The biggest war since WWII is _____?

The civil war in the Congo. Children shown here in a UN refugee camp have made toys from mud of what they see and have experienced.

The emptiness of the Bush administration’s foreign policy is underscored by the total lack of humanitarian effort or involvement in this deadliest war. As Americans we are nearly totally ignorant of this decade long war in the Congo. Wonder why? Is it because Exxon Mobil has no oil fields there? Is it because these folks are Black Africans? Sadly, I have not heard any discussion among the candidates to replace Bush about this human disaster in the Congo. Looking at the web sites of the candidates I found something on Senator Obama's site, nothing on the other's including Hillary, McCain and Romney.

45,000 die every month and who gives a damn about them in the US? An international rescue group said preventable diseases and starvation aggravated by conflict have claimed 5.4 million lives since 1998. This is the equivalent of the population of Denmark. War officially ended in 2002 but malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition continue to take thousands. Half of all the fatalities have been children under the age of five. Rebels still control some portions of the country where young girls are kidnapped to become the sex slaves of the militias. Mass rape is altogether too common in the lives of the women in the Congo. The CBS news program ‘60 Minutes’ reported the story of a brother and sister. The young woman was raped multiple times by soldiers while her brother was forced to watch. The soldiers then told him to rape his sister, which he would not do. They killed him.

I am reminded of another time when the founder of Mitt’s church cried out in pain over injustice and plead for the mercies of heaven:

"O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries? Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward those..."

in the Congo?

One must ask how many children must die and women be raped before we do anything? Indeed 'how long shall they suffer'?

You can read more at this link from the Guardian in the UK.

Gordon B. Hinckley 1910-2008

"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Racism of Republican Rep. Donnelson

Our legislature continues to swim in a vacuum it seems. In action yesterday on the hill and reported in today's Trib we have Rep. Donnelson assuring us that police all across the state support his bill to empower local cops to act with ICE authority. Salt Lake's top cop, Chief Chris Burbank, spoke against the bill. Not a single law enforcement representative spoke in favor of the bill. Donnelson told the committee that he's spoken with officers statewide who support his proposal. In an interview with the media Donnelson could not provide the names of any law enforcement groups that back his bill. The bill passed committee on straight party lines, 7 to 3, and now moves to the full House. He told the Trib reporter his bill was not about racism.

One has to wonder are there any constituencies in this state who support anything that goes on among House Republicans? It is clear who Representative Donnelson constituency is. There are kudos to him with expressions of gratitude from the Utah Minutemen Project. These are the vigilante nut jobs that get their hunting rifles and ride their ATV's along the US Mexican border looking for saboteurs, members of al Qaeda, and hungry families looking for a better life in the US.

The Godless, Huckabee, and Dissipating Sensuality

In last night's non debate by the Republican candidates for president the Reverend and former Governor Mike Huckabee said that Americans "ought to be able to respect people who don't have any faith." Yet, in a book he co-wrote in 1998, Huckabee spoke from his heart of hearts when he said this: "Men who have rejected God and do not walk in faith are more often than not immoral, impure, and improvident (Gal. 5:19-21). They are prone to extreme and destructive behavior, indulging in perverse vices and dissipating sensuality (1 Cor. 6:9-10)."

Which is it Mike? I find his duplicity to be obnoxious and is right up there with the other religionist candidate Mitt Romney. I have more than a couple friends who are non believers in any God or in Christian theology/tradition. I have known all of them to be highly principled, ethical, respectful and constructive members of our society.

Maybe Mike only knows of the godless in Arkansas and maybe that's how rednecks who have lost their faith behave. We could talk about another man from Arkansas who indulged in perverse vices and dissipating acts while governor of Arkansas and occupant of the Oval Office for eight years.

Thanks to MoJo News

What a difference a state makes...

Against the backdrop of our immigration debate in Utah consider this new law that just took effect in California. This was sent to me by #1 daughter in Northern CA, a public interest attorney:

"Highlights of New Housing Laws for 2008

Here are some noteworthy new housing laws that took effect on January 1st:

Immigration status discrimination: Landlords are now specifically prohibited from inquiring about citizenship or immigration status. Localities are also prohibited from requiring a landlord to verify immigration status. AB 976; Civ Code 1940.3.
Bill number links are to statutory language. For a complete compilation of all the new laws affecting housing, see our Housing Update, to be emailed later this month.

© 2008 Western Center & Law and Poverty, 3701 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 208, Los Angeles CA 90010. 213.487.7211. Permission is granted to copy and share this publication with LSC- and IOLTA-funded organizations, and nonprofit housing organizations. For other permissions or to remove yourself from this distribution list, please contact Lynn Martinez at slmartinez at wclp dot org."

This is just the opposite direction many of our state legislators want to move. How do you explain that? Too many Mormon, Mitt Romney Republicans here?

Oskar Schindler where are you?

A fine piece in today’s Trib about the discussions between LDS Church leaders and our legislators. I read a number of the online comments in Trib Talk and note the significant amount of anti immigrant feeling. It is a hot button for many here in Utah and the US.

It is clear to me that the argument for the rule of law, and how it must be enforced with regard to the undocumented, is nothing more than a masquerade for racial bigotry. America has a long history of ethnic prejudice toward yellow, brown, and black minorities, as it has been manifested in our immigration laws. See my earlier post on that topic. I look at the list of bills being sponsored by various legislators here in Utah and elsewhere and recall from readings of prewar Nazi German history they are much in a similar vein and type as the Nuremburg Laws. These laws deprived Jews within the Third Reich of all their civil rights. Eventually more than 6 million would die in the gas chambers. (Let me remind you we had our own concentration camp here in Utah for Japanese Americans during WWII.)

When Bush was in Israel recently he was asked why it was the allies did not bomb the rails leading to the concentration camps. He could not answer and others have offered only lame excuses to date. It is time for more voices to be heard urging compassion and decency. We need to have the Oskar Schindlers of our culture stand up and put an end to the legislative efforts by our representatives to marginalize, demonize, and criminalize those that are the least among us. Governor Huntsman why was not this part of your State of the State message, don't you care?

For those who cry foul over LDS involvement in this debate I say this is fish. The LDS Church leadership must continue to speak out on matters of human rights and dignity. If they did not take a stand on this issue would they be any different than how the Vatican behaved during the holocaust? Why were they afraid to step across some artificial line to condemn the atrocities of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis? The National Council of Catholic Bishops has it right this time and we can learn from them.

Please step forward Oskar Schindler and thank you Elder Ballard.

$800.00 for each American but you can't spend it at...

Lost in the body of recent comments by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was the endorsement of the concept of a short-term economic stimulus package. He cautioned that the money must be spent correctly: "You'd hope that [consumers] would spend it on things that are domestically produced so that the spending power doesn't go elsewhere."

That means we must boycott our favorite big box we love to hate and every other made in China product. Our trade imbalance is now over $6 trillion. The Chinese own enough of our treasury bills they could shut us down if they chose to dump them. The Bush regime will be offering $800.00 to each family in America, amounting to $150 million. Chairman Bernanke doesn't want that going to China. Lou Dobbs has blasted both R's and Dems for squandering away this nation's wealth and suggests those running for president of both parties should address this is a substantive way.

I would like an Apple TV so I can download directly my favorite Hollywood USA movies. Apple uses Intel and Micron chips but the TV's come from China or Taiwan. Is there a TV still made in America? What else I ask could I do with my tax rebate? Someone told me Wigwam socks are still made here. Danner hunting boots are made in Oregon but I already own a new pair of those. A friend Q, who is pretty savvy about these things, gave me a URL for a web site that lists a few things still made in America.

The Valleys of the Shadow of the Republicans

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures and tall redwood trees:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness among the tree huggers for his name's sake.
Yea, though I drive through the valley of the shadow of Republicans and the State Legislature,
I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of all of the Wal Mart supporters in Centerville, for they ruineth a town:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. If I cannot be there then this place of peace in the Redwoods is my second choice.

Adapted from the 23rd Psalm

Romney, a Washington insider's pedigree

Seems that Governor Romney is a bit challenged with his truthfulness in addition to his flip flopping on policy positions and statements. The governor has been casting himself as a Washington outsider these days while portraying John McCain as the ‘Washington insider’. An AP reporter asked Romney during his Nevada primary campaign if he was tied to special interests and beholden to lobbyists. His response according to this fine piece in Mother Jones said:

"My campaign is not based on Washington lobbyists, I haven't been in Washington. I don't have lobbyists at my elbow that are arguing for one industry or another industry and I do not have favors I have to repay to people who have been in Washington for years."

According to MoJo News, “The truth is that Romney is tied closely with many lobbyists. The AP reporter Romney exchanged sharp words with later reported that several Romney aides and advisors are lobbyists. Additionally, as the Nation first reported, Romney has accepted the second most money from lobbyists of any Republican presidential candidate, and has received the most endorsements from lobbyists.”

The article continues that lobbyists who are supporting Romney have represented, in 2007 alone, nearly every part of the health care and financial services industries, the NRA, members of the tobacco industry, and gambling interests. Yes, Romney takes money from the tobacco and gaming people. He did well in Nevada didn’t he?

A vote for Romney is a vote for the status quo in Washington contrary to his self styled image as the outsider. Romney's advisors have also lobbied for the Carlyle Group, Microsoft, American Airlines, the Venetian Casino Resort, the Poker Players Alliance, and TOP Tobacco among others. Bush Senior is an important player in the Carlyle Group along with, James Baker and the House of Saud. It was this Carlyle Group to which Osama bin Ladin’s family invested before 9-11.

Sith Lords, Democrats and the LDS Church

According to a Deseret News article this past week, leaders of the LDS Church met with Utah State Legislative leaders. Among the topics was immigration. LDS Church leaders explained that “the element of humanity" should be re-introduced to the state's immigration debates.

There are a number of bills to be introduced that would deprive employment, deny driving privileges, and take away in state tuition for those Hispanic students who have graduated from Utah high schools. Punishment would be served up for anyone giving a hitchhiking Latino a ride. Several Darth legislators are seeking to follow and adapt Oklahoma laws that would make it a crime to harbor or transport undocumented immigrants.

It was interesting how the talks were reported by both Republican and Democrat attendees. First the Republican observation, I quote: “House Majority Leader Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, a member of the LDS Church himself, said immigration issues did not take up much time in the Republicans' meeting with church leaders. "But they did say we all need to approach this subject with compassion." On the other hand, House Minority Whip David Litvack, D-Salt Lake, said the Democrats' meeting with church officials brought up several issues, but the immigration discussion was the most touching for him personally. "I interpreted what was said as this: 'Take a step back, be calm, and above all remember that we are dealing with human beings here,"' Rep. Litvack, who is non LDS, but Jewish, has himself called for cooler heads in dealing with the often emotional issue of illegal immigration according to the article.

May the force be with the cooler and more compassionate of the lot. And just a warning, as this significant minority becomes marginalized in our society by legislative fiat I believe uncomfortable social consequences may occur making life more difficult for all of us here in this state. Take away hope for a better life in the form of jobs, opportunity and education and you will certainly give rise to anti social behavior, crime and violence. That is not the primary reason for our legislature to follow the direction of the Brethren on this one. It is just the right thing to do because it is right.

American Gold is for Americans, Part 2

During the dark days of the beginning of World War II Americans showed their true colors once again by the forced relocation of any person of Japanese ancestry to prison camps throughout the western United States. We had our own here in Utah, near Delta. Called Topaz, it was for a period of time the largest ‘city’ in Utah. Those who lived within the barbed wire fences were never convicted or even charged with any crime, yet they were locked up and kept under guard. Sound familiar? During one protest over their loss of civil rights a leader of the Japanese Issei within the camp, James Hatsuki Wakasa, was shot to death. His murder was never investigated. No Senate hearing was held or even an outcry from anyone in Utah.

We find a parallel today as citizens and our government are caught up in the hysteria of the war on terror. There is scarce mention of Topaz in Utah history studies. I have not seen it on a map. I have driven past it and not known it was there. There's not much left of Topaz but a few concrete foundations and a monument, which is used mostly for target practice. As one observer said, “Most people have never heard of it, and many of those that have would like to pretend it never happened.”

We cannot undo the past or rewrite history though some try. During these days of the Bush and Cheney regime and given the climate of fear they have nurtured to maintain power, let us not forget our government can and does violate the Constitution. Decency, compassion, and generosity should be the words that describe the richest of all nations and its people on this planet toward any group within our borders.

American Gold is for Americans, Part 1

Anyone familiar with US immigration history, and most Americans are not, have concluded that as a nation of immigrants we have some significant hostility toward immigrants. Mitt Romney’s roots, and many others in the Republican Party, for anti immigrant measures began almost as early as the founding of this country. This was brought to you by the same people, (Thomas Jefferson included), that gave us the Declaration of Independence. The first of these laws was enacted in March of 1790. It provided the rules for the granting of national citizenship. This law limited naturalization to aliens who were "free white persons". Left out were indentured servants, slaves, free African-Americans, and later Asian Americans. No opportunity for Barack to be a Senator or run for president then.

Nearly every generation has had a crack at solving the ‘immigration issue’. Ours is not immune. During the 1849 gold strike in California, and for a period of time after, Chinese were welcomed into the US to do the heavy lifting and hard labor on the mining claims around Sacramento. When the gold started to run out so did the tolerance of Americans. Labor groups formed with the intent of forcibly removing all Chinese from the gold fields. American gold was for Americans only after all. Those forcibly removed settled in enclaves in cities, mainly San Francisco, where they took up minimum wage jobs at the Wendys and McDonalds of their day.

Jump forward one hundred and fifty years and we find former Governor Romney who worked to bar any non-citizen from employment in Massachusetts by wanting to supply everyone with a biometric identification card. Employers would be fined and jailed for hiring 'illegal human beings'. He sought to have the state police enforce immigration laws as well. It seems that Mitt is not unlike many others presently and a number who have gone before to marginalize and criminalize those who are different from the majority and came later to American shores. The only crime they committed, like my ancestors from the coalmines of Wales, was their wanting a better life for their families and themselves. One has to wonder when each night as Mitt is on the campaign trail and staying in those plush Marriott presidential suites who is it that turned down his bed, vacuumed the carpets, and cleaned the bathroom? It wasn't any poor and struggling college students working to pay their way through Harvard or MIT.

Is Bush dumber than a groundhog? Some think so...

A friend sent this to me today. One of the more erudite observations anyone has shared with me in awhile:

"This year, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address fall on the same day. It is an ironic juxtaposition: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, and the other involves a Groundhog."

Thanks Walt for sending it along!

It wasn't 40 years ago that Sgt. Pepper taught the band......

It was the Man in Black doing the concert behind the walls at Folsom Penitentiary. His career lasted almost 50 years. I have a couple DVD's of his concerts and most of his music loaded in my IPod. I could not find any video of his concert at Folsom but this YouTube segment of Johnny and Willie doing one of Cash's classics is a delight, just two old friends enjoying performing together.

BTW Johnny Cash was a Democrat and a good friend of Jimmy Carter.

I have been Simpsonized...

Thanks to daughter A for helping me with this caricature. It is pretty accurate.

Utahns perpetuating Obama smear campaign

“Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu , Hawaii , to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel , Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHIEST from Wichita , Kansas….”so this phony email goes. Additional ridiculous claims and connections are attempted to discredit Senator Obama.

It is disappointing that several of my Mormon Republican friends and extended family members have stooped so low to perpetuate this email smear job. These same people feel umbrage over the treatment of their boy Mitt and his religion by evangelical activists yet have no hesitation to perpetuate the slander and lies of these certain hate mongers. Mormons, especially of all people, should be sensitive to race and ethnicity given the challenges of their own history.

Snopes.com has a well documented treatment of this email smear job for anyone wishing to dig a little deeper to uncover the truth of the matter regarding Senator Obama and his supposed Black Radical Muslim roots.It is regrettable some of us have learned so little from our own past and the present treatment by the radical religious right.

North Viet Nam Attacks US Navy Destroyers

Just a change in the scenery and fast forward forty+ years and we almost have an identical situation in the Persian Gulf. I refer to The Gulf of Tonkin Incident wherein supposed attacks were carried out by gunboats of North Vietnam against two American destroyers, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy in August of 1964. This fiction by the US Navy, the CIA and White House planners gave LBJ the excuse he needed to get Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. This became the legal foundation for the direct involvement of the United States in Viet Nam for nearly a decade, ultimately costing 50,000 American lives and several million Vietnamese.

How analogous are events that occurred in the Straits of Hormuz last weekend between Iranian gunboats and the US Navy? Could it become the recurring nightmare of the Gulf of Tonkin all over again for the US? The elements are not a lot different and merit comparison. We have a congress that was duped in ’64 as we do today with Bush and Cheney’s war in Iraq. There is the similar element of oil in both. Standard Oil was very interested in the geology of the Mekong River Delta and the South China Sea for the exploration and placement of oil platforms. John McCain was involved with the air attacks in Viet Nam and spent horrific days and nights as a guest of the NVA at the Hanoi Hilton and now wants to be the new commander of America.

We have two highly motivated groups who resent us and hate us for our presence in either theater. Jihadist Muslims and terrorists have replaced the Viet Cong as the fodder for Hollywood movies but both utilize terror and suicide bombs to thwart our military and our efforts at occupation. In both situations we had egomaniac/techie secretaries of defense in Robert McNamera and Donald Rumsfield. Both believed that with our superior technology coupled with our democratic ideals we could win the hardware war easily and then the minds and hearts of the indigents.

We also have a similar situation in that we have an equally stubborn belligerent country in the neighborhood of our conflict. For Viet Nam we had to deal with the PRC (China). Now Iran is the source of comfort for the Jihadists and supplies the terrorists in this Bush and Cheney War.

Lastly, it seems the ongoing other similarity between the present situation and the war of forty years ago, are the body bags. They are adding up and when enough of middle America have had it the war will end in Iraq and Afghanistan. God forbid that John McCain, and his like, will dictate our future where we could be in Iraq for another decade or two or three or four.

It is time for a 'Change we can believe in' and vote for someone who does not support or was not duped by Bush, Cheney and the NeoCon cabal.

Camelot Redux

I think this Camelot quote from Wiki may be appropriate: "In American contexts, the phrase "Camelot" refers to the presidency of John F. Kennedy, as his term was said to have potential and promise for the future, and the period was symbolic of hope for many in the world, who were inspired by Kennedy's speeches, vision and political policies. The period was ended by Kennedy's November 22, 1963, assassination, which is often compared to the fall of King Arthur. The lines "Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment, that was known as Camelot," from the musical Camelot, were quoted by his widow Jacqueline as being from his favorite song in the score. "There'll be great Presidents again," she added, "but there'll never be another Camelot again … it will never be that way again."

It might just reappear once again in the mists at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come this November of 2008.

I could be guilty of aiding and abetting...

"To assist the perpetrator of the crime while sharing in the requisite intent." United States v. Martinez, 555 F.2d 1269, 1271 (5th Cir. 1977). To sustain a conviction for aiding and abetting, the Martinez court noted that the evidence must show that defendant was associated with the criminal venture, participated in it as something he wished to bring about, and sought by his action to make it succeed.”

So it goes, the definition of aiding and abetting. If some of the ethnically challenged right-wingers have their way I would have broken the law yesterday. We were in Northern CA, in the middle of a heavy pacific storm driving between two communities. It is about a 25 mile drive. We passed a young Hispanic kid and offered him a ride. His English was no good y nosotros Espanol no es tan bueno pero... He said something we did not understand until I got to an online dictionary today, “Carcel, carcel, policia?” I knew the “policia” part and I could say “no estamos policia.” Carcel means jail I found out. This kid was not hitchhiking just walking in the downpour. He thought we were the ICE people and we were taking him to jail. After we convinced him we were not the Feds he was reluctant to get in. "Sientese en la siya, por favor," I asked. He made it clear he was wet and was worried about our rental car. We drove him to the next town where he had amigos waiting for him and maybe a job. We left him the cash we had, which was not much, after vacation. He could get a hamburger con queso at the local Micky D’s and maybe a coat instead of his Wal Mart quality sweatshirt.

I celebrate this small act of 'aiding and abetting' a young man in his quest for a job and something better than the life he left in Mexico. Who knows, what if this kid were my son or grandson? By our actions and maybe some others we hope he will succeed and be safe. Let us hope the more reasoned and kind among those are seeking their party's nominations in this election year will prevail.

There is Hope for America!

Not since 1968 have I seen this kind of electric optimism and hope!

Thank you Iowa.