Worst ever

My son had this link on his website regarding historians concluding that Bush is the worst president...ever. In the past couple days, there's been so many examples of the current Administration's incompetence that I am tempted to start a list....here's the list from just this week:

1) FAA meltdown

2) The stories in"This American Life" episode 353 ("The Audacity of Government") available for free streaming here.

3) ABC News story this week about the Security Council "principals" approving torture.

4) ABC News story this week that military equipment and uniforms are available on e-Bay - even our military's helicopter parts.

5) National and worldwide oil and food price crisis.

6) No indication of an exit strategy for Iraq.

And this is just this week's list.

PBS Shows This Week

A few weeks ago, I was in Costco and was emotionally jarred to see "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo. This book that was described by the Chicago Daily News as "It is hard to imaging a more persuasive argument for staying out of war than this smooth, savage, brilliant tale." The book was written during World War I. My sister gave it to me and I read it during the Vietnam War. And here it is, again.

One reason I think the book was jarring to see is that most of us have so few reminders in our life that the tragic war is still ongoing. Thankfully, this week PBS has two programs this week to remind us....

Bill Moyers Journal has an excellent story about the documentary "Body of War" and its hero, Tomas Young, as well as the film's co-directors Phil Donohue and Ellen Spiro. The show includes a clip from the move that juxtaposes the congressional war resolution vote and the cost that Mr. Young paid for that decision. For more information, see Bill Moyers Journal

Also coming up on Monday 3/24 & Tuesday 3/25 is a PBS Frontline "Bush's War" 2-part 4 1/2 hour story documenting the run-up to the war. For more information, see Bush's War

MIT's take on the cost of the Iraq war.

This MIT (!) site explores an aspect of the war in Iraq that has been largely ignored - the human cost of the war for Iraqis.

Memories on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

As I start to write what MLK Jr. Day means to me, I am drawn back to memories of Lucille Davis. During the summers after 4th and 5th grade, my parents hired Lucille to do light housekeeping and to be my brother's, sister's and my nanny for the summers. Lucille was a black ("negro", at that time) college student from the south who I grew to love and confide in. I have really fond memories of her being such a patient listener.

At the time Lucille was with us in the summer, we lived in Armonk's Windmill Farms and we belonged to the Swimming Club that was on one of the lakes. Lucille would accompany us to the lake wearing her maid uniform and sit under a tree in the hot sticky weather while we would swim. It took many years until I realized why she wouldn't (or couldn't) join us in the water.

Within our house, Lucille was treated like a member of the family. I remember joining my mother and Lucille at the kitchen table while they were having a cup of coffee and my mother encouraged Lucille to tell me about living as a "Negro" in the South. And so it was that I learned for the first time about the Jim Crow laws from an intelligent college woman who had to sit in the back of the bus and sit in the balcony at the movies. This was in the summers of '61 and '62.

And now when I think of this day honoring the man who changed that way of living, I remember that it was not just our nation's civil rights values but also Lucille and many individuals whose lives were changed by his powerful leadership.

My Caucus Experience

Caucuses are the word of the day. When we lived in MN, it was a caucus state. At the caucus, we first figured out how many attendees supported which candidates. The next step was to split up the delegates to the County Democratic Convention proportionately to the support for each candidate and then we had to choose which attendees would be the delegates at the County convention. I don't remember who I was supporting but there were just a few supporting that candidate and somehow I ended up selected as the candidate for my candidate at the county convention.

What made my participation in the convention more interesting than usual was that Logan was only 2 months old and fully nursing so I brought him with me for most of the day. He did great and I enjoyed the experience of seeing out the positions for the national platform begin with discussions at the county level. I would love to go to a national convention someday...even though it probably would be interesting for 15min and boring for all the rest.

As for tonight's results....I was sorry to hear that Dodd has dropped out but I'm very happy with the possibility of a democratic winning the nomination!

Book DeCluttering

We have a lot of books and I find it very hard to part with them. Here's good advice on how to do it for when I'm ready.

Rock Band Clutter?

Good thing for us we have a whole extra room for our Rock Band! I would hate to add clutter to our house! http://unclutterer.com/2007/12/29/rock-band-clutter/

Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto

It didn't take long for it to be clear that Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's return to Pakistan to provide her nation with a democratic alternative to the military rule was at high risk for her personally. She wasn't a flaw-free politician (is there such a thing?) but in recent weeks, I have grown to admire Benazir Bhutto's bravery. As many have said "Freedom is not free." Now we can wait and watch to see if the price she paid will, indeed, be a step toward full democracy in Pakistan.
Here's a link to a moving tribute.

Sunlight for the People

My first link to post isn't very political so I tried to give a politico title. Actually, it's just a link to a site with info regarding SAD (seasonal affected disorder). G and I have started using a light box most mornings for 30 minutes. Not sure if have SAD but I hate the winter darkness so I thought it couldn't hurt to try. Here's the link.

Welcome

I've owned the liberalheart.com domain name for a long time - more than six years, I estimate. My first vision was that it would be a website resource for liberal perspectives on national and international points of interest. Such as a liberal's reaction to visiting the slave quarters at Mount Vernon or Independence Hall, etc. The dream of such a site is still just a dream but I've decided to start using this site as a web blog similar to L's www.plutor.org. Hopefully, just short entries with links that have caught my eye.