It's time to redefine compassion

I have to give credit where credit's due. The person responsible for "compassionate conservatism" was a marketing genius. He/she managed to paint Republicans as people who really care about the needs and concerns of average Americans. The public knows otherwise now and sees the hypocrisy behind the words, but I wonder if the person responsible for that term ever felt any remorse?

Moving along, Mother Jones has a rather lengthy list of the ways all that compassion dings the poor and middle class. You can read the whole thing for yourself, but here's a sample.

1 in 4 U.S. jobs pay less than a poverty-level income.

During the 1980s, 13% of Americans age 40 to 50 spent at least one year below the poverty line; by the 1990s, 36% did.

Bush’s tax cuts (extended until 2010) save those earning between $20,000 and $30,000 an average of $10 a year, while those earning $1 million are saved $42,700.

Bush has proposed cutting housing programs for low-income people with disabilities by 50%.

83% of those earning $75,000 or more work for companies that offer insurance, versus 24% of those who earn less than $25,000.

2 in 5 elderly live on less than $18,000 a year, including Social Security benefits.

Since 1983, college tuition has risen 115%. The maximum Pell Grant for low- and moderate-income college students has risen only 19%.

Credit card late fees are 194% higher than in 1994.

And the item I found absolutely horrifying was this one:

Last fall, Minnesota firefighters let an elderly man’s mobile home burn down because he hadn’t paid a $25 “fire fee.”

Why is that allowed to happen in a country as rich as ours? Is that how a "compassionate" country treats their elderly?

Reading through that list again, I find myself shaking my head and asking is that how a "compassionate" country treats their poor, their uninsured, their students, and the people who work hard to provide for their families?

It's time for the Democrats to step up and redefine "compassion." The Republicans have corrupted and twisted the term to exclude the majority of us. They don't even respect our troops serving our country, as witnessed by their unwillingness to give them more time at home with their families between tours of duty. In fact, they don't even respect our troops after they serve. The Bush administration said it will resist restoring full educational benefits for returning veterans.

Some compassion, eh? You have to be a corporate crony if you expect to get any compassion from the Bush bunch.

Republicans in the Twilight Zone

Following their vote yesterday to remain in Iraq indefinitely, the NY Times says Republicans are trapped in the twilight zone.

Twilight Zone Filibusters

Republicans have the right to filibuster under centuries-old rules that this page has long defended. It is the height of hypocrisy for this band of Republicans to use that power since only about two years ago they were ready to unilaterally ban filibusters to push through some of Mr. Bush’s most ideologically blinkered judicial nominees.

But beyond that, the Republicans are doing the public a real disservice and playing an increasingly risky hand by delaying sober consideration of the war. [...]

In postponing real action to September and beyond, Republicans laughed off the all-night debate as a “slumber party” of “twilight zone” theatrics by the Democrats. In fact, Bush loyalists seem trapped in the twilight zone, ducking their responsibility to represent constituents by applying credible pressure on the president to come up with an end to his sorry war.

While Republicans remain in the twilight zone, the rest of the country lives with the reality they've created, which explains these results from a poll taken yesterday by CBS/NYT:

61% Say Congress Shouldn't Fund War Without Timetable For Withdrawal

It's about time, Harry

From Bob Geiger: Reid To Force Senate Into All-Night Session Tuesday

Forcing his Republican colleagues to put up or shut up on the notion of an up-or-down vote, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) just moments ago announced that he will immediately file a cloture motion on the Reed-Levin troop redeployment bill and, if Republicans follow through with a filibuster, will place the Senate in a prolonged all-night session Tuesday to force a true continuation of debate.

In Reid's words:

““All Senators will be welcome to speak their mind. Those of us who are ready to end the war will make our case to the American people. Those who support the status quo are welcome to equal floor time to make their case. Let the American people hear the arguments. Let them see their elected representatives engaging in a full, open and honest debate. Let them hear why Republicans are obstructing us on this amendment.

I can't wait to hear members of the GOP stand there and explain why they want U.S. troops to keep dying for nothing.

New Year's Eve at the VFW Hall

That was easy! I finally found the time to switch over to the new version of Blogger and everything appears to be okay (knock wood). I'm glad I waited till they perfected the beta version. I don't like being a crash test dummy!

Moving along, I know I'm late in sharing this, but I wanted to tell you where my hubby and I spent New Year's Eve - a VFW Hall. We usually celebrate at home, but this year we decided to do something different now that the kids are all on their own. It was an interesting night for several reasons.

First, the hall was the same one my dad belonged to years ago. (He was in the Navy and served in the Pacific Theatre.) It was bittersweet to see the pictures of some of the post-commanders we remembered from our childhood, and it was also unsettling to realize how long ago that was. My dad died more than 30 years ago and members of that post gave him a 21 gun salute at his funeral. I can still remember that like it was yesterday.

Besides the memories, it was also interesting because they had a live band. I'll take a good band over a DJ any night of the week - and this band was better than good, it was exceptional. They played everything from Patsy Cline to Janis Joplin to Stevie Ray Vaughan to the Temptations.

The group was very versatile, and the audience loved them because they took requests. Halfway through the evening, someone requested Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" song, which turned out to be a touching moment when people started standing up and raising their hands in tribute to our soldiers.

There was another poignant moment later on in the evening. Shortly after midnight, one of the lead singers yelled, "Let's bring our soldiers home in 2007," and the audience started clapping. He continued on by shouting, "And let's get Bush out of office," and people started stomping and cheering, although my husband said he heard one or two people booing.

The crowd was primarily made up of veterans, so I was somewhat surprised by their reaction, but my brother-in-law (Bob) shed some insight into this. Bob is an ex-Marine who did several tours in Vietnam and he spent a lot of time swapping stories with other veterans that night. He also found out that many of them now have children serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. One woman in particular talked to him for a long time about her son who came home from Iraq a few months ago. He's having a terrible time adjusting to civilian life - depression, anger, nightmares, paranoia - all the hallmarks of PTSD, and it's taking a toll on his marriage. His mother is angry with the military because they haven't provided him with any mental health services.

This is reminiscent of Vietnam according to my brother-in-law. He feels the military is quite efficient and spares no expense training people to kill, but they fail miserably when it comes to helping our soldiers transition back to civilian life. Considering that up to 30 percent of Iraq vets suffer from PTSD, something needs to be done to help these soldiers with serious mental health needs. Well, the military claims they've developed a plan according to an article in Mother Jones:

[...] the Pentagon is gearing up for dealing with them with a series of Flash movies for VA employees based on the first documented case of Iraq-related psych issues. The patient is Gilgamesh, who, as you'll recall, was the king of Uruk—the ancient land that would become modern-day Iraq. In the new version, Gilgamesh goes off to war, watches his buddy die, and comes home with an epic case of PTSD. It's a cheeky, cheesy take, but hopefully it means the Pentagon is starting to take the issue more seriously. It has a ways to go: It was reported earlier this year that 80 percent of vets with PTSD symptoms didn't get a follow-up. And some GIs who were diagnosed with the disorder were unceremoniously booted from the service.

A movie? That doesn't sound like the Pentagon is taking PTSD very seriously to me. Excuse me if I don't sound too impressed, but if they handle these mental health issues the same way they've handled the war in Iraq, our soldiers don't have a prayer.