Ablogination

When I was a senior in high school I participated in the model united nations program. As thousands of students do each year, I chose a country to represent as part of the student program. In my case I chose Norway, the home of my mother’s ancestors. I was very excited to receive mailings from the Norwegian embassy, which I diligently researched in order to accurately represent my country of choice. Sitting in our high school library we passed resolutions to abide by strategic arms control and non-proliferation issues.

It has been more than twenty years since I participated in that program as a high school student, and in that time a lot has changed in the world. The cold war ended with the fall of communism in eastern Europe, the economic engines of southeast Asia and China have changed the playing field in global politics, free trade agreements have devastated the American economy and global awareness has become focused on the dangers of greenhouse gas warming of the planet.

Some things stay the same though, from one decade to the next. Men and women still fall in love, the birds sing and the bees buzz, the rain falls and the wind blows, and the United States fails to pay its dues to the United Nations, year after year, to the tune of some $2.8 billion dollars. According to the United Nation Association of the USA, the U.S. owed $633 million in arrears to UN peacekeeping alone and this number is estimated to increase by between $250 million to $1 billion over the course of 2008.

The right wing yak machine loves to discuss the ineffectiveness of the United Nations on talk radio. Day after day, week after week, the public is bombarded by arguments against international cooperation and peacemaking. In the meantime, the Bush administration follows a unilateral approach with regards to foreign policy. As a result of these twin towers of ignorance and power, the United States is now perceived internationally as a rogue superpower, willing and able to ignore international agreements and national sovereignty in the name of fanatical patriotism and war profiteering.

The United States still has a role to play in the United Nations, but only if we elect representatives who will respect the historic role that the UN plays as an agency of first resort for all agreements international. Whether it is peacekeeping, refugee assistance, development, food aide, nutrition, global health, disarmament, weapons inspection, disease prevention, global education or family planning, there is a UN program available to deal with that situation. The United Nations is an integral element of global peacemaking and development.

As a candidate for federal office I support full funding of the United Nations and associated programs. I believe this is the right thing to do, not just for the international community, but also for the United States. I firmly believe that the way to restore US credibility in the international community is by fully paying our dues and supporting the UN in their role as an agency of international cooperation.

Oh, yeah. The clincher. Let’s hope for Obama-Edwards ‘08 and a newer, stronger America.

No better endorsement, no better choice for Veep.
‘Nuf said….

From the Washington Post:

By Peter Slevin and Anne E. Kornblut
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. –
Vanquished Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards will endorse Sen. Barack Obama tonight, giving the Illinois senator a boost after a bad loss in West Virginia.

Edwards is scheduled to appear with Obama at a rally here in Grand Rapids due to begin at approximately 6:15 p.m., the Obama campaign announced.

Edwards, a former senator and former vice presidential candidate from North Carolina, had long been courted by Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, but refused to choose.

But with Obama holding a nearly insurmountable lead in pledged delegates and the popular vote, Edwards decided to get off the fence.

The nation’s leading Pro Choice group has endorsed Barack Obama.

I guess that makes them “misogynists” too…

From the LA Times:

Barack Obama wins the nod from NARAL

Amid minor movement today among Democratic superdelegates – so far, Barack Obama has picked up 2 1/2 votes [UPDATE: make that 3 1/2] and Hillary Clinton, one – Obama scored a coup with an endorsement from the nation’s foremost abortion rights advocacy group.

In a news release, the political action committee for NARAL Pro-Choice America had kind words for Clinton but annoounded its backing for Obama, citing its reading of the status of the Democratic presidential race.

“Today, we are proud to put our organization’s grass-roots and political support behind the pro-choice candidate whom we believe will secure the Democratic nomination and advance to the general election,” NARAL’s president said in the release. “That candidate is Sen. Obama.

Clinton’s chief spokesman, Howard Wolfson, expressed “surprise” over the endorsement during a conference call with reporters (including The Times’ Noam N. Levey).

It’s no secret that the DLC types are as detached from our troops as most Republicans are. They voted to dump our guys in an illegal, immoral, bloodbath occupation in Iraq…and voted to fund it with countless billions of dollars.
But when it comes to taking care of our bravest citizens after the arms and legs are missing and the brains are scrambled, their concerns always seem to lie elsewhere.

Big thanx to SMF269 @ RRMB:

We’ve seen the little car magnets and other such self-indulgent “support or troops!” rhetoric. Lots of it here in Tennessee actually.
And though many of us surely do “support them", some of our elected representatives seemingly do not. At least, not in the long run.

In 1944, FDR signed the original GI Bill, which gave every veteran a chance to go to college. It paid for tuition, fees, books, and gave veterans a living stipend. The GI Bill helped the “Greatest Generation” readjust to civilian life. It helped pull us out of a post-war recession, and it helped build the middle class. Every dollar spent on educational benefits under the original GI Bill added at least seven dollars to the national economy.

Today, 1.7 million troops have come home from Iraq and Afghanistan, but the GI Bill no longer covers anything like the cost of college. So a bipartisan coalition of veterans now serving in the Senate introduced a new GI Bill, modeled on the World War II legislation. This bill recently got added to the war funding bill currently in Congress.

Now, the question…

Why is a small group of Blue Dogshit Tennessee Democrats trying to harpoon the GI Bill upgrade?
Damn good question!
Now I’ll leave it up to the Tennesseans in their districts to ask them.
300-plus Senators and Representatives from both parties and all the major veterans organizations in America have endorsed this legislation.
So, why are Reps. John Tanner (D-TN) (who is a veteran oddly enough) and Jim Cooper (D-TN) trying to derail this much needed action?

We wish we knew, and we’ll try and find out. But some of you in those districts should also ask what the problem is.
I mean, we all know that Cooper and Tanner are just Republican Lite goofballs, but surely they would agree that our soldiers are entitled to THE BEST FUCKING CARE WE CAN AFFORD THEM, YOU MISERABLE DLC IDIOTS!

Sorry, ahem…..

According to Mr. Tanner

“Some of us oppose creating a new entitlement program in an emergency spending bill, whether it’s butchers, bakers or candlestick makers.”

What?

Nursery rhymes? He references nursery rhymes when making major military veteran support issue decisions?
What’s next? Mother Goose next time we send someone to the moon?

From Heath Shuler (another clown) to the great Dennis Kucinich, everyone is behind this much needed, well earned, and duly owed legislation.
Except Cooper, Tanner and a few others.

Tanner, Cooper….
You put them there you fucking morons. Now let’s see some of that “support” you claim to have.
Our people need a GI Bill that covers all the bases. There’s no excuse for keeping it from them.

We use them all the time - our firefighters, police officers and emergency medical service personnel. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t come into contact either directly or indirectly with these hard working public servants. When we have traffic accidents or emergencies at home or at work these public servants are the first on the scene in our communities. Often risking their own safety in order to serve the public good, these employees of our cities, states and municipalities deserve to have collective bargaining rights.

The problem is that tens of thousands of these public safety officers do not have the right to negotiate with their employers, often leaving our firefighters, police officers and emergency medical personnel without a voice at work. There is a remedy to this situation - it is called the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, or Senate Bill 2123. This bill would go a long way toward remedying a situation that has become unacceptable. It would allow public safety officers the collective bargaining rights they deserve, including the right of public safety officers to bargain over wages, hours and working conditions.

The bill would also provide a dispute resolution mechanism for when there is not agreement between management and labor and it would provide the enforcement of contracts through state courts. The problem is that there are many states that do not offer our public safety personnel minimum bargaining rights. In these states it is very difficult for public servants to organize and ultimately we pay the price. A workforce that does not have the right to organize is less productive and has lower self-esteem on the job.

Our public safety is worth the investment. As a candidate for the US Senate I do not believe we should cut corners when it comes to the needs of our public servants. That is why I support Senate Bill 2123 and would work to pass it into law if elected to the US Senate. This bill already has broad bipartisan support and its companion bill was passed in the US House recently. We owe it to our public safety employees to ensure that they have collective bargaining rights. So let’s give them the voice that they deserve.

for more information please visit www.AmericanRightsatWork.org