Washblog

OKLAHOMA CITY (FNS)--After an exhaustive 18-month investigation, FNS is able to exclusively report that, contrary to popular opinion, Oklahoma's controversial State Question 755, which is intended to prevent State courts from considering Shari'a law when making legal decisions, was intended to counter an effort already underway to impose such a legal code on the citizens of the State, perhaps as soon as this fall.

Amazingly, the effort to impose Islamic law involves some of Oklahoma's most prominent business leaders, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the University of Oklahoma's Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art.

Here's the story, as it can now be reported:

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Story by Joleen Franklin.  Photos, films, and captions by Noemie Maxwell

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Free books, free hats, free stuffed animals, free fun, free clothing, school supplies, and free toys!   This is what many families took with them after they had a fun-filled day at Gifts for Kids. NOVA High School played an essential role in making all this happen for more than 300 kids.  As one of the many social justice projects that NOVA High school engages its students and staff in, Gifts for Kids has been an event which over 100 students have had the opportunity to participate in.

NW Tap Connection performing at Gifts for Kids 2010

Pulse performing at Gifts for Kids 2010

We have seen some amazing days in Egypt, and it's provided a better lesson than anyone could have ever wanted for how taking action, against long odds, can really get something done.

A secret police mechanism has been pushed aside, an Army has chosen not to attack The People, and a President who was backed by the "full faith and credit" of the US Government on Friday was being told by that same US Government on Tuesday that it's time to go.

The People, in fact, spoke so loudly that Mr. Mubarak has informed Egyptians that he's going to "pursue corruption", which, if taken literally, could eventually look like a puppy chasing its own tail.

The People, however, are unhappy with his answer, and they're speaking even louder yet...even to the point of being willing to take beatings, gunfire, and, believe it or not...camel charges...to make their voices heard.

And that got me to thinking about Social Security.

You know, we are facing the potential for a great big Social Security fight for pretty much the entire term of the 112th Congress--and it seems to me that a series of great big "Cairo-style" marches might be the way to make our voices heard, so that this Congress understands that great big benefit cuts are something that we will not tolerate.

Who was that smiling congenial man who gave the opposition party rebuttal to the State of the Union address by the president?

He's the ranking member, Committee on the Budget. He has published a plan that is his notion of what is best for America during this time of financial crisis. You can find it online at the following website.

As for his post-SOTU rebuttal speech, I also noted the following as written in the Washington Post Business section:

Ryan managed to get through the speech without mentioning, or even alluding to, his Roadmap. Nor did the words "Medicare" or "Social Security" pass his lips. It was like watching Colonel Sanders give a speech that never mentioned chicken.

The Shameful Attack on Public Employees -  Robert Reich
Reich is not an amateur self-styled political partisan who got his ideas and talking points from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow.

Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written thirteen books, including The Work of Nations, Locked in the Cabinet, Supercapitalism, and his most recent book,

When it comes to labor issues, he is one of those who knows more than most what he is talking about.

And as a public employee whose pay never compared to private sector employment equal to my GI-Bill-obtained education, I agree with Reich, am offended by the assertions of conservatives who vilify public employees and challenge the honesty and integrity of those who assume they can bamboozle a gullible public.

L-R: Senator Adam Kline, former 3-Striker Stevan Dozier who was released under clemency, and King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg speak in support of Senate Bill 5263 at a press conference prior to the hearing for the bill.  January 19, 2011. Senate Bill 5236 was heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.  It would allow Washington 3-Strikers who have only Class B felonies and no weapons charges or sexual offenses to apply for parole after serving 15 years.  The current sentence for all 3-Strikers is 777 years, 77 months, and 77 days with no possibility of release.   Over the last decade, 11 or more bills proposing to reform 3-Strikes - primarily by removing lower-seriousness crimes from the list of Most Serious Offenses - have failed due to opposition from prosecutors, crime victims, and radio talk show host John Carlson.  Carlson was a primary author of the 1993 ballot initiative that created the 3-Strikes law. The current bill is much more narrow in scope than most previous proposals, allowing an estimated 15-20 3-Strikers to apply for conditional release under parole.  It was supported at the hearing in testimony from King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg and Tom McBride of the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

There have been many unlikely things that have happened this past month or so: some of them appearing as legislation, some of them appearing in the form of Republicans who set new records for running away from the words they used to get elected--and some of them appearing in the markets, where, believe it or not, many Europeans finds themselves wishing for our economic situation right about now.

There are even improbable sports stories: our frequently hapless Seattle Seahawks, the only team to ever make the NFL Playoffs with a losing record, are today preparing to knock the Chicago Bears out of their bid to play in the Super Bowl, having crushed the defending holders of the Lombardi Trophy just last week before the 12th Man in Seattle.

But as improbable as all that is, the one thing I never thought I would see is Barack Obama getting into a political argument with himself over Social Security--and then losing the argument.

Even more improbably, it looks like there's just about a week left for him to come to a decision...and it looks like you're going to have to help him make up his mind.

It is about time for the 112th House to come back into session, and the first thing on the agenda appears to be an effort to take away any healthcare reform that have been passed by this Administration.

Next comes an effort to slash Social Security and Medicare, an effort to reverse financial reforms, and proposals to "slash" spending--but only on domestic discretionary items.

If the House majority had its way there would be no restrictions on offshore drilling, no rules designed to prevent climate change--in fact, few if any environmental protections at all...and all of this is intended to bring to life the philosophy that government, for all intents and purposes, should just go away and leave us all alone.

I don't buy into that kind of thinking--not even a little bit--and today we're going to look around the world and see if we can't figure out why.

We have been following the story of Betsie Gallardo lately, she being the woman that, due to a medical decision, was being starved to death in a Florida prison. She has inoperable cancer, her death is imminent, and her mother was working hard to make it possible for Betsie to die at home with some dignity. As we reported just a couple days ago, half the battle was already won, as the Florida Department of Corrections had agreed to place her in a hospital so that she could again go back on nutritional support. On January 5th, the Florida Parole Commission voted to allow her to end her life at home--and that means you spoke out, made a difference, and achieved a complete victory for the effort. But even as we celebrate that victory, I think we should take a moment to realize that there is a bigger lesson here: the lesson that the fights over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), benefits for 9/11 first responders (the Zadroga Bill), and Betsie Gallardo's imminent release are all actually pointing us to a political strategy that works, over and over, if we are willing to understand the wisdom that's been laid before us.

If you were with us on Christmas Day you heard the story of Betsie Gallardo, who, unless something changes quickly, is going to be intentionally starved to death in a Florida prison after being convicted of spitting on a cop.

In fairness, the State did not decide simply to starve her; instead, the Department of Corrections (DOC) first chose to withhold any further treatment for her inoperable cancer...and then they decided to starve her to death.

Her adopted mother is trying to get her released on humanitarian grounds; the DOC recommended in October that she be allowed to go home and die, the Florida Parole Commission refused.

Governor Charlie Crist chairs the Executive Clemency Board, who could also agree to let her go...and so far, they've also refused to take action.

Funny thing is, the Governor and his Board have been more than willing to step in when other Floridians requested pardons and commutations, even in situations that seemed a lot less dire.

Today, we're going to look at that history--and to be honest, as with many things in the Sunshine State, from the outside...it all looks a bit bizarre.

The difference between real education reformers and fake education reformers is that the former want to extend the great American tradition of a liberal arts education to all children and the latter want to extend a business-sponsored technical education to all children whose parents can't afford private schools. Why do I say this? Because every fake education reform I know of involves one of two things: shifting money from public institutions to business interests; or weakening teachers' unions to remove an impediment for shifting money from public institutions to business interests. In the process, we get ever-more scapegoating of teachers, ever-more standardized testing of students, and ever-more narrowing of curricula. Under the fake reform agenda of the 21st century, students are not learning to be the kind of inquiring, articulate, questioning, knowledgeable, intellectually risk-taking, and self-organizing people we need for an active, democratic citizenry. Fake education reformers are, in short, serving the interests of a well-funded political elite.

There are many gifts to be given and received this holiday season; some that you can wrap and put under a tree, and some so intangible and ethereal that they cannot be held within the boundaries of paper and ribbon.

Instead, they exist within the boundaries of our hearts.

Among those intangible presents, few matter more than the chance to be with those we love--and at the time of our death, it's the most important thing of all.

We have a chance to bring all of this to a dying woman and her family--but the only way it can happen is if we convince the Florida Department of Corrections not to kill her first.

It's not a tale of light and joy--but if we get lucky, there could still be a happy ending.

So we got the good news that legislative repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy that kept LBGT folks from openly serving in the military has occurred, as the Senate voted Saturday to first cut off debate on the question (that's the vote that required 60 Senators to pass) and then to pass the actual repeal legislation (which also garnered more than 60 Senate votes, even though it only needed 51).

Most people would assume that once Bill (remember Bill, from "Schoolhouse Rock"?) made it out of Congress and over to the President to for a signature that the process of repeal will be ended--but in fact, there's quite a bit more yet to do, and it's entirely possible that a year or more could go by before the entire process is complete.

Today we'll discuss our way through why it's going to take so long; to illustrate the point we'll consider an actual military order that is quite similar to the sort of work that will be required from the Department of Defense (DOD) before the entire "DADT to open service" transition is complete.

So it has come to pass that Elizabeth Edwards has died.

Despite having more things thrown at her than anyone I've ever had the chance to support in my entire political life, she managed to represent, in her very presence, a sense of grace and kindness and concern for those who were looking to have a better life than the one they had now, and I don't know that I could ever live up to the quiet courage she showed as her life came to an end.

And, bless her heart, it appears that she took the time to make sure that her kids knew her, and that she helped them put away enough "past" to, hopefully, ease some of the pain of the future.

But now the time has come to look beyond death, and, John...that's why I want to talk to you today.

So here it is, almost halfway through this President's first term, and it's starting to become abundantly clear that there is no way Obama is going to pursue the same agenda that he ran on in 2008.

In fact, as the President announces a deal that even he agrees the majority of the American people do not support, and he prepares the Nation for the news that we're going to have to borrow money for the very tax cuts he said we couldn't afford a few weeks ago, it's starting to look like Obama isn't even going to pursue the same agenda he campaigned for in October.

Now it is true that a lot of the problem here is the President's--but it's also fair to say that we Progressives have failed to force the President, and certain reluctant Members of Congress, to govern in a way that promotes that agenda.

That's a real problem, and it needs a real solution; before we get done today I'll offer a suggestion that could be not only highly effective, and a lot of fun besides, but a great chance to release your artistic muse as well.