Category Archives: Power

Toxins aren’t only in labs

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A great philosopher and life coach (and a college friend) once offered up a simple, yet mind-blowing concept:  situations and relationships can be toxic.  Now, this great philosopher and life coach may reveal herself in a comment but I do try (as best I can) to exercise some discretion in naming names.

Think about that: not just WMDs and not just science experiments gone wrong, but the relationships can be, well, combustible. Or more often, a slow carbon monoxide leak.   And this is true in business relationship as well as love relationships as well as family relationships.

 

It is possible to overstate the point.  My child’s periodic tantrums and exhortations of “I never get to do ANYthing” are annoying but they are not toxic.  And they are more than balanced by the sheer joy I get from spending time with my partner and our son.  My partner and I may argue, but we are soul mates.

Even relationships that ostensibly start out fine can turn toxic.  They get toxic when one feels bad and unloved and exploited.  But we must remember that relationships are not balanced all the time, every day.  For example, recently I have been leaning more on my partner for emotional support than usual (and I am so lucky to have her).  So, technically, there is an imbalance.   And I may never be as supportive of her as she is of me now, but as long as she feels loved and respected and appreciated, that can also balance the cosmic equation.  Toxicity comes in when the power in a relationship is taken or (let’s admit it) ceded to one person.  Usually that happens out of fear but sometimes it happens because that is the only relationship model one knows.

Over some months, I realized a dangerously high toxin level in one relationship.  Still, I was desperate to keep it in part for economic reasons, but mostly because I was looking for vindication, acceptance and a great epiphany that I imagine I deserved.

I keep reminding myself that if I knew I was being poisoned by carbon monoxide, I’d run, like the wind.

Still, breaking up stinks even if it is for the best.

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Weave these threads into your reality

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In one city, Costco takes tomatoes off its shelves because Sarah Palin is scheduled to appear.  I am sure that Costco wanted to protect the tomatoes from an ignoble end.

In Copenhagen, 193 nations are trying to agree on something — anything.  When was the last time you got consensus in a family of three members? 

Did you know that the food industry is responsible for 1/3 of all of the world’s carbon emissions?  Give up grapes in winter and the save the world.

We are trying to agree with China on important things — North Korea, carbon emissions, sanctions for Iran.  How about we start with something small, like, “it’s a lovely day, isn’t it?”

Now, no one likes the health care reform bill.  The Congress behaved so badly, but of course it is Obama’s fault.

A Republican senator wanted to run out the clock on health care by requiring the reading of a laborious and largely symbolic amendment to the health care legislation.  Debate, I get.  Screaming and yelling, sure.  Stonewalling?  Outrageous.  That senator ought to be in the penalty box for the rest of his term.

I can drive my Hummer, but Obama, Obama, needs to save us from Waterworld (I really can’t handle that horrible 1980s/90s movie turning out to be prophetic).

If Obama doesn’t fix health care, lower carbon emissions, balance the budget, reduce the deficit and increase jobs, ALL IN ONE YEAR, he will have failed.  If I remember my anniversary, I am golden for 12 months.    Wow, his job really sucks.

Being a pundit or a talking head must be great.  Sanctimony with no responsibility.

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Democrats are imploding

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The GOP can just buy popcorn, sit back and reeeeeelax.  The Democrats are snatching defeat out of the mouth of victory.

We have Democrats who won’t let the health bill out of committee for a debate.  Not a vote.  A debate.  Joe Lieberman, Mr. GOP in an IND’s clothes is also squelching debate.  And to think he was almost a DEMOCRATIC Vice President. 

WHAT IS WRONG WITH DEBATE??  Yes, if it goes to debate and most people vote on party lines, it will pass, so those opposed definitely want to kill it in committee where it takes a super-majority to open debate (a little ODD if you ask me) but that is the risk with democratically elected representatives.

Also, will the Democrats PUH-LEEEEEEZE stop spending TARP money.  Everyone wants to claim a couple billion here and there to fund projects. 

Before we spend more, let’s see if it is necessary.  In the meantime, reduce our daily interest costs by paying down the deficit.  Do you like paying half a billion a day to service our enormous debt?If my father thought that I ever carried a balance on my credit cards, he would wonder if he raised me right.  (For a year or so in law school, I did.) 

All this does is make it impossible for our President to succeed.  And, if he fails, America fails.  We cannot stand still and survive as a prosperous nation and a superpower. 

(As much as I disagreed with George Bush, I always hoped he was right because he was (at least once) the democratically elected President of the United States.)

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Funny how soon they forget . . .

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Dick Cheney is laser sharp in his criticism of the current Administration and in his trumpeting of his initiatives during his 8-year Reign of Terror.  His memory for his accomplishments is uncanny.

Oh, wait, there is that inconvenient incident in which he outed an intelligence officer because her husband was critical of Cheney’s intelligence gathering and evidence supporting the Iraq War.  What was her name again?   He couldn’t remember anything when pressed by federal prosecutors.  He couldn’t “recall” 72 times. 

Dick, let me help you. 

Her name is Valerie Plame.  She worked for the CIA defending and protecting this country. 

But, her husband doubted on your fabricated evidence for war, so you exposed a patriotic American, a defender of our safety and way of life and, by extension, you put in harm’s way ALL OF THOSE AGENTS WITH WHOM SHE WORKED.  

And, you can’t remember.  Is it because you did it so often?  

 

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By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer Pete Yost, Associated Press Writer – Mon Nov 2, 6:34 am ET

WASHINGTON – Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald famously declared in the Valerie Plame affair that “there is a cloud over the vice president.” Last week’s release of an FBI interview summary of Dick Cheney’s answers in the criminal investigation underscores why Fitzgerald felt that way.

On 72 occasions, according to the 28-page FBI summary, Cheney equivocated to the FBI during his lengthy May 2004 interview, saying he could not be certain in his answers to questions about matters large and small in the Plame controversy.

The Cheney interview reflects a team of prosecutors and FBI agents trying to find out whether the leaks of Plame’s CIA identity were orchestrated at the highest level of the White House and carried out by, among others, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Cheney’s chief of staff.

Among the most basic questions for Cheney in the Plame probe: How did Libby find out that the wife of Bush administration war critic Joseph Wilson worked at the CIA?

Libby’s own handwritten notes suggest Libby found out from Cheney. When Libby discovered Cheney’s reference to Plame and the CIA in his notes — notes that Libby knew he would soon have to turn over to the FBI — the chief of staff went to the vice president, probably in late September or early October 2003.

Sharing the information with Cheney was in itself an unusual step at the outset of a criminal investigation in which potential White House witnesses were being ordered by their superiors not to talk to each other about the Plame matter.

[rest of article omitted]

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GOP tries to link Obama to Nixon

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There is a difference between a secret enemies list (Nixon) and calling people out on their lies and inconsistencies (Obama).

Sen. Alexander (GOP TX) knows better than to compare Obama to Nixon.  Obama should strip health care of its anti-trust immunity if it uses its monopoly to the public detriment.  Neutering the US Chamber of Commerce (aka lobbyists) is not a bad idea.   And Obama is being open and transparent about it.

Obama sought bipartisanship and, in return, he has been villified by the right.  And, the GOP pressured Republican Senator Judd Gregg to resign as Obama’s Commerce Secretary almost as soon as he accepted the post.

Surely, Sen. Alexander, you aren’t making this comparison for political gain.  Surely, you spoke out against Bush/Cheney’s enemies list(s) because you are of course only doing the right thing for the right reasons.  Or are you doing the ultra-right thing for the ultra-right reasons?

Will you say anything just to defeat our President?

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Health Care Debate — in diagram form

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Whether or not to reform the health care industry comes down to some basic ideas:  what is our collective expectation of our health care options, and how can we lower costs and increase caliber of service over the long term?

1.  Do you think health care is (a) a privilege, (b) a right or (c) regardless of whether it is a right or a privilege, it is a broken system that needs fixing?  If (a), then skip to the bottom.  If (b) or (c), then go to the next question.

2.  Do you think AFFORDABLE, adequate, health care is (a) a privilege or (b) a right or (c) regardless of whether it is a right or a privilege, it is a broken system that needs fixing so those who have it can benefit from it?  If (a), then skip to the bottom.  If (b) or (c), then go to the next question.

3. Do you view health care reform as essentially a political issue?  If yes, then skip to the bottom.  If no, then go to the next question.

4.  Do you agree or disagree: companies should not be able to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, impose annual or life time limits, or drop coverage for those who develop illness? If you disagree with all or part of the statement, then skip to the bottom.  If you agree with the statement, then go to the next question.

5.  How do you think it is best to keep premiums down? (a) a best practices safe harbor from malpractice claims; (b) cooperatives; and/or (c) public option.  If none of the above, then skip to the bottom.  If any of the above, go to the next question.

6.  How do you reduce the costs to the taxpayers of uninsured people? (a) refuse medical attention to anyone without proof of insurance; (b) require all persons residing in this country to have insurance, (c) tax those who don’t get coverage and/or (d) some other option that induces people to get coverage or at least takes the burden off of taxpayers for those who cheat the system.  If (a), then skip to the bottom.  If (b), (c) or (d), go to the next question.

7.  If you are at this question, then grab a seat at the table and start negotiating.  Let’s assume that the polls are correct and that the overwhelming majority of Americans want some kind of reform.  FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION. LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, ARE YOU LISTENING? 

 Bottom:  Here you are at the bottom.  It is a dog-eat-dog world, huh?  Just some follow-up questions: 

  1. Did you ever see Glenn Beck’s iReporting after his botched hemorrhoids surgery?  (Now he is a raging you-know-what.)  You might not trust his currently analysis after viewing the video. 
  2. Or maybe you are invincible, lucky or just too rich and selfish? 
  3. Or maybe you are delusional, like the actor Craig T. Nelson, who said no one helped him when he was on food stamps and welfare (yes, idiots can be actors). 
  4. You are a patriot, right?  So you aren’t going to leave the country when the deficit rages out of control because health care costs are ballooning out of control and the taxpayers will have to pay a large percentage of their incomes just to meet interest payments on the deficit?   
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Why I should run a major bank

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Why should I run a major bank?

  1. I have no pre-existing alliances to the current regimes. 
  2. I will learn how things ought to be run and make that the way things are done, instead of cleaving to entrenched viewpoints or defending previous stupid acts. 
  3. I don’t need to earn as much as the current big guys because that is not how I measure my worth. 
  4. I believe that there should be nothing in the fine print that undoes the agreement in the big print. 
  5. I believe that bonuses should depend on a banker’s track record of success. 
  6. I believe that common sense must prevail and paper profits are meaningless unless they reflect real profits. 
  7. The bank’s portfolio should be a healthy mix of low, moderate and high risk deals. 
  8. Kick me out in 3 years, even if I do a good job.  And give me a nice cake at my going-away party.
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David Letterman, Senator Ensign, Roman Polanski

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There are no parallels among these men.

David Letterman did get out in front of the “scandal”. That was smart media.  As long as the women with whom he was intimate were consenting adults — that means without fear for their jobs or career advancement — then it is just another philandering person.  What makes it news is that he is a TV star.  What is sad is that sexual harassment happens everyday and there is no famous star to blackmail to make it stop.  David Letterman has a lot of heartache ahead of him.  But he doesn’t need to apologize to me.

Conversely, Senator Ensign needs to apologize to his voters because he is a fraud — he is not the “family values” candidate that his constituency elected and he broke the public trust in the cover-up. His extra-marital affair was not criminal or actionable — consenting adults without any specter (so far) of harassment in the workplace.

Roman Polanski is, based on the information available, a scoundrel and a sexual predator.  A thirteen year-old is a child and is not capable of consent in sexual circumstances.  Justice delayed is justice denied.  Lock him up and throw away the key.

Let’s not lump these men and their actions together.  None is a shining star, but in only one case was there a sexual criminal.  In another, it was the cover-up that is criminal.  The third, well, unless we hear more, is just disappointing and ooky.

There is one guy, whose handle is TheFlaCracker on Twitter, who refers to all Libiots (liberal idiots) as defending Roman Polanski.  That’s unfair.  I am a G-d damn Democrat and liberal and a Hillary-lover.  I am proud of it.  But, child abuse is not a liberal or conservative issue.  It is solely about our expectations and demands for the safety of society’s and our children.

The true measure of our society is how we treat the children others have “cast off”and those who abuse them.

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People forgive mistakes but not lies

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To err is human, but to cover up inane.  Haven’t we learned that time and again?

Senator John Ensign promoted himself as Mr. Family-Values, which — must I say it? —  precludes extra-marital sex. Now, he is faced with three problems: (1) he had an illicit affair with a staffer; (2) he abused his office to give this woman’s husband access to corridors of power and decision-making in order to keep the affair quiet and (3) he breached the public trust.  In short, he is a fraud who broke the law and sold out his constituents to preserve his fraudulent image and, if karma is a boomerang, he will get hoisted on his own petard.

Compare Senator Ensign with former President Clinton.  No one had any illusions about Clinton’s lechery. People were angry that he lied under oath.  But, the GOP made the impeachment proceedings about sex and morality and, because of that, Clinton avoided conviction.  If the GOP had been less mesmerized by the salacious details, the outcome might have been different.  Clinton squeaked by because we elected him knowing about his infidelity and his morally-challenged ways and, right or wrong, his lie was in a private lawsuit.  He did not sell out his office.

What did Clinton pollsters say at the time?  The public will forgive mistakes but not lies.  Clinton told one lie; Senator Ensign IS a lie.

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Karma is a boomerang

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When all financial hell started breaking loose last year, fear was the prevalent mood.  Then, fear turned to despair, turned to anger, turned to dog-eat-dog mentality.  It seems to me, unencumbered by knowledge, information or expertise, that instead of working together toward the common good, we are scrambling to get ahead of the pack. 

Now, it is acceptable to demand unconscionable discounts on things because vendors and service providers are struggling financiallyand will make the deal even at a loss because they are cash-strapped.  There is a word for this behavior: stealing.  Shame on those who do this. 

And for those of you who do this, be forewarned, Karma is a . . . .

boooomeraaaaaaang! 

 

 

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