric?  Will Emanuel be able to check his partisanship and facilitate a post-partisan ideology?  And finally, will we find him likable enough?  We shall see.

In today’s Washington Post, the subhead for the letters to the editor was: Tuesday’s Election. I was greeted with the inane, but expected:

“For the first time, I felt that my vote was truly necessary to ensure the success of my chosen candidate.”

“Thank you, Barack Obama, for giving me back my country.”

“Finally, after eight long, dark years, I don’t have to apologize for being an American.”

“America’s vote was an indictment of the Republican Party’s policies for the past eight years.”

“…first step toward restoring America’s image around the globe.”

And then I ran into this gem, courtesy of a Mr. Paul D., of Fairfax:

Eugene Robinson’s Nov. 4 op-ed column, “A New Kind of Pride,” reminded me why I am proud to be an American and gave me hope for brighter days ahead.

However, I’ve spoken with a lot of supporters of Sen. John McCain who listed many reasons for not liking Sen. Barack Obama, never mentioning his race. They twisted themselves into convoluted and illogical justifications as they tried to make a case for Mr. McCain, but it did not take much to unravel the rationalizing. When I challenged them on the issue of race, their vehement and animated denials told me that at best they were kidding themselves and at worst they were lying. So it came down to the real, unspoken and unadmitted reason that they wouldn’t vote for Obama: He is black, making him still unacceptable to too many people.

To have such a close election in the face of so many obvious positives about the Democratic ticket and so many negatives about the Republican ticket shows that as far as we’ve come, there is no denying we still have a long way to go.

Thank goodness we now have a diagnostic tool for determining whether someone is racist.  Quick, issue an addendum for the DSM-IV.  Any case for McCain is “convoluted and illogical” and “rationalizing”.  The writer, apparently, is so macrocephalic that he can “unravel” a case for McCain with ease. The writer claims an ability to sniff out racists with ease: challenge on race and conclude racism when a denial is issued.

A straightforward and logical case for McCain and against Obama was very easy to make. I won’t offer a case here; the election is over and Senator Obama won. But the notion that Senator Obama is in some way a post-partisan, a person that compromises, and a person that finds common ground, is simply not supported by his record or the company he keeps.  Certainly this is not to say that Obama cannot or will not govern as a post-partisan.  But if President-Elect Obama is to govern as a post-partisan, if he is to remain faithful to his rhetoric, he had better not surround himself with race baiters such as the writer.

Michael Crichton died yesterday, November 4, 2008.  Crichton was the author of many books, including The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park.  He was also a movie and TV writer and director.   His movie credits included Westworld and Coma.  As a youngster, I saw movies like The Andromeda Strain, Westworld, and Coma.  They were pretty scary for their time.  Yul Brynner as the gunslinger in Westworld made an especially lasting impression.

Crichton was also creator and executive producer of TV’s ER.

RIP.

The polls just closed in California and Fox News immediately called the election for Obama.  As I write this, John McCain is giving a very gracious concession speech.

Obama was not the candidate that I supported; I have had significant difficulties in discerning alignment between president-elect Obama’s rhetoric, his record, and his personal and professional relationships.  That being said, I think there is no denying the incredibly historic nature of the election of an African American to the Presidency of the United States.

While I would not compare the USA with the Republic of South Africa of the early 1990’s, I am reminded of the RSA’s first multi-race election, in 1994.  I happen to have a blank ballot from that equally historic election.  The ballot lists the 19 vying parties and provides the instructions in 11 different languages. I considered the ballot to be perhaps the most important document of the times.   I remember sharing a vicarious joy with the peoples of the RSA then.  I think I shall share vicarious joy with my African American friends over tonight’s outcome now.

A couple weeks ago, my good friend Tim reminded me of my run on Election Night, 2000.  He suggested that I try to duplicate that success by going on a run this evening.

Ahhh.  Election Night 2000.  I remember it is as though it was yesteryear.  Fairly early that evening, the news networks called Florida for Ozone and this was considered a blow to Bush from which he could not recover.  Feeling quite down, I decided to go out for a two mile run.  I was not in any kind of running shape, so I must have been running on adrenalin.  When I returned to watching the coverage about 30 minutes later, I learned that the networks had taken Florida away from Ozone…it was too close to call.  Bush went on to win Florida, convincingly :o).

Being kind of superstitious, I decided to try again this Election Night 2008.  I’m not exactly sure of the objective.  Maybe the best that I can hope for is a firewall in the Senate.  So, maybe this evening, I can help prevent a filibuster-proof 60 Democrats.  The only thing is, this evening, things are a little different.  I’m 8 years older; a little heavier; and I’m fighting chronic plantar fasciitis.  So I couldn’t run.  I could only walk.  I guess that is one more reason I identify with McCain.

Here in Vienna VA, there is a well-known character that goes by the name Sal.  Sal is a real plumber and I believe he even owns his own plumbing business, so watch out Sal, you just may be tapped to help “spread the wealth”.  Sal is an Obama supporter.  How do I know such personal details of someone that I have never even met?  I have been carefully studying this picture for hours, and it is the only conclusion I can draw.

Sal The Real Plumber

It is hard to see in the picture, I know.  But at the upper right of the Obama Biden banner, it states simply: “Sal The Real Plumber”.  On his porch, there are two headless mannequins, each holding a drain plunger.

Joe Wurzelbacher, eat your heart out.

If you find yourself in Vienna some time, and you see Sal on the street, go ahead and introduce yourself.  Go ahead, take the plunge!

Wow. I thought I would outsmart my fellow citizens by getting to my polling station at Nottaway Park in Vienna Virginia at 6:05 a.m., five minutes after it opened.  I was in a line that was twice as long as any I had experienced before.  It took exactly an hour and a half to vote.  This, even though the Washington Post reported this morning that about a quarter of all voters (about 30 million) have already voted.  The weather was great and I had some nice conversations with those next to me in line.

After voting, I drove a short distance to the Vienna Metro where I bought a box of Krispy Kreme donuts from a high school fundraiser.  They had a sign: No Politics, Just Donuts.  I’ll snack to that.