Let's All Take a Break

The latest political news has Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama declining public funding for his campaign. He says because of problems with the system, but some political analysts say the reason has more to do with the fact that by declining to participate in public funding, Obama can raise double the $85 million that is the most allowed in the public funding system.

$170 million dollars on a political campaign?

Oh, wait. That is only part of the total to be spent between now and November because on the Republican side, John McCain will raise at least $85 million. So at a minimum, $255 million is going to be spent buying votes. I don't know what you think, but I think that is obscene, especially because that is on top of the millions that have already been spent on the primaries.

I briefly thought I would like to know what the total is that all candidates spent since the primaries began, but decided my blood pressure is better off not knowing.

Here's a novel idea. Why don't we all take a break from politics. Gosh, it's not like we don't know everything we need to know about these candidates after years of the primary campaign.

Okay, it was only one year, but it felt like twenty.

The candidates could take a two month break and rest up for the last big push in September and October. And instead of wasting $255 million dollars, maybe each candidate spends about $10 million in those two months on national advertising.

And in those ads, they can tell us what they are going to do about key issues like the war in Iraq, the budget, health care, global warming, and revamping the political system so it doesn't pander to special interest.

It was once said that anyone could grow up to be president of the United States. Maybe that was true in the late 1800's, but not any more. You have to grow up to be incredibly rich first.

Please Don't Do It, Mr. Obama

Dear Barack,

I hope it's not too forward of me to call you by your given name, but you seem like a friendly sort of guy, and you just might be our next president, here in these good old United States, so I'm confident the familiarity is okay.

First, let me congratulate you on you historic win this week to receive the Democratic Nomination for President. I am pleased that you were able to overcome some of the efforts to smear your name and your reputation via e-mail and the Internet, as well as inferences made because of your association with certain churches and certain pastors. Gosh, when a person throws his or her hat into the political ring all kinds of crap crops up.

Now, to the reason I'm writing. I know there is a huge - as in gargantuan - push for you to chose Hillary as your running mate, and I hope it is not too late for me to ask you please not to do that. There are a number of people who registered to vote and voted for you in the primaries because they DO NOT WANT HILLARY CLINTON OR BILL CLINTON associated with the White House again.

The Clinton Presidency was hardly a stellar one for integrity and morality and a lot of folks don't want to see them back in any position of power.

Beyond the Monica issue, there were so many other instances where they were accused of not conducting business ethically, that they have lost the trust of the American people. At least a lot of the American people I've been talking to.

They, the Clinton's, are like children who have varnished the truth so much, it's hard for a parent to believe anything they say.

Hillary is a smart, and probably very qualified person on many levels for the VP slot, but, as many political analysts are saying, she brings way too much baggage with her. So I'm asking you - pleading with you - not to cave in to the pressure from the media and the party. You have run an amazing campaign with "change" as your cornerstone, so let's really have change.

Why not ask Ron Paul to be your VP? He has a tremendous grass roots support and is a man of incredible integrity. And I think it would be a courageous move on your part to cross party lines and truly do something for the good of the people.

Just something to think about...

Sincerely,
Maryann Miller

Inequities in the Farm Bill

Well, they did it. Congress passed the bloated Farm Bill, President Bush vetoed it, and the Senate overrode the veto. Now they have discovered that Bush vetoed the wrong bill, and the right one will come up for a vote this week. Bush will probably veto it again and the Senate will attempt another override.

So I guess I will go through another few days of wishing that someone would have the good sense to break this bill into components and not have the assistance for the poor in terms of food stamps and food surplus distribution attached to the same bill that gives corporate farmers thousands of dollars that they don’t need.

Oh, they think they need it because the hundreds of thousands of dollars they clear each year just aren’t enough. Compare that with the small family-owned farm that sometimes can’t even feed that family. Where is the help for a farmer who has three bad years in a row and has no capital to buy seed to plant another crop? He can’t even qualify for food stamps because he owns equipment worth thousands of dollars. But even with those assets, the bank won’t lend him any money to get him through the winter until he can try again next spring.

If the government really wanted to help the American farmer and not just the ones rich enough to support the lobby in Washington, the current Farm Bill would be trashed and a new one written. The new one would not allow for a situation where a farm owned by the same family for generations would have to be sold before the farmer’s wife could qualify for Medicare to pay for dialysis. Or another farmer’s home would not have to be mortgaged because the bottom fell out of the pig market just before his were ready to go and he didn’t make enough to pay his feed bill.

Nor would any farmer have to face the ultimate humiliation of not being able to feed his family.

It shouldn’t be happening….

Ignoring the Tragedy is a Tragedy

Every day I scan news sources for “News Bits” to put on the site I manage, WinnsboroToday.com, and I am always dismayed to read yet another instance of some Third World government committing an atrocity against the people they are supposed care enough about to govern.

The most recent is the government of Myanmar, which is really Burma, taking so long to allow aid to reach the victims of the cyclone that ravaged part of the country on May 4^th. Millions of people have been displaced without the basics of shelter food, and water and the government took ten days to decide to let one American plane bring food and medical supplies in. Whether more planes will be allowed to bring in supplies is still being debated.

Official government reports from the country are also downplaying the number of people who were killed in the storm, as well as the casualties from disease and starvation since then. Do they think we will not consider them heartless if only 22,000 died instead of 100,000?

That political ends play such a significant role in the response to this kind of tragedy is a tragedy in itself. And I do recall that a similar scenario played out after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States. Political maneuvering between city, state and federal governments held up aid response for over 24 hours, and in the ensuing public outcry, each entity was busy blaming the other.

It is beyond my comprehension that the leader of a country would not respond immediately to people in need and to hell with politics. To be bound by political rules or advantages would be like me not rushing to my neighbor’s to help put out a fire because I am not part of the volunteer fire department in this area. Sorry. Can’t step on someone’s toes, so I guess your barn will just have to burn down.

I Didn't Know What I was Doing

When I first heard Miley Cyrus, AKA Hannah Montana, apologize for the photos in Vanity Fair, I thought she might have been a girl taken advantage of by the magazine or the photographer. She said in a published statement, "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic,' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed," Miley, the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, told the press this week. "I never intended for any of this to happen, and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."

Poor little girl, I thought, until I saw the cover shot taken by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz that shows the girl in profile clutching a blanket to her chest with her back bare. Miley posed for the picture, but had no idea that it might be a bit sexy? Come on. One does not take off her clothes in a room full of people and not have an inkling that maybe that was going just a bit too far.

It has been reported that the questionable photos were shot after Miley's parents left the site of the photo shoot, but there were other people there who were supposed to be looking out for the girl's best interest. What were they thinking. Not only is this whole mess a huge blemish on the sweet, innocent image Disney has tried to maintain for Hannah Montana, who in their right mind would let a young teenage girl assume such a grown up pose?

Commentary that I have read in the newspapers and on the Web suggest that this whole fiasco may have been a marketing move gone wrong. I tend to agree. And now the scramble is on to see if anything can be salvaged from the mess.

Let The Games Begin

As a newspaper columnist for many years, I have had ample opportunities to reflect on the Olympic Games and their significance in the overall scheme of things, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine what is happening regarding the Olympic Torch Relay.

The torch to me is a symbol of peace and a willingness to let go of petty differences, and not so petty differences, between nations and peoples to celebrate the achievements of great athletes from across the world. This year the symbol is tainted by protests that have gotten so violent that athletes have not been able to run, and many people have been arrested in London and Paris.

I agree that China’s record on human rights stinks, and I also agree that the International Olympic Committee could have picked a better site for the 2008 Summer Games than Beijing. What I don’t agree with is using violent protests to make a statement.

Even the Dalai Lama has asked people to stop the violent protests.

And for the sake of the games and the athletes who have been training for years for this opportunity to compete, I don’t think anyone should boycott the Summer Olympics. Politics has no place in the Olympics. It says so right in the Olympic Charter

So let’s find another way to let China know how much we deplore some of the government’s actions, especially in Tibet, and let the athletes have their day.

The Check's In The Mail

By now, most of us in the U.S. have received our letter from the IRS, informing us that the rebate check will be sent to us next month. (At a cost of $42 million dollars)

In case you’ve been on a desert island for the past two months with no contact with the civilized world, news sources, or e-mail. I’m talking about the government’s decision to send us all money to help the economy.

A few weeks ago, I contacted my senators and state representative to ask them to pay a visit to the IRS office and suggest that maybe they should just send the checks instead of the letters. That would save the taxpayers $42 million dollars, because that is the price tag for actually mailing the checks next month. If we only had one mailing that included the check, we wouldn't have to pay $84 million for our rebates.

Being an idealist, I was hoping that one of the senators, or my local representative would jump on the chance to do the right thing.

Sadly, the response I received from my state representative was a form letter thanking me for my inquiry about restrictions on credit cards and proposed tax increases. One senator also thanked me for my interest in tax reform, and the other just sent a form letter letting me know that the amount of mail received makes it impossible to respond personally to every letter, but I could rest assured that he has the concerns of all constituents in mind as he conducts business in Washington. (Not his exact words, but close enough.)

Hello? That is not what I wrote you about.

I was disappointed. Really disappointed. There is still a part of me that wishes....hopes...would like our representatives to really represent us. That we can have some influence on what happens in Washington. Otherwise, we might as well sit back and just let them steamroll us.

Don't Waste My Money

Some of you may have read the news item about the latest waste of money that someone in Washington decided was a good idea. The IRS is spending about $42 million dollars to send letters to let taxpayers know that rebate checks will be in the mail. The notices are going out this month to an estimated 130 million households who filed returns for the 2006 tax year, at a cost $41.8 million. This was confirmed by IRS spokesman John Lipold.

This is part of that economy stimulus plan pushed through congress a few weeks ago that none of us had a say in. And now the government is going to spend 32 cents to print, process and mail each letter to these 130 million households. And, oh, it doesn't include the tab for another round of mailings planned for those who didn't file tax returns last year but may still qualify for a rebate.

I don't often take partisan sides in political nonsense, but I have to agree with the Democrats who have called this a waste of money. I only wish they had not held back and called it what it is. A colossal waste of money. Our money. Not the government's. OUR MONEY.

If you would like to join me in protesting this measure, contact your local representatives and senators and ask them to stop this nonsense. Contact them via the Web site for the U.S. Government.

We do a lot of complaining about government. At least I know I do, so I am making a conscious effort to be more involved in the process. I guess the idealist in me still believes that we can make a difference. So I am contacting as many members of the House and Senate as I can and voicing my concerns about this measure.

Guest Blogger

A few weeks ago Mike Befeler let me be a guest blogger on his blog, so this week I am returning the favor. Mike is a mystery writer with a fascinating central character who is a "geezer." Interesting concept and well worth checking out his books.


One of the things I’ve enjoyed since becoming a mystery writer is attending mystery conferences. Next week the Left Coast Crime 2008 conference takes place in Denver, Colorado. Over four hundred mystery fans and writers will congregate for panels, discussions, awards and general schmoozing. I attended this conference last year when it was held in Seattle. One of the highlights was a night tour of the Seattle underground, the old street level of Seattle that has now been covered over. At this year’s conference I have the pleasure of introducing twenty new mystery authors at the New Authors’ Breakfast on Friday, March 7. I’ll also be moderating a panel titled, “What’s Age Got To Do With It?” If any of you are attending, stop me to say hello. I’m the geezer-in-training who will be wearing a straw hat with “Geezer-lit Mysteries” on it.


Mike Befeler
Author of Retirement Homes Are Murder
mikebef@aol.com
Blog: http://mikebefeler.blogspot.com
Web site: www.mikebefeler.com

We Don't Need no Stinkin' Superdelegates

With the presidential candidates from the Democratic party in a race that may not be decided by the primaries and caucuses, the 800 super-delegates might get to pick the nominee for that party. And one newscaster recently commented that, "they can vote on a whim."

A whim? One of the most important political decisions in this country can be decided on a whim?

Does anyone else find this beyond believable?

We have gone so far from "representation of the people" that it is no wonder we have such poor showings at the polls. Too many people think that government no longer responds to the voters so why bother.

Well, we do need to bother, and maybe that way government will start listening. But that is a topic for another blog.

The other day I had lunch with a friend, whose intelligence I highly respect, and we discussed this whole mess of a political system. She agreed with me that there needs to be some changes, but didn't agree that significant change was possible. Her comment was that the system is way too big and interdependent to be able to simplify.

We did agree that in an ideal world, all leaders would be benevolent and truly work for the people, but we don't live in an ideal world. Governments are run by people and people are flawed creatures. They don't always do the right thing.

But I don't think that fact leaves us at the mercy of the status quo. There is still room for political reform, and I think the first thing to go should be the super-delegates. Then maybe do away with delegates all together. Let the nominee be picked by the popular vote, and maybe save the millions that are spent on the conventions.

Just a thought.... Anyone else?

Candidates' Qualifications

A recent Non Sequitur cartoon showed a man in an interview saying, “My qualifications are that I’m not nearly as unqualified for the job as the other applicants are…, who are all members of a satanic cult, buy the way.” He is carrying a sign that reads: Hire me or the terrorists win. The interviewer is looking over the applicants resume and says, “Oh, nice list of celebrity endorsements.”

In the bottom right of the panel Wiley Miller, the creative genius behind the strip wrote, “If we hired people the same way we elect them.”

I laughed when I read it, then I cheered. And I wished it could be a wake-up call for the voting public. If only enough people could see the truth behind the humor of this cartoon and start calling for change in the political process, I would be a happy camper.

In following the presidential campaigns, I have seen little being discussed that has anything to do with how a candidate would do the job. And the debates, especially the most recent ones, disgust me. There is no respect shown, candidates don’t answer the questions, and there is a lot of name calling.

Gee, remind you of Kindergarten anybody?

I’m tired of the candidates sniping at each other. I’m tired of the media telling us who is likely to win because he or she has the most money. I’m tired of the candidates avoiding a direct answer to a direct question. And I’m tired of everyone focusing on things that have nothing to do with a candidates ability to serve the office he or she is campaigning for.

Is it possible to change this political system, or are we forever tied to this huge machine that keeps clanking away and leaving the people in the dust?

HILLARY CRIED

I couldn’t believe it when I turned on the Today Show this morning and there was an interview with a woman who was explaining what Hillary Clinton’s tears meant on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. I couldn’t believe it. Another story about the emotional display. I thought we’d pretty well exhausted that topic yesterday.

And speaking of exhaustion. That’s what probably caused the chink in Hillary’s armor in the first place. This campaign stuff is grueling and it is bound to take its toll. I could see the exhaustion in the faces of other candidates, too, but the men are just better at swallowing their tears than women are.

It is ludicrous to me that the media is making such a big deal of this. Come on fellow journalists; is there nothing better to write about than Hillary’s tears?

I turned off the TV, hoping that would be the end of it, but later today I was reading the Dallas Morning News and a columnist actually wondered on paper whether Hillary had planted the woman in the audience who had asked the question that prompted the emotional response.

I shook my head. Have we sunk this low that we have to suspect every move a politician makes?

Then I realized how silly I was to ask. Of course we have. The last twenty years has seen such deterioration in how people behave in Washington, on Wall Street, and any other street in America, that it is hard for folks to know what truth is anymore.

When I start getting this cynical about the political process, I watch “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and pretend for a little while that there is one person of character and integrity who can truly bring change to the government.

Merry Christmas

I know the politically correct thing to say at this time is Happy Holidays, lest we offend someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas, but I feel like being a rebel today. Besides that, I don't get the least bit offended when someone says Happy Hanukka or Happy Kwanzaa.

Those wishes mean something special to the folks who celebrate those holidays, the same way Merry Christmas means something special to me, and it doesn't take anything away from me for people to express their good wishes the way they want to.

If we all spent more time living up to the inherent meaning in all these holidays and expressions of good will, there could be no offense taken at how people express them. There wouldn't be a "we" and "them" mentality that makes us more protective of our rights.

So my hope for all of us is to have a season of peace and a sense of inclusion instead of exclusion.

Remembering Pearl Harbor

I recent years I have noticed that people don't seem to make such a big deal out of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. It used to be practically a national holiday and news sources would be full of stories about the tragic day, stories that would lead in the news.

Today, while looking at a few online news sources, I did not see lead stories about Pearl Harbor. The tragic mall shooting in Omaha, Nebraska, still leads, and I found that disquieting. Here was a young man who killed a lot of people because he was troubled, but also because he thought it would bring him fame. And it has.

But measure the worthiness of that story as compared to the worthiness of remembering what men and women suffered on Dec. 7, 1941.

It would have been fitting for the story about Everett Hyland, who was aboard the USS Pennsylvania on December 7, 1941, to be the top story in publications today. The Pennsylvania was dry-docked that day, so it did not suffer as much damage as some other ships, but Hyland clearly remembers shipmates dying and being injured. Not for fame, but just because they were doing their duty.

He will join some 50 survivors and hundreds more family members and officials at a Pearl Harbor pier overlooking the USS Arizona Memorial to honor the attack's victims.This year, survivors and their family members are dedicating a new memorial for the USS Oklahoma, which lost 429 sailors and Marines -- the second greatest loss of life among any of the battleships in Pearl Harbor.

The Simple Way

Living and loving in a totally committed relationship is a rare commodity in this era ruled largely by a throw-away mentality. To see two people who sustain each other in a marriage through many years of good and bad is fairly significant in itself, but to see two people who actually grow in kindness and love is awesome.

A long time ago when I needed a refuge from a turbulent adolescence, my girlfriend, Jeanette, asked if I would like to live with her family for a while. I always loved going to her house. It was so alive with laughter and had a warmth less connected to the ever-active oven than to something going on between her mom and dad. That something overflowed to the whole family.

To be a part of that was an incredible opportunity.

Mam and Sir, who are both gone now, were simple country folk of Scandinavian background and devoted to their family. Sir worked hard to provide food and shelter and Mam worked hard to provide heart. She loved to play, and I can remember dancing in the living room with her and Jeanette while Sir looked on and shook his head. "You girls," he would say. "What am I going to do with you?"

I can also remember with great clarity how kind everyone was to each other in that family, doing things without being asked and without keeping score. There was a real generosity of spirit that made it okay if dinner was late on my day to cook because I spent the day at the horse barn. It was also okay for Jeanette to skip dishes if she had a big date. And if Mam came home from work tired, she knew someone would tell her to put her feet up and rest a while. Someone else would always pick up the slack in the kitchen.

After I married and started my own family, I often pulled from those memories to form a blueprint for relationship. The Sunday afternoon 'naps' that weren't really naps at all. The complete awareness of each other that was reflected in a glance, a touch, a smile. The devotion that never wavered in the face of human weakness. And most of all, the pure joy of being together. It was so tangible I often thought I could reach out and touch it.

Over the years I stayed connected to this family, and we visited as often as possible even though we were separated by many miles and several states. During one visit I picked up on a subtle change in Mam's child-like behavior. It wasn't like she was playing anymore. I also noticed that she was asking me the same questions over and over again.

Afraid, yet needing to know, I looked at Sir.

He nodded.

That horrible reality of Alzheimer's hit me like a physical blow, yet I couldn't help but find some sweetness in the bitter moment. The response from the heart of this tough old farmer was beauty to behold. It was particularly poignant to see him reach out with a gnarled hand to let her know with a gentle touch that it was okay that she forgot again. It was a gesture so intimate and so filled with love I was almost embarrassed to have seen it.

Some years later, when Mam had progressed into a totally alien world and Sir was then facing his imminent death from cancer, I asked him to tell me the secret of their long and happy marriage. How did they stick together through so much? I didn't need the information for myself. I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it in his own words for an article I was writing about fidelity in marriage.

He pondered a bit, as all great farmer/philosophers do, then he shrugged. "It's not so special," he said. "No magic. No tricks. I guess it's like when you get in a rowboat and set out across the lake. If you want to get to the other side, you both better be pulling on the oars."

Focus on Chaplaincy

For many years I have been involved in Hospital Ministry, first as a trained volunteer, then as a trained Hospital Chaplain. Not everyone can do this type of work. Certainly not my husband who is an ordained minister but freezes at the thought of going to visit people in the hospital.

But for some reason, I have always enjoyed this ministry and always come home feeling very blessed. One of the other chaplains I worked with in Nebraska told me she felt the same way and sometimes thought we shouldn’t even get paid for what we do. Although, she didn’t tell that to our boss or payroll.

I started doing this type of ministry over twenty-five years ago, and over the years I’ve learned a thing or two about loss and grief and the complicated human reaction to it all. That knowledge and experience was beneficial when I was writing my latest book, One Small Victory. The central character loses a son to a car accident, and her grief is an important element of the story. As is the grief of her other children.

There are as many faces to grief as there are people, and as I continue this blog I will share some of the stories that I was privileged to be a part of during my work.

One thing to keep in mind as you read my ramblings is that hospital chaplains, like military and prison chaplains, are cut from a different cloth than other holy people of God and/or ministers. We are not preachers. We don’t visit the sick and dying with the intent of “saving their soul.” Somebody already did that 2000 years ago. We are not trying to FIX anything. Boy did my CPE instructor have a time drilling that into my head.

What we do when we visit the sick and dying is give them an opportunity to talk about things that perhaps they cannot say to family members or friends. We listen to their stories, validate their feelings, and sometimes help them to accept death. Religion and prayer are only a part of the equation if religion and prayer are important to the patient.

And why am I telling you all this? Well, I thought it might be interesting to focus the blog on a topic instead of what I’ve been doing, which is write about anything that irks me at the moment. And maybe having a focus will prompt me to at least write something once a week. So starting next week, I will share stories from my experiences and hopefully we can connect on some emotional level.

Until next time….

Spare Me The Celebrities

If I see another picture of Brittany Spears and her semi-bald head I think I’ll puke. Is this really newsworthy considering all that is happening in Mid-East and Sudan and other places in the world where people are experiencing unimaginable suffering and other people are dodging the dangers to try to help?

The other day on the Today Show – I really need to find something else to watch while I’m exercising – there were two segments devoted to Brittany and her latest escapade. One psychologist explained that by shaving her head, Brittany was saying, “Here, I want to be real. This is who I am.”

Give me a break.

Another psychologist said that Brittany simply didn’t know what to do because Anna Nicole Smith had dominated the news for over a week. “Celebrities simply can’t handle it when they are not the hottest thing in the news.”

Give me another break. And it almost did when I whapped my leg with the hand weight.

First of all, people like that are only celebrities because the media has made them celebrities. Would the world have come to a screeching halt had the story of Brittany and the clippers been relegated to a brief footnote in the Entertainment section of newspapers and only reported on Entertainment Tonight?

Sometimes I’m ashamed to admit I’m a journalist.

Secondly, they are troubled women – oops, was for Ms. Smith – who are surrounded by people who enable their addictions and dysfunction because it’s fun living in the fast lane with lots of money and party-time all the time. Nobody wants to risk losing all that by really caring about them and maybe doing something to help.

I can feel sorry for them on that level. Nobody deserves to be used and abused by people who profess to be friends. But I don’t feel sorry for them for all the bad choices they have made and their inability to admit they have a problem.

We can all make excuses and rationalize our behaviors, but the bottom line is that we know when we are screwing up. We can lie to our family, our friends, the media, the general public, but we cannot lie to ourselves. I mean, we can try. We can say the words, but they don’t ring true when we are looking at our reflection in the mirror.

We've Sunk to a New Low

Here I was the other morning doing my exercises with the TV on to keep me company. Usually it’s just there for background noise and I only pay attention to the weather and a story that might really be of relevance, but that morning I had to stop halfway through a sit-up in disbelief. They were featuring a story about busty mannequins. I mean really Dolly-Parton-type busty mannequins that are all the rage in Miami, New York, LA, and apparently coming to a mall near us all soon.

My first thought was how stupid to consider this a newsworthy story. Who cares about busty mannequins? Then the reporter did a “man on the street” segment. He interviewed a woman who was commenting about how unrealistic the mannequins are and questioning what kind of message that sends to women. While she spoke, a man with her ogled the mannequin in the window, so I thought, okay. Some people do care, but for all the wrong reasons.

Throughout the rest of the story the camera showed these mannequins in various store windows and they were all posed like they were ready for Playboy shots, only with clothes on. Although some barely had clothes on.

Retailers were interviewed and commented about how sales have risen since they started featuring these buxom beauties in store windows.

Throughout the whole segment, there was only one brief mention of this perhaps not being in the best interest of social mores. The rest of the story had an air of “isn’t this just too cute,” and I wanted to puke.

Where was the outrage? Was I a solitary protester as I contemplated throwing the hand-weight at the television?

I watched the papers for the next couple of days, hoping for a scathing commentary by one of the nation’s columnist. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

So I hereby go on record with a scathing commentary.

The woman who designed this new approach to retail display ought to be drawn and quartered.

The people who think it is all just so funny should also suffer some terrible punishment.

Folks who don’t think this type of sexually explicit material is not harmful to young people need to get their heads out of whatever cloud they are in.

And women everywhere should be outraged that our bodies have been used to sell merchandise for years.

Does any one else hate Victoria’s Secret?

Free Speech

A couple of weeks ago, Steve Blow, a columnist for the Dallas Morning News, wrote about how attitudes have changed toward war protestors since right after 9/11. In that first year after the tragedy anyone who questioned the president and the war in Iraq was considered unpatriotic, and as Steve put it, “Back then, dissent was scarce.”

He went on to write, “I think most experts were as reluctant as journalists to appear unpatriotic by challenging the president’s plans too sharply.”

When I read that, I had to stop and read it again. Then again. Since when is it unpatriotic to exercise our right to freedom of speech? That is one of the great strengths of our country. That people can say what they think without censorship. Granted, sometimes that freedom is abused. Okay, maybe it’s abused a lot. But it is still a basic right that some people don’t enjoy in their countries.

Now that the war effort is floundering and President Bush’s approval rating is sinking lower and lower, suddenly it is okay to criticize him and the war in Iraq. But why wasn’t it okay last year or the year before?

I can remember the few brave souls back then who wrote letters to the editor in the Dallas Morning News and the New York Times questioning the invasion of Iraq. They stirred a barrage of letters from reactionaries who questioned their loyalty to America and their support of the troops. Somehow questioning the war was equated with not caring about the men and women in uniform.

But recent criticism of the war has not stirred the same response, and I can’t quite figure out why not. Unless it is because of the “tide of popular opinion.”

Some people seem more willing to ride that tide than others. And that’s too bad. Because we should really think for ourselves and not become sheep following the most vocal shepherd.

Happy, Happy New Year

Unlike my previous posts, this one is a real blog as it is something I'm writing off the cuff, so to speak. I decided that it was time to step out of the security of using some older articles to fill this space.

So here goes....

This was an unusual Christmas for the Miller family as we were not together with all our kids on Christmas Day. Some of us live 100 miles apart, with two others about 300 miles from us. One of our sons from Austin came to our place with his wife and two young girls. Then we all went to the Dallas area on Christmas Eve to share a meal with the other sibs and their families, then came back to have Santa with the girls here.

That was a high point of the Holiday for me. Christmas morning is made for little children who eagerly look forward to Santa coming. Of course, I was the first one up on Christmas and had to wait for the girls to wake up. I told them I was up early to feed the animals before we started and they actually believed me. I also told them that Santa took some hay out of my barn for his reindeer and they believed that, too. I love little children.

The rest of this week has been a blur. In addition to some lovely gifts, my husband and I got a cold for Christmas, so we have been sipping tea and sniffling and coughing together. Luckily, one of us has always managed to feel good enough to take care of the animals, although one day I just threw a half a bale of hay over the fence for the horse and goats and told them to have a ball until tomorrow.

I think we are finally on the mend. At least I am. But it doesn't look hopeful that we will be ringing in the New Year with any great fivolity here at the Miller house.

I will however, take some time to remember the many blessings we have received in the past year and be thankful for that.

This is probably the point where I should be writing something profound or philosophical, but the old brain is shutting down. So I'll just close with a sincere wish that everyone has a very good New Year.