The loss of dignity in America.

My father told me once: You alone define who you are, not your job, not your education, not your family.

I pair this often with a thought placed in the mouth of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in the novel "The Killer Angels." In the novel, Colonel Chamberlain remarks that part of the central idea of America is that each one of us has value. Nobody has to bow to anyone else, nobody is born to royalty, in a sense, we are all on somewhat equal footing.

Is that really the case today? I think not, unfortunately. I can cite many examples.

Let's take the example of a young African American born to a poor family in inner-city Chicago. Sure we like to point to our current president and say he escaped this exact scenario. He is the exception rather than the unfortunate rule. Statistics will show that these children will be far more likely to be swallowed up in the rising tide of poor educational opportunities and gang violence. Certainly, there are choices to be made for these individuals. You can choose to make the best of your inner city education, but what kind of education do you get from an overcrowded high school and a bunch of teachers who are only there because the state will forgive their student loans if they put in their time at the failing schools. Even in the state of Utah, newly minted teachers, white and delightsome and freshly out of college swamp the rural and suburban school districts looking for jobs, while more than one person I know has said they would never work in the inner-city districts of Ogden and Salt Lake City. I'll tell you folks, inner city Ogden, though a little scary, is nothing like inner city LA, St. Louis, or Memphis.

We used to have Affirmative Action to try and get kids from these schools into college. There's some evidence that it worked, yet this has become something of yesteryear. We would much rather turn our heads and say these people don't exist.

What about the white guy with a Master's Degree that can't find a job anywhere but Wal Mart. He didn't bank on not being able to find a job when he graduated. Maybe his wife is pregnant. What does he do? He's done everything right, made all the right choices according to our societal model, and he's stuck. He has a master's degree, something less than one percent of the world population has, and he's stuck being a cashier at a retail joint. People yell at him because their loaf of bread didn't ring up at the price they thought it would.

If you are either of the people listed above, where do you draw your dignity from? Do you have any? More and more in our country, the richest country ever to grace the earth, people lose their dignity. It's hard when you're working a job that you're overqualified for just to get by. It's hard when you're trying to make the most of a horrible environment around you. Some manage to find that dignity and self-worth, some don't.

Some of us go to work everyday at a job we hate just to get by, while others of us sit at desk, paid by the government to do little more than read novels. Some of us won't go to the doctor unless death is knocking at the door because we have no health insurance. Others of us will go to the doctor every time we get a little sniffle just so he can prescribe some drug that we think will make us feel better. The overuse of medication in America has given rise to threat of super bacteria that is immune to antibiotics through evolutionary principles.

Perhaps the biggest indignity in recent years took place in New Orleans in 2005. Literally hundreds of thousands of people could not flee the path of Hurricane Katrina because they had no transportation. That's right, hundreds of thousands of citizens in the greatest country in the world were trapped in the middle of a predicted and forseen natural disaster simply because they had no car. We all watched the aftermath on television as FEMA and the Bush administration bungled the relief effort day after day while the President cowered first at his ranch in Texas and then later behind the backs of bureaucrats he would use as scapegoats. This led to hundreds of uncovered, dead, bloated and rotting corpses being beamed into the houses of millions of Americans at the dinner table, yet still we moan and grumble when the government wants to spend money on disaster preparedness and health care.

We won't let the government be the equalizer, because maybe we really don't want to be equal.

I don't believe that about most Americans though. While Bush bungled the Katrina response, many Americans gave of their money and time to help in charitable relief efforts, and that's great. That's what we should be doing.

However, millions of Americans walk around in our towns and cities everyday without their dignity. This holiday season, please help to restore some dignity to your fellow Americans. Give a little bit bigger tip at the restaurant, smile at the cashier when you go shopping. Tip your hat to the stranger on the street. Donate a few dollars to your favorite charity or drop some coins in the Salvation Army bucket. If we all work hard, we can go a long way to bringing out that inherent value and dignity in each of us.

Book Thoughts: "Misery" by Stephen King

Genuine psychological horror from the master, with all the macabre you could ask for in a book of this type. What's a pure bonus is the commentary produced throughout the book on the writing process, the relationship between writer and reader, and how some authors just might feel about those best-sellers we all love so much.

No supernatural thrills here, but all the suspense and terror you could take in real life. A classic in my opinion.

Book Thoughts: Early John Grisham.

Recently I undertook a reading project. Being that John Grisham is my favorite author, and it had been a long time since I've read many of his books, I decided to reread all of his legal thrillers. I've now finished the first five: "A Time to Kill," "The Firm," "The Pelican Brief," "The Client," and "The Chamber." I classify these as "Early Grisham." Now, I'm sure I'll never be fortunate enough to teach a class on this great man's work, but that's how I divide it. I don't know if Mr. Grisham would agree, but no offense intended.

I would classify these five novels into two types: The Thriller and the Issue Focused novel.

Thrillers
The Firm
The Pelican Brief
The Client

Issue Focused Novels
A Time To Kill
The Chamber

Now of course all 5 carry some parts from both of these categories. A Time to Kill has some Thriller like action while the The Pelican Brief tackles earth based green issues. However, I think the books are different enough that the categorization holds. I'll give my thoughts on the thrillers first.

The Firm--Grisham's second novel really shot him on to the national stage. Mitch Mcdeere, bright young attorney, takes a dream job at a firm in Memphis only to discover that his new employers are really paid by the mob to help them launder money, among other things. Mitch is forced to become an informant for the FBI and deliver his bosses and coworkers into the hands of justice. The book has a ton of action and a lot of suspense, and while I like The Client a little better as a thriller, this one is still top notch. It reads a lot like a spy novel at times. Grisham is often knocked for not writing the best characters, but Mitch is an exception. While not necessarily feeling sorry for him, after all he IS rich, you really appreciate the predicament he finds himself in and you wonder if you could make the same choice. The bad guys are bad, but kind of just shadowy, and I thought Mitch's wife's character could have been fleshed out better, but alas, I have to be picky even to say that. 4 stars out of 5.


The Pelican Brief--Probably my least favorite of the 5 books. A young law student happens to solve the mystery of the murder of two Supreme Court Justices, and tries to live to tell the tale. This one, while trying to tackle green issues, is almost pure thriller and reads more like a spy novel than even The Firm. Honestly, it gets a little tedious following Darby from hovel to hovel as she hides, and I just wanted to get on with it at a certain point. Plus, I think trying to put Darby in a possible romantic situation is just too forced, and kind of turned me off a bit, especially the second time around. Still, the action is good and it's well written, just not my favorite. 3 stars out of 5.

The Client--A Young Boy witnesses the suicide of a mob lawyer, who tells him a secret that the mob will kill for. The action and characters in this book are both superb. It's a great ride to watch Mark try to escape both the mob, but the FBI as well! The character of Reggie is superbly written to fit with her young client and be perhaps the first good adult influence he has. 5 stars out of 5 and one of my favorite books ever.

The Issue focused Novels--

A Time to Kill--This book is so great, I don't know why it didn't win acclaim until after the publication of The Firm. In this one, a black father murders the two white men who raped his young daughter. Everyone knows he's guilty but the whole town struggles with issues of race and the fact that they didn't really blame the guy for doing what he did. The book comes to a very satisfying conclusion and takes an unflinching look at race issues in the modern south. The spirit of the old south hasn't gone away. 4 Stars out of 5.

The Chamber--Grisham takes another unflinching look at a controversial subject, the death penalty. From the get go, the reader can tell that Grisham has issues with the death penalty in the USA, and that's exactly how he wants it. Sam is guilty as sin, and Grisham lets the reader know right away, that allows him to totally focus the book on the issue of capital punishment in and of itself. The results are emotional in many ways. The last 20 or 30 pages are some of Grisham's best work ever, extremely poignant. I'd be hard pressed to say you could honestly read this novel and at least reevaluate your position on the death penalty. I know I did. 5 stars out of 5.

Throughout all of these books, you get the sense that Grisham is writing about the culture and literature of the south almost as much as he is writing about the law. It's a particular facet of these novels that I really enjoy and it gives them color. Some of the middle novels get away from that a bit, but some of the newer ones, particularly "Ford County" really got back to capturing it. I hope Grisham continues to do this.

All in all, these 5 novels were as good as the first time I read them. If you're one of the few who hasn't given Grisham a try, please do so. It's a treat.

Historic Health Care Vote

Last night the House of Representatives took a major step forward in bringing much needed health care reform to the USA. I would like to offer my congratulations to President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, The AARP. the AMA, and all of the everyday Americans that have been flooding Congress with calls to let them know they support real health care reform.

The final vote was 220-215 in favor of the bill, a pretty small margin. From all appearances, this was made possible by a compromise forged late Friday night between Pro-Choice and Anti-choice Democrats. This resulted in the passage of what is referred to as the Stupack amendment, this will pretty much guarantee that no insurance plan made available within the Federal exchange will be able to provide coverage for elective abortions. That's right, yet another issue has boiled down to abortion.

While I don't agree with the amendment, if that's what it took to get this bill pushed through at this point, so be it. I applaud Democratic leadership for seeing this through.

Hopefully this will make some people sit up and take notice. Despite the best efforts of Tea Baggers and the fear mongering of the GOP, we've stuck to our guns and taken the first step on what will hopefully be a historic process that will bring health care to millions of Americans. Speak truth and light to idiocy and fear.

Hopefully this will get done, and Nancy Pelosi can go down in history as an American Hero. Thank you very much Madam Speaker.

Election Night 2009 Final.

Well I was right about Virginia, Maine, California, and Washington. I got New Jersey and New York wrong. I wish I had been wrong on Maine.


The pundits will be crowing a big win for the Republicans tomorrow, but not so fast my friend. Though the Republican did pick up both Governorships, the big races were split 3-3, more importantly the democrats actually PICK UP A FORMER REPUBLICAN SEAT IN THE HOUSE. This will give them another vote to deploy for health care. Let's just put it this way, a democrat had not one in NY-23 since the Civil War. Tonight, thanks to Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, that's all changed. Beck and Palin thought they could ride into town in NY and tell the folks to rebel against Obama and elect a tea-bagger. Oops. Palin wakes up tomorrow with egg on her face over this. If this really is a preview of 2010, bring it on, because if the nut jobs like Palin and Beck have their way, the GOP is headed for a blood-bath of a civil war that will be splitting votes all over the country.

Though I called the loss in Maine, it makes me sad. It makes me sad that anyone's rights could be taken away by a vote.

However, but wins for Democrats in California and Washington. Plus, an anti-tax tea-bagger ballot measure was soundly defeated in Maine.

What do we take away from this?

1. Many, many Americans are still afraid of Gay Marriage. This issue will likely become a third rail in politics now, and candidates will be very loathe to come out in favor of Gay Marriage. That's why Obama isn't touching it, he wants to get reelected.

2. The votes in NJ and VA were on the poor economy and general malaise at incumbent parties. 60 percent of voters in those states said Obama was NOT a factor in their choice. This was NOT a referendum on Obama.

3. The tea-baggers have even less clout than they thought they did. Palin's outside influence did NOTHING in NY 23 except hand the seat to the democrats. Keep it up Sarah. Go rogue a little more.

Election Night 2009, Part 2.

Republicans win in Virginia, as expected.

The New Jersey race is tight as drum. Also expected.

Early results from Maine look good for Gay Marriage. The conservatives will be in trouble if they lose that one.


Still a long night to go.


Perhaps the most important race tonight for progressives is in Maine, where a Conservative ballot measure is seeking to overturn that state's Gay Marriage Law. No state has ever voted for Gay Marriage. Hopefully tonight, the great state of Maine, home of Gen. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, will be the first. Track the results here.

Election Night 2009, Part 1. Predictions & General Thoughts

It's an off year for elections, but with the turbulent times today, there are 6 races people around the country are watching tonight. Republicans are hoping that wins in all or most of these races will be taken as a trend in the United States away from Barack Obama and his policies. Democrats really don't see that trend happening at any rate, but are anxious to avoid the appearance of it by picking off at least couple of these.

The races are:

US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NY-23--A heavily Republican district that hasn't been won by a democrat in more than 100 years. Recently, a radical right wing candidate entered the race and threatened to split the Republican vote, virtually handing this race to the democrat. However, as of last week, the actual Republican has dropped out of the race, and though she actually endorsed the democrat, it's expected that with the Republican vote no longer split, the Conservative candidate will hold on to this seat rather easily. My prediction is just that. Republicans will keep this seat by at least 4-6 points.

CA-10. A current democrat district that Republicans were looking to pick up in the wake of the tea-bagger movement and anti state government sentiment in California. Unfortunately for them, the only Californians that care about tea-bagging live in San Francisco and have been doing it for years. However, this district was in Republican hands as recently as 1996, and is considered to be kind of a Blue Dog district, while the dem candidate here is an unabashed liberal. A win here shows a real left move for this district. My prediction is that the Dems hold this seat by 7-9 points.

Governorships

Virginia-- The democrat candidate has been badly beaten up in this race and I expect the Republican to win by at least 10 points.

New Jersey--A couple of months back this looked like a slam dunk for The Republicans. However, corruption and campaign problems have held their candidate down in recent weeks, many polls now show the democrat incumbent once again in the lead. I'll this one for the democrats, but it won't be called tonight and it will probably go into absentee ballots and become very messy.

State Ballot Measures

Maine--Question 1. If question 1 passes in Maine, it will strike down a law made earlier this year by the Maine legislature legalizing gay marriage. So in this case, a YES vote is AGAINST gay marriage. I predict this will pass closely and outlaw Gay Marriage in Maine. Nate Silver at 538.com feels differently about this and I hope he's right.

Washington--Referendum 71. If this passes, it will extend "domestic partnerships" to Gay couples, it just doesn't call it "marriage." This is widely expected to pass and I think it will.

So best case/worst case. For the Republicans, they could feasibly win 4 out of these 6 races--NY23, VA-GOV, NJ-GOV, and Maine Question 1. This would be a bit embarrassing for the democrats, but none of these are national races and after a week of press, it'll be back to business as usual. The worst case for the Republicans is more dire. They could feasibly lose 5 out of 6 as well, only taking home VA-GOV. This would be a major setback for them as they try to claim some sort of momentum into the 2010 midterms. It would also be a serious setback for the anti-gay folks to lose both of the ballot measures.

For the Democrats, the best case I think is also 4 out of 6: CA-10, NJ-GOV, Maine Q1, and WA R71. This would alleviate the fear of major Republican momentum. However, don't think they'll get Maine Q1, leaving them with 3 out of 6. The worst case here for dems is losing 4 of 6, while winning CA-10 and WA R71. This would mean Glenn Beck and a lot of moron pundits spouting off on Obama for the next week, but outside of political thought circles, this sentiment would dissipate rather quickly.

It should be an interesting night. More updates to come.