What Happened with Harriet?

By Thomas D. Herzfeld

I don't understand what went on with Harriet Meiers' attempt at the opening on the Supreme Court. For the most part, it seems to defy common sense, be based on false assumptions, and shows some interesting lapses in judgment. The latter is typical of Administration, but a Supreme Court justice should have that, if nothing else.

This is rather frightening - Ms. Meiers is a savvy corporate lawyer. Was her judgment in this matter so clouded that she could not predict how her confirmation process would play out? Or was she blinded by ambition? Or did she just mindlessly acquiesce to her boss' request? Any of these is frightening in themselves, especially for a potential Supreme Court justice. Maybe there are other reasons, but none come to mind.

The President ran true to form, picking a long-term member of his personal inner circle. Had he been successful in getting her past the Judiciary Committee, past the Senate and past his own right wing, he would have shot himself in the foot - she would have had to recuse herself from any matters involving his interests. None of his advisors, who should have known better, appear to have advised him against the nomination. I can only think of a few reasons for this:

• They miscalculated what would happen with the nomination process
• They miscalculated the views of the Religious Right
• They thought that she was sufficiently doctrinaire and unimaginative to a "safe" candidate
• They considered her a decoy for the actual candidate
• They allowed the President to use his own judgment in this relatively minor matter
• Karl Rove was otherwise engaged

The most interesting result of this entertaining debacle is that we found out that the Religious Right does not blindly follow its leadership. Who would have thought they would reject James Dobson's wink-and-nod promise that she was "one of them?" I guess we have all found out that they will accept nothing less than abject pandering.

The only way I can understand what has happened is to conclude that the Administration is isolated from its most vocal supporters, is too insular to reach beyond one person's immediate circle, and so indifferent to the needs of justice that it attempts to make appointments based on belief rather than qualification.

And so it continues. Add these to the list.

Justice, Truth, and Unintentional Virtue

By Alan Herzfeld

This week brings to light two of the greatest things that define our country. One, the impact that a single individual can have on all of us, the fact that one person can make a difference in all of our lives. The other is the fact that our leaders are accountable, that no one is above the law, and that there are consequences for our actions.

A Real American Hero

Rosa Parks died Monday. Half a century ago, she showed us all that an individual, even one of small stature, can make all the difference in the world. Just a tired woman who would not give up her seat simply because of her race, Parks was arrested. This set off the Montgomery bus boycott, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which lasted for over a year. Parks' action, which was not a planned arrest but instead a spontaneous decision of a citizen to not take any more abuse, brought to national prominence one of the greatest leaders of the civil rights movement. Rosa Parks, by not standing that day, stood up for all that is good about the United States, and she truly is an American hero deserving of the honor of lying in the Capitol Rotunda.

How the Mighty have Fallen

Today, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby resigned after being indicted in the investigation surrounding the leak of former CIA agent Valerie Plame's name to reporters. In this case, we see again that political power does not put a person above the law in the United States. One of the most powerful men in terms of influence in the government, Libby has now resigned in disgrace and faces federal charges of lying to FBI agents. With the investigation not over yet, the Bush administration could lose another key advisor in Karl Rove. Although he appears to have squeaked by for now, Rove could still face charges and justice in this matter might finally be achieved.

Justice and the Spirit of the United States

The Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle wrote "The history of the world is but the biography of great men." This week shows us that he could not have been more wrong. The history of the world is but the biography of simple people who do great things. Rosa Parks is one such person, whose personal actions drove us all to be better people. Scooter Libby's indictment and resignation show us that the strength of the United States is rooted in the idea that our leaders can be brought down peacefully and justly, and we can still go on, stronger than we were before.

"Justice is rather the activity of truth, than a virtue in itself. Truth tells us what is due to others, and justice renders that due. Injustice is acting a lie." - Horace Walpole

Wally World Keeps Living Up To Its Reputation

An internal memo that Wal-Mart sent its board outlines how the retail giant can cut costs. The proposed program: refusing to hire people with health problems.

Read the full article in the NY Times.

Justice Delayed...

By Thomas D. Herzfeld

Last week, Tom Delay's counsel requested that the judge assigned his case to recuse himself because he had contributed to Democratic causes in the past. This ploy exemplifies the McCarthyist depths to which some Republicans have descended. Have they no sense of decency? Is there some reason that they do not expect justice from a judge who contributed more to Democrats than to Republicans? On the other hand, maybe they are worried about actually receiving justice.

This sordid partisan attempt to balkanize our justice system is more than mere Texas jurisdiction shopping. If their gambit fails, watch for them to request Judge Perkins to recuse himself anyway because their actions might have offended him. I'd be surprised if you read that here first because it's so obvious.

Rep. Delay's stunt is not only offensive, it points out the hypocrisy of some Republicans. I have no doubt that he watched gleefully as Kenneth Starr demonstrated his inability to temper justice with mercy while making a farce out of the independent counsel position. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, he whines, protests, and cries partisanship when none exists. This may be based on fear - there actually is a legal basis for Mr. Delay's prosecution as opposed to the case of President Clinton when there was none.

But maybe we should let the little drama play itself out in a leisurely fashion. The longer he twists in the wind, the less likely he is to return to his Congressional leadership position. In this case, delay might actually prove beneficial.

SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN WINS LOTTO

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) was one of 47 lotto ticket holders to correctly match 5 numbers in Wednesday's Powerball Multistate jackpot. His winnings will be over $850,000.

According to Senate disclosure statements Gregg, the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee is worth between $1.7 and 9 million dollars.

ADAction: Let's help the Budget Chairman make some good use of his lotto winnings during this tough times. Contact Senator Gregg and urge him donate his winnings to hurricane survivors. His email is mailbox@gregg.senate.gov and office phone is 202-224-3324.

Please share this with friends and let's aid Senator Gregg in helping the Gulf Coast rebuild.

Two Views On Religion's Role In Politics

From the Texas Observer

For The Love Of God

Old Time Religion

During the past five years, the Bushies, using the megaphone of the mainstream media, have created a simple but widely accepted storyline about religion and politics. Republicans care about God and morals. Democrats, and particularly liberals, are not religious. Now is the time, according to Christian activist, author, and commentator Jim Wallis for progressive Christians to "take back the faith."

Read Full Article HERE

Bend it Like Benham

Everyone seems to have a theory about why the major hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the Gulf Coast recently. Some have blamed global warming; others fault the federal government. Few, however, can match the doomsday visions of Rev. Phillip "Flip" Benham.

Benham is the director of the Dallas-based anti-abortion group Operation Save America (formerly Operation Rescue). In Benham's view, the Lord cast down Katrina and Rita upon America as a warning that we must stop the sins of abortion and "homosexual sodomy." (Note to our hetero readers: Benham was very specific about the homosexual part, so it looks like you're off the hook on the sodomy end of things until further notice.) Basically, we must repent all our other sins or the Lord will rain down ever greater horrors upon us.

Read Full Article HERE

Mystifying Medicare Plan Nears

The New York Times
October 11, 2005
As Deadline Nears, Sorting Out the Medicare Drug Plan
By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 - In the next few weeks, millions of Medicare beneficiaries will make decisions that could affect their out-of-pocket medical costs for years to come.

They have to decide whether to sign up for a prescription drug plan, sorting through dozens of options with radically different costs and benefits.

Information issued by the government, while generally accurate, tends to give an upbeat assessment of the new benefit, emphasizing the advantages. But the new program is so complex that the government, by its own account, has made two significant errors in explaining it to the public.

Federal health officials incorrectly described the standard minimum drug benefit in an advertisement that appeared on Sept. 25 in Parade magazine, the Sunday newspaper supplement with a circulation of more than 37 million. In addition, the official Medicare handbook, sent to all beneficiaries, significantly overstates the number of prescription drug plans that will be available without any premiums for low-income people.

The Bush administration has notified Congress of the errors and says they will be corrected in future brochures and on the Medicare Web site.

Drug plans began marketing activities, including unsolicited telephone calls to beneficiaries, on Oct. 1. People can sign up on Nov. 15. Coverage begins Jan. 1. And May 15 is the last day to sign up in 2006.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

New Orleans, the Titanic, and the Netherlands

By Thomas D. Herzfeld

New Orleans and the Titanic had quite a bit in common: both were tourist attractions, both included people of diverse social and economic status, and both were brought low by watery forces of nature. There are additional parallels. Both had infrastructure problems - the Titanic had construction defects and design flaws, New Orleans had inadequate levees. Both were inadequately prepared for disaster: the Titanic carried enough lifeboats for only about half of those on board, and we know about the evacuation problems and the inadequate provisions for those who could not get away. The Titanic complied with the regulations of the time but, like New Orleans, the extent of disaster preparation was needlessly, senselessly inadequate. Like New Orleans, the brunt of the Titanic disaster was borne by the less economically advantaged - 25% of third class passengers survived, versus 60% of first class passengers. We don't have corresponding statistics for Katrina, but we have vivid stories of the Superdome and the Convention Center to make up for that. The fact is that the affluent are conspicuous by their absence, not that we should wish such squalor on anyone.

The Netherlands, on the other had, are a shining example of how things could be. They had their flood disaster, which killed 1,900 people, in 1953. The population of the Netherlands was approximately 10 million at the time, so that is equivalent to a loss of 560,000 people in the United States. They have spent over $3 billion on a huge project to control flooding, and spend over half a million a year to maintain and improve it. As a result, the Netherlands is prepared to withstand a 10,000 year storm driven flood from the ocean.

Can that happen here? Don't count on it - this Administration has shown itself unwilling to take care of us even before Iraq. It won't happen now, because giving insurgents things to do in Iraq, keeping taxes at inadequate levels, and no-bid contracts in New Orleans preclude serious disaster preparation.

Those of us living by the Mississippi River had better be prepared to take the high road, since our Government will not.

Pattern Of Abuse

Legislation: Joe Barton (R-TX) sponsored energy legislation.
The New York Times reports "The bill would streamline government permits for refineries, open federal lands including closed military bases for future refinery construction and limit the number of gasoline blends refiners have to produce, eliminating many blends now designed to reduce air pollution." Essentially it opens the doors for more abuse from refiners who have enjoyed a 255% profit margin increase over the past year while not addressing pump prices, home heating, or planning for a cleaner more secure future.

The Showdown: A 5-minute vote was called. At the end of five minutes the vote stood at 206 for and 209 against. Again, Republican leaders held open the vote to twist, deal, and otherwise cajole their caucus to finally secure a two-vote margin victory, 212-210, after 45 minutes of voting.


THE SHAME: Foxes take control of the hen house

The Republican Leadership in the House of Representatives has abandoned all pretense of decorum by abusing their powers as majority party to manipulate the outcome of critical pieces of legislation.

A decade after the Republican "Contract With America" declared that it would "restore the bonds of trust between the people and their elected representatives" that contract has clearly been breached.

The abuse of power seen in these tactics is one in a long line of untrustworthy dealings by Republican leaders.

READ the full ADAction Alert HERE

Excess Deaths and Excess Losses

By Thomas D. Herzfeld

As of 10/1/2005 New Orleans had lost 972 people to Katrina's wrath. This will probably be the final death toll unless the search parties find more people drowned in their attics or nursing homes. If we include the deaths in Mississippi, the total comes to almost 1,200. Katrina's nearest competitor in the last 70 years, hurricane Camille in 1969, killed only (!) 256, which is in turn about 5 - 6 times the next competitor. Katrina may have been much worse than any hurricane since 1915, so let's assume for the moment that had the levees not failed, Katrina would have killed 211 people in New Orleans, the same number as it did in Mississippi. The additional 761 deaths beyond that baseline can be considered "excess" in that they resulted from the flooding after the levees failed, rather than directly from the hurricane itself.

I consider those deaths to be the responsibility of the Administration, which has consistently refused to fund levee construction adequately. It's scary - Louisiana went for Bush in 2004. If this is how this famously parochial Administration takes care of its own, what can we expect for the "blue" states? Mr. Bush seems to care more about the Iraqi on the street than someone in the Ninth Ward. Consider also the irony that a soldier returning from Iraq to New Orleans may find his or her family scattered about the Nation, if he can find them at all. They protect our families, but we have failed to protect theirs.

Enough of the blood, let's look at the cash. Damage estimates range as high as $250 billion, a figure that does not reflect lost productivity, increased energy costs and higher insurance premiums. The next competitor, hurricane Andrew in 1992, caused approximately $40 billion in losses (current dollars). This total loss is approximately the amount of Katrina's insured losses.

Think of the leverage - for a few tens of millions of dollars we could have avoided some $200 billion in losses, untold excess suffering, and the first destruction of a major US city in a century.

Look around you, at your rivers, your seismic faults, your tornado-spawning plains. Maybe you are prepared for whatever your local disaster might be. Is the Government?

Who's next?

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Senate Tortures White House

By an astounding vote of 90-9 the Senate ignored White House veto threats by passing an amendment to a military spending measure that defines and limits U.S. interrogation methods.

Perhaps the White House should have threatened to use the Iron Maiden instead of a veto.

Katrina and Common Sense

By Thomas D. Herzfeld

It is time to make some basic assessments about what actually happened with hurricane Katrina. Sometimes it is better to look at an event a little while after it has happened, rather than in the heat of the moment. Time should not be allowed to blunt the feelings of betrayal and outrage at what actually caused most of the catastrophe.

A Katrina-type disaster was both predictable and predicted. Predictability is a simple matter: the levees were built to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, but approximately half of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the US between 1900 and 1998 were Category 4 or 5. The extent of the disaster was actually predicted in the frighteningly prescient June 2003 issue of "Civil Engineer."

So for many of us, upgrading the levees is a no-brainer. But the Administration seems to be unclear on the concept - requests by the Army Corps of Engineers to strengthen the levees have been routinely slashed, with the money allocated to Iraq. Some has been restored by Congress, but the amounts remain insufficient for previously authorized projects, let alone new construction. We're not talking big bucks here; the amounts involved represent less than 5 hours of sustaining Iraq.

This mis-allocation of our tax dollars further defies common sense because it compromises national security. Terrorism is not the only threat we face: wind and water cause billions of damage to infrastructure and lost productivity every year. A few dollars spent on protection against these natural hazards will bring significant returns. But that is less glamorous, less obvious, does not involve the military, and generates no photo-ops. I'm afraid we can't expect much in the way of common sense from the people sworn to serve us.

Thomas D. Herzfeld grew up in Houston, Texas. He now lives in San Francisco.