West Fork Blues

Baucus Health Care Bill DOA

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:30:00 +0000

USA Today -- Sen. Baucus Unveils Health Bill Without Republicans

Politico -- Health Bill Puts Heat on Snowe

Max Baucus releases his version of Health Care, one that does not contain a public option to compete against the insurance biz, and Republicans show that their opposition has more to do with the "game" of politics than the issue of health insurance for all Americans.

Question: If a less than perfect bill crafted by a group of Republicans and Democrats cannot garner any bipartisan support, than what hope is there for passing any meaningful health care reform in Congress?

Little to none.

Question: Can "Birthers" and "Teabaggers" define socialism, communism, fascism, liberty, republic, or democracy?

No, they're just fun to say.

Question: Shouldn't the debates and exchanges over issues and ideas on Capitol Hill be more academic, high minded, and quid pro quo than those I have with my two year old?

One would like to think so. Serious issues like health care reform are more important than partisanship and no one should be able to use an excuse that basically boils down to "because I don't want to" screamed at the top of their lungs.

Prediction: The United States will have nationalized health care, but things need to get a lot worse before they can get better.

... And the noisiest Americans will make sure of that.

Front Porch Musings from NY

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Mentality

New York City brings together a diversity in spoken language, skin hues, and culture. But there is one thing most New Yorkers share, a manufactured obliviousness to other people.

It is interesting to witness a person fain ignorance to your presence as you pass them on the sidewalk, even when the two of you are the only two people within eyeshot... in any direction... in a residential area. The possibility of a person not noticing another enter within three feet of him/herself is infinitesimally small, even if he/she happens to have the triple handicap of being deaf, blind, and stupid. But then take the scenario a step further. If you issue a friendly, "Hello," or "Good Morning" to this stranger, there is a hitch in their response, as if you have wrenched them back from the recesses of their inner-mind where perhaps they were tirelessly calculating the the value of their own self-importance,... or perhaps they're just surprised that someone broke the code of silence.

"Huh, whaaa.... Oh, Hi."

Aggressiveness

New Yorkers are notoriously aggressive, whether it be the in-your-face style of ordering at the corner sandwich shop or driving on the expressways, a fact that makes my blood boil every time I enter the expressway or order a turkey sandwich. But you don't appreciate the full extent of NY aggression until you've nearly been run over by two octogenarians pushing shopping carts in the dairy aisle.

Diversity

It is entertaining to walk into the local deli and observe the variety of "english" accents co-mingling. Bronx, Jersey, thick Irish, Indian, Spanish, etc. - all equally foreign to a born Midwesterner, but a pleasant change from the ethnic uniformity of Montana where diversity is measured in shades of white and Republican red.

Summer's End

You don't need to eyeball the calendar to know that summer has turned a corner. You can sense the trees beginning to withdraw, sequestering sugars back to their roots, readying themselves for a long winter. An event that is punctuated by a fanfare of color.

Gone is the heat and humidity that saps any motivation and makes sleeping an impossibility. The days are comfortable and the nights crisp.

Kids disappear from the playgrounds and teens no longer loiter in the streets and malls. School is starting, a sure sign that fall is near.

Fall, my favorite time of year.

Craziness to a Whole New Level

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:00:00 +0000

USA Today -- Planned Obama Speech to Students Sparks Protest

Lesson plans sent to schools originally suggested that students write letters to themselves "about what they can do to help the president." That language prompted conservative radio host Glen Beck to say the White House goal is the "indoctrination" of children.

No, Glenn. "Indoctrination" is the goal of FauxNews.

...but seriously, everyone knows that brainwashing and the indoctrination of children are really the roles of parents - very angry, narrow minded, self-serving parents.

...and of course, if you can't out-reason the competition, you out-breed them.

I Got Mine! Screw You!

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:30:00 +0000

How many of them do you think don't have health care?

That's Why I Read the Ravalli Republic

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:30:00 +0000

It's difficult to find news of any consequence anymore on the morning & evening news programs, because most of the air time is devoted to the latest celebrity death or reality star fiasco (Kate who? Michael, who cares?) But every morning I give The Big 3 the benefit of the doubt and allot them 15 minutes to convince me that they are serious for my attention. Most mornings the 15 minutes end with me flipping the channel to "Sid the Science Kid" for my daughter and taking my cup of joe over to the laptop to find out what's really going on in the world.

I peruse quite a few sites. General news comes from the Times and USA Today, regional news from NewWest, political coverage from Politico, and sports from ESPN. For local yokel coverage (which doubles as entertainment), I read the Ravalli Republic. Today was a particularly entertaining issue.

The Good.

11 year-old Hamilton boy, Joe Johnson, is reunited with his lovebird after it escaped and spent a couple nights experiencing the freedom and chill of a Montana summer night.

Ya, even I like a feel-good story every once in a while.

The Entertaining

Alan Berenzy was cited for misdemeanor disorderly conduct for not minding the "No Shirt, No Shoes, Not Service" signage and shopping full monty. Officer Oster comments that Berenzy is "new to the area."

Which begs the question: Where the hell is Berenzy from? But I'll give him some credit, if you're going to break the rules, you might as well go the whole nine yards.

The Crazy

Outspoken local, Kathy Kulonis, mixed a little politics into the Creamery Picnic in Stevensville this past weekend and was met with disdain from the crowd. It seemed to even ruffle the feathers of a few fellow Republicans. The outrage - Kulonis holding a sign that read "No Mo Bro" referring to her outrage in the direction President Obama is taking the country.

I don't agree with Ms. Kulonis's message, but for a valley filled with hoards of conservative crazies, this was pretty mild.

Of course, she couldn't help herself and decided to respond.

Good Sense on Politics and Science

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:00:00 +0000

USA Today -- Report Urges Separation of Science and State

The "Science for Policy Project," headed by the former House Science Committee chief Sherwood Boehlert, a retired Republican from New York, and Don Kennedy, former editor of 'Science,' suggests conflict over stem cells, climate and other science "has left the U.S. with a system that is plagued by charges that science is being 'politicized.'"

For example, President Bush's decision in 2001 not to sign a climate treaty on economic grounds inflamed charges that science was being ignored. The discovery that a Bush administration lawyer had edited climate science summaries (critics argued he softened the certainty of global warming) in 2005 further alarmed scientists.

Science is one of the most important subjects a student covers in school. It provides a balanced and grounded method to analyze our world and understand how people's actions affect our environment. The study of science improves our ability to reason, a trait that is important in every facet of a person's life. Since science classes are compulsory in all accredited schools, this makes me wonder at what point religious fanatics and global warming nay-sayers stopped paying attention.

Obama in the Hoosier State

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:00:00 +0000

MSNBC -- Obama: 'Unleash prosperity for everybody'

The President is in the Elkhart, IN area discussing reinvestment in America. Elkhart has been particularly hard hit during the downturn, experiencing a 15% rise in unemployment and is a microcosm of the much larger issue playing out across the U.S. Every state in the union will receive a portion of the $787 billion economic stimulus funds.

Right Wing Nut response - "Sounds like SOCIALISM!"

Everyone Else - "Yep, and it's about time"

A small dose of socialism does the body good ( just like a pinch of free-market).

On Health Care

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 04:30:00 +0000

"The free market economic principles practiced in the United States provide Americans with the best health care in the world."

Supporters of unregulated, unfettered business practices are, undoubtedly, ardent supporters of this statement. Of course, the honest response to the above statement is, "Well, yes... sort of... if you can afford it."

It's true that the United States has one of the most modern and most technically advanced health care systems in the world, but is also the most expensive. The United States spent $4178 per capita in 1998, more than twice that of the next closest industrialized nation. And the United States does not get a lot of bang for it's buck. The United States 2009 infant mortality rate is 6.26 deaths per 1000 live births, behind Singapore's 2.31, and nations such as Japan, Iceland, France, Germany, UK, Canada, all four Scandinavian countries, and, oh... Cuba. The United States also ranks but 50th in the world based on life expectancy. The average American lives 78.11 years, fewer years than the citizens of Japan, Australia, Canada, France, Israel, Iceland, U.K., and all four Scandinavian countries. Oh, and Cuba is only few places lower on the rankings at #55. Japan, Canada, Cuba, Singapore, Israel, the majority of the European nations, and all of the Scandinavian countries have universal health care. The United States is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not have a universal health care system.

But we're America and we have to be unique, right? Perhaps we could lay our pride aside for a day and take a few lessons from that poor, communist country just south of our border. We just might learn something.

Ahh... Isn't He Cute?

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Malkin's mindless twaddle

Adult Driver's Ed

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:30:00 +0000

Have you ever tallied the number of driving violations on your a.m. commute? It's astonishing how many people have either forgotten the rules of the road or just don't believe they apply.

Now, I witnessed more than a few violations in rural MT. Things such as not using a turn signal, not wearing a seat belt, or the worst, not having your mandatory "Save 100 Elk, Kill a Wolf" bumper sticker plastered to the ass of your beater, but that's nothing compared to driving around an Eastern metropolis. Here, people tailgate, cross multiple lanes without pausing, turn left in front of oncoming traffic in order to be first through the intersection on a green light, and, of course, everyone speeds, with law enforcement officers being no better than the average suit behind the wheel of his Mercedes.

It's astonishing what flies here. Truly, this is the purpose behind heavy duty duel-rear wheeled diesel driven pickups fitted with a critter cage wrapped around the front grill. Driving one would allow me to pass cleanly through the Beamer driven by a woman adorned in oversized fashion-conscious sun-goggles, talking on a zigged-out cell, sipping a $7 machiatto-frapp-a-late-light-roasted-mocha-grande attempting to gun it on a left-hand turn in front of me without the use of a turn signal... without pause.

Each time I witness a driving violation I curse in Yiddish, wave my cane in the air, and think, "There's another person who needs to retake their driver's exam."

Hmm... not a bad idea. Let me think out loud (or in writing). A driving education class for adults... It would be called:

Adult Driver's Education (because you obviously didn't learn anything the first time around)

The class curriculum would start with the basics. Topics to be covered:

1. Who enters the intersection first when two automobiles come to a four-way stop at the same time? (Note: the answer is not whoever guns it first).

2. What is a safe distance between vehicles and safe speed to travel in snowy, rainy, icy conditions? (Note: a massive 4-wheel drive SUV does not make you exempt from the laws of physics. As a matter of fact, it just means that you roll, slide, and flip better than most smaller vehicles on the road.)

3. How to position your mirrors in order to minimize a vehicle's blind-spots. (No, they are not car fixtures merely for the ease of spackling your face with 'Streetwalker Sparkle Red', or to make faces at your offspring in the backseat).

Extra credit material also covered:

1. The importance of shopping for a vehicle to fit your needs (and not just buying the one that makes you look like a self-absorbed pretentious boob).

2. Scheduling your day and route to work so that you allot enough time to get to and from work safely and within the speed limit (so your left foot can relax and catch a break from the constant use of the accelerator).

3. Balancing a checkbook (so that your Mercedes lifestyle purchased on a Yugo budget doesn't get repo-ed and the rest of us who can count dollars and cents aren't bailing your ass out like we did with GM).

Yes! I like it. Sign me up. I need a little more entertainment.

Where you been, dude?

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:00:00 +0000

"Too busy," in short. After living and working in a city apart from the fam, packing up an apartment, moving back home only to pack up a house, taking three weeks to visit friends and family on a cross country move with the wife, a cat, and a little girl, I finally have a little time to sit, relax, and purge - traveling across America provides one with a lot of new material and disaffection to share.

So, "Cheers!" to the folks back West. I miss it already. And "Screw You!" to my new compatriots in Jersey. For those unfamiliar, "Screw You!" in its various forms is Jersey for "Have a nice day!" and usually accompanied with a single finger salute. Friendly people out here. I think I'll fit in quite nicely.

Small Business Ideas

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 07:00:00 +0000

A fishing buddy of mine and I have thrown around business ideas for some time thinking that if we came up with the perfect idea that we could make a go of it in the valley we love. We came up with numerous ideas*. One of my favorites was to resurrect the milk delivery truck. We would deliver organic dairy to people's doorsteps daily in reusable pint containers. It didn't seem like a bad idea seeing how many gallons of milk my family goes through in a week. The milk and dairy products would be locally supplied, it would keep plastic jugs out of the landfill, and it would cut down on trips to the supermarket.

Another idea was an evening daycare business where parents could drop off their kid(s) at the last minute for a night at the movies or dinner. But seeing as how other people's kids tend to lower my tolerance threshold, for my child's sake, that idea was quickly nipped in the bud.

We toyed around with the 'novel' idea (sarcasm intended) of opening up a fly-shop together. Seeing as how we both have intimate knowledge of the workings of the business, we felt secure in our plans. My wife even said she could run the bakery next door. Would you like a fly with your bagel? Of course, this intimate knowledge also made us keenly aware of the drawbacks and limitations of another such business in the valley. Also, can there be any better way to ruin a favorite hobby then to try and make a business of it?

These rough plans were sketched out before the current economic downturn which could have been a deterrent, but I found the biggest obstacle was that every idea could never pass mustard against the initial question - Would I buy that? No. That's the problem with being buy local/American made/environmentally conscious and a tight wad. It limits the possibilities.

Memories of these business ideas came flooding back to me the other day when reading a passage from Robert Sullivan's "Cross Country...". Sullivan recounts an interview he read about the owner of The Beat Bookstore in Boulder, CO, a small bookstore specializing in beat poetry like that of Jack Kerouac.

"When the reporter from the Boulder newspaper asked Tom Peters how he had survived as a small-bookstore owner for over fifteen years, he responded by saying, "Low aspirations.""

Perhaps that is the key to our business success. Think small. Make just enough to scrape by. Love what you do. Hmm..., of course, it wouldn't hurt to be married to a couple rich wives willing to bankroll us. It would make life easier.

To my fishing friend: I look forward to meeting up again streamside this summer so we can float some bugs and draft new business ideas that will never see the light of day.

And to my wife: that part I mentioned above, get on that.

* I share these because I don't believe anyone would be dumb enough to put them into motion, but if you do you can make out a check and send a share of the profits to "Frank".

Musing on the "Big Tent"

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:00:00 +0000

As I sit and think on this overcast afternoon, I can't help but ruminate over the political party that calls itself the "Big Tent". This in turn triggers memories of the circus and being young. I like the circus.

Under the self described "Big Tent" are the small gov't, fiscal conservatives; those that advocate little government intrusion into business. In-other-words, they believe in a laizze faire, free-enterprise, free-market, amoral, survival of the fittest, Darwinian economy. They believe that if you can't make it with the big boys, "tough!" And they kick you to the gutter for good measure. True believers of this thinking believe that riches are the reward for those who work hard and in turn that the richest people work the hardest (and thus deserve it).

(Sure they do. And free-market capitalism has served the homeless pretty well over the last decade.)

Also under this tent are the religious conservatives; the faith-filled that believe in aiding the poor, sick, and destitute because it is their Christian moral obligation, because we are all "made in His image". They believe in the importance of all life and take it to the point of advocating for the outlawing of abortion.

(Never mind that the death penalty is taking a life, also. "They are on different 'moral planes'" is how it was explained to me by a conservative Christian who ran out of ways to rationalize her anti-abortion, pro-death penalty stance).

So how is it that these two groups coexist under "The Big Tent"? And an even bigger mystery is how many of these two camps' principles are embodied in the same person? How can one rationalize the contradictions?

In order for this to happen, a conservative would have to rationalize cutting "wasteful", communist social programs intended to help the poor, sick, and elderly like Medicare, Medicaid, WIC, Social security, while still showing genuine concern for the poor, elderly, and destitute at the same time. This person would have to explain how a hands-off amoral capitalistic economic system that rewards the CEOs for increasing profits by keeping workers wages low and reducing benefits while at the same time championing consumerism is better for the "Christian Nation".

Aye-yi-yi... It's difficult to wrap one's head around. Perhaps the conservative's reasoning is that government funded social welfare and genuine concern for the poor exist on "different moral planes". Maybe,...

...under the "Big Tent".

I like the circus.

"Cross Country...", Again

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Reading is a lot like writing for me, it happens in spurts depending on the subject and my mood. Some books can be read in a matter of days, others take months, no matter the number of pages. And now with a family, a job, travel, March Madness, and a new fishing season starting, it's a wonder any reading or writing gets done at all.

In Robert Sullivan's book "Cross Country..." (a book I have stretched out over four months), he recalls one of his transcontinental trips referring to it as his Worst Cross-Country Trip Ever, a trip he doesn't care to remember but can't seem to forget. This of course makes me think of a few unpleasant memories of my own. You know, the kind of embarrassing nuggets you keep locked away in the back of your mind but come screaming back in vivid color at inconvenient times triggered by who knows what, and you find yourself looking for a dark place so you can't be seen closing your eyes, plugging your ears, and screaming, "La-la-la!" at the top of your lungs until the moment has passed. Yikes! Why does the brain have to be so cruel?

Student on Censorship in Missoula School

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:30:00 +0000

Attempting to have an insightful, in-depth conversation with a young adult about current events, literature, politics, religion, or any topic outside the teen bubble is often like trying to have a conversation with my toddler, although to her credit the two year old is usually more responsive than the "I don't know." offered by a teen.*

Kudos then to Ana Beard, a Hellgate High School (Missoula, MT) senior, who defies my generalization by offering her response to censorship in the classroom by the Missoula School Board in a well written article posted on 4&20.

The censorship revolves around the use of a video entitled "The Story of Stuff" a Big Sky High School (Missoula, MT) teacher used to incite discussion amongst her wildlife biology students. The film criticises the consumer culture fostered by corporate America and the American people in general.

My thought: Isn't any material that asks young adults to critically think and look beyond themselves, the latest fashion trend, celebrity gossip, or computer gadget a good thing?

* To a teen, this is evidence of crotchetiness that defies my years.

Vet Aiding Vet

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Ravalli Republic -- Helping Each Other

From the Ravalli Republic article by Will Moss:

"For as long as soldiers have fought and died for their country, the idea of war has been romanticized.

We see it in movies, on the television and in the video games that our children play for hours on end.

The concepts of patriotism, sacrifice, honor and bravery are heralded, and for good reason - the men and women of all races and creeds who have fought for the ideals and convictions of their people are indeed deserving of every honor bestowed.

But, perhaps, one of the problems with this idealization is that it often extends only to the borders of the theater in which our soldiers fight; what honors pass beyond those borders are many times reserved for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in exchanging their lives for liberty.

But what about those who remain?

The effects of war never fully recede from those who have experienced it and the wounds, both physical and mental, can remain tender to the touch for a lifetime.

Through government agencies like the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are resources that vets can utilize to help deal with the difficult effects of war. But, like any bureaucracy, those channels can often be difficult to navigate and strewn with red tape and piles of paperwork. It can be enough to discourage even the most deserving soldier from pursuing the health benefits and services which are owed to them.

That’s where local organizations like the Valley Veterans Service Center in Hamilton work to pick up the reigns in helping veterans navigate the government gauntlet." (cont.)

Clinton Approach on U.S. Foreign Policy

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:00:00 +0000

USA Today -- Clinton Pushes Pragmatic Foreign Policy

Hillary Rodham Clinton, testifying at her confirmation hearings for secretary of State, told a largely friendly Senate Foreign Relations Committee that foreign policy must be based on "principles and pragmatism, not rigid ideology."

"We must use what has been called 'smart power,' the full range of tools at our disposal," Clinton said in her opening statement. "With 'smart power,' diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy."

"Foreign policy must be based on a marriage of principles and pragmatism, not rigid ideology," the former first lady said. "On facts and evidence, not emotion or prejudice."

"America cannot solve the most pressing problems on our own, and the world cannot solve them without America," Clinton said.

Hmm... working WITH other nations, interesting concept.

Bubble Boy Uncensored

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Listening to W go off-script is like watching a train-wreck in slow motion. It's difficult to decide what's worse: the poor worded sentences, the inability to check emotion, or his ideological flaws. After listening to today's news conference, it's clear that his speech writers and advisers have already packed up and left.

"Cross Country..." with Robert Sullivan

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:30:00 +0000

I'm suffering from post-election, post-New Year's hangover, and I think reality is setting in. It's time for a good escape.

...started a book entitled "Cross Country: Fifteen Years and 90,000 Miles on the Roads and Interstates of Amer..." blah, blah, blah (long title) about a transcontinental trip from Portland to New York by author Robert Sullivan, his wife, and two kids. It was recommended by my brother-in-law (not a bad read, bro).

Less than a hundred pages in and following the return path of Lewis and Clark (much to the disinterest of his family), the author and family top Lolo Pass on Highway 12, take a dip in the hot springs, and decide to spend the night in Missoula. The next morning they park downtown to get some coffee and visit a few shops. They...

"stop at a great little bookstore just up from the Missoula train station and buy way too many books, stuffing our car in a fashion that would halt our progress entirely if we were crossing the country the way families first did, when the United States was expanding shortly after the return of Lewis and Clark." (p.78)

Hmm... I wonder what book store Sullivan is referring to? (wink)

Next stop: a round of golf at the black slag lined hazards of the Old Works in Anaconda.

War

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:00:00 +0000

Truthdig -- Party to Murder

"The use of terror and hunger to break a hostile population is one of the oldest forms of warfare. I watched the Bosnian Serbs employ the same tactic in Sarajevo. Those who orchestrate such sieges do not grasp the terrible rage born of long humiliation, indiscriminate violence and abuse. A father or a mother whose child dies because of a lack of vaccines or proper medical care does not forget. A boy whose ill grandmother dies while detained at an Israel checkpoint does not forget. A family that loses a child in an airstrike does not forget. All who endure humiliation, abuse and the murder of family members do not forget. This rage becomes a virus within those who, eventually, stumble out into the daylight. Is it any wonder that 71 percent of children interviewed at a school in Gaza recently said they wanted to be a 'martyr'?"

I'm not sure if there ever is such a thing as a "justifiable war", but I am certain that the war in Iraq and this latest disproportionate response to Palestinian rocket fire by Israel doesn't even come close to the definition. Both stink of opportunism and thuggery and have the side effect of recruiting more militants to the opposing side. When will we learn?

Katrina, The Final Nail in the Coffin

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Vanity Fair -- Farewell to All That: An Oral History of the Bush White House

(Excerpts from Vanity Fair article)

Richard Clarke, chief White House counterterrorism advisor: The contrast with having briefed his father and Clinton and Gore was so marked. And to be told, frankly, early in the administration, by Condi Rice and [her deputy] Steve Hadley, you know, Don’t give the president a lot of long memos, he’s not a big reader—well, shit. I mean, the president of the United States is not a big reader?

Richard Clarke: That night, on 9/11, Rumsfeld came over and the others, and the president finally got back, and we had a meeting. And Rumsfeld said, You know, we’ve got to do Iraq, and everyone looked at him—at least I looked at him and Powell looked at him—like, What the hell are you talking about? And he said—I’ll never forget this—There just aren’t enough targets in Afghanistan. We need to bomb something else to prove that we’re, you know, big and strong and not going to be pushed around by these kind of attacks.

And I made the point certainly that night, and I think Powell acknowledged it, that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. That didn’t seem to faze Rumsfeld in the least.

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. It really didn’t, because from the first weeks of the administration they were talking about Iraq. I just found it a little disgusting that they were talking about it while the bodies were still burning in the Pentagon and at the World Trade Center.

November 1, 2001 A presidential executive order exempts presidents, vice presidents, and their designees from provisions of the 1978 Presidential Rec ords Act and permits unclassified archived materials to be kept sealed in perpetuity, rather than being released after 12 years, as the law allows.

Robert Dallek, presidential biographer: I’ve testified twice before the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee, protesting this executive order. Now, there are two constraints that operate in relation to all executive materials. One is that if you’re going to violate someone’s privacy you are constrained from releasing the material. A much bigger issue is one of national security, and that’s what causes years to go by before many, many documents are released. So those are the two constraints.

But broadening this—and not only in relation to the president, but in relation to the vice president—reflects, I think, the Cheney proposition that the Watergate crisis put too many limitations on executive power.

And so we now have the issue of what sort of documentary rec ord we’re going to find. I mean, this is a separate issue, I guess, but will they have sanitized the records?

December 17, 2001 Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, where Dick Cheney had been C.E.O., is awarded a 10-year omnibus contract to provide the Pentagon with support services for everything from fighting oil-well fires to building military bases to serving meals. As defense secretary under George H. W. Bush, Cheney had pushed strenuously to outsource a variety of military functions to private contractors—part of a broader effort to transfer government functions of all kinds to the private sector.

Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell: Cheney brings this accumulation of power and ability to influence the bureaucracy to a fine art. He surpasses Kissinger even. This is all the more ironic because Cheney was the antithesis of this when he was chief of staff of the White House under Gerald Ford and when he was secretary of defense. He was very deferential. He was not trying to insinuate himself.

But he turns everything on its head and he becomes the power. And he does it through his network. This is a guy who’s an absolute genius at bureaucracy and an absolute genius at not displaying his genius at bureaucracy. He’s always quiet.

February 14, 2002 The Bush administration proposes a Clear Skies Initiative, which relaxes air-quality and emissions standards. This is followed by a Healthy Forests Initiative, which opens up national forests to increased logging. Climate change becomes a forbidden subject.

Rick Piltz, senior associate, U.S. Climate Change Science Program: At the beginning of the Bush administration, Ari Patrinos, a very senior science official who had run the Department of Energy’s climate-change research program for many years, and a half-dozen high-ranking federal science officials were brought together and told to explain the science and help develop policy options for a proactive climate-change policy for the administration. They moved into an office downtown, and they worked very hard and were briefing at the Cabinet level, in the White House. Cheney was there, Colin Powell was there, Commerce Secretary [Don] Evans was there. They were making the case on climate change.

And one day they were told: Take it down, pack it up, go back to your offices—we don’t need you anymore.

Paul Pillar, national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia at the C.I.A.: The makers of the [Iraq] war had no appetite for and did not request any such assessments [about the aftermath of war]. Anybody who wanted an intelligence-community assessment on any of this stuff would’ve come through me, and I got no requests at all.

As to why this was the case, I would give two general answers. Number one was just extreme hubris and self-confidence. If you truly believe in the power of free economics and free politics, and their attractiveness to all populations of the world, and their ability to sweep away all manner of ills, then you tend not to worry about these things so much.

The other major reason is that, given the difficulty of mustering public support for something as extreme as an offensive war, any serious discussion inside the government about the messy consequences, the things that could go wrong, would complicate even further the job of selling the war.

September 15, 2002 In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the assistant to the president for economic policy, Lawrence Lindsey, estimates the cost of a war with Iraq to be in the neighborhood of $100 billion to $200 billion. Mitch Daniels, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, quickly revises the figure downward to $50 billion to $60 billion, and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld calls Lindsey’s estimate “baloney.” Lindsey is fired in December. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill is dismissed the same day. Years later, an analysis by Nobel-laureate economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda J. Bilmes will estimate the cost of the Iraq war to be $3 trillion.

Ari Fleischer, Bush’s first White House press secretary: What happened was the president made the point to the staff that, if America ever goes to war, we go to war because it’s the right thing to do regardless of the cost. That is a moral issue, and so we should not be talking to anybody about how much it may or may not cost; the whole issue is, do you or don’t you go? And if you go, you pay whatever the cost is to win. The day the president dismissed Larry and Secretary O’Neill, I remember he said to me that he noticed that morning that everybody in the Situation Room was sitting up a bit straighter.

David Kuo: Every time you had a conversation with him, he would make it clear the subject was important. Bush would say, I care about this. Let’s get this done. But it was like a ship whose wheel is not attached to the rudder.

Jay Garner, retired army general and first overseer of the U.S. administration and reconstruction of Iraq: When I went to see Rumsfeld at the end of January, I said, O.K., I’ll do this for the next few months for you. I said, you know, Let me tell you something, Mr. Secretary. George Marshall started in 1942 working on a 1945 problem. You’re starting in February working on what’s probably a March or April problem. And he said, I know, but we have to do the best with the time that we have. So that kind of frames everything.

Kenneth Adelman, a member of Donald Rumsfeld’s advisory Defense Policy Board: So he says, It might be best if you got off the Defense Policy Board. You’re very negative. I said, I am negative, Don. You’re absolutely right. I’m not negative about our friendship. But I think your decisions have been abysmal when it really counted.

Start out with, you know, when you stood up there and said things—“Stuff happens.” I said, That’s your entry in Bartlett’s. The only thing people will remember about you is “Stuff happens.” I mean, how could you say that? “This is what free people do.” This is not what free people do. This is what barbarians do. And I said, Do you realize what the looting did to us? It legitimized the idea that liberation comes with chaos rather than with freedom and a better life. And it demystified the potency of American forces. Plus, destroying, what, 30 percent of the infrastructure.

I said, You have 140,000 troops there, and they didn’t do jack shit. I said, There was no order to stop the looting. And he says, There was an order. I said, Well, did you give the order? He says, I didn’t give the order, but someone around here gave the order. I said, Who gave the order?
So he takes out his yellow pad of paper and he writes down—he says, I’m going to tell you. I’ll get back to you and tell you. And I said, I’d like to know who gave the order, and write down the second question on your yellow pad there. Tell me why 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq disobeyed the order. Write that down, too.

And so that was not a successful conversation.

Matthew Dowd, Bush’s pollster and chief strategist for the 2004 presidential campaign: When Abu Ghraib happened, I was like, We’ve got to fire Rumsfeld. Like if we’re the “accountability president,” we haven’t really done this. We don’t veto any bills. We don’t fire anybody. I was like, Well, this is a disaster, and we’re going to hold some National Guard colonel responsible? This guy’s got to get fired.

For an M.B.A. president, he got the M.B.A. 101 stuff down, which is, you know, you don’t have to do everything. Let other people do it. But M.B.A. 201 is: Hold people accountable.

Alberto Mora, navy general counsel: I will tell you this: I will tell you that General Anthony Taguba, who investigated Abu Ghraib, feels now that the proximate cause of Abu Ghraib were the O.L.C. memoranda that authorized abusive treatment. And I will also tell you that there are general-rank officers who’ve had senior responsibility within the Joint Staff or counterterrorism operations who believe that the number-one and number-two leading causes of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq have been, number one, Abu Ghraib, number two, Guantánamo, because of the effectiveness of these symbols in helping recruit jihadists into the field and combat against American soldiers.

Lawrence Wilkerson: John [Bellinger] and I had to work on the 9/11-commission testimony of Condi. Condi was not gonna do it, not gonna do it, not gonna do it, and then all of a sudden she realized she better do it. That was an appalling enterprise. We would cherry-pick things to make it look like the president had been actually concerned about al-Qaeda. We cherry-picked things to make it look as if the vice president and others, Secretary Rumsfeld and all, had been.

They didn’t give a shit about al-Qaeda. They had priorities. The priorities were lower taxes, ballistic missiles, and the defense thereof.

David Kuo, deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: After the 2004 election they cut the White House faith-based staff by 30 percent, 40 percent, because it became clear that it had served its purpose.

There’s this idea that the Bush White House was dominated by religious conservatives and catered to the needs of religious conservatives. But what people miss is that religious conservatives and the Republican Party have always had a very uneasy relationship. The reality in the White House is—if you look at the most senior staff—you’re seeing people who aren’t personally religious and have no particular affection for people who are religious-right leaders. Now, at the end of the day, that’s easy to understand, because most of the people who are religious-right leaders are not easy to like. It’s that old Gandhi thing, right? I might actually be a Christian myself, except for the action of Christians.

June 7, 2005 Documents emerge indicating that the decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, in 2001, was influenced by the Global Climate Coalition, an industry group with ties to Exxon. One State Department letter to the coalition states: “Potus [president of the United States] rejected Kyoto in part based on input from you.” Several days later, Philip Cooney, a former American Petroleum Institute lobbyist and the chief of staff of the president’s Council on Environmental Quality, resigns after it is revealed that he had edited government reports to downplay the threat of climate change. Cooney takes a job at Exxon.

Rick Piltz, senior associate, U.S. Climate Change Science Program: In the fall of 2002, I was doing something I’d been doing for years, which was developing and editing the [Climate Change Science Program’s] annual report to Congress. And it had been drafted with input from dozens of federal scientists and reviewed and vetted and revised and vetted some more.

And then it had to go for a White House clearance. It came back to us over the fax machine with Phil Cooney’s hand markup on it. I flipped through it and saw right away what he was doing. You don’t need to do a huge amount of re-writing to make something say something different; you just need to change a word, change a phrase, cross out a sentence, add some adjectives. And what he was doing was, he was passing a screen over the report to introduce uncertainty language into statements about global warming. The political motivation of it was obvious.

August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded, strikes the Gulf Coast. The storm surge breaches the levees in New Orleans; the city is flooded and eventually evacuated amid a complete breakdown of civil order. Bush flies over the city on his way back from a fund-raiser out West. Days later, visiting the destruction as relief efforts falter, the president praises thefema director, Michael Brown: “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job.”

Matthew Dowd, Bush’s pollster and chief strategist for the 2004 presidential campaign: Katrina to me was the tipping point. The president broke his bond with the public. Once that bond was broken, he no longer had the capacity to talk to the American public. State of the Union addresses? It didn’t matter. Legislative initiatives? It didn’t matter. P.R.? It didn’t matter. Travel? It didn’t matter. I knew when Katrina—I was like, man, you know, this is it, man. We’re done.

Dan Bartlett, White House communications director and later counselor to the president: Politically, it [Katrina] was the final nail in the coffin.

Merry Christmas

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Peace.

The Spirit of Christmas

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The holiday season is a time when friends and family gather together to visit, feast, and exchange gifts with one another. It is also a faith-filled time where religious communities reunite to rekindle their spiritual beliefs. It is truly a joyous season filled with family and religious tradition. But I must agree with Ms. Shigley, that my least favorite holiday tradition is the "annual list of grievances fellow Christians lob around under the pretext of ‘keeping Christ in Christmas.’”

One is not apt to miss this annual appeal from a few conservative Christians. They profess that Christmas is under assault by the government, corporations, and an increasingly secular society. They are vocal and their anger screams across the print (Ross, Quinn, Craft, Williams, USA Today). This is unfortunate because it doesn't represent the majority of Christians and it is not in the spirit of Christmas.

The spirit of Christmas has nothing to do with "Happy Holidays" signs, nativity scenes, or keeping Christianity front and center during the holiday season. Jesus was not born to this world to win a popularity contest. Jesus was born and lived to teach us compassion, to be good neighbors, and to be good stewards of the Earth and its denizens. He led by example and asks us to do the same. This is the spirit of Christmas. No more.

Like Ms. Shigley, I “don’t care if there is – or isn’t – a crèche in front of a grocery store." I would rather “keep Christ in Christmas by marveling at the vulnerable beginning of a tiny child who came to free oppressed, and bring good news to the world.” And of course, try to do my part to live the spirit of Christmas every day.

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy New Year! - in other words, Happy Holidays!

...and a Merry Christmas to You too!

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Bitterroot Star -- Letters to the Editor (12/24/08)

1st Amendment - State/Religion/God

Dear Editor,

It doesn't come to my surprise that the majority of Americans can't decipher the word God from religion. God IS NOT a religion. God is a Supernatural Being. Religion is a faith in God - religions being Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. Faith is your church - be Catholic, Mormon, Methodist, Baptist, etc.

Christmas is a Holy Day in the eyes of Christians. The government made it a Federal Holiday. The manger or nativity is where Jesus was born. IT IS NOT A RELIGION. Christmas is the day we celebrate Jesus birth, just like you celebrating your birth. You Atheist need to get it right before you blast the Christians for having Jesus manger, a Christmas tree, songs or a menorah for the Jewish celebration. IT IS NOT A HOLIDAY TREE.

I am deeply offended by these remarks that as a Christian, I have to justify why the majority of the world celebrates Christmas. Before you uniformed who don't know how to use a dictionary, read it for the definitions of God, and religion before you blast and put lawsuits against Christians - that erect crosses, mangers, 10 commandments (laws), and anything else that DOES NOT SYMBOLIZE RELIGION.

Why is it that the MINORITY RULES THE MAJORITY? Maybe I should put a lawsuit against the Atheist for mental stress and anguish for them telling me and all Christians God is a farce and Christmas is stupid, and that having the manger is a violation of the first amendment against State and Religion.

The idea of saying Happy Holidays, instead of Merry Christmas, tells me you're a wimp! I say very loud MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS to all Christians and Atheists!

Randall Ross

Stevensville

Editor's Note: The above letter, including the heading, is printed exactly as submitted.

---------------

The hate is strong with this one.

It's hard to find any of the "Christmas Spirit" in Mr. Ross's letter. Plus, his civics may be a little rusty. The Constitution was set up to make sure the rights of the minority were protected from the will of the majority. The power sharing amongst the three branches of government is but one example. Also, history tells us that many of America's immigrants that colonized the prenatal States and those that came later fled starvation, ethnic, religious, and/or government persecution only to receive similar treatment from those that came before them. This is important to remember when thinking about asserting one's will upon those that are not like-minded.

May I add also that the "wimp" accusation is always a strong reasoning technique when trying to prove a point.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Ross.

Letter to the Editor: Floodplain Fiasco

francishwoods@hotmail.com (Francis H. Woods) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:00:00 +0000

In an interesting letter to the editor printed in the Bitterroot Star (12-10-2008), a Hamilton geologist discusses disaster flood insurance, county oversight, and the Robak and Fox properties where two homes are going up just feet from the banks of the Bitterroot River.

Floodplain fiasco

Dear Editor,

I wanted to talk about the building in the Floodplains of the Bitterroot River in Ravalli County. Prior to our general election this month, a reader described how our access to flood insurance would be repealed with the growth policy. As correct as this contributor was regarding flood insurance, floodplains, and the benefits we receive as a member community, the protections are still in tact due to having a state, county, and most likely a city mitigation plan. A mitigation plan protects the designated floodplain from building, so when regular flood events occur, loss of property and life is reduced.

A problem we are facing in Ravalli County is that city and county environmental health departments are issuing permits to whoever comes in the door with money. The arguments these landowners have is that they have the right to build due to having permits. This is clearly showing the problems we all know are occurring within our local government units.

Mr. Robak of the West Fork, and Mr. Fox on the main branch of the Bitterroot River both own properties which would be classified as being in the floodplain. Here is why: if any portion of a property lies below the established floodplain elevation, the entire property is considered in the floodplain for insurance purposes. Building is allowed on a property as long as it is above what is known as the base flood elevation or BFE. I know this due to being a former officer in the Mitigation Division for FEMA, which administers the National Floodplain Insurance Program (NFIP). Floodplain maps can be found online; they include base elevations, or elevations of the water within the floodplain. Any enclosed floor in Ravalli County needs to be 2 feet above this base elevation; they can be found at HYPERLINK "http://www.mapcenter.fema.gov" www.mapcenter.fema.gov. There are maps for Ravalli County, or anywhere else in the US at that site.

In an article about Robak, whose case is currently in District (or state) court in Hamilton, the article describes our County Attorney, George Corn as the hero to this situation; he is not. It was the tens of residents who brought this information to the county floodplain administrator for review. The article further quoted Angela Wetzstone, also of the RCAO, who graduated from UM Law last year as an expert on floodplain issues; again, she is not. The county attorney office is a facilitator for the public, and the laws are national, created in US congress in the mid-sixties.

The real message is this: where the city and county governments fail, the floodplain personnel, county, state, and federal are doing their jobs well. The city had no business issuing permits to Mr. Fox whose property sits adjacent to the West Main St. Bridge on the south side. Regardless of the outcome of the district court case, or the findings (to be determined) for Mr. Fox and Mr. Robak, these landowners unknowingly have put our community in danger of losing our status as a protected community for flood events, and protective flood insurance.

FEMA is an emergency financing entity that provides very basic, and as most flood victims attest, non-sufficient repair monies at times of disaster. Without flood insurance, the majority of repairs are on the owner. The federal SBA (Small Business Administration) offers low interest loans to disaster victims, so being a member community with an approved mitigation plan to provide flood insurance and disaster assistance is critical. After working several flood disasters, and seeing the bottom line of the federal and state share of the expenses, neither Mr. Fox nor Mr. Robak could come up with this sum for their decisions to build in a floodplain. These decisions which some are confusing as "property rights" would exclude us as a member community by building in a designated 100 year floodplain (or Zone A or AE). While I believe in property rights, I also believe in a community's choice to have an approved mitigation plan (which protects the 100 year floodplain from building) and thereby gain federal protections to property and life via flood insurance and disaster assistance.

After seeing a photograph of the Robak property, and observing the Fox construction, these buildings will eventually be underwater, no matter what type of external mitigation, if any is erected. Water finds its bottom, and the return interval in 2005 estimates for a 100 year event is now 27 years. Since our last major event was reportedly in the 1970’s (when the Bitterroot River topped West Main St.) we are due for historic flooding within 5 years, or at the outset 25 years. Within one generation, Mr. Robak’s house, and Mr. Fox’s construction project at riverbank level, are both within 100 yards of the natural channel and will be inundated. The next question is: what will be the impact of the septic, and the structure itself when it will be destroyed? Let’s hope Mr. Fox and Mr. Robak will consider demolishing their projects for the betterment of the community. As an example, the only allowed structure in a floodplain is a non-residential pavilion, or a hay barn type structure with no septic capabilities.

Unfortunately, these forays into the floodplain are examples of a county government that has problems communicating between departments. We lack the leadership of a county commission which refuses to hire a county planning director since June of this year. We have a county attorney who wishes to get the positive spin of helping the community, when in fact he has hurt it, and developed its reputation in the state that we now are labeled with. The real heroes are the state flood administrator, who has opened up investigations into these building situations, and once again, a county flood administrator, a true professional we are lucky to have working for us in Ravalli County.

We all love the river, and enjoy playing on it. If you have a million dollars to build a home on the river, hire a competent engineer or geologist to give you good advice on safe and legal building sites on your property. The days should be gone where money and property rights will get you what you want. Less land is available for building, let’s not jeopardize our protections like flood insurance and disaster relief to our community because we have wealthy individuals who have no idea what they are jeopardizing by building their dream homes within the floodplain. This is a community education issue, not a judicial one, or an individual one.

Michael Spreadbury, geologist

Hamilton

The timber frame of the Fox house can be seen in the center of the above photograph taken in Hamilton River Park in November.