Biden on Security: Go Joe!

Well, friends, it has been a while since I sent out a Go Joe! entry, but the time is ripe to spread the wisdom of my favorite Senator to the masses once again. Joe's back in the news, and the Sunday shows (caught him on Meet the Press last Sunday, anyone?) as his name pops up again and again in the speculation about who Obama will tap to be his number two. I myself just voted for him today in the Congressional Quarterly Veepstakes, where he has reached the final against a far less well-rounded VP maybe-be (they can't say "wannabe" or they take themselves out of the race), General Wesley Clark. Go vote for Joe!

But more seriously, I want to talk to you about this man's thoughts on our country's foreign relations and its impact on our national security. Having chaired the Foreign Relations committee for years and having brokered peace in the Balkans among other accomplishments, we owe it to ourselves to pay attention to what Joe Biden has to say. On April 15, 2008 he gave a very powerful and profound speech at my alma mater, Georgetown University in Washington, DC entitled "2008 and the Stakes for America's Security". He delivered another, shorter address at the Deleware Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on April 28, 2008, which was equally important. In both, he addressed the incredible importance of the 2008 Presidential Election and the damage that has been caused by the Bush administrations "myopic view"of foreign policy, which has done so much to endanger rather than to protect the United States. This damage must be stopped, repaired and not allowed to reoccur. In Senator Biden's view, the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States is the most important first step we can take to those ends, as John McCain is "joined at the hip" to Bush's mistake-riddled War on Terror.

The use of the adjective "myopic" is particularly apt for describing the Bush foreign policy post 9-11. It was as though after that fateful day, every issue facing the World, facing our neighboring countries in Latin America, our friends on the other side of the Atlantic, the emerging economic powers of China and India, the war-torn of Africa, all their issues just vanished and all that existed on the foreign policy front were Muslim extremists. Even the other Muslims disappeared--almost a billion of them. Even Isreal became a marginal side show. And Iraq? Oh, yeah, there were Muslim extremists there--and they must have been even more extreme then the ones in Afghanistan and Pakistan who actually caused 9-11. All the rest? Well, good luck.

Biden had this to say on 'in his speech at Georgetown, " is simply wrong. Terrorism is a means, not an end, and very different groups and countries are using it toward very different goals. If we can't even identify the enemy or describe the war we're fighting, it's difficult to see how we will win it." He admits groups like Al Qaeda need to be taken out, but by different means--and those means have to be directed in the right places--like in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Further he points out that these groups, when compared to the United States, are puny. But we go after them like bulls in the china shop upsetting all the fragile pieces that make up this World. That in turn causes all types of ill-will around the globe directed at us -- not at those who initially attacked us. We do more harm then good to the people of Iraq, to our own troops, to their families at home. The image that comes to my mind is of an elephant afraid of a mouse. And while we are flailing around attempting to squish the tiny rodent, we have lost sight of the rest of the World. We trample over things we had no intention of hurting and we can't clearly see the other predators that might be creeping up behind. This particular passage from Biden's Georgetown speech addressing the Iranian threat is very important:

What about Iran? Would drawing down increase its already huge influence in Iraq? Or would it shift the burden of helping to stabilize Iraq from us to them and make our forces a much more credible deterrent to Iran's wider misbehavior? The idea that we could or even should wipe out every vestige of Iran's influence in Iraq is a fantasy. Even with 160,000 American troops in Iraq, our ally in Baghdad greets Iran's leader with kisses. Like it or not, Iran is a major regional power and it shares a long border-- and a long history-- with Iraq.
Right now, Iran loves the status quo, with 140,000 American troops bogged down and bleeding, caught in a cross fire of intra Shi'a rivalry and Sunni-Shi'a civil war.

Biden continues and explains the benefits to us of a draw down. If you have time, I encourage you to read the speech in its entirety. This myopic, simplistic view of the World has to end. We have to look at the complex facets of each part of the World and address them in a productive manner. We can't just run around the planet stepping on people--even if we don't like them. We can't even appear to be doing that if we want to be respected and, well, safer.

Biden for VP? We could do a hell of a lot worse. But regardless of whether he stays in the US Senate or joins an Obama Administration, pay attention to this man. He's right (or left--if you know what I mean?)

The case for Immigration: Including information from the Texas Democratic Convention

June 10, 2008

Sometimes we here in the United States feel that we are the only ones on Earth that face certain problems. Sometimes we live in a bubble. That's a problem, because there is much we could learn by looking at our problems in a broader context and learning from the rest of the World. We also tend to compartmentalize many issues and see them only through a very small prism. We don't like the complex. But the reality is that many issues overlap and sometimes not in the most obvious of ways. Immigration is one such issue.

Poor people who cannot manage to feed or educate their families, at least the brave, pro-active ones, will often move to unknown, foreign lands in an effort to provide for those they love. Many people have come to this country in recent years looking to better their lot and that of their families. Here in Texas, many of those immigrants are Hispanics, many of those Hispanics are Mexicans, but in other parts of the United States you will find illegal Irish (some of whom are headed back now that their home country's economy is on the rise), illegal Africans, illegal Asians and on and on. The Dominican Republic, a third world nation by most anyone's standards, is doing very well when compared to the hapless nation of Haiti with which it shares an island and the DR is inundated with immigrants coming to work in cane fields and other back breaking jobs.

On the other side of the World, Western Europe is the destination of choice for many immigrants from Northern Africa, the Middle East, some Eastern European countries and even--Latin America. Ironically, since I had decided yesterday to write on this topic, today's New York Times addresses the immigration issue as tackled by Spain, a country whose population is only 40 million, meaning that its immigrants represent an enormous percentage of its inhabitants, even when compared to the United States. In his article "Border Crossing: Spain, Like the U.S., Grapples With Immigration, Times' reporter, Jason DeParle, informs us that since 1985, Spain has run six legalization programs. Three years ago, in one such program more than 600,000 were legalized. While some argue that the legalizations encourage more immigration--and it might, especially the immigration that comes from the reuniting a families, the Spanish feel the benefits of a legalized, documented and therefore known workforce trumps those concerns. Besides, the majority of Spanish, and immigrants themselves, believe that most immigration stems from economic need regardless of the opportunity for legalization or lack there of.


June 14, 2008 (I was pulled away from my blog, but I am back.)

In Spain, where medicine, among other social safety nets, is socialized, even illegals have always been granted free access to health care. With legalization programs, all services and work protections become the right of the newly naturalized immigrants. With these additional protections in place, most immigrants have seen their wages rise. Immigrants need not live in the shadows and the Spanish government is aware of who lives among the greater population.

While Eastern Europeans and Africans make up a substantial portion of the immigrants to Spain, the majority of the country's newcomers come from Latin America. That does aid in the assimilation to Spanish life, because the language barrier is minimal, but that should not keep us from learning from the Spanish experience.

Also in Europe and covered, too, this week in the New York Times in an article titled "Classroom Door Gives Immigrants an Entry to Society" by Souad Mekhennet, is a model for integrating immigrants into the adopted society through language classes. Germany's immigrant population is largely made up of Muslims from cultures very different from its own--more foreign to the modern German society by any stretch of the imagination than our Mexican immigrants are from its US neighbor. And the percentage of foreign-born residents is seemingly overwhelming in some major German cities. The article reports that of Frankfurt's 600,000 residents, almost 1/3 are not German citizens.

For years, the ever growing numbers of Muslim students in the city's public schools seemed to have parents who didn't care about their education, who never participated in parent-teacher conferences or responded to letters mailed to their homes. The Muslim kids were not engaged in school or in the larger German society. Well, neither were their moms--those charged with raising these children in a foreign and often forbidding foreign land. Then came "Mama lernt Deutsch", or "Mom learns German", a program for women only provided at their children's elementary schools during the school day with daycare for the younger siblings. In addition to being convenient, local and taking into account the need for childcare, the program was also designed to eliminate another extremely important obstacle for many of the women it hoped to help. No men were allowed. No male students. No male teachers. Some Germans balked at this. But it was the key to the success of the program.

Now that the women were learning German, and just as importantly, interacting with their female GERMAN teachers, they finally had a safe door into German society. The women started venturing out into the community. They could now read the letters and invitations to their children's schools and stopped throwing the strange writing into the trash can. They started showing up to parent-teacher conferences. Their kids started doing better in school. They, in turn, will contribute much more to the German economy and will no longer belong to such a separate World within Germany's borders. The program costs $235 per student and at this point, though it has been shown to be successful and has been copied in several German states and has been introduced nation-wide in Austria, the government has not picked up the tab. Only those who can afford the tuition can participate at this point. As in the United States, immigration policy is a touchy subject in German politics.What this program shows is that even the most desperate cultures can be integrated if people take the time to understand and accommodate initial differences at the start.

Okay, I promised some insight on what I learned at the Convention and all I've done is feed you a bunch of stories from far off lands. There is a method to my madness. On the morning on Saturday, June 7th, I attended a caucus with the title of Immigration and the Economy. The presentation, titled "Connecting the Dots: How to Achieve Border Security and Immigration Reform through Economic Sustainability" was made by Eddie Aldrete, Senior Vice President of International Bank of Commerce and member of the Alliance for Security and Trade (AST). He is also associated with the Texas Boarder Coalition on whose website (www.texasbordercoalition.org) you can find a wealth of information on the immigration issue. I have written to Mr. Aldrete in hopes of getting a link to his Power Point presentation and a list of the links to the video clips shown. Of course, I'll pass them on if I can.

For those of us who are familiar with the immigration issue in this county, there were plenty of stats to back up our arguments that the fence is not practical and is financially irresponsible. There were knowledgeable, experienced people to site when talking about the senselessness of rounding up twelve million people, of the almost complete neglect of the Northern border, coastlines and enforcement of visa overstays, which blow holes in the "national security" argument to the border control fight. There was also a great graph to demonstrate how the inflow of immigrants mirrors the employment trends in the United States. People come when there are jobs to be had. What made these sections of the presentation so very powerful was that the sources for the information in the presentation were almost entirely government agencies--not partisan think tanks or PACs.

But the most powerful point of this presentation was an argument that will tie us right back to our friends in Europe. The fertility rate. Western European countries and famously, the Japanese (more on them later), have been experiencing constantly lower fertility rates for decades. Spain, a country discussed earlier in this post, has a birthrate of 1.29. The United States currently sits at exactly 2.1. What rated do you need to replace your current population level? 2.1. And, keep in mind, the reason we are even as high as 2.1 is because immigrant families tend to have more children than do native born Americans. Take away immigration and we fall below the sustainable fertility rate. Native-born Americans do not have enough babies to sustain our population.

Now I know what you are thinking. Our population keeps rising. Well, that is true. But what keeps the population growing is the improvement in the health of Americans. They are living longer. That means that we are graying. We all know we've got a huge population of baby boomers about to retire and therefore getting ready to collect social security--for longer than the generation that preceded them. Colleges bursting at the seams right now are fixin' (God, I love Texas) to see their enrollments or at least their applicant pools shrink when its current wave has rolled through. Eventually, we'll start dying and our population will begin to fall. Who will pay for social security? Who will fill our universities? Who will drive our economy? Do we want to end up like Russia, where the population drops by 700,000 people per year and where women are paid $9000 to have a child? Desperate times.

Meanwhile, to our south, is Mexico, whose birthrate is currently at 2.4, though even that is expected to drop below the replacement level of 2.1 fifteen years after ours does. So do we want to turn the 12 million back and slam the door shut or do we want to legalize those who are here? Do we find out who they are, educate them, collect more taxes from them (in addition to the billions they pay already--including into social security, which they currently cannot collect), allow them to continue sending remittances home, shoring up the economy of our neighbor and thereby truly improving our security?

What's the next step? Well we currently allow only 65,000 work visas to skilled workers, such as engineers, per year, though last year 120,000 people applied on the 1st day of the application period and despite the fact that major tech employers are now setting up facilities in Canada and taking all the related jobs that go with them and could be filled by Americans should they keep the facilities here, because they can't get their people into this country. There are only 5000 visas available annually to unskilled workers--our excess demand--485,000 workers annually. What does that mean? Well, already many of the California farmers who have not been able to get the needed workers to harvest their crops over the last couple of seasons are moving their operations to Mexico. What does that mean? Well, our groceries have to get trucked back to us and small Mexican farmers are in trouble--hurting their economy and displacing more people.

What's the next step? Up the visa numbers to reflect the need. Let it float. Streamline it. Let legalized workers come and go home when they are done. Tax their wages. Not so many people will bring their families along to stay if they can come and go without fear. It will be interesting to see what happens if our unemployment rate continues to rise. Will this be the first time that we don't see Mexican workers heading back to Mexico when times are tougher in this country, because they are afraid they won't be able to get back and because the lives of their entire families is now rooted on this side of the border?

Of course there are humanitarian arguments for immigration reform, but those afraid of job loss and the collapse of our economy need to hear the economic argument. We are lucky. People want to come here. And we have a lot of experience in assimilating large immigrant populations. It takes time, but it can be done. Let's not wait until we become like the Japanese.

Yesterday Reuters, in an article "Japan Must Boost Immigration--Ruling Party Panel", reported that in Japan, a small island nation with a highly homogeneous population with no history of assimilating anyone the ruling party has come to the conclusion that they may need to stimulate immigration to their country to equal as much as 10% of their population if they want to save their economy. Their fertility rate? 1.22 (source CIA World Factbook).

Joining hands at the Texas Democratic Convention: Let's Turn Texas Blue, ya'll!!!!

One of the vendors at last weekend's Texas Democratic Convention was selling t-shirts that read: I survived the 2008 Texas Democratic Convention. But despite the marathon hours we kept, I have to say that I did far more than survive--I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Grant it, I am quite the wonk, but I found the mood to be overall, very positive and the process, while admittedly slow, to be fascinating.

What I am most happy to report, will be bad news to any of the Republicans who were hoping that the Obama and Clinton activists would not be able to come together and commit to working towards the common goal of electing a Democrat to the White House in November. Certainly, there were a lot of disappointed Hillary supporters, but throughout the weekend there were numerous displays of party unity, including a moment in which all the delegates on the floor, be they pledged for Obama or for Clinton joined hands in a rather hokey, but heart-warming show of mutual support.

Additionally, there was great emphasis on down-ticket races. We heard from Rick Noriega, candidate for the U.S. Senate, who, with an energized Democratic electorate, has a real chance at ousting that bane of our existence, Senator Cornyn, in the fall.We also heard from a number of candidates who could help tip the balance for a Democratically controlled Texas State House. I was pleased to personally speak with Brian Ruiz, candidate for US House of Representatives, and Diana Maldonado, candidate for State House District 52, and was impressed with both of them.

Of course, this is the Democratic Party, so we were not without our divisions. There was even a move to unseat the current Texas Democratic Chairman, Boyd Richie. It failed and many dedicated Democrats differed with his leadership, but in this year, with so much on the line, disappointment quickly moved to acceptance of the vote and we moved forward. We are going to work with what we've got this year--and you know what? We've got a lot of good people with whom to work.

The Convention Chair, Austin's own, Kirk Watson, showed humor and grace in overseeing an immense, and potentially overwhelming sea of delegates and alternates. His star is on the rise. And when I say a sea of delegates, that is what I mean. While this was my first trip to the state convention, veteran party activists impressed upon me many times that the sheer size of this convention was much larger than any before it.

We also heard from nationally recognized Dems. The one with the largest celeb factor was definitely Chelsea Clinton, who received a standing ovation for her speech announcing her mother's support for Obama the night before Clinton's own eloquent and gracious words. Also of note was Governor Kaine of Virginia, who gave a ringing endorsement of Barack Obama. Virginia is poised to run blue in November. Kaine's speech was not the most energizing of the weekend, but should be noted that a large portion was delivered in Spanish. Obviously, it would be nice to get as many older Hispanics on board (many of the younger generations have already come out in support of Barack). Hopefully, a combination of Hillary's call for party unity and ongoing displays of their value by other national Obama supporters will melt their doubts and lead them to get out the vote for our nominee this fall.

Back home, I have received a barrage of emails from members of the Williamson County Delegation--mostly positive, some a bit whiny about lost races for committee appointments and national delegate slots, but mostly positive. Even the whiny ones were positive in the sense that people care. A couple were very positive, because they made suggestions on how we could better organize in the future. Those are the only ones I care about, because what's done is done and we need to be as affective as possible going forward. Most importantly, I believe is the need to impress upon those who run for the delegate position that the convention is what it is-long, wonkish and involves a lot of sitting around. Some left before important votes were taken, and that should never happen again. It is an honor to represent your precint(s) and it should not be taken lightly. We'll have to make sure that people are informed and understand what they are signing up for. But you know, we're Democrats, so nothing is ever going to be too pretty.

Stay tuned for tomorrow when I report on my take on the caucus for "Immigration and the Economy".

Just touching base--and thank you, Mr. Bush for stepping in the shit in Israel.

Good grief! Where do we begin? So much has happened since I last blogged--Kentucky went big for Clinton; Obama won handily in Oregon; Clinton stuck her foot in her mouth with the RFK assassination comment; the media blew the comment out of all proportion. But, all this is small potatoes next to Bush's reprehensible speech to the Israeli Parliament's damaging and hypocritical enthusiastic response to our President's comments. What the hell was he thinking? Then the Israelis went and gave him rousing ovation. Besides the fact that Bush should have learned from the Dixie Chicks, that you don't disparage domestic political figures abroad, you also don't just throw around mentions of Adolf Hitler willy-nilly--in of all places Israel or imply that people who would use diplomacy with other Middle Eastern players are equivalent to those who would have "appeased" the leader of the Nazis. You especially don't do this when members of your own cabinet, including Secretary Gates advocate the same policy. Can we please move this guy out of the White House now?

What else? Then Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with a brain tumor; another crazy pastor embarrassed Obama by sounded off at Trinity in Chicago; and President Bush's former press secretary decided to hang all his former boss' dirty laundry out to dry in a scathing new tell-all. Yesterday, the Democratic Party's Rule Committee showed the country just how messy democracy can get--live on CNN, deciding to seat the delegates of Michigan and Florida with half a vote each, and re-allocating the Michigan delegates, sending Ickes into a tirade that makes us wonder if Clinton will take this all the way to the Convention. Of course, she did sweep Puerto Rico--which won't get a say in the Fall, but so what? Meanwhile, Obama quit his church--praise Jesus! We await the final two primaries on Tuesday with bated breath. Will she ever just bow out gracefully--or at all?

I don't even know where to begin.

At the end of the week, I will be heading downtown to the State Democratic Convention. Due to my illness, which still, a month and a half later has me a bit tired, I missed a lot of the meeting and schmoozing and shouting and whining that has been going on in the lead up to choosing out National Delegates and State Committee members. I made it to the last shout-fest at the Georgetown Library in Georgetown, TX, where the Williamson County Delegation attempted to organize and united behind a ticket of candidates (and where I almost suffered permanent hearing loss thanks to the old fart who kept yelling things like "Bullshit" and "Enough already" in it). Judging from the constant stream of babbling email threads I've gotten since then, it was just a lead up to the real showdown at our pre-convention caucus on Friday. I'm thinking the National Rules Committee's got nothing on Williamson County Texas. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Meanwhile, I'm still holding on to a glimmer of hope that Obama will tap Biden for VP.

Just touching base. Talk to y'all soon.

Obama--a map to a higher plain of government

Well, looks like Democrats have looked past Reverend Wrong, I mean Wright and positioned Barack Obama to capture the Democratic nomination for President. Of course, Hillary will not go easily. Immediately after the week's two contests, she was off to West Virginia for a campaign rally in my grandmother's home town of Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Her remarks later in the week saying that her base included whites and, specifically hard-working whites, were not helpful. Does that mean that more educated whites don't work hard? Does that mean blacks don't work hard? What does that mean?
I'm not going to go crazy and call Hillary a racist or accuse her of class warfare, but Obama has been very restrained after what Hillary did with the "bitter" remark. We need to unite the Party. But, you know what, after this week, I think we have every reason to be optimistic about the Party coming together in the Fall. And Barack is on the right track--focusing on McCain, not pandering, not playing tit for tat and irritating the Clinton base.
Just as interesting and just as promising, the Democrats have won special Congressional elections this week in traditionally Republican districts, and may even win an upcoming election in a Mississippi district that has been redder than red for decades. This bodes well for Democrats, who need wider Democratic margins in Congress if either a President Obama or a President Clinton, will need support to get either of their platforms implemented.
What we, as Democrats, must do is resist the urge to arrogantly grind this win in the Republicans' faces and follow Obama's lead of just getting about the business of the country. If we can do that, we will stay in power and change the face of American government well into the 21st century. If we can't, we could become drunk with power and end up eating crow, just like the Republicans look to be doing right now.

Jeremiah Wright: If he's right, we're wrong.

While I have been sick for the last couple of weeks, I was not so down and out that I missed the Jeremiah Wright debacle. My father thinks he's a megalomaniac. A lot of Americans--particularly white Americans think he is scary and, sadly for some, by association, so is Barack Obama.

Me, what's my take? I think he is a fossil. A fossil with a big spot-light. A scared fossil. What's a fossil? A dinosaur bone? No, not in this case. It is a person whose thoughts, views and attitude has frozen in time. Often times people of great intellect, who are used to being one of the smartest in the room, can get so wrapped up in their own view of the World, that they come to the conclusion, not consciously, but they come to the conclusion that they have got things figured out. Sometimes, people who are not so bright, come to the same conclusion, but these people are just sad. It is the smart, charismatic fossils, like Wright, who are dangerous. Why? Because people get used to listening to them. They weave a good argument--and you know what for a time--they were right--or at least on to something.

Then what happens? They surround themselves with people who want to hear them. They continue to seek out material to support their views. They think they're right, so why go out and read opposing views?--Obviously those who disagree must be wrong-headed or, perhaps, in Jeremiah Wright's case racist or revisionist--someone who would deny history or its relevance to the modern day society.

But the thing about modern day society is this--every day it is more modern and it some point if you don't continue to evolve with it, you fossilize and you become a characterization of yourself. To bolster your beliefs, and in order to not lose your relevancy, you may start grasping at even more desperate and divisive self-justifying theories or rhetoric. You might become a Jeremiah Wright. Evolve or die.

What happens if Barack Obama becomes the first ever black President of the United States? Wright's fossil will get buried under so many layers of bedrock that no light will ever reach it. If Barack Obama becomes the first ever black President, Wright's call for fight and self-reliance in the face of the racist, dominant society will be rendered far less relevant, because a black man will be the numero uno, top banana, Commander in Chief, first citizen, head dog of our society.

But if Wright can scare the shit out of us white folk--If he can prove that we paint all black folk with the same tainted brush, if he can prove we are all racists who will be unable to tell the difference between Barack Obama and his raving pastor--if he Jeremiah Wright can destroy Barack Obama's bid for the Democratic nomination--then he, Jeremiah Wright is not a fossil. In his own mind, at least, he is a prophet.

My dad is right. This guy is a megalomaniac. Let me be right, too. Help bury this fossil. If you were for Obama before Jeremiah Wright, you need to stick with him. You need to be for Obama now, because if you bestow relevance on this ranting, self-righteous hate-monger, you prove him right. Bury him. Bury him. Vote Obama, people. Because if Jeremiah Wright is right--we're the ones who are wrong.

I long for food poisening in Peru--My little view of health care Stateside

Where have I been of late? Sick. Not the sniffles, mind you--sick. The real deal. Actually, as I write this, a full 17 days since the initial onset of the headache, a full 16 days since I left school early, because I couldn't push myself to finish the day, I am still running low fevers at night and I am still weak and dizzy when I stand. Monday, come Hell or high water, I will go back to work for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Monday is Cinco de Mayo, and my folklorico dancers will be performing four shows--two of which will require me to drive them to the venue in a nearby town. Secondly, my students have been without a real teacher for too long and I hate the thought of them falling behind because of me. Thirdly, I am going insane. For more than two weeks my main function in life has been keeping my bed from levitating. At least, though I can finally sit up for long periods of time and look at the computer screen without getting a debilitating headache, so I'm back to the blog!

Now, the last time I was really, really completely unable to function sick, I was in Peru and got some sort of viral food poisoning while visiting Machu Picchu. I won't share all the details of what was running out of me from both ends, but let's just say--you don't want to know the details.

Once it was clear that I was not going to be shaking this thing, a doctor was summoned to our hotel. She actually made two trips to see me at the hotel and then I was put into a wheelchair and taken by the doctor, her assistant and one of my traveling companions down the steep, winding pedestrian streets to a little two-bed hospital. I was hooked up to IVs, tested and analyzed and monitored the whole day by the actual doctor. I was only left "alone" with the assistant while the doctor went on another hotel visit for another patient.

There was nothing fancy at this hospital, let me tell you. But I was cared for and monitored. My vitals were taken many times throughout the day. No one was rushing me out. At the end of the day, all the travelers in my group (including my students, because I was "leading" a tour), were heading back to Cusco by train. I was given the option of going back with them or staying the night in the hospital and going back the next morning. By then, I was much better, though my body ached from so much retching earlier in the process. I was still very weak. If I wanted to go back to Cusco, how could I even get to the train? There weren't even any cars--much less an ambulance. No problem. I was wheeled/carried in the chair all the way to the train. The bill--including my Gatorades to go? $138.

The next day, I missed the white water rafting. I needed to rest. And I got a massage to get rid of the aches. And I was fine.

Let's contrast that with my current situation. I knew I had been burning the candle at both ends--teaching, the ballet folklorico and its Spring Show, political involvement, not enough sleep--so when I woke up on Thursday, the 16th with a headache, I figured, I had it coming. I took some Ibuprofen and headed into school. The headache improved, but never went away and whenever I leaned down to pick something up, the pressure was incredible. I dragged myself back in on Friday, but soon it was clear, I was not going to make it. Along with the headache were pains in my neck, joints and leg muscles. I went home early. By Sunday, I was in really bad shape. The pain was worse; I was covered in a rash and my fever was up. The urgent care center sent me to the Emergency Room at the local hospital, Seton Northwest, with possible meningitis.

A CAT scan and a spinal tap later, meningitis was ruled out. What a relief. I knew it was so contagious and I thought about the pregnant girl in one of my ESOL classes and how horrible I would have felt if she'd gotten sick. My blood pressure was very low--not too bad if I was lying down, but sitting up or walking, forget about it. Eventually, they got two reasonable readings in a row--they didn't try walking me again--and I was sent home with a prescription for some heavy-duty pain meds. The plus side of the hospital, I got some pain medication via the IV. A few hours of relative bliss.

Then the post-lumbar puncture headache set in on top of all the other pain. Light hurt. I couldn't read. Even reading the medicine bottles hurt. I could barely sit up. Nausea set in--leading to the vomiting of the pain medication. By Tuesday, the pain was even worse. At my regular doctor, I could not make it back to the exam room without a wheelchair. He diagnosed the post-lumbar puncture headache and gave me some anti-nausea medication. Underlying all this, he thought, was just a nasty virus. If I didn't feel better by Wednesday, I was to go back to the emergency room and get a blood patch. Okay. I went home.

By Wednesday, if it was possible, I was actually worse. Not only could I not hold down the pain medication, I was throwing up the anti-nausea drug, so I had no pain medication in my system, at all. Now, I could not even get to the car to go to the hospital. My husband called an ambulance. Back on the IV. Back on the IV pain meds for a brief time. Apparently, sometimes when spinal taps are performed, you loose too much spinal fluid and you loose pressure in your spinal column and around your brain, leading to the extra bad headache I'd been experiencing since my Sunday trip to the hospital. They took blood from my arm and injected it back into the area where they had removed the spinal fluid. This time they didn't even try to get the top number of my blood pressure over 90. It hit 87 once and they sent me home. I wasn't even sitting up.

And, I was told I should drink lots of fluids. Of course, in the hospital, they put a toilet next to my bed, realizing I couldn't walk to the restroom. Somehow, when I got home, I would magically be able to get myself down the hall to the bathroom again and again--after all, I was drinking my fluids.

Once I had been home for half an hour, all the IV meds were out of my system and I was back to Hell. I told myself that either I would die or I would start to get better, because I couldn't take any more pain. The doctor who had performed the blood patch had told my husband to call if he felt I was not doing better or if there were any problems. He called the hospital and was transfered to countless departments and treated like he was bothering people.

Finally, sometime in the middle of the night--or early morning--I started to take a turn for the better. That was not last Wednesday, that was two Wednesdays ago and last night, I was still running a low fever. I've been back to the doctor. I am supposed to go back in two weeks for more blood work. We'll see.

Now I know that in Peru there are millions of desperately poor people who cannot afford health care. I know that the little two-bed hospital I was in didn't have a CAT-scan machine. I know that. But, I was cared for. I wasn't rushed out. My pain was taken into account and mitigated as best as was possible given what was available. Here, in the United States of America, I was rushed through, spit out and made to suffer needlessly. I don't know if my insurance wouldn't have covered any more care. I don't know if they needed my room in ER, but then no one even asked me if I was willing to pay out of pocket for a few more hours on IV pain medication--and trust me, I would have gladly laid in the hallway or a broom closet, for that matter, with the IV in my arm.

No one knows yet, what exactly was initially wrong with me. Best guess, some mysterious virus that attacked my joints and muscles. But, I can't help but feel that I would have gotten over whatever it was faster, if my body was not put through the additional agony and distress of unneeded pain.

How often do we hear stories of people cut loose from care--even mentally ill discharged earlier than would be recommended-- because insurance has run out or doesn't pay for hospitalizations for certain maladies? Everything is so expensive, partly because of the layers of bureaucracy associated with our over-complicated, ever more expensive insurance. But more than that, our system makes you feel like no one cares if you hurt. I know that during this ordeal, there were a few people who did care, but they had very limited contact with me. There was one person to do my blood work, another for the IV, another one pushed my wheel chair. The people with the warm smiles, all disappeared in moments and those on the end of the phone who didn't want to be bothered with my husband's pleas for help replaced them .

It is a sad commentary, when illness in the United States, makes you nastolgic for food poisoning in Peru.

No Child Left Behind--Shit rolls down hill.

I had a conversation this week with a really good math teacher, who is leaving the profession. He hates his job. Those of you who think that "those who can't, teach" ought to look at the White House. My view is "those who can't try to regulate teachers".

You know, I am the first to admit that there are some lazy-ass teachers in this world. And there are some burn-outs and there are some who carry prejudice into their classrooms and have lower expectations for some students than others, but you know, most of us are true professionals working under incredibly difficult circumstances. And from an administration that says that it doesn't believe in regulation, they have no problem regulating public school teachers. We are highly educated people who spend time day in and day out with our students, but we are not allowed to make judgment calls and teach what we think a group of students most needs if it doesn't directly correlate to a standardized test. Tests which test what some faceless person somewhere who has never met our kids decides is the most important thing for them to know in that particular year of their life.

It doesn't matter if the kid has been in our school system for ten years or ten days. It doesn't matter if the kid has spoken English since birth or for one year. It doesn't matter if the kid has been in six schools that year or whether they have been absent more than present. It matters that that kid is sitting in that school on the day of the test. Take away the fact that schools with homogeneous populations, which can implement more one-size fits all solutions are rated the same as schools with diverse populations. Schools with highly mobile populations are rated the same as schools with stable populations. God help the schools with diverse and mobile populations.

And while we, the teachers, are supposed to meet every kid's diverse needs and meet them with individualized lessons, we the teachers--good, bad, dedicated or lump-butts are all rated under the same system and all treated to the same mind-numbing, poorly constructed, under-funded, generic "professional development". The message is that we are not "professional" enough to figure out what we need. Basically, the school districts don't have the funding to give us money to go get what we need. Here in Texas, if we want a masters degree, we pay for it out of our own pockets and in most districts get almost no, if any, pay bump for that degree.

Just like the kids are evaluated, teachers are, too. Shit runs downhill in public schools and shit hits those at the bottom--which would be the classroom. Teachers and students. The evaluations are ridiculous. Besides the obvious problems with the actual tests, in order for the district to cover its butt, they put kids and teachers through a series of "benchmark tests". The rationale we have to listen to is that we can use the statistics to find what areas we really need to highlight in our classes (I guess we can't figure that out on our own), but basically in order for the district to get its stats in order, we need to benchmark every kid--no matter if we already know hands down that that kid is going to pass the test with flying colors. Rather than teach a lesson that will meet a high achieving student at their level and move them forward, we need to spend several days each year not only giving these kids the "real" test, but also testing the test and benchmarking. Is it all the district's fault?--No. They are trying to come up with something to satisfy the State that brought the Nation-- Leave No Child Behind.

Plus, while the public schools are constantly strapped for cash to run any number of meaningful programs--consider how much it must cost to run the TAKS tests (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills). Here is what is involved.

• The tests themselves need to be developed by private firms.
• The tests need to be printed.
• The tests need to be graded.
• "Monitors" are dispatched to schools to pop in and double check security of the tests as they are given--making sure that the teachers walk around the room, for example.
• The district pays people to audit the "security measures", including seat charts of where individual students sat during the test and logs of when the each of the two certified teachers who proctor each testing room have left to go to the bathroom.
• Reports are generated and uploaded to computer software showing which kids missed which questions.
• Generic study guides are printed and bound for general use by every and any student. (Most don't use them.)
  
• Specified study guides are generated, printed and bound for those juniors who did not pass the Exit-Level test the first time around. (Very few use them.)
• Tests are given endlessly until passed--by hook or by crook.

In the meantime, we don't have enough Spanish workbooks.

And the teacher evaluation systems are as inadequate and useless as the student evaluation systems. In our school's model for example, we can be marked down for not have a "specific, measurable objective" posted on our board at the start of class. It should demonstrate "higher learning objectives as demonstrated by Bloom's Taxonomy". Okay, I have one board in my classroom, where I teach three different classes--ESOL I, ESOL II and Spanish I and I, as a professional, feel I should be able to decide how to use my board space--like for teaching. I also teach ballet folklorico in the cafeteria--where there is no board. Now, I have never been called on this--and I try to write my objectives on the board and then erase them and put up new ones (not in folklorico), but whenever we try to get an answer as to why we need to do this, the answers are pretty insulting. Basically it is implied that if we don't write out an objective (and for some reason post it on the board) it indicates that we don't know what we are trying to teach, that we don't have any objectives for our kids, that our kids won't know what we expect of them and that we don't have a plan and that we don't have high expectations for our students.

My folklorico kids--who never see a written objective, perform more than twenty shows a year--both private and public. We just danced a quinceanera yesterday and the week before my competition kids danced a show with the University of Texas dancers without me even having to be there. These kids are pretty professional themselves. My officers read spread sheets and make purchasing decisions. They master not only dance and, choreography skills, but also leadership skills and financial skills that I would put up against those of any number of school administrators--or those of the current occupant of the White House for that matter. Some of these kids come from families where their parents didn't even go to high school. So much for writing objectives on the board or TAKS testing--folklorico--not a TAKS subject.

But the only way I get my folklorico kids to the heights I do is by putting in countless unpaid hours all year around. I put off having my own kids, too, because if I had a baby how could I work the way I do? And what keeps me from helping more kids? Underfunded health care, child care, and the lack of a living wage in this country. I know kids who would like to be in the folklorico program, but they can't rehearse after school, because they are the child care in their house hold for the younger brothers and sisters while their parents work extra jobs to put food on the table and pay for medications. Leave No Child Behind--Not on the cheap we don't. But it is cheaper to blame the teachers.

Parents who are working extra jobs and worrying about where the next meal is coming from or what will happen if they or their children become sick or injured are not likely to be checking homework and taking an active role in their child's school.

It falls on the teachers again and again and then our hands are tied behind our backs. We cannot be the social safety net for the entire Nation, so stop making us the scapegoat. We are not the problem. And neither are our poorest students. If this country wants an educated work force and wants to compete with the rest of the World, we need to get serious. We need to look at what other nations with educated workforces do.

Most of their teachers do NOT teach as many classes per day as our teachers do. Most other countries with educated work forces have universal health care. Most have more child care programs available to their citizens. They take some of these problems off their peoples' plates so they can actually focus on their educations.

Many teachers who come here from other industrialized countries are shocked at what is expected of teachers in this nation and what our workloads are like. Our school actually has a visiting teacher from China, who is amazed at what we have to do--from China. No wonder they are catching up.

Leave No Child Behind? Not on the cheap.

Why are people so fascinated by Obama?

I got an email this week from one of my former students and tennis players from Manor High School, where I taught and coached shortly after I arrived in Texas. She was more than my student, she was my right hand in running my tennis team that first season and continued to work with me for several summers as my "assistant commissioner of tennis" in our summer league. She was responding to the news that I had been elected a delegate to the Texas State Democratic Convention for Obama.

"Okay so I have to say this and don't get mad or anything but I don't get why people are so fascinated by Obama... I understand why republicans would want for him to win the democratic nomination but I don't see why democrats would waste their vote. He seriously is the ticket for Republicans to regain the presidency within 4 yrs.. He has no experience!!! But whatever, its your vote so have fun at the convention... I will stick with Hilary and pray she pulls it out!!!"

Well, good question from someone who I respect and care about. So here goes:

You do realize that traditional "experience" will only take you so far. I'm a gringa from Baltimore, but I direct a very successful ballet folklorico program, because I know how to organize and lead and I work with a gifted choreographer and dedicated student officers. President Lincoln, probably the best president we have ever had, except Washington, had one two-year term in the House of Representatives as far as "experience" in Washington went. Obama looks like a veteran in comparison.

Originally I ranked Clinton above Obama in my choices. If you will remember, I was an active campaigner and contributor to Biden's campaign. By the time Biden dropped out, however, Obama was the only choice for me--this after following the campaign day in and day out extremely closely and watching the reactions of the candidates in many situations.

Besides being a gifted orator and an inspiration to millions of new voters, he handles himself with ease and honesty AND he seems to surround himself not with loyalist hold-overs, but rather with people who are "experienced" in their area, who will speak truth to power, and then-- he actually listens to them and and considers their opinions. I suggest you read Doris Kearns Goodwin's A Team of Rivals about Lincoln's cabinet to see what I mean. People think Obama reminds them of Bobby Kennedy. I think Obama reminds me of Lincoln more than any other President.

Additionally, once the election is won (and Obama consistently does better than Clinton in polls against McCain), we have to govern. If we do not govern well, then the Republicans will be back in power for more than four more years. This is the Democratic moment. We need to seize it and we need to keep all these new Democrats inspired. Unfortunately for Mrs. Clinton, she is married to Bill and she has a shit load of baggage she's still carrying around and will carry right on up the White House steps. Republicans hate her guts. (I don't hate her guts, though I can tell you, as a loyal Democrat, I am still bitter about Bill Clinton waving that finger at me and the entire nation and lying to us after the Super Bowl, when he said he did not have sex with Monica Lewinsky. If he had not brought that into everyone's living room, he would be in a much higher standing with a lot of us.) It doesn't matter if the hate is rational or not. As long as Republicans hate her, then Republican members of the House and Senate are going to have a really hard time voting for her initiatives, because if they piss off their constituent bases at home for "siding" with the Clintons, they are going to be facing primary opponents in their home districts.

On the other side of things, with many independents and even some Republicans interested in Obama and with him bringing sooooo many new people into the process, and with his lack of "experience or baggage" or whatever you want to call it in Washington, it will be much easier politically for Republican legislators to cross lines for key votes.

That is why I am supporting Obama.

And that is before we get into Vietnam vets, like my father, who are supporting Obama, but will go McCain over Clinton in a heartbeat.

Think about it, Chica. But vote your conscience.

So, do that everyone. Vote. It is our right. We need to exercise our vote, because just like the muscles in your body and the connections in your brain, the less they are exercised, the more quickly rights start to slip away.

Whoa..it's getting a little heady. Adventures from the Williamson County, Texas Democratic Convention

Okay friends and neighbors, yesterday, at the Williamson County Democratic Convention, I was elected as my precinct's delegate to the Texas State Democratic Convention in June. I am still a bit in shock, but I am thrilled with the prospect of finding a voice and a way to represent both the Democrats of my historically heavily Republican area and indirectly--my students.

So how the hell did I get there???

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that in addition to teaching, I direct the ballet folklorico program at the high school where I work and that my kids, my dancers, are very close to my heart. Some come from families who have been in this country for generations. Some are first generation Americans. Some are immigrants themselves. Of those, some are here legally and some are illegal, undocumented or whatever the media is calling them these days. To me they are all my kids. Whether their parents went to college or never set foot in a high school they dance together. They work together to fund the program. They compete together. They not only in school, but they represent their school in performances and competitions in the community and beyond. I love them. And when they graduate, having completed everything asked of them by the school system and No Child Left Behind, prepared to further their educations, earned scholarship money and prayed for the college acceptance letters, some of them will be in complete and utter limbo, denied many types of financial aid that they truly need and deserve. They have been here for years. They have learned English. They have been educated in our school system. Their parents have kept our businesses running, our homes roofed, and our offices clean. They have paid a lot of taxes--sales, property--even social security. Their home, their friends, their education and their World is here. They don't have anything to "go back" to. And they believe in Barack Obama.
Forget the black-white divide. Forget the Latinos are all for Hillary. As a teacher, I can't "do politics" at school. If someone asks me who I support or why, I tell them, but I don't talk much politics in my building and with my kids we have business at hand on which to focus, but they knew I was going to my county convention. They knew, because yesterday they had a performance with UT's Folklorico and some other important groups at the MACC (Mexican American Cultural Center) in Austin. Obviously, I couldn't be in two places at once, so I had to tell them when we booked the gig, well if you want to do this, I can't go. So my "capitana" stepped up to take care of the logistics and a parent said she'd be there as an "adult presence" and my kids said, "Don't worry about us, Miss. Go to the Convention".
The night before the convention, I took my competition team to a workshop at UT (University of Texas). It went until 8:30 pm. Then most of us went for a cheap quick meal, and as we laughed and ate tacos and fries, one of the girls asked me exactly what I was going to be doing the next day and who I was supporting. So I told them. And each of them started talking about Barack--about who they knew who voted for him, about how one of the girls' boyfriends, who is not legal himself and so doesn't know if he will ever be able to vote in a U.S. election has a picture of Barack on the inside of the visor of his truck where the mirror should be. By the time I got all of them home and got home myself it was after 11 pm, but I was so fired up for the convention!

The Convention

Okay, now I live in Williamson County, Texas, ya'll. This has been a RED county for quite a long time--definitely for the 9-plus years that I have lived here. I mean, for many positions Republicans ran unopposed, so primary voting has been a pretty quick affair around here. But times, they are a changin'. When my neighbor, an alternate who was upgraded to delegate status, and I pulled up to Stony Point High School, the line of people waiting to register and be credentialed was stringing around the building. The parking lots were full and people were pulling up onto the grass and wedging their cars in any place they could.
We spent a good portion of our first 2 hours in lines. At one point, we were pulled out of the line and seated to hear a speech by the guest speaker, Jim Mattox, a heavy weight in the Texas Democrat Party. Then we were back in line.
There were all kinds of problems stemming from mistakes made at the precinct level by volunteers who had never dealt with caucusing before--because no one had ever shown up. Four of our Obama delegates from my precinct, 239, were not on a list, for example. Each case had to go before the credentials committee--one by one-- to be resolved. Eventually they were. Sometime in the mid-afternoon we were able to ratify our delegates, establish Quorum and get things underway, but not until we elected officers to the convention.
The next hurtle to jump over was that very few people, myself included, really had a grasp of the convention process and almost as few had ever heard of Robert's Rules of Order, so there was a lot of "You must address the chair" and "You are out of order, sir" for the next couple of hours. Some people started to get tired and then there was the handful of "I've got to find something to complain abouters" who had to be heard. But...
it was good. No, it was great, because here, in Williamson County, Texas, was an entire high school gymnasium filled--floor and both sides of bleachers--with Democrats. It was as though we had emerged from a dark night into a light-filled day and had seen for the first time that we were not alone. All the problems, which were resolved, all the confusion, all the delays stemmed from an unimaginable increase in Democratic involvement in the political process in our county. All these people were learning together. All these people now know what the convention is. They know how to make a motion and how to call the question. AND on top of all that, for the first time since I have been here, Texas was getting a real voice in deciding the Presidential nominee of our Democratic Party.
After a hot election for a permanent chair and a slightly cooler one for secretary of the convention, we got to the business of caucusing. Our precinct, 239 was grouped with 394 (no one showed up) and 395, which sent one Obama delegate. A number of us had applied for at-large spots at the State Convention and four of us declared our intention to run for the delegate space from our precincts. We decided each would speak. I was asked to go first and I spoke about my general political experience and then I spoke about my dancers and my desire to be their voice. Another delegate spoke of her attraction to Obama as harkening back to the affection she had held for Robert Kennedy. Another addressed his work as an architect and his concern about the zoning and growth issues facing our portion of Williamson County and finally, the brave Clinton delegate, who had chaired our precinct convention for the Hillary side back on March 4th, spoke of growing up in South Texas and learning to vote Democratic with her mom and of the Clinton's involvement in the economic development of that area of the state. After the vote, it actually came down to a coin toss between myself and the other female Obama delegate. She called it. I won. I will go to the State Convention as delegate and she will go as an alternate.
Back inside the gym, we learned that there was no Democratic Club in Southern Williamson County. We are in a unique situation--part of Austin, but not part of Travis County. In the Round Rock Independent School District, but not in Round Rock--unable to vote in either election, without access to a free library and unsure who can respond to our 911 calls. Several of us, including in a show of Party loyalty, the Clinton delegate and the architect who had just competed with me in the quest for the state delegate spot, decided we needed to get a club off the ground. We collected about 30 names and contact information from delegates in ours and surrounding precincts and have already contacted the County Party for help in our endeavor. Because the convention needs to be a start, and our local Dems need to win right along with the Democratic Presidential Nominee.
The happy insanity dragged on until after mid-night. Just before dinner time, it was announced that those not interested in the resolutions, could go and many did, including most of the our precinct's delegation. I hung in with the architect, who had acted as our precinct chair for the day, and another Obama delegate, who was hoping to be advanced in an at large spot. Not long after, however, questions began to arise as to whether or not quorum would need to be re-established to ratify all (or maybe some would say what little) we had managed to accomplish during the day. Out came the list we had compiled earlier and two of us went to work calling people back--Obama supporter or Clinton, we didn't care. We just called. We talked to a lot of voice mails, got in touch with a few and two or three came back. For naught. When the convention reconvened at 9:45, it had been determined, after checking with the State Party and consulting legal counsel, that once quorum had been established, it could not be broken. Since others had been calling their precinct delegates though, and got some of them back, we probably had quorum, had we counted.
On and on it went--committee reports, votes on challenge rulings, motions for the sake of motions and some thoughtful ones, too. Democracy at its inefficient, messy best.
Just past midnight, we dragged our weary selves out of the gym and into the night--no longer alone. We are Democrats in Williamson County, Texas. The GOP needs to watch out!

A little navel-gazing

Sometimes when I sit down to write my blog, I have a definite plan, a point of view, a specific topic to lay out there for the World. Other times, like today, especially like today, when I haven't had the time or the strength or the whatever to focus and put out something concrete and coherent for more than a month, I sit down at the computer and think to myself, you better just write something or you'll never get the groove back. So here I am --goovin'.

Since last I wrote, I took my competition team to, what else?, competition--the first of two long weekends away with kids and choreographer. I also voted for Obama, caucused for him and finally got myself elected a delegate to the Williamson County Democratic Convention to be held on March 29th. I have contemplated going to some other Democratic events before that, but haven't. I'm tired. I've been on Spring Break for a week now. I have exercised every day and as my body begins to feel again, I have been able to think again--not the frantic, manic, survival think that is my life when I am at school, but the flowers on the trees are beautiful and I'd like a new eyeshadow and which clothes will I give to Goodwill this spring and is my body tired, should I sleep kind of think. Oh, there you are--you still exist kind of think.

Some people find it possible to save the World and still take care of themselves. I start out like that, but then I get lost. In some ways it pays off for me. My folklorico kids gave me my first ever surprise party for my birthday--I turned 36th on March 5th. So at least, I am appreciated. It felt good to be appreciated, but part of me wanted to get out of there. Part of me wanted to disappear. Part of me wanted to just take a nap.

Even as I write this, I am beginning to feel guilty and anxious. There is so much work to be done to make the folklorico what it could be. To make the ESOL program what it should be. To get Obama elected. To save the environment. Do I really think I am going to work out every day? I want to.

Part of the problem is that despite all the rhetoric, nobody wants to really pay for public schools and even when a fair amount is paid it gets eaten up by administration and studies and what you really need is a well-educated, motivated adult for every few kids to give them both the relationship and the push they need to succeed--and it just isn't going to happen. So we have "Community Seminar"--glorified, over-programed advisories to try to meet the needs of every kid, while piling more work on the already over-worked teacher. The teachers and administrators who come up with this stuff are all well-meaning and dedicated, but rarely are they the coaches and sponsors of time-consuming programs, because we have practices and rehearsals during the meeting times. But we are the ones who do what they want done every day--already. Now they give us another group of kids to do it for. I might get pushed over the edge. I try to filter out all the "be more dedicated, gung-ho" stuff, but they make us attend all these "trainings"--no wonder I just want to go to sleep. I just feel more and more that I can't do the job the way I should. I can't run my program, prepare great lessons, mentor 18 kids, who aren't even in my regular classes, be a good wife, cook delicious dinners, work-out, be politically active, recycle, reuse and reduce, meditate, attend mass (don't tell the Pope, because I haven't been since Christmas), appreciate nature, drive dancers home after rehearsal, invest wisely, get my roots done (7:30 am Saturday hair appointment???!!!-yes), maintain friendships, grade chapter tests, prep kids for standardized tests, do laundry and iron, make the bed (sometimes), publish thoughtful blogs, read good literature and stay abreast of the news, while in a good mood and maintaining my once youthful figure (must work out. must work out.) No pressure.

Meanwhile, I hope and pray that Obama can clinch this thing. I am glad that Venezuela and Ecuador didn't go to war with Colombia and that Chavez looks to be running out of steam. I am thankful that while my investment portfolio is losing money--at least I am doing better than Bear Stearns.

The Case for Obama

Clinton or Obama? What are they--like 95% the same when it comes to policy relations? I am a Democrat. I am going to vote for the Democratic nominee, because we need to take back the White House and we need to get affordable health care for every American and we need to form a country that cares--really cares--as in puts our money where our mouths are kind of care--about every American.

Well, folks. Obama is the one who can do it. He is more electable, because all these Republicans who say they'll stay away if McCain is the nominee, will suddenly get religion (no pun intended) and get their butts to the polls rather than let a Clinton--either Clinton back into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

But it is more than that. Not only can he get elected, but he can govern. Yeah, I know Clinton knows the ins and outs of everything, but we don't have a huge majority in the Senate and nothing can get done there without real bi-partisanship. That's just the way it goes. It will not be seen as politically viable for republican senators to join in and support Clinton proposals. It just won't be. They have to go back and face their republican electorates and their republican electorates hate the Clintons. Even if they stay home and Clinton wins the race, the chance of her--and therefore the American people--winning meaningful health care reform or anything else will be slim to none.

Meanwhile, there are actual Republicans and once upon a time conservatives who are actually coming around to Obama. Don't take my word for it. Here is post from the Huffington Post written by Frank Schaeffer, a conservative author, whose father was one of the founders of the Religious Right movement.

Why I'm Pro-life and Pro-Obama

Posted February 7, 2008 | 10:46 PM (EST)

---

I am an Obama supporter. I am also pro-life. In fact, without my family's involvement the pro-life movement it would not exist as we know it. Evangelicals weren't politicized until after my late father and evangelical leader Francis Schaeffer, Dr. Koop (Reagan's soon-to-be Surgeon General) and I stirred them up over the issue of abortion in the mid-1970s. Our Whatever Happened to the Human Race? book, movie series and seminars brought the evangelicals into the pro-life movement.

(Dad's political influence persists. Last week one of my father's followers -- Mike Huckabee -- was interviewed by Katie Couric, along with all the other presidential candidates. Couric asked the candidates if they were to be sent to a desert island and could only take one book besides the Bible, what would that that book be? Huckabee answered that he'd take my father's book Whatever Happened To The Human Race?)

Fast forward...

In 2000, we elected a president who claimed he believed God created the earth and who, as president, put car manufacturers and oil company's interests ahead of caring for that creation. We elected a pro-life Republican Congress that did nothing to actually care for pregnant women and babies. And they took their sincere evangelical followers for granted, and played them for suckers.

The so-called evangelical leadership -- Dobson, Robertson et al. also played the pro-life community for suckers. While thousands of men and women in the crisis pregnancy movement gave of themselves to help women and babies, their evangelical "leaders" did little more than cash in on fundraising opportunities and represent themselves as power-brokers to the craven politicians willing to kowtow to them.

Fast forward...

Today when I listen to Obama speak (and to his remarkable wife, Michelle) what I hear is a world view that actually nurtures life. Obama is trying to lead this country to a place where the intrinsic worth of each individual is celebrated. A leader who believes in hope, the future, trying to save our planet and providing a just and good life for everyone is someone who is actually pro-life.

Conversely the "pro-life" ethic of George W. Bush manifested itself in a series of squandered opportunities to call us to our better natures. After 9/11, Bush told most Americans to go shopping while saddling the few who volunteered for military service with endless tours of duty (something I know a little about since my son was a Marine and deployed several times). The Bush doctrine of life was expressed by starting an unnecessary war in Iraq that has killed thousands of Americans and wounded tens of thousands more.

The society that Obama is calling us to sacrifice for is a place wherein life would be valued not just talked about. As he said in his speech delivered on February 6 in New Orleans, "Too often, we lose our sense of common destiny; that understanding that we are all tied together; that when a woman has less than nothing in this country, that makes us all poorer." Obama was talking about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but his words also apply to our overall view of ourselves.

Regardless of the official position of the Supreme Court on abortion, a country in which all Americans are offered some sort of dignity and hopeful future would be a place conducive to the kind of optimism each of us must hold in our hearts if we are to welcome children into this world. But if our highest aspiration is to be a consumer with no thought or care for our neighbor, we will remain a culture in which abortion is not only inevitable but logical.

What we need in America is a spiritual rebirth, a turning away from the false value of consumerism and utilitarianism that have trumped every aspect of human life. To implement this vision we need leaders that inspire but to do so they have to be what they say they are. It's not about policy it's about character.

Obama's rivals for the nomination -- the Clintons -- do not inspire. When the Clintons were in the White House they talked about humane values while Bill Clinton betrayed every single person who voted for him by carrying on an unseemly sexual dalliance in the Oval Office with a young woman barely out of her teens. Since that time the Clintons have enriched themselves through their connections to a point where they're able to make a $5 million personal loan to their campaign.

For someone who says she has spent "the last 35 years of my life as an advocate for children" and/or "fighting for healthcare" that's a lot of money to have collected through doing good works. Presidential Mother Teresa wannabes shouldn't be doing deals with uranium mining outfits in Kazakhstan while schmoozing with the likes of President Nursultan Nazarbayev and wealthy mining magnates, not if they want the moral authority to lead.

Similarly the Republicans have also been hypocrites while talking big, for instance about their pro-life ethic. But what have they achieved? First, through their puritanical war on sex education they've hindered our country from actually preventing unwanted pregnancy. Second, through the Republican Party's marriage to the greediest and most polluting earth-destroying corporations they've created a climate (both moral and physical) that has scorched the earth for-profit, with no regard to future generations whatsoever. The Republicans are to the pro-life movement what the Clintons are to selfless public service.

The real solution to abortion is to change the heart of America, not the law. We need to stop seeing ourselves as consumers. We need to stop seeing ourselves as me and begin to think of we. Our country needs someone to show us a better way, a president who is what he seems, someone with actual moral authority that our diverse population can believe in who has the qualities that make us want to follow him. Obama is that person.

Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of "CRAZY FOR GOD-How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back"

I think what this post is saying is that people want to believe and be inspired again. Obama inspires people--lots of people. Not just raving liberals, like me. He is positive. I might have agreed with much of what Edwards was saying, but he seemed angry. He seemed to say it was time for one group to finally get theirs--at the expense of someone else. I might like Clintons' fight and her stance on the issues, but I can recognize her polarizing affect on the country--and the country has been polarized for far too long.

Come on, people. Get on the Obama train! Let's ride it into the future.

Hope lives!!! Bill, get the *%#@! out of the way!

God bless South Carolina! Barack Obama's big win there was so incredibly gratifying. The Clintons' antics leading up to the vote were so divisive and cynical. It was so disheartening for me as a Democrat--so destructive to the party. But, Barack took it by such an enormous margin--more than Clinton and Edwards combined, that it was a clear signal that the Democrats are not having it this time around. We want to believe. And now Caroline Kennedy has come out and endorsed him as being the first candidate to inspire so much hope for the future of this country, especially in the younger generations, since her own father! Hope lives!

It seems that the Clinton campaign strategy was to wheel Bill out and let him play the heavy, sow the seeds of negativity and distrust, while letting Hillary rise above the fray. Why, she has looked positively giddy through this last week--smiling more broadly the uglier things got around her. They tried to make Barack into the "black" candidate instead of a candidate who was black. It was as though he wanted to scare whites and discourage the new voters coming into this thing full of optimism to stay home. Looking forward to Super Tuesday and big states like California, there were cynical under currents to exploit black-hispanic tensions, too. (My hope is he will emphasize his father's immigrant history to quell any fears there that may have unfairly been raised.) Hillary pulled out the "slumlord" charge at the debate. And Barack got mad--rightfully so. It won't stick to Barack, because no one thinks he has the kind of character to enter into something so unethical, much less criminal --in contrast to the Clintons. Anyone who has been in politics in any level for any length of time is going to rub shoulders with unsavory people who are out for themselves. But no one is buying that Obama is "pro-slumlord". The only thing that the Clintons managed to do was to strengthen his backbone for the general. For that, and that only--I say thanks. For the sake of the Democratic Party, I hope Hillary can keep Bill on a shorter leash. One Clinton is enough.

Back in 1991, when Bill Clinton was way down in the democratic polls, I read a full-page table in the Washington Post that outlined the positions of all the Democratic hopefuls. I remember thinking. I agree most with this guy Bill Clinton, but who the hell is he? Governor of Arkansas? Eventually, in 1992, I voted for him in both the primary and by absentee ballot from Sao Paulo, Brazil in the general election. I have a picture of myself in a Clinton-Gore t-shirt on the balcony of my apartment, with the enormity of South America's largest city spread out behind me. I was so proud.

Fast forward through White Water, Trave lgate, File gate.... File gate was the one that did me in. If the Republicans put up someone not too horrible, I would hold my nose and vote their way. Dole. Not the most conservative ever. Old as dirt--likely to last in that office for only one term, I thought. I held my nose and pulled the lever for a Republican. I almost vomited, but I did it. I know there were people in the Gingrich gang who were digging like crazy. I didn't know what was what, but something smelled real bad in the White House. As a Democrat, I thought...something is going to blow up if there is a second term. Give Dole four years and then let's work like hell to capture the flag again.

Did I think "blow up" meant a blow job. Uh--no. I didn't see that coming. I mean--was this a bad political satire? When Bill Clinton wagged his finger in my face after the Super Bowl and said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman", I believed him. And I was ready to defend him. I was pissed. I couldn't believe I had voted for a Republican.

When the truth came out, though, I wanted him to resign. Some of my Democratic friends could not believe it. Some of my Republican friends could not believe it. But my reasoning was this-- 1. It was a horrible distraction for this country. 2. What kind of judgment or self control did this guy have? He knew the Republicans were looking for anything on him, so how could he have been so reckless? 3. Gore was perfectly capable of finishing out the term and would be in better place to be elected under the shadow of his own leadership then from under the shadow of Monica's blue dress.

Then the idiot Republicans over-reached and went through the whole impeachment exercise and I had to say they were back to being the more destructive force in Washington. No one would take the higher road. No one.

I was not defending Clinton. He had been a selfish, egotistical, dishonest shit bag. His marital fidelity (or lack there of) was between he and his wife, but when he wagged his finger at me and the rest of American and asked us to believe in him-- he crossed a line with me that he can never recross. The only thing that brought me back to a cautious, tepid support was that the Republicans became even more repugnant than Clinton. It was a race to the bottom and in my mind the Republicans won--or lost--however you see it. And they've pretty much stayed down and dirty ever since.

Enter stage left the hopeful, charismatic new comer--Barack Obama. If you are worried if he's got any substance to back up the glow, read The Audacity of Hope. The man has got a mind and a heart to lead this nation. Plus he is humble enough to ask for quality help and open-minded enough to surround himself with differing opinions. He is the real deal. So, Bill, get the *%#@! out of the way.

Hot Damn! We got ourselves a race! But it's gettin' ugly.

Well, I for one am extremely happy that we have a real race for both the Democratic and the Republican nominations this year. There may be hope for our democracy, after all. As the horses left the gate there were a lot more Democratic spectators actually getting themselves to the track and placing their bets, but there was still a high turn out on the Republican side, as well. Now that the "horses" have rounded the first turn, and a few horses have fallen back, but none has taken a commanding lead, voters are started to press the rails for a closer look. It is getting interesting--and in some cases ugly.

Bill Clinton, for instance, is out of control as far as I am concerned. I admire what he was able to do for our country. But the guy has to get out of the way. His temper is not helping the Democratic Party. His rants about Obama not getting enough negative press, his accusations of voter suppression in Nevada, his branding of Obama's Iraq policy as a "fairytale" is all getting to be a bit much. Who of any substance is going to want to be Hillary's vice president? It is as though Bill sees this election as a referendum on his legacy instead of a decision on the best course for our future as a nation. As much as a I fault the Republican organization for their near constant assault on the Clinton White House, and as much as I think the impeachment of our President over a lie about his sex life was inexcusable, I also fault Clinton himself for allowing it to come to that. I will never forget the betrayal I felt for believing President Clinton when he came on TV after the Super Bowl and wagged his finger at me and millions of Americans and said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky." Bill Clinton needs to get out of the way and Hillary needs to push him.

Meanwhile, I have been reading Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope, and I am finding it to be much more substantive than I expected it to be. I am pleased. The moment in the debate last week, in which each of the three Democratic candidates was asked to share their biggest weakness was extremely enlightening. Obama was the only one of the three who really stated a weakness. He said he was disorganized with paperwork and that his desk was a mess. Rather than really address any weakness she might have, Clinton jumped on Obama and made the point that the President of the United States has to be able to organize and lead a large government. She came back to this point many times, but let's be real folks. The President of the United States will have a secretary to look after his filing system. Of course, the next President will have to be organized in his thinking and have to oversee a huge bureaucracy, but he also needs to have big, uniting ideas to put this country back on the right course. By the end of the night, I was ready to nominate Hillary as Obama's Chief of Staff.

Today, on the eve of Martin Luther King Day, Obama gave an incredible speech in Atlanta. The speech spoke of a need for unity in both speech and in deed. It was extremely powerful and hopeful.
Click here to see this amazing speech. Recently, however, some of Barack Obama's supporters have taken to accusing the Clinton's of being racist or of down-playing the importance of Martin Luther King, himself. Self-serving the Cintons might be, but racists, I don't think so. This is going to be a real race and Democrats can not be in the business of alienating either Obama's or Clinton's supporters, because they may really need them in the fall.

On the Republican side each contests seems to bring a new line-up at the finish line. Of course, Romney has won more than the others, but for the amount of money he's throw around... Not getting much of a bang for the buck. It's wide open. Even Giuliani hasn't been counted out and he hasn't come close to winning anything, but with his eggs in Florida's basket, and Super Tuesday just beyond, who knows? Huckabee has made quite a showing far less resources than the Romney machine--mostly by being genuine and mentioning Jesus and actually meaning it.

The biggest surprise of all is McCain's resurgence in the polls. He needed the win in South Carolina and he got it. He was counted out months ago and now is coming back. I really think that he is the one that Democrats should fear most. He speaks truth to power and he draws independent voters. Watch out. I myself was a fan of McCain before he started budding up to the same evangelical extremists he had originally denounced as damaging to the party a few years back. But recently he has done some things that really make me think that he may be back to his old self again--seen the error of his ways. He went to South Carolina and announced that he regretted not having spoken out against their flag, which incorporates the cross of the Confederacy, which many see as a divisive symbol -- a constant reminder of a time when blacks were enslaved and later segregated from much of this nation's civic life. I believe Democrats should view him as the most dangerous of the Republicans in their quest to recapture the White House.

In the meantime, Mayor Bloomberg of New York has been down here in Texas and out in California--making the political rounds. I doubt he will step into the race as an independent if McCain wins the Republican nomination, but look for him to seriously consider a run if Huckabee or Guiliani get the nod--especially if they end up being pitted against Clinton. Obama is more widely seen as appealing to independents. Mrs. Clinton is not. How many will be willing to change horses mid-stream? This race is going to get very interesting.

Who will endorse who? Who will be asked to join the tickets in the number two spot? Many things could affect the course of this contest. Currently, the economy is surging as a major issue for the electorate, but there are so many powder kegs around the World that one match could easily set any number of international conflicts ablaze. At least on the Republican side, we can expect to see a couple more jockeys thrown from their mounts and if Edwards comes up lame, and it looks like he might, where will his supporters put their money? He either makes it around the turn in South Carolina or his race is all but over.

The mud is flying and so is the money. There is no safe bet. And the odds keep changing. Could we actually go all the way to the conventions??? That's the political equivalent to a photo finish. And then we'll be off again.

You know, I am disappointed that Biden is not still in the chase. I hold open the hope that Obama will choose him as a vice presidential running mate. I think the two would complement each other nicely on several levels, but whatever happens one thing is sure, the electorate has become more involved than it has been in quite some time. I am pleasantly surprised that pundits were wrong about the front-loading of the election cycle. Many said that it would mean that the eventual nominees would be known even sooner than usual. Almost all agreed that money and establishment organizations would rule the day. But that has not been the case.

Huckabee won Iowa with little cash. Obama has won contests and been competitive in others despite Hillary Clinton's establishment machine. In Nevada, though Obama came in second in the popular vote at the caucuses, he managed to collect one more delegate than Clinton, and she had the former President and the son of the Democratic Majority Leader fighting for her hard in that state. Will we make it all the way to the convention without a nominee in either party? Maybe not, but maybe so. And who'd of thunk it? And when the winners get ready for the photo-op in the winner's circle, will Bloomberg be there to steal the trophy. I don't know race fans, but hold on to those tickets. No pay outs until it's official.