Sarah Palin in Haiti - Looking for Purpose

This weekend, my inbox was filled with much news from Haiti.

Protests. Airport closing. Children dying of cholera. I was even sent the horrifying video of a man being shot point blank in the head.

I bet what you heard from Haiti was that Sarah Palin visited.

I'm not a fan, but I wanted to give her a chance. Even though she chose to go with a man who has denounced Islam, I tried to maintain some hope. She has a lot of followers. If she could get those masses to donate to groups doing good work, then her visit had a point.

 Instead she fulfilled the expectations of most of my friends. She became what my friends in Haiti call a "disaster tourist". Get some photos. Let a couple kids touch your hand.

She held a press conference, of course. But did she call on the United States to live up to it's promise of aid? Nope. Did she provide a place where donations could go directly to NGOs working there? Nope. She didn't even give the assembled press the chance to ask questions about vague claims she made about aid being discontinued.

As much I hate it, Sarah Palin has power. She could be getting aid to Haiti. She could be organizing young volunteers. Instead she spent a weekend playing disaster tourist. I hope she got great photos.

What's Gay Marriage Got To Do With You?

"Everybody's out to get me but I feel alright/Because everybody's thinking about me."

- Jim Infantino

image courtesty of www.manolobrides.com

I've said before that I'm fairly liberal, but I do understand many conservative positions. For example, while I disagree, I can understand that pro-life people feel that they are preventing murder. I really do get it. I have also had a friend who needed to end her pregnancy at week 12-1/2 because the fetus had a condition that wouldn't allow it to develop a brain, resulting in a 0% chance of life outside her body. Ending that pregnancy devastated her. It wasn't convenience. It was what needed to happen and the law of the land shouldn't have made it harder on her.

Despite my strong feelings, I do understand that pro-life position.

However, I don't understand the problem with Same-Sex Marriage.

I listen to arguments like it hurts the the institution of marriage. I think cheating hurts the institution of marriage. I think inability to communicate to your partner hurts the institution of marriage. I could even make an argument that The Bachelor hurts the institution of marriage. But how do the gays hurt it? More committed people demonstrating great partnerships seems only beneficial to me.

Then there's the argument that it would cost small businesses money because of health insurance for spouses. Wouldn't anyone getting married cost them money? I'm finding it hard to believe that businesses are making a practice of hiring gays because it keeps health insurance premiums low.

In fact, I think more people getting married would put some additional money in city coffers as they apply for licenses and have ceremonies performed. Not to mention the additional revenue for caterers, tux rentals, photographers. Weddings are big business.

At the end of the day, I am for same-sex marriage because I believe people should all have the same freedoms. A couple of gals sharing a bed and a life isn't killing anyone. It's not even costing anyone money.

Even Don't Ask, Don't Tell (which should be repealed now, by the way) has some almost legitimate concerns. You don't want distrust and disharmony on the battlefield. Although I argue that asking people to lie is where distrust starts, I can see reason to at least consider this objection.

But where is the harm of legalizing marriage for the couple down the street?

If your marriage is being hurt by the relationships of people you don't even know, it's not the gays causing your problems. It's you.

I Spy

A few weeks ago, I saw the movie Fair Game, detailing the exposure of Valerie Plame as an undercover operative for the CIA.

When that happened during the Bush Administration, they attempted to portray her as a mere secretary of no import. That wasn’t really the case. Her job was to help gather information while undercover in the Middle East.

Like most spy organizations, they gather little details from many sources and then pull it all together to get a full picture of various threats to national security around the world.

If this week, we were reading in the paper that a SPY had procured hundreds of thousands of documents and presented them to a handler for China or Iran, the country would be outraged. We would be calling it treason and suggesting they spend their life in prison at the very least.

Instead this week, we are watching major media outlets disperse that information provided to them by WikiLeaks (with the redactions that the MEDIA deemed important).

How exactly is WikiLeaks any different from a spy organization? For all these journalists know, there is one sentence in all those reports that confirms some key piece of information foreign intelligence organizations were waiting on.

I believe in the freedom of information to a point. I also respect whistle-blowers for having the courage to say that information is wrong like Watergate, WMDs in Iraq and even the original WikiLeak footage of Iraqi civilian deaths.

But just blindly accepting stolen documents from a spy and then passing them onto the media isn’t the same thing.

It’s not journalism. It’s facilitating treason.

We need a hero

I think President Obama has been given a rough deal. He’s been dealing with an economic meltdown, a never-ending war and the BP spill.

I’m sympathetic, but only to a point.

You’re the President of the United States, dude. It’s not all pomp and circumstance.

That said, I think he has tried to do a good job, and I’m mostly supportive of what he’s done. But he’s really losing me on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

78% of Americans favor ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Soldiers favor it. So do most of the top brass.

Admitedly, the Marine Corps Commandant has come out against changing it while we’re at war.

I think that’s why we need to change it.

First of all, the war on terror is not a typical war. It’s more like the war on drugs. It’s a concept. There will always be new skirmishes, new fields of battle. Some gay soldiers are our most skilled. Why would we toss them out when we need them most? Asking them to lie to their colleagues and commanding officers is offensive and certainly a bad precedent.

Any solider who can’t follow orders and treat their fellow soldiers with respect are the ones who should go.

That said, I think the military will handle this just fine. It’s the President who concerns me.

I get it, it’s better to change policies through Congress than the courts.

But that doesn’t seem to be an option.

However, there is a very good option available to Obama. A chance to do the right thing AND be presidential.

As Commander-in-Chief, he can order the military to suspend the practice until Congress is ready to make it official.

We need a leader, President Obama. This is your chance to show that you are one.

Where's Mine?

Anyone who has ever changed jobs or lost a job can tell you about the sticker shock that comes at the idea of paying for health care through COBRA even if it’s just for one month before your new employer’s plan begins.

Anyone, that is, except freshman Republican congressman Andy Harris from Maryland.

Politico reports that Harris was apparently shocked to learn that his government insurance wouldn’t kick in for one month after he takes office. He then asked if he could purchase coverage from the government for that month…which is suspiciously like the public option he’s vowing to repeal.

His spokesperson says he wasn’t being hypocritical. He was, “just pointing out the inefficiency of government-run health care.”

But as an anesthesiologist, he should be aware that this isn’t just government-run health care. This is MOST health care. This is the health care that working men and women have every day. If their job even offers health insurance, it doesn’t start right away. It limits where you can get your care and what treatment options are available. Sick children and others who need long-term care often hit the cap of what the insurance companies will pay.

I hope Maryland is happy with their choice of a congressman who seems completely out-of-touch with the reality most of the state faces.

I’m sure he and his family will survive this one-month gap just fine until they end up with that government-run health care he hates and the rest of us envy.

And now, a word from Kanye West

If there was one thing that Team GW was good at during his presidency, it was controlling the discussion.

For example, if the media is getting a little too nosy about the absence of WMDs, you can simply throw them an attractive CIA agent and they’ll be nipping at her heels instead of yours.

As our former president made his media rounds this week, it was incredibly clear is that he can still control the discussion. Bush calmly fielded questions on those WMDs, the mission accomplished banner, the economic meltdown, nation-building in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina.

But what was the headline?

How much George Bush was hurt by Kanye West calling him a racist.

His two terms were marked by thousands of Americans dying in New York, New Orleans and Afghanistan, but the “worst moment” of his presidency was being called a racist by a rap star.

Instead of calling him out on this obvious overstatement, NBC was clearly over the moon at this chance for “healing” and a ratings bonanza.

First, the apology from Kanye West and then the former president’s reaction. Awesome.

Kanye West, never one to miss a self-destruct opportunity, couldn’t just give a regular interview. While his point was apparently to skip the tv drama in favor of real discussion, Kanye  made this point by creating tv drama so we could all skip the discussion. Now, that’s a mission accomplished.

I don’t want to watch Kanye West apologize to George Bush.

I want to watch Bush apologize to Valerie Plame.

Don't say you're Canadian if you're not

Don't get me wrong. I love Canada.

I'm up for some hockey, Tim Horton's or Barenaked Ladies any day of the week. I can name the Canadian prime minister, discuss the lead story in the Toronto Star, and I even tune in to CBC radio occasionally to listen to Q. I like that Jian Ghomeshi.

What I don't like are seeing Americans with those little Canadian flag pins on their backpacks.

Someone explained to me once that they say they are Canadian because people have negative stereotypes of Americans. While the general Canadian stereotype seems to be that Canadians are all nice people.

Don't you think that's because people in foreign lands are having friendly chats with super-nice "Canadians" every day? They talk to Americans with their little maple leaf pins and walk away, thinking, "Wow. Another nice Canadian."

The only way to change the stereotype of the Ugly American is to be a Nice American.

If you disagree with something our government is doing, then tell people that. If you agree, explain why in a reasonable manner. Listen to their side. Try to speak their language - literally and figuratively.

But, if nothing else, take off that damn pin.