Help Afghanistan? Really?

I could buy that we needed to be in Afghanistan to "root out the terrorists". I could buy that we were doing good things there. But if Karzai doesn't buy any of that, and in fact, comes close to calling the U.S. "invaders", then it is time to leave.

We cannot responsibly pull up the tent stakes and Humvees precipitously, but we sure as hell can start to move out. The U.S. has always said that we don't want to be where we are not wanted. I assume that only means allies, and not enemies. But now I am not sure that this "ally" wants our help. We certainly could use the money it would save. And there are other ways to get to the terrorists (just ask Cheney). Oh, did I mention that Al-Qaeda is mainly in Pakistan anyway?

Let begin the pullout now; let's get the Navy team over to haul back our materiel and let's get the Air Force to fly our troops home to their families. When an ally calls us invaders, it is beyond time to go.

Pray for Congress

Whether you are for the President's health care plan or not, you should be appalled at the rotten sausage making that appears to be going through the grinder this week.

Using the "deem and pass" exception to keep from voting directly on the Senate bill seems cowardly at best, and bordering on constitutional blasphemy at worst. I won't argue the legality here, but surely the founding fathers never intended for very important and large pieces of legislation to be "passed" in this way.

I have agreed that health care needs revamping, and have even come to believe that every American of every class deserves at least basic health care. Most of this belief comes from the proven fact that people without insurance can certainly get at least urgent treatment at hospitals without having the means to pay. So the rest of us are all are paying anyway, so let's develop a system that works for all. I know full well that taxpayers will have to cover most of the costs, but covering the premiums seems cheaper than paying the entire bill.

Congress has gotten so far off track - both sides - that I think they actually believe what they are doing is right and ordained. Someone, or better yet, many of them, should form the Gang of 100 or whatever, and be actual statesmen and stateswoman, and work to save the Republic, not their own behinds. Wishful thinking? I hope not.

Crazy Weather

The hue and cry over global warming seems to be waning now, but the newer phrase, climate change, may gain more purchase with the weird weather of the last year.

Earthquakes in three countries within months aside, the tornadoes in Florida, incessant blizzards along the east coast, snow-melting warmth in Vancouver, and near record rains in the Arizona desert are just a few of the wacky things that can't be ignored.

I think we had more rain in Arizona desert than in the Everglades. There was snow in 49 states one week last month. Floods and mudslides are becoming more prevalent.

At least talking about the weather these days is not just a weak conversation starter.

A Cherry, Cherry Christmas

Living in Arizona for the winter has its benefits. However, at Christmas time, we begin to wish we could see snow (not feel the cold or drive on the ice!). We turn on our Christmas carol radio stations, and even have downloaded all our favorites holiday songs to my new iPod Touch.

Although there are many of the new generation of singers who put out Christmas albums, we still prefer the old standards, especially White Christmas, written by Irving Berlin, and sung by Bing Crosby. No other version can top that one, but I have many other versions downloaded for variety.

This year we got an early Christmas gift from friends: Neil Diamond's latest, A Cherry, Cherry, Christmas. Always fans of Neil, we loved the new album. My wife said, "Isn't he Jewish?", to which I replied, "So is Irving Berlin" who wrote the quintessential Christmas song. No matter, I thought as I mentally went through my list of Christmas songs I had downloaded. I had picked one from Barry Manilow, a couple from Barbra Streisand, and one for Carly Simon. Today I probably will download a few new ones from good Old Bob Dylan, and maybe even Bette Midler.

I might even pick up a few from Kenny G, with his wailing sax.

You might have guessed the theme here by now. All of these great Christmas "carolers" are Jewish! Isn't that great that Christmas itself transcends religion with these folks? My next blog will be about all the Christian singers who have done Hanukkah albums.

Merry Christmas to all.

All's Fair in Love and War

A couple of weeks ago I was amused reading that the Taliban and possibly other insurgents in Al-Qaeda's mold were complaining that the U.S. was not fighting a fair war. Their main complaint was that our military was using unmanned drones to attack hideouts and other suspected terrorist nests. They didn't seem to like the remotely driven little "bees" buzzing around their people with close to complete impunity.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, how is that for pure irony? The terrorists fight a war against civilians, they target non-military sites, they use women and children to carry their homicide bombs, they wear no country's uniform, and they fight a guerrilla war -not in jungles but in cities full of innocents. And the U.S. is unfairly using unmanned drones? I have no answer for that.

Movie Commentary - Precious

Besides the obvious "must-see" and "Oscar-worthy" appellations that go with good flicks, this film is one to reflect on. A young Black girl, with all the problems of poverty, incest, illiteracy, and then some, takes the viewer on a gut-wrenching tour of her life.

It would be easy to dismiss this movie as just fiction, but the only fiction is that it is not one true story. It is, rather, a composite of true stories in the poor Black experience.

Children are passed on to the next class in school without being able to read, write a cogent paragraph, or add a simple list. Teachers either do not want to deal with the same student again, or fear being thought racist. Poor children are, more often than others, subject to earlier sex, whether it be incest or with strangers. Food and other resources are often scarce and the whole family, or the whole culture, acts more like "hunter-gatherers" spending an inordinate amount of the day seeking the bare essentials of life. Changing homes as often as the middle-class changes its sheets, it is illustrative that Blacks often ask "Where do you stay?" instead of "Where do you live?"

Precious is one film that should be seen not only by middle class white white folk so they can at least see the grinding existence of our poorest citizens, but also by those of the poorer classes so they can see the universality of their experience and learn, just maybe, how to get out from under that repressive way of life.

No one in America should live as Precious does, especially children who have no choice at all. Sometimes it is not enough for those of us who are in better straits to cluck our tongues and say, "You must take responsibility for your own actions." A true statement, for sure, but it does not always apply to those who are children or those who are not given the slightest help to even point them in the right direction. Children learn this existence and it becomes ingrained despite what they might see on TV. And then more children are born, and the dreary saga continues to the next generation.

There is no one answer, heck, there are no one hundred answers, but there are answers, both internal and external. Every one of us has to figure out our part of the solution to make the American Dream as least a reachable possibility. Think about it.

Tiger's Roar is Muted

The truth could hardly be more bizarre than the ideas people (and tabloids) come up with about what happened at Tiger Woods mansion in Florida last week. Now we know that it wasn't just a simple accident that triggered the golfer's fall from grace. Even if the "accident" had never happened, the dirty secrets would have been revealed in some fashion, total truth or not, in a short while.

The hubris of Woods and others in high places is still amazing. That they think they can flaunt "the rules" with impunity forever is beyond belief. Yet one by one these celebs - whether political, sports world, or Hollywood - each fail to grasp the meaning of that old adage, "two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead."

Tiger will recover some of his luster from this current circus, but his image will be forever tarnished in most peoples' minds. Years from now, when the casual observer sees Tiger, he or she will recall the marital infidelity in an instant no matter what he has done from that time (or will recall worse if we haven't heard the whole story yet, and it is a good bet we haven't). Most people over 30 today cannot look at Bill Clinton without recalling his dirty little alcove secret. Tiger will suffer that same process, although maybe not quite as graphic, even though he won't "see" it.

People will still follow him and "glad hand" him when they can, and extol his golfing prowess, as they should. But the burnished image he really wanted to display to the world, and that his sponsors banked on, is gone forever. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.