Stand Up to Our President

Paul Krugman opines that Obama should stand up to Republicans.

Unfortunately, as with Clinton's disastrous free-trade policies, Obama promotes cuts to the safety net that a Republican president would not be able to get past a Democratic congress.  Obama, like Clinton, has been very much a Republican president.

Obama's preparedness to make a whole range of compromises will be at the expense of the 99%.

It is we who must stand up to our president.  We have to prevent him from selling us down the river.

For Whom Does the Post Exist?

Postmaster Mark Jamison writes an excellent article in Steve Hutkins' wonderful blog, savethepostoffice.com, about the big issues: does USPS exist merely to serve advertising mass mailers, or does it have an obligation to serve the nation? USPS management and frequently its Office of the Inspector General, and many of the people on the Postal Regulatory Commission, on the Board of Governors, in Congress, and the president, have the wrong answer.

We Are All Immigrants

If you missed it last night, or you've turned your television off like we have, you can watch Frontline: Lost in Detention online (54 minutes). Not for the faint of heart, it shows the abusiveness and insanity of US immigration enforcement.

Because of the likelihood of abuse, a few things should never be privatized. Prisons, health care, and education are at the top of that list. Capitalism is fine. But when it morphs into unbridled greed, as it clearly has done, it can only lead to human suffering, gross injustice, and economic collapse.

Alabama's new anti-immigrant law is already hurting its farmers, because much to the surprise of Governor Bentley, most U.S. citizens really don't want to do farm work. "Jobless resident Americans lack the physical stamina and the mental toughness to see the job through," says Alabama farmer Jerry Spencer. There's a certain measure of desperation, determination, and fortitude required to do that kind of work. Most of us aren't that desperate, determined, or tough. But if the economy and our elected officials continue on their current path, it's likely that our children will be.

All human beings are migrants. We are born into this life, we stay for a while, and then we move on. None of us are permanent residents. In the meantime, we go where we believe we have the best chance to provide for our families. Those who are desperate, determined, and strong enough to do the work that U.S. citizens do not want to do, who see grueling farm work as their best chance to provide for their families, pose no threat to anyone. We need them. And our well-being is tied to theirs.

--TomRW & MaryRW

More from HuffPost: After Alabama Immigration Law, Few Americans Taking Immigrants' Work

And more from the Washington Post/Associated Press: Few Americans Take Immigrants' Jobs in Alabama

Bait and Switch

Yesterday I clicked on an ad in the right-hand column of my Facebook page. (I know. This is probably never a good idea.) It said something along the lines of "Support immigration reform" or "Make your voice heard about immigration reform." Yes, there was a photo of Obama on the ad. I really should have known better.

So my click teleports me to Obama's page. I still stupidly think I'm saying something about my support for comprehensive immigration reform (silly me!). So I click on the next thing that just says "Count me in!" Sure enough, this counted me in to support Obama's bid for reelection. Apparently it had nothing to do with immigration reform.

I know about bait-and-switch. But really--really? So I unsubscribed after I got an email today from the Obama campaign about volunteering. (Again, it said nothing about immigration reform.) In the very tiny box where I was given the opportunity to give my reason for unsubscribing I wrote: "I signed up to voice my support for comprehensive immigration reform, not to support Obama's reelection. There's a difference. I hope you guys know that."

So far, all Obama's done regarding immigration reform is talk nice about immigrants and give his lukewarm support for the Dream Act. And the only action we've seen is the increase in reinforcement of our very broken and very unjust immigration system (for lack of a better word--it doesn't even deserve to be called a system). More raids. More deportations. More broken families.

I'm underwhelmed.

I do support Obama's reelection. I guess. Because whatever the Republicans cook up to run against him will undoubtedly be extremist in the extreme. Although, I have to say, if there's a good candidate running against him in the primaries, I just might vote for her.

I'm really, really, really sick of Obama doing more to appease the extremists than to do the work we elected him for.

In 2008, it was the Latino vote that turned many previously red states into blue ones. Without Latino support Obama never would have made it into the White House. He needs them. Big time.

But so far he's gone way out of his way to show the extremist xenophobes that he's "serious about enforcement." Why is he eager to cater to them? They're not the ones who elected him. And no matter what he does, he cannot please them.

So is it too much to ask for him to go out of his way to do what his supporters elected him for in the first place?

Obama's Speech

So far, just two things have struck me about Obama's speech today:

Now that our economic recovery is gaining strength...

I'm glad to hear that our economic recovery is gaining strength. I wouldn't have known if you hadn't told me. And I suspect there are many more who are equally unaware. No matter how many times you say this, it won't make it true for the majority of Americans. Even tapping your heels together three times won't help.

Democrats and Republicans must come together...

Really? Must we? Would you please quit trying to come together with these guys, Mr. Prez? Can't you see that they're just not that into you? They don't care how many concessions you make. You could steal every play from their playbook and it wouldn't help. It's the very idea of you that they don't like. You can't force the Republicans to be bipartisan, even if you think that's what most Americans want (or think they want).

If you would spend just a fraction of the time and energy you spend on trying to make nice with the Republicans on working for the Democratic base, Democrats would be so much more enthusiastic about voting for you in 2012. Don't forget who voted you into office. Don't leave us dangling here in the wind. Why you work harder to appease the Republicans than doing the work we elected you to do is beyond me.

Military-Industrial Complex

This article by Nicholas Kristof makes important points about the U.S. military:

• The United States spends nearly as much on military power as every other country in the world combined.
• The United States maintains troops at more than 560 bases and other sites in other countries.
• After the first gulf war, the United States retained bases in Saudi Arabia on the assumption that they would enhance American security. Instead, they appear to have provoked fundamentalists like Osama bin Laden into attacking the U.S.
• American troops in Afghanistan are among the strongest advocates of investing more in schools there because they see firsthand that education fights extremism far more effectively than bombs. And here’s the trade-off: For the cost of one American soldier in Afghanistan for one year, you could build about 20 schools.

Kristof cites Andrew Bacevich, Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War. Bacevich is wise in calling for less war, but, I think, too ready, with no evidence, to ascribe motives of honest belief and sincerity to Bush, and of insincerity to Obama. I know of no evidence Bush ever honestly believed in anything other than helping Bush get his. I no of no evidence Obama doesn't, by whatever dim, distorted light he sees, somehow honestly think the current fiasco is the best he can achieve. Their thoughts are known only to them. The fact is, Obama has increased war spending beyond even Bush's level. (McCain no doubt would've done as bad or worse.)

It's curious that commentators, including Kristof, who point out the absurdity of military spending, are quick to insist that the U.S. must stand ready to assert hegemony everywhere. After all, if we cease to occupy, say, Asia, it'll fall into the hands of, well, Asians. Such commentators content themselves with a cry to save some money--say by having a smaller marching band.

The reality is, we can never control the world, or Asia, or Afghanistan, or Iraq. Asia will be dominated by Asians, and our choice is to recognize it before, or after we waste thousands more American lives, tens of thousands more Asian lives, make hundreds of thousands more enemies, and waste hundreds of billions more dollars.

Now Let's Get It Done!

I am guardedly hopeful. Obama's speech was better than I expected. He said he supports the public option, but he's open to triggers and co-ops. The last part of his speech was really great.

I especially liked his reference to the letter he received from Ted Kennedy:

I received one of those letters a few days ago. It was from our beloved friend and colleague, Ted Kennedy. He had written it back in May, shortly after he was told that his illness was terminal. He asked that it be delivered upon his death....

He expressed confidence that this would be the year that health care reform – "that great unfinished business of our society," he called it – would finally pass. He repeated the truth that health care is decisive for our future prosperity, but he also reminded me that "it concerns more than material things." "What we face," he wrote, "is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country." [emphasis added]

It was truly a great speech. Given the opportunity to edit it, I would have tweaked it:

But an additional step we can must take to keep insurance companies honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange. Let me be clear – it would only be an option only for those who want it. don't have insurance.

Even so, the president demonstrated more support for a public option than I expected. His stated goals are good.

So now the question is, Can he deliver?

Even more importantly, can we?

I believe that the stance Barack Obama took tonight was altered by our activism and our persistence. In spite of his chastisement of Progressives for imbuing the public option with so much importance, I think his support of it was stronger because of indications Americans demand it. I think we did that.

During the election last year, we were just dipping our toes into this online organizing thingy. But clearly our work on health care reform proves that we're getting better at this. We're learning more, we're teaching each other, we're making more and more important connections. We are aggregating our power. How awesome is that?

Tonight I feel guardedly hopeful, not so much because of Obama's speech but because we are mobilizing for real change. I knew when Obama was elected that the really hard work lay ahead of us, and I was worried about whether we'd have the heart and the wherewithal to do it. Tonight, I'm less worried.

Barbara Boxer reported on Rachel Maddow that after the speech, Obama said to her, "Now let's get it done." That was my favorite thing he said all night. Enough talk. Let's have some action.

If you haven't already, tell each of your representatives to support real health care reform. Tell them you insist on a robust public option.

Write letters to local and national newspapers in support of real health care reform with a robust public option.

Particularly if your representative is a member of the Progressive Caucus, ask her or him to publicly commit to voting against any health care that does not contain a robust public option.

If you have other ideas of how to push for meaningful health care reform, please let me know.

Now let's get it done!

Whose Side Are You On, Mr. President?

Yesterday in his speech at the AFL-CIO's annual Labor Day picnic, President Obama gave us a little down payment on Wednesday night's speech:

I want a health insurance system that works as well for the American people as it does for the insurance industry. They should be free to make a profit. But they also have to be fair. Security and stability for folks who have health insurance, help for those that don't, the coverage they need at a price they can afford.

Is it just me, or did the last bit sound like an advertisement for health insurance?

Two statements keep running around in my mind: "I want a health insurance system that works as well for the American people as it does for the insurance industry.... They should be free to make a profit."

Now hold on just a cotton-pickin' minute. President Obama is holding up the concerns of the health insurance industry in one hand and the concerns of the American people in the other like there's some kind of parity there, like the two are somehow comparable. Uh, hello?

Could we focus on what will work well for the people of this country, the people who are losing their homes because they can't pay their medical bills, the people stuck in crappy jobs because they're afraid to lose their health insurance, the people being denied care even when they're insured, the people who are dying because their insurance companies won't cover the care they need?

How can these direst of life-and-death circumstances be mentioned in the same breath as the lust of the health insurance industry to make ever-increasing profits? Are we so beholden to the great capitalist machine that profit-making is always our priority?

The pit in my stomach is telling me that I know the answer to that question, but I just can't accept it.

Can you really look us in the eye, Mr. President, and hold the concerns of the health care industry alongside ours? Really? Have you not heard anything we've been saying? Are you not paying attention? What if it was your daughter whose care was denied by one of these modern-day pirates? How would you like her health and well-being held up alongside the concerns of industry stockholders to make a profit?

What I keep hearing is the politicians' deep concern for the health insurance industry. Enough already! Will you quit worrying about them? Quit acting as though their concerns are every bit as legitimate as ours! I don't care how much money they've sunk into your reelection coffers. You can't serve their needs and ours. Are you theirs? Or are you ours? You can't be both.

I don't understand why our health should be treated like it's just another commodity in America's capitalist soup. We keep hearing about how the bogeyman of socialism will rear its ugly head if the American people transform their "wealth care system" into a system that is designed to actually care for the health of the American people. Does every single aspect of our lives have to involve some corporate behemoth making a filthy profit? How many more of us have to die or have our lives ruined because of oblations poured out on the altar of rampant, unchecked capitalism?

Here's my question for you, Mr. President, members of Congress: Whose side are you on? Really? Because you can't be on the side of the health insurance industry and on the side of the American people at the same time. Our interests are diametrically opposed to theirs. You can't be for both. So which is it?

The Choice (video)

Terrific effort by Lee Stranahan calling on President Obama to do the right thing.

Ninth Inning Fail

White House senior advisor David Axelrod told ABC News today that this is the "9th inning" for the health care reform debate and that "President Obama is getting in the game [uh, about time?] and is 'at the point where he can close this' debate."

Oh really? Axelrod continued:

As to the fate of a government option plan to compete with private insurance, Axelrod suggested the controversial concept is gone but not forgotten: "The spirit that led him to support a public option is still very much at play here and so you know he wants competition. He wants choice.'

Russ Feingold has this to say about this "controversial concept":



The public option is the only way to bring down the skyrocketing costs of American health care. As Feingold says, "Real reform needs a strong public option." So if the public option is dead, so is real health care reform.

But how the hell can it be dead when 77 percent of the American people support it and even 65 percent of Republicans support it (according to an AARP poll)? That's as close as this country will ever come to a consensus. And it's dead????

Nevertheless, indications are that the administration is ready to bail (read: fail) on the public option and thus has declared it "dead" so that no one will pay attention to the fact that they are the ones who are murdering it.

This is change we can believe in only in the most profoundly cynical sense.

There's something much, much worse at work here than our rapacious health care system, and that would be our rapacious political system.

If Obama and the Dems undermine real health care reform, like it sounds like they're going to, then I suggest we encourage progressives like Kucinich and Feingold to organize themselves into a new party, one that is beholden to the people and not corporations.

Because I'm not voting for those damned Republicans any more than I'm voting for those damned Democrats. And I'm not not voting either....

So if the Dems screw this up, it's party time. NEW party time.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I still won't back down.

Dear Mr. President

I mailed off my message to President Obama, via whitehouse.gov, a few minutes ago. It's a slight variation on what I posted earlier today. Just for the record, I'm pasting it in below. But I'm not feeling all that hopeful, having just read Glenn Greenwald's blog for today.

The Obama White House isn't sitting impotently by while Democratic Senators shove a bad bill down its throat. This is the bill because this is the bill which Democratic leaders are happy to have. It's the bill they believe in. As important, by giving the insurance and pharmaceutical industries most everything they want, it ensures that the GOP doesn't become the repository for the largesse of those industries (and, converesly, that the Democratic Party retains that status).

This is how things always work. The industry interests which own and control our government always get their way. When is the last time they didn't? The "public option" was something that was designed to excite and placate progressives (who gave up from the start on a single-payer approach) -- and the vast, vast majority of progressives (all but the most loyal Obama supporters) who are invested in this issue have been emphatic about how central a public option is to their support for health care reform. But it seems clear that the White House and key Democrats were always planning on negotiating it away in exchange for industry support. Isn't that how it always works in Washington? No matter how many Democrats are elected, no matter which party controls the levers of government, the same set of narrow monied interests and right-wing values dictate outcomes, even if it means running roughshod over the interests of ordinary citizens (securing lower costs and expanding coverage) and/or what large majorities want.

Makes me sick to my stomach. Tom and I voted for Hillary in the Democratic primary precisely because we liked her take on health care reform much better than Obama's.

But wait. Glenn says there's still a ray of hope!

That's why this debate has now taken on such importance -- regardless of whether you think a public option is important or even if you think it's a good idea. Thanks in large part to the months-long efforts of Jane Hamsher and her FDL team -- who spent enormous amounts of time and resources getting large numbers of progressive House members to emphatically commit on video to opposing any health care bill that lacks a robust public option -- there's actually a chance this time that the outcome could be different. If those progressive House members actually adhere to their pledge, they can and will block any health care bill that lacks a public option. They can actually thwart industry demands and the dictate of Beltway leaders; can empower a new faction in Washington (themselves) beholden to different interests (ordinary citizens); and can vest some actual significance in the outcome of the 2006 and 2008 election.

Along with several other blogs, Jane and FDL are sponsoring a fundraiser to reward, and embolden, those progressive members who have made that pledge, and it raised an extraordinary sum of close to $150,000 in just a couple of days. Those interested can donate here. Rachel Maddow's lead segment last night was a discussion with Jane regarding the political significance of the health care debate and the possibility that progressives could actually prevail on something of significance for once.

The Washington Post today quotes an "anonymous White House official" excoriating what he condescendingly calls "the left of the left" for petulantly demanding a "public option." That article notes that the Obama White House is surprised by the intensity of progressives' insistence that the bill include a "public option," and who can blame them for being surprised? Ordinarily, progressives are told that they cannot have what they want because Blue Dogs and Republicans (on behalf of the industries that own them) must get what they want, and progressives meekly accept that because it's "better than nothing" (don't let the Perfect be the Enemy of the Good, they are lectured). More than anything else, it's vital that this dynamic change. Such a change -- a shift in Beltway power dynamics -- would be far more consequential even than the specific health care policy issues at stake in this debate.

OK, so it's not time to throw in the towel yet. But I'm feeling a bit discouraged, truth be told. I'm tired, and I have loads of work to do, but I'm too distracted by all this to do it. And I sure wish I had some money to send here. If you have some to spare, please do so.

Dear Mr. President,

I read earlier today that the White House is still insisting on a bipartisan health care reform bill.

But the Republicans in Congress have made it very clear that they will not back down on health care reform. These people don't want any reform at all. They are invested in maintaining the status quo. They are committed to the welfare of corporations. And they have had their chance to do things their way, and we are much the worse for it.

Much of the outcome of the health care debate depends on what you do and say in the next few weeks, Mr. President. We're looking for your impassioned leadership, for your clarity, for your steely determination, for your inspiring and illuminating rhetoric. We're looking for your commitment, not to bipartisanship, but to us.

The scoundrels you're making nice with, Mr. President, have drawn a line in the sand. It's time for you to do the same. Don't give them so much power. Don't choose a higher ground that's just going to throw us all off a cliff. And please, do all that you can to get those Blue Dogs in the Senate in line.

I'm begging you. We did not elect you to make nice with the party we voted against. Did you campaign on promises of bipartisanship? Or change we could believe in? We need to go where those people will not follow.

Draw your line in the sand, Mr. President. Insist on real reform with a public option. Don't back down. We're counting on you. We can do this. Yes. We. Can.

Most sincerely,

Mary Ray Worley

Oh, and one more thing: I won't back down.

Where Is Our Line in the Sand, Mr. President?

According to TheHill.com, the White House is apparently still insisting that it wants a bipartisan health care reform bill. Good luck with that, Mr. President.

The Republicans in Congress have made it very clear that they will not back down on health care reform. They couldn't be clearer if they hacked into the bank accounts of every American and dipped their greedy hands in. These people don't want any reform at all. They are invested in maintaining the status quo. They are committed to the welfare of corporations.

Much of the outcome of health care debate depends on what you do in the next few weeks, Mr. President. We're looking for your impassioned leadership, for your steely determination, for your inspiring and illuminating rhetoric. We're looking for your commitment, not to bipartisanship but to us.

The scoundrels you're making nice with, Mr. President, have drawn a line in the sand. It's time for you to do the same. Don't give them so much power. Don't choose a higher ground that's just going to throw us all off a cliff.

Please, I'm begging you, we did not elect you to make nice with the party we voted against. Did you campaign on promises of bipartisanship? Or change we could believe in? We need to go where those people will not follow.

Draw your line in the sand, Mr. President. Insist on real reform with a public option. Don't back down. We're counting on you. We can do this. Yes. We. Can.

To Investigate Bush or Not

In response to William Fisher's "To Investigate Bush or Not" in the February 16, 2009, Huffington Post

This divergence of viewpoints - from doing nothing to appointing a special prosecutor - is putting President Obama in an uncomfortable position. ... But Obama appears reluctant to take any action that might further divide the country. Moreover, he may be loath to antagonize Republicans, whose support he may need on many other issues in the future.

There is always a divergence of viewpoints. Justice should not have to depend on consensus. Nevertheless, you say yourself that "a sizable majority of Americans favor an investigation into Bush-era misconduct."

Investigations and prosecutions are never pleasant. There will never be a convenient time. "Further divide the country?" It was the Bushies who were deliberately divisive. The November election and popular support for Obama since then shows that we are currently less divided than we have been for a long time.

Obama is in quite a lot of uncomfortable positions. That's what he signed up for.

Republicans have just as many reasons, if not more, to want an investigation into Bush-era misconduct. Weren't they doing everything they could to put distance between themselves and Bush during the election? And isn't it the fault of the Bushies that the Republicans performed so abysmally in the election?

The bottom line is that if we don't investigate and prosecute Bush-era crimes, we set ourselves up for more of the same in the future. There will be absolutely nothing to prevent future leaders from doing the same unless we go forward with the investigations.

The Question of Bipartisanship

Obama's attempts to practice bipartisanship would be more meaningful if both parts of the "bi" were representative of reasonable but differing perspectives. It should be obvious by now, though, that the party of Limbaugh is extremist in the extreme and completely out of touch with every aspect of reality--political, economic, and social.

Our national perspectives and conversations (if you can call them that) have been so skewed by feudalistic ideology that all of our political categories have been torqued to the right. What used to be considered a moderate Democrat is now considered a rabid lefty. Fortunately, that means that there are more rabid lefties around than there used to be. Lots more.

Alas, we have not only the Bushies to blame for the current skew but also the Clintonites, many of whom are back in power and are interpreting November's progressive mandate as a "right-of-center" mandate, with the "center" now sitting somewhere over toward 75 on a scale of 1 to 100.

So in fact I'm not surprised or displeased that the Republicans refuse to go along with Obama's attempts at bipartisanship. They continue to marginalize themselves and show their true colors, refusing to unclench their stranglehold on their disproved extremist, feudalistic ideology. Their supposed patriotism is clearly a sham. What they support is not the United States of America but the Feudal States of America. While they sing the old "tax and spend" song about the Democrats, they themselves can't let go of the old "tax cut (for the rich) and spend" ideology that got us into this mess in the first place.

Thanks to them the middle class is vanishing at an alarming rate. But they're not alarmed--they're delighted. The ginormous gap between the rich and the poor is exactly what they're after. It should be crystal clear that these ideologues do not embrace democracy or even republicanism. They are feudalists through and through. They want a king and an elite aristocracy and an army of plebes and peasants to do all their dirty work and grovel at their feet. They don't think this mess we're in is a mess at all. They think it's just peachy, and they want more of the same. The only reasonable reaction to their extremism is to throw the bums out, which is pretty much what we did in November.

These extremist ideologues are the ones who got us into this mess. And the mess around them--the pain of the growing numbers of unemployed and uninsured--will never convince them of the error of their ways, because they're enjoying it. Obama needs to accept the fact that the folks he's trying to make nice with don't have a worthy idea to offer in the present conundrum. The conundrum is their doing, and they're proud of their accomplishments. They have no help to offer.

This is not the moment for bipartisanship. This is the moment to dig us out of the mess those folks got us into. Here's hoping that the Republicans have managed to convince Obama that they're not going to play nice, no matter how dire the crisis, because to them it's not a crisis--it's an accomplishment. The people have delivered a progressive mandate, not a Clintonite mandate, not a right-of-center mandate. We have come to our senses and can see the ideologues for what and who they truly are. If they don't want to come along for the ride, don't lose any momentum trying to bring them along. It just isn't going to happen. We have serious work to do. Leave the feudalists to Limbaugh. He will marginalize them all the more.

Friday Poetry: Patchwork

“We know that our patchwork heritage is a strength."
—Barack Obama, January 20, 2009

Wrap me in that patchwork.
Let me smell its many aromas
And drink in its delicious warmth.
Delight my eye in its glorious kaleidoscope.

We used to be three-piece suits,
Aprons and housecoats,
robes and pajamas and ball gowns,
business professional and casual Friday,
play clothes and power suits.
We used to clothe the homeless,
the elite and the erudite,
the cynic and the optimist.

We have been cherished and spat on,
Loved and nurtured and shunned,
Hung out to dry and rained on.
But here we are, all sewn together,
Stronger and more stunning
than ever we were,
Ready to wrap the cold, cold world
In our new warmth.

©Mary Ray Worley
January 22, 2009

¡Sí, se puede! Now Is the Time!

In a Mercury News article about Wednesday's marches for immigration reform, Juliana Barbassa quotes a scholar from the Foreign Policy Research Institute: "Go down to the unemployment office and ask what people lined up think of immigration reform—you'll get an earful. . . . It's the wrong time, at the wrong place, and the wrong issue to invest your political capital now." Bull hockey (ahem). I heartily disagree. Al contrario, this is exactly the right moment. Exactly.

Ah, well, consider the source: According to SourceWatch.org, the FPRI is a conservative think tank, "an activist organization driven by its own ideology." It describes itself as being "devoted to bringing the insights of scholarship to bear on the development of policies that advance U.S. national interests" and lists as one of its goals to "shape the national debate on foreign policy through frequent appearances in the national news media."

So what we have here is the FPRI seeking to "shape the national debate." That has been much of our problem: not that we are widely opposed, but that we are noisily opposed. In other words, we are being bullied. Can I please hear a loud "Stop that!" from all good people of common decency and good sense?! Thank you.

In fact, while the most recent attempt at immigration reform was still before Congress in 2007, according to a CBS poll, "most Americans surveyed support measures contained in the bill, including a guest worker program and the possibility of permanent residency for illegal immigrants who have lived and worked in the U.S." Granted that our economy is in much worse shape now than it was then, but there is no indication that vast numbers of the American people have changed their minds about this issue as a result of the economic downturn.

Decent, good-hearted American people—that is, the majority of Americans—understand that immigration is a very complex issue and that unauthorized immigrants don't come here on a whim or because they were bored down south.

But there are some bullies in our midst, and unfortunately they're very noisy. They would like you to think that they're in the majority, that the American people will not tolerate immigration reform while the economy is in such terrible shape. This is the reality that they are actively trying to bring into being just by repeating it over and over again. Please, do not let them.

In an article posted on the Rockridge Institute website, George Lakoff and Sam Ferguson make some excellent suggestions for how we can be the ones to shape the national debate:

• Address the issue as one of globalization. "If capital is going to freely cross borders, should people and labor be able to do so as well, going where globalization takes the jobs?"
• Address the issue as a humanitarian crisis involving "mass migration and displacement of people from their homelands at a rate of 800,000 people a year. . . . As a humanitarian crisis, the solution could involve the UN or the Organization of American States."
• Address immigration as a civil rights issue. "For the most part, [the 12 million immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization] are assimilated into the American system, but are forced to live underground and in the shadows because of their legal status. They are denied ordinary civil rights."
• Address immigration as a "cheap labor issue." "Undocumented immigrants allow employers to pay low wages, which in turn provide the cheap consumer goods we find at WalMart and McDonald's. They are part of a move towards the cheap lifestyle, where employers and consumers find any way they can to save a dollar, regardless of the human cost."

Activating these frames rather than the old "they're eating our pie" frame will help us to reshape the national debate and enable lawmakers to enact just, compassionate, and pragmatic immigration reform.

One of the primary reasons that now is the time to push for a just and humane immigration policy is that the Democrats would not have had such a sweeping victory in November had it not been for Latino voters, for whom immigration reform is an especially high priority. In other words, we have some political capital right this instant. We mustn't let it slip away.

The FPRI and myriad nativist hate groups recognize that political capital, and they're afraid. So they are using their well-practiced tactics to try to convince us and everyone else that now is not the time and that we have no political capital. They know that the momentum is with us. They know that our time is now.

The following quotation, as big as life, appears on the WhiteHouse.gov page describing the Obama administration's agenda regarding immigration:

The time to fix our broken immigration system is now. … We need stronger enforcement on the border and at the workplace. … But for reform to work, we also must respond to what pulls people to America. … Where we can reunite families, we should. Where we can bring in more foreign-born workers with the skills our economy needs, we should.
—Barack Obama, Statement on U.S. Senate Floor, May 23, 2007

I could do without the bit about "stronger enforcement," but remember this was before the launch of the horrendous ICE raids. I'm heartened by Obama's pragmatism as well as his refreshing willingness to see the complexities involved: "For reform to work, we must also respond to what pulls people to America."

And of course, our president will never forget that he himself is the son of an immigrant. The Day of the Immigrant in America is indeed at hand. The time is now. Now! That's what he said. Well, actually, he said "now" way back in 2007. In which case, the time is past due.

Aretha's "America" for a Patchwork America

It was amazing to see and hear Aretha Franklin, the 66-year-old Queen of Soul, the woman who sang "Respect" and "Chain of Fools," sing "America" during the inauguration ceremony today. As I watched and listened, I thought of how my mother might have reacted to Aretha's performance. I think quite possibly, as a classically trained musician, my mother would not have approved. I do not mean to cast aspersions on my mother, only to mark the change between generations, and the change I am relishing today.



My parents' America was most definitely a white America. Regardless of how open-minded and progressive and supportive they strove to be, they viewed colored people (the term we used then) as "other," and along with "other" were unspoken, powerful undertones: "less refined," "less well educated," "less advanced," "less capable," just less.

That was the America I grew up in. But the America I saw on the Washington mall today is a multi-America, a "patchwork" America, in which there are many varieties, all of us with so much to offer, all of us a gift, all of us precious and bright and capable and strong. A shift took place in the deep recesses of my mind and heart, a shift that has been in the works for many years: the "other" became "us," not assimilated into a melting pot, not an extension of white America. It was as if I could feel the patchwork being stitched together.

President Obama said in his speech today, "we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness." He himself embodies that patchwork heritage: the son of an African immigrant and a white woman from Kansas, he lived for a while in Indonesia when he was a child. He knows what it is to be an outsider, and yet he has benefited from some of the greatest advantages and privileges this country has to offer.

As I listened and looked around at what once would have been white America, I saw and loved the patchwork in all of its delicious diversity. Oooh, this is ever, ever, ever so much better. I don't feel embarrassed or tentative or apologetic to embrace Aretha as one of my own. She's not just an artist I have loved and admired all my life from afar. She is one of us, and I am one of her people, just as she is one of mine.

We are still distinct, each with her own heritage, his own flavor. There is much we have yet to learn from each other, many stories that still need to be told. But all the same, we are one people, we are one nation, we are brothers and sisters with a common vision and a common purpose, more closely allied with each other than we have ever been before.

I think the idea I am grasping at is bigger than my ability to express. I feel like I'm getting at only a shade of what's really happening. But I can feel it; I can feel the shift. It's big and it's important, and it's worth struggling to put it into words.

Much of my awareness of the shift is no doubt because of our new president. Our new sense of oneness is certainly a result of the message he has been driving home today.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility—a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task. . . .

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall. And why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

Barack Obama is our first black president; he is a joy and a treasure to black America. We rejoice today with our black brothers and sisters; we share their delight and their awe at what it took to bring us to this day. Seeing their reaction to this great day drives home to us how long and hard and painful a journey this has been. And we rejoice that Barack Obama is a president to every American of every skin tone, every culture, every language.

I felt so proud of Aretha today as she sang "America." She is not only a black artist, not only the Queen of Soul and a source of pride for black Americans. She isn't just their Aretha; she's our Aretha. She is a national treasure for all of us.

The wounds and weapons of racism are still with us. The weapons have not yet been utterly vanquished; the wounds not completely healed. We have overcome much, but we still have a long way to go. Nevertheless, progress has been made—real, tangible progress. Our hearts are being knit together, more deeply and more surely than ever before. The patchwork is being stitched together, and all the great treasures who in the past would not have been allowed to shine will grow and flourish and nurture the divine spark that lives in all of us.

Forward in That Light

I have never watched an inauguration with the eagerness or rapt attention I felt today, so comparisons are difficult to make, but I rejoice at the inclusion of such moving and powerful music and poetry during the ceremony. I am delighted with Elizabeth Alexander's delicious poem "Praise Song for the Day."



Jay Parini wrote last week in the Guardian, "The choice of Alexander to read is brilliant. She represents black American culture, but she says to the audience: 'We're here, and we're very smart and well-educated, fully aware of western European culture in all its complexity; yet we retain an allegiance to our own past, our roots, our needs, our vision.'"

We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain: that many have died for this day.

Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,
picked the cotton and the lettuce, built
brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of. . . .

Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,
others by first do no harm or take no more
than you need. What if the mightiest word is love? . . .

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,
praise song for walking forward in that light.

We are indeed walking forward in that light, hopeful, nervous, cautious, and jubilant. I have never in my life seen us so overjoyed or so united. If we can hold fast this new sense of ourselves and our potential, then maybe we really can remake America while reclaiming the best heritage of the founders.

Alexander's poem perfectly catches the juxtaposition of everydayness and history, of the ordinary and extraordinary, commonality and diversity—all that has gone into the making of this amazing day.

The beauty and diversity of our extraordinary national moment was further enhanced by the performance of "Air and Simple Gifts," arranged for the inauguration by John Williams and performed by Itzhak Perlman on the violin, Anthony McGill on the clarinet, Yo-Yo Ma on the cello, and Gabriela Montero on the piano. The diversity of the musicians represented here is so amazing all by itself, and the music was extraordinarily beautiful, exquisite in form and execution and resonating perfectly with the tone of the day. As I listened, I imagined music teachers all across the country rejoicing in their hearts.



(Aretha Franklin's extraordinary performance of "America" was so thrilling that I have to post about it separately.)

And finally, one of the many lines that gave me goosebumps during President Obama's speech was this one: "We will restore science to its rightful place." Wow. Knock me over with a feather. Science is back in vogue. Now I'm imagining science teachers across the country breathing a great collective sigh of relief.

I expect many of us were breathing various individual and collective sighs of relief throughout the day all over the country, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one crying, bawling, sniffling. This is a day we will long remember, a precious, joyous day. May all that we actually accomplish in the next four years bear out the hope burning in our hearts. May there be a new flourishing of poetry, music, and science that points back to this day, this day in which we walk "forward in that light."

Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery's Inaugural Benediction

Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, icon of the civil rights movement and cofounder together with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, gave the inaugural benediction today. It was the best prayer I ever heard, and maybe one of the best prayers ever prayed. I couldn't find a transcript of it fast enough, so I transcribed it myself. The first few lines are a verse from the hymn "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by James Weldon Johnson.

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far along the way,
Thou who has by thy might led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray,
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.
Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand,
True to thee, oh God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day. We pray now, oh Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant, Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration. He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national and indeed the global fiscal climate. But because we know you've got the whole world in your hand, we pray for not only our nation but for the community of nations.

Our faith does not shrink, though pressed by the flood of mortal ills. For we know that, Lord, you're able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds, and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that yes we can work together to achieve a more perfect union. And while we have sown the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness, and we come in the spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance. And as we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, wherever we seek your will. Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle; look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together, children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone, with your hands of power and your heart of love. Help us, then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid, when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right. Let all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen! Say Amen! And Amen!

Thank you, Dubya

There is one thing, and only one thing, that I'm grateful to George W. Bush for: my new sense of political engagement.

For most of my adult life, I have not been especially politically inclined. I thought politics was boring and that it didn't really affect me, and that nothing was as certain or as enduring as the pretty-much-okay status quo. I thought that American freedom was just a fact of life. I thought civil rights were a part of the scenery and as enduring as Mount McKinley. I never thought about the "Rule of Law" and thought the Constitution was an important historical document.

It wasn't until the 2000 election that I began really paying attention to the political arena. I was appalled at how the electoral college and the Supreme Court handed the presidency to the candidate who lost the election, at how the Florida recount was subverted. I felt an enormous sense of betrayal and a longing to live in a democracy where the will of the people was honored and respected.

On September 11, 2001, I was in a bookstore when I heard people talking the way they do when a great horror is unfolding. I decided I didn't want to hear about it from a stranger, so I dropped everything and went home to watch the news. All the way home, I kept saying to myself, over and over again: "Not while that guy is in office, not while that guy is in office." I didn't know yet what had happened, but I knew that Dubya would make whatever it was much worse. Talk about a prescient moment.

I had read enough to be firm in the belief that Dubya and the neocons would exploit the situation to accrue more power, to advance their antigovernment ideology, to twist the very foundations of the republic. I can't imagine a more horrific response to that national tragedy than the one we have witnessed these past seven years.

Under this president we were deceived into a preemptive war that many knew would turn into an unwinnable quagmire. We've seen the abandonment of habeas corpus, the introduction of torture and extraordinary rendition, unprecedented government secrecy, unwarranted surveillance of American citizens, the undermining of our government's checks and balances, and a "unitary president" who clearly considered himself to be above the law. The list goes on and on. The disasters that have befallen us during Dubya's term in office—9/11, Katrina, the collapse of the economy—are nothing compared to the disaster that his reign has been.

Thanks to Dubya, I now know the importance of the Rule of Law. I know that tyrants count on people not paying attention. I know what the founders of this country knew: that tryanny is always a threat and must always be guarded against.

Thanks to Dubya, I know that the Constitution is a precious gift, not only to the people of the United States but to the people of the world, and that it must be defended by all people who want future generations and people around the world to enjoy the rights and freedoms I used to take for granted.

Dubya taught me that what the ACLU says is true: freedom can't protect itself. U.S. citizens who love truth, justice, freedom, and peace have an obligation to pay attention, to engage, and to actively defend the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Rule of Law.

Thanks to Dubya, I've learned that we can't afford to just leave this up to the people who like politics.

My hopefulness about the incoming administration is tempered by my understanding of how horribly our government has been mangled in the last eight years.

I know that the office of the presidency now holds far more power than the wise founders of this country ever intended. I know that power like that is too much for any one human being to safely wield, regardless of how good or noble that person's intentions.

I still fear for the life and well-being of my beleaguered country. We're a long, long way from restoring the republic that I so foolishly thought would endure without my ever having to exert any effort to defend it.

I feel a lot like we're picking through the rubble of the last eight years, that the great virtues extolled and established and written into the Constitution by our revolutionary founders have suffered terribly from a sustained all-out assault. We're covered in dust and debris, wounded and disoriented, with only a vague sense of who we are and who we are meant to be.

I will celebrate this week along with everyone else. This is a great moment in our history. But it will take way more than one person, one inauguration, however historic, to put this country right. It will take the clear-eyed, fierce determination of all those who love freedom and justice to come to the aid of their country.