Category Archives: THE WORLD

Did anyone understand what she said?

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On Sunday, Sarah Palin gave another speech, this time, REALLY stepping down.  As a parting gesture of kindness, I will assume that her unintelligible press conferences of last month were the result of a hastily-made decision to quit.  (Because we she says she is not a quitter and yet she is quitting in the middle of her term, there she goes again speaking English words strung together in a most fascinating way.  Maybe it is Palinese.)

She had over a month to prepare her REAL good-bye speech and calibrate her parting impression on her former constituency and the nation.  Hmmm.  She did not put that time to good use.  I wonder what her high school English teachers think?  Are they cowering in a corner?  Is this the product of a public school education in one of the richest countries in the world?  If so, G-d help us.

Sarah, dear, get a speech writer and stick to the teleprompters.

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On my mind (with apologies to A.M. Rosenthal)

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No one ever trusted politicians.  Even our Founding Fathers flung the muck around to win an election.  Many of them did not in their personal lives live up to the high ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutions which they so lovingly drafted.  So, even in hoary (or whore-y) times, you could tell most politicians were lying because their lips were moving.

In the last 30 years (which is roughly equivalent to my adult memory), the clergy have disappointed me mightily in big and small ways.  First, Bernard Bergman and the nursing home scandal.  He dared to wear an outward sign of piety as he sat accused of heinous acts against other human beings.  Then the priests who abused children, making a mockery of the cross that they wore and the robes they donned. Then the Taliban clerics destroying cultures and killing people in the name of their haywire fundamentalism.

Even with all of this, I assume that people start out dealing with each other in good faith and with decency.  (Yes, I am a schmuck.)

So, why am I on a rant? The straw that broke the camel’s back: New Jersey.  This is not some small scandal.  Money laundering, trafficking in human organs, influence peddling and stealing from the  public coffers across many cities and communities.  Not just any time.   IN THESE TIMES WHEN WE NEED OUR POLITICIANS AND CLERGY TO LEAD US OUT OF THE BIGGEST FINANCIAL AND SOCIAL MELTDOWNS SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

I want to yell at each of those arrested in this New Jersey scandal who as politicians or rabbis enjoyed our collective trust and faith: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” (to quote Joseph Welch, a lawyer at Hale & Dorr who represented the Army at the 1950’s McCarthy hearings)

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE!!

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Sunday night dinner chez nous

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When we are not subverting nature, the social fabric of this country and the Word of G-d, my partner and I have (together with our son) have my sister, my brother-in-law and my dad over for Sunday night dinner.  Sometimes, my cousin joins us and, in the non-summer months, my partner’s father comes, too.  (Both our mothers are now of blessed memory.)

My brother-in-law and my son look at books that contain facts about lots of different things in the ways that big boys and little boys do.  So far, not subversive.  But wait, they are reading about pre-historic animals and their presently existing descendants, if any.  Ok, evolution and not creationism or intelligent design (has anyone holding the latter view ever looked at these scary ugly beasts?) Check the subversive box.

We gather around the table for dinner.  A summertime fare.  No chilled white wine from the Napa Valley.  So, ok so far. Wait, watercress, roasted pine nuts and pasta in the pasta salad.  Effete eastern liberals.  My dad and partner have camomille tea.  AAAAArgh. Check another subversive box.

We talk about world events.  Concerned citizens.  Good sign.  OH, NO, we are talking about health care and end of life care and how not every test is necessary and, even under orthodox doctrine, a procedure can be rejected if it prolongs the function of an organ but not the functioning of the person.  Crazy liberals using orthodoxy against those who would preserve life at all costs (except when these same people condone capital punishment).  Oooh, looking like a strike out, but since we caught the “pro-life; pro-death penalty” group in its own hypocrisy, let’s call that a foul tip. No check in the subversive box.

It is 7:45pm and time for our son to have a bath, read a story and go to bed and for me to do the dishes.  Sounds a little Cleaver-like.  We all hug and kiss at the door and our son yells, “family hug!” so three generations huddle together in a big hug, squeeze and many kisses.  Uh, oh, hippie commune.  Strike three. Big check in the subversive box.

Guess we’ve clearly drank the Obama kool aid.  It tastes good, so I think I’ll get more.  And for the record, my partner and I have had Saturday night dates since our son was a 1 year-old (he is 7 now). So, if POTUS and FLOTUS need some date night ideas, they should feel free to have their staff members ask us.

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My sister, my hero

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My sister is a highly respected medical doctor. More than that, she is a healer. No, she doesn’t perform magic; she can’t make stricken people walk.

She is a healer because she cares. She talks to families and doesn’t leave the hospital until everyone is stable or under control. She can’t prevent bad things from happening if those bad things are beyond the skills of doctors and death ultimately beats each of us.  But she calms anxiety, she speaks softly and tenderly and she instills confidence — for the patient and the family. That’s why I say she is a healer. Regardless of the outcome.

I have been out with her at dinner or the gym, when she has run back to the hospital because the family of a patient arrived and she really wanted to talk with them or when, sadly, a patient she was following took a bad turn.

In this whole health care debate, I think all we need are more doctors like my sister who choose to be attendings at hospitals and not boutique salons for the rich and famous.

My sister is my hero.  Not because she is my big sister.  Because she is a caring doctor who heals strangers.

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My college friends; my sisters

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I have been thinking about my college friends a lot lately.  Most of us have known each other since 1981.  Email has kept us current — sometimes to the minute — in each other’s lives.  We have all had to lean hard on one another and, in turn, be the supporting ones.  We laugh, we cry, we built a website (www.ifsarahcanbevp.com) and had t-shirts made celebrating our friendships.

For many years, I was dealing with internal demons, coming out of the closet and building a career.  I missed fun times, hard times, some weddings, bridal showers and a few births.  About 12 years ago, my mom got sick again.  I went through a transformation of sorts and recalibrated what mattered to me.  I reached out to my college friends, started to be more present in their lives (cyberly) and they embraced me as if the past was past and only the now mattered.  These are special women with special gifts of friendship.  When my mother died, I looked around the chapel and some had schlepped to come.  The next weekend, all were converging on NY as a planned reunion.  They all came over that next Saturday and sat in my home, just being there.  My mother was dead and my friends by their presence strengthened me.  I don’t know that I talked much, but they did and the chatter was comforting and their presence a gift.

These are friends of a lifetime.  Individually, they are fabulous and together they are a force of nature.  I love you all.

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Obama’s comment

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I, for one, cannot imagine what it is to be racially-profiled or black in America.  So when No Drama Obama says something out of character, it may come from a place that I have never been and can never understand.  And I am grateful never to have been “there”.  So, I don’t judge the comment.

At his news conference, President Obama spoke almost entirely about health care until the last question.  The 24-hour news recycle only focused on his answer to that last question, the one about Professor Gates.

Here is a man who is handling crises at home and on every continent every day and who is juggling numerous policy initiatives toward a stronger country (many may disagree with his approaches, but not his commitment to this country).

Whether or not he needed to apologize, he did apologize.  SO, LET IT GO and get back to hitting him hard on the issues that matter — economy, Iraq, Iran, N. Korea, healthcare and where Michelle and he are going for their next date night.

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Birther conspiracy theorists and Obama’s Mama

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I miss the Jon and Kate plus 8 drama.  I never watched them, never cared about their marriage issues, her diva episodes or his new girlfriend.  Now I am sad that they don’t even hit the summary page on Yahoo anymore.

Why? Because now we read about the birthers, the ones — including GOP congressmen — who think that President Obama was actually foreign born and uses a fake Hawaiian birth certificate.  To be fair, on The Chris Matthews’ show, a congressman said that if John McCain had been elected, we would be talking about him in this way, as well.

So these birther conspiracy theorist would have had a field day over a white male Vietnam War hero born to a Navy admiral living on an American base in the Panama Canal Zone?  Let’s ponder this.  Hmmm.  I think not.

Barack Obama was born in Hawaii to a mother who was a US CITIZEN.  So, what these people are really talking about is President Obama’s MAMA.  Now, if you talk about someone’s mother, be prepared for yours to be dragged into the fray.

If we all go back far enough, one or more of our grandparents or great grandparents were born somewhere outside the United States.  I am not an immigration scholar, but if my mother who was born in, and a citizen of, the United States gave birth to me in Toronto, Canada, while on vacation, wouldn’t I still be eligible to be a sitting president?

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Thought for Today, July 23, 2009: Unpatriotic Fox News

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For eight long years, I was one of those “unpatriotic” Americans because I loved this country and disagreed with the Bush administration and its policies.  But I still watched the president’s press conferences and respected the presidency while I had trouble with the man in that office (don’t get me started on Cheney).

Fox News thinks it is ok not to show a presidential press conference because it is opposed to President Obama’s politics.  In the prior administration, the talking heads would be challenging the patriotism of any news outlet that didn’t carry a press conference.  Are those at Fox News selectively patriotic, as in only when a conservative is president?

I loved this country and respected the government even when I personally hated the policies.  What is Fox News’s excuse?

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President Obama and health care

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I watched the President’s press conference last night.  The commentators seemed disappointed that the President is a mere mortal.  Asking for guarantees as one reporter did requires a crystal ball and the reporter posed an unanswerable question.  There are no guarantees.  There are only projections and good faith efforts to fix a problem that has lingered too long.

Let’s support a global, cogent plan to make an efficient system with improved services and work toward making that plan a reality.  We have to change the system.  There will be sacrifices.  But there are already sacrifices now.  Inefficient, costly and below average care for too many people.  We can’t let the system stay as is.  Those who only say “no” need to get out of the way.  Either come up with a plan or shut up.

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Thoughts for July 21, 2009 (even though it is only July 20, 2009)

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There are reports that arrested protesters of the Iranian election result are being raped in prison.  A RELIGIOUS republic is resorting to these tactics .  .  .  in the name of Allah???  How does that work?  It is an abomination for religious leaders to use such tactics in the name of G-d but really to further their very human need to maintain power.

May Allah protect those with the courage of their convictions who are made to suffer at the hands of these tormentors.  May everyone’s G-d protect them.

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