Category Archives: Politics

Remembrance, understanding and forgiveness

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After the Post-Gazette article appeared I received a very moving email from Masashi Narita, a medical trainee here in Pittsburgh:

On Dec.7th 2006, I was asked the same interesting question from
different persons " Do you know what is the day today?"  I can recall
immediately that the day is unforgettable memorial day for Americans,
especially veterans at VA hospital. I talked this episode to my fellows
and friends of Americans and Japanese. Some of Americans understand
that Pearl Harbor attack is the same memorial event as 9/11. Some of
Japanese did not know the date of Pearl Harbor attack.  From this
experience, I understand that the importance to keep remember what has
happened in our country’s history regardless of glorious or shame for
us, as well as to think about the loser’s view point. 

I had expected  that someone may ask me the same question on August 6th or 9th this year. Nobody did it.

I can
understand  your emotional issues at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. I
also visited there after 9/11 attack. I could not make any difference
between the tragedies, the terror and the war.

Masashi put into words what I was feeling: there is no difference between these tragedies.

When I wrote my original post about visiting the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima I certainly had in mind the controversy over whether we should have dropped the bomb. I knew too many veterans of WWII who were certain they would have died in the Pacific, had the war continued. Regardless of how we might feel about the issue there is no going back. The important thing is to learn the lessons of the past and there are many of them here. Over the years I have gone from feeling, as a child, that we Americans were on the side of the angels, to knowing that we are capable of the same horrifying deeds our enemies have visited upon us. There are no angels on earth, at least not in any government.

Stacie, an artist who blogs at Nomadic Creations, wrote a profound piece about a conversation with the Rwandan owner of a nearby gallery.

It was a unique opportunity to really see the world through
someone else’s eyes, and to understand how so much alike we all are,
and not always in such a good way. Like many people, I have filters on
my senses. Something like the Rwandan Genocide couldn’t possibly happen
here, or our country would never get into another civil war. It can
happen though. When an economic divide becomes so great…terrible things
can happen.

Yozefu said he had been back to Africa two years ago, and that the
thing that most impressed him was the capacity for forgiveness that
many villagers have embraced as the survivors have returned home. It is
unimaginable for me to think about that level of forgiveness.

Read the entire post here, and learn about the Rwandan genocide, here. Honor all of the victims of these atrocities with understanding, forgiveness and remembrance.

Listening

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I usually take the bus to class, but yesterday I drove because I had to go somewhere else first. I suppose I could have taken buses to both places but it seemed too tedious. My love of public transit only goes so far. Of course, if it was run more intelligently, I might feel differently. (That’s another subject.) Anyhow, I recently discovered Democratic, as in Democratic Party, talk radio here in Pittsburgh, so I listened as I drove home. I came to the conclusion that I shouldn’t listen to them. They are telling me what I want to hear; for instance, Cheney should be impeached, and then Bush, but I know it’s not going to happen and I don’t want to be so optimistic. Maybe that’s why Air America was not a resounding success: it’s too hard to come to terms with reality after you listen to someone telling you what you want to hear.

They also spoke about healthcare, my favorite subject. According to a CNN poll 64% of the people polled answered yes to this question: "Do you think the government should provide a national health
insurance program for all Americans, even if this would require higher taxes?

Have you heard this from anyone in the media, or politics? Rep. Dennis Kucinich is the only presidential wannabe who is willing to talk about this. Everyone else, Clinton, Obama, et al, treat it like it’s impossible that any red-blooded American would want to stop the insurance companies from bleeding us to death. Kucinich has no money and will never win because he’s the only one the insurance companies don’t own.

Who owns your elected representatives?

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If you think your elected representatives are representing you, or concerned with your needs and wishes, you are sadly deluded. Unless we are able to change our electoral system, those boys are working for the big corporations that pay their election expenses. None of them have your interests at heart. Each time I have posted about healthcare or other political problems I realize that no change will occur unless our huge corporations are behind the change. I had a brief flicker of hope when I realized that one of GM’s biggest problems is employee health coverage. Who better to fight a large industry like healthcare insurance than another large industry. But, somehow the problem has been assuaged if not resolved, so that hope is gone.

All of this is detailed in a wonderfully researched and written post by Ronni Bennett at Time Goes By. Beginning with an AP-IPSOS poll showing 75 percent of respondents think the country is off on the wrong track, Ronni goes through many of the problems we are having in this country and sums it all up with

…I believe the one solution is to remove them [corporations] from politics and
government. That means outlawing lobbying and most of all, creating
publicly funded elections.

Read it all here.

I think this is the single most important thing we can do to take back our government. Let’s start a movement.

Did my civic duty!

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I went to vote for the first time in Pennsylvania. The polling place is an easy walk from my apartment. One of my neighbors was the first person to check me in, so everything went very smoothly. HOWEVER, I don’t think the Democrats are doing a very good job of getting out the vote in my area. I am a registered Democrat here. I used to think I was an independent, but since our current administration came to power I have become a committed Democrat. So, I have received lots of those canned phone messages, but no real human came to speak to me. I would have liked someone to come and tell me where to vote, although I did figure it out.

The other thing was the voting machines. For the most part it was straight forward and easy. Remember, I am a techie, or geek, depending on how polite you want to be. So I got to the very end of the process and there is this diamond shaped object at the top of the machine that says VOTE on it and is now flashing a red light. The touch screen says the red light will flash when the machine is ready for my vote. Nowhere does it say the flashing thing is a button, and up ’til now, everything was done on the touch screen. I finally got it, but it took a few minutes. I always wonder which bureaucrat thinks up these things.

Confidence begins with CON

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Just caught part of a presidential news conference. In response to a reporter’s question about bad poll numbers, our president replied he was "confident" the Republicans would retain control of Congress. I suspect they have those newly mandated voting machines so rigged that Republicans will always win. How hard could it be to program random results changes within an entire precinct or county? These guys really frighten me.