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Blog For Arizona
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Links for 2008-09-20 [del.icio.us]
Posted: 21 Sep 2008 12:00 AM CDT
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BlogForArizona/~3/398660175/mbryan
The Party's Over - Yahoo! News
Strong Push for an RTC-Type Solution to the Crisis
Greg Palast Obama Doesnt Sweat. He should.
Bush team, Congress negotiate $700B bailout: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance
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Gold Star Families Sound Off on Presidential Campaign
Posted: 20 Sep 2008 03:08 PM CDT
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BlogForArizona/~3/398359333/gold-star-famil.html
by Marlene H. Phillips
I was asked if I would be interested in interviewing Gold Star Families from
across the country, that is, families who have lost sons and daughters fighting
in Iraq, about the current presidential campaign. I have tried to capture their
frustration and anger in this post. My sincere thanks to all those who
volunteered to be interviewed. These people have a lot to say. They hope
America will hear them.
Jane wasn't raised in a political household in Southern California; she
describes it simply as a "military family." She lost her 24-year-old son Evan
in July, 2003, when he was killed in action on the perimeter of an oil field.
She described Evan as "a beautiful man with a wonderful sense of humor who had
a passion for music," and recalled "his way of focusing on an individual, of
making them feel as though his world revolved around them. This is the thing
everyone will remember about him, the fact that he made such an indelible
impression on everyone who met him." Evan, she said, "was everyone's best
friend. Many of the people who have spoken of him, whether from school, sports
or the Army have referred to Evan as their best friend. He was a gifted
musician, a gifted student, he adored his little brother, and loved his wife
and family deeply." Jane is following the current presidential race closely,
and for her it's not just politics as usual. It's personal. She will vote
Democratic although she expressed qualms about the Obama/Biden ticket, citing
Biden's support of the war in Iraq. But those qualms are minor compared to how
she feels about the Republican ticket. "John McCain and Sarah Palin are scary
people," Sue said emphatically. "I believe they will make sure our Constitution
is lost forever." The thought of seeing another Republican in the White House
terrifies her and makes her angry. "When is America going to wake up to the
fact that our economy has been shattered by the cost of the occupation of Iraq?
We are allowing our young men and women to be killed off in an illegal war,
we've given up our privacy and other basic freedoms and our planet will not be
inhabitable by future generations. In 8 short years the Republican party has
completed the destruction of our democracy."
Tracy is an academic adviser for a state university in Maryland. When asked to
describe her son Nick, she replied, "Nick was incredibly charismatic. He always
had friends around him, partly because he was always looking out for the
underdog." Nick wanted to be a Marine "from the time he was in middle school"
and he died as a Marine in the battle of Fallujah. "A sniper," she said, "he
was shot in the head and killed by a sniper." After the death of her son, Tracy
decided to run for office, partly "as a way to make the world a better place,
as Nick was trying to do." She's always voted ("those who don't vote have no
right to complain"), and while not always voting Democratic, this year she
supports the Democratic presidential candidate "fervently." Like Jane, Tracy
sees the link between our economic troubles and the war in Iraq: "We have spent
so much money we don't have on this war that we have completely ruined the US
economy as well as that of most of the rest of the world." Tracy described why
she supports Barack Obama, saying, " he's very quick and intelligent. He has a
good grasp of the issues and an ability to find the nugget of truth. I think
some of his ideas may seem pie-in-the sky, but I think if we aim very high we
will reach farther than if we just aim for what we know we can accomplish." In
contrast, she considers John McCain "bumbling and incompetent" and when asked
if she had serious concerns about any of the four candidates acting as
Commander in Chief, she replied succinctly, "You bet: Palin first. McCain
second."
A business owner in New York, Sue recalls her son Seth as "a kind, warm-hearted
individual. His love was his family, his mustang and people." What made her
laugh the most was "how rough and tumble he could be, but always done with a
smirk on his face: he was mischievous." But the one thing everyone will
remember about Seth, Sue said, "is simple: he never left you without saying 'I
Love You.' Those were his last words, on the last call home." Seth was killed
in Iraq in 2004, on what Sue referred to as "a suicide mission, " and she
remembers what he told her before returning to Iraq for the last time. "Seth
said, 'Mom, we will never win this war. The people do not want us there.'"
While admitting she hasn't always voted, like Tracy and Jane, Sue says she's
following this presidential campaign very closely. She spoke approvingly of
Obama ("I like his war stance, and his philosophy on economics.") but had
nothing good to say about the Republican ticket, especially John McCain. "He's
Bush again," Sue said with disgust, adding, "what has McCain done so far for
the veterans except take benefits away from them?" Sue called Palin "a joke
that I hope the American people will not fall into, especially the women who
originally supported Clinton. That would be a mistake; she is not Hillary." She
thinks Palin was picked because McCain "needed a women to do all the dirty work
for him," adding, "she's a little lady that knows nothing but thinks she knows
everything." Come November, Sue will be voting for Obama.
A commercial airline pilot, Jeff spent 21 years as a fighter pilot with the
United States Air Force, and his family has a rich military history: "I had
nine aunts and uncles; all but three served in WWII. My aunt and my grandmother
were 'Rose the Riveters,' building B-17s at the Boeing facility in Wichita
Kansas." His son loved to cook, "Jesse started cooking at age nine!" Jeff
recalled, and he wanted to follow in his father's military footsteps, joining
the junior ROTC in middle school. Although diagnosed with leukemia, Jesse still
"dreamed of becoming a soldier," and was serving in Balad, Iraq, as a driver
with the Army Reserve when he suffered a relapse. He died in Arizona in 2007.
Already active politically, the loss of his son strengthened Jeff's resolve to
"work for candidates that are best for the community and country." Jeff is a
strong backer of Barack Obama, calling him "inspiring. Obama seems to represent
the values that will help bring out the best of the county." But Jeff reserves
his strongest words for Sarah Palin, and they were not complimentary. "Palin is
very inexperienced. Examining her resume you will find a blank slate. No job
experience at all." And the decorated fighter pilot added, "The thought that
she could very easily be the one who will send our sons and daughters to fight
more failing military-backed foreign relations, it chills me. Considering her
complete lack of experience, that would be worse than having a bartender run my
airline."
Karen also comes from a military family; she was a "Military brat" and now
describes herself as "a proud Gold Star Mom." Her son, Ken, was a 4th
generation Army officer, and he was Karen's only child. Having raised him by
herself from the time he was 10 months old, Karen movingly called Ken "my
grounding, my north star." Karen recalled her son's "great sense of humor. He
lit up a room whenever he entered; people always knew they were in for
adventure when he was around." She said Ken loved music, "any kind of music, as
long as it was loud - metal, country, opera, classical, rock and roll. He
often played music full blast from his Abrams tank as they patrolled the
streets of Iraq. His guys told me it was like being in a movie." The two were
very close, said Karen: "I made sure Ken knew how much he was loved and he made
me feel the same." Ken was 26 when he died in 2004. "We were told Ken was
killed by small arms fire," Karen said. "But 15 months after Ken was killed,
the Army came to my house to tell me that Ken had not died the way they told
me. In fact, he was killed by the accidental discharge of the unmanned M240
machine gun on his tank when it brushed against a tree branch as the tank was
maneuvering the streets to return to their camp." This year Karen is more than
just interested in the presidential campaign, saying honestly, "I am obsessed
with it. The results of the 2000 election put into place policies that would
cost me the life of my son."
Karen is unequivocal on the importance of this campaign, stating, "This
election is life and death to me." Like Jane, Karen voiced some concerns about
Barack Obama, saying he's "too close to the center" for her, but added, "I
think he will collaborate more than others and certainly give the world a
better face of America." When asked her opinion of John McCain, Karen checked
off the reasons she disliked him: "3rd Bush term, intolerant, hawk,
disrespectful of Vets, particularly this current generation of Veterans. In
many ways he will be more destructive than Bush." And Sarah Palin? "Pistol
packing, moose hunting, anti-choice, anti-women's issues, anti-environment,
disrespectful, mean, power abusing, fundamentalist religious fanatic. She is
Cheney and Bush in a dress. Need I continue?" Like the others interviewed,
Karen described the idea of Palin as Commander in Chief as "frightening. It
frightens me both for our country and our military. Her shoot from the hip
attitude, lack of any depth of foreign policy experience or even curiosity ,and
her heavy reliance on wisdom from God, rather than experts and empirical
evidence, scares me." Karen has always voted, and so did her son, adding:
"Because Ken felt voting was a responsibility and a privilege, he even voted
from Iraq." And with so much on the line she's not just voting for Obama, she
said, she's working to get him elected.
Gilda is a school teacher in Maryland. Like Karen, Gilda lost her only child in
Iraq, in an explosion in Al Anbar province. Alex was 28, recently married, and
on his second deployment; Gilda said when looking at photos of that second
deployment she could clearly see "the sheer sense of responsibility that
weighed on my son. He would not have gone if he'd had a choice but he knew he
had a job to do and he was not going to shirk his responsibility." She recalls
how much Alex loved to play the guitar, and how "he would gather his friends
here at the house for jam sessions, and everyone would end up at our table for
dinner afterward. Our house was often filled with the laughter and music of
these childhood friends of my son." With heartbreaking candor, Gilda continues,
"His father and I have not begun to cope with this void in our lives. It's been
impossible to come anywhere close to accepting that he lies across the river
buried in Arlington cemetery, and for reasons that we have not come to grips
with." Gilda has channeled her grief and anger into this presidential campaign,
with her major issues being, "the war in Iraq and benefits for Iraq Vets, and
bringing our country back on the right course." Originally a Hillary Clinton
supporter, she says Barack Obama "inspires me, his words make me think that in
all this darkness we have lived, that in all this suffering we have
experienced, there is a hope for the future of this country of ours." Obama,
she continues, "would be able to lead the country out of the disaster of the
last 8 years, the so-called 'Bush Doctrine,'" and Gilda's a strong supporter of
his running mate, saying "Joe Biden could very well serve as President if need
be. He strikes me as sincere and genuine, a man who has experienced tremendous
personal loss who does not use it to make points, a man who has the empathy,
intelligence and experience to fill in as President." With an obvious reference
to Sarah Palin, Gilda added: "THAT is how a vp candidate has to be regarded."
She calls the Palin selection "the most appalling, disingenuous political event
I have ever witnessed in my life," adding, "I am in tremendous fear of someone
as unreflective and plainly incompetent as Sarah Palin becoming our Commander
in Chief."
But she had even harsher words for Palin's running mate. "What sort of
character can a man possess who is willing to back pedal on so many important
issues simply to fit the Republican party line and gain the office of
president? Then there is the other nagging problem that this man is not fit to
be president; a man with a fuse that can be blown with so little provocation
has no business in the position of 'leader of the free world.' A man who would
banter about bombing another country cannot ever be allowed in this position of
such power. A man whose judgment in picking a vice presidential candidate
solely for her ability to draw votes to his sagging popularity shows his
incompetence as a leader, let alone anyone with military experience. It will be
a dark day for our country if McCain is elected." Gilda lashed out at McCain's
treatment of veterans: "McCain clearly is not a man of his word. Here is a
veteran, a POW, who has voted against veterans benefits, cynically explaining
that if you give them too many benefits they're going to leave the military. It
is no mystery why so many military contributions go to Obama." Like the other
families interviewed, Gilda's choice for president is influenced by her own
loss. "For my family, this election has tremendous meaning. We lost our son, in
essence, because the candidate that was chosen for us by the Supreme Court in
2000 was an incompetent."
Gilda added one last comment. "The American people are again faced with another
opportunity to make their voices heard," she said. "Let us hope they reflect on
whom they choose to lead the world."
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Bush Abetted Subprime Predators, Spitzer Political Assassination Retaliation
for Whistleblowing
Posted: 20 Sep 2008 02:25 PM CDT
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BlogForArizona/~3/398332771/bush-abetted-su.html
I take everything on Brasscheck with a bovine salt lick, but this is a
straight-ahead report on Spitzer's accusation of the Bush Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency's interference with States' efforts to combat
predatory lending and Spitzer's eventual demise by leak of secret Grand Jury
evidence. Incidentally, it brings up a key component in the institutional
failure of regulations that allowed the whole financial meltdown to get rolling
and places blame exactly where it belongs: on Bush and the GOP.
>From Brasscheck TV:
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Tucson's Sheila Tobias on What if Sara Palin Became President?
Posted: 20 Sep 2008 01:38 PM CDT
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BlogForArizona/~3/398305322/tucsons-sheila.html
One of Tucson's treasures, Sheila Tobias, gives her view of the prospect of
Sara Palin as President of the United States:
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