July 25th, 2010
My Dear America:
Daniel Schorr is dead and the news business has lost another legendary Newsman.
I don't exactly recall the circumstances of when I first saw Daniel Schorr presenting a story on CBS News with Walter Cronkite as he did for so many years. I do remember thinking, however, how in the world is this guy on a network newscast when he sounded like he had a speech impediment. He did not really have a speech impediment, of course. Its just that his laid back speech sound and his rather plain ordinary face did not match up with the booming authoritative voices and the pretty boy good looks of many other Television newscasters at the time.
Why was Dan Schorr on television with CBS? The answer was because he was one hell of a newsman and had been one at CBS since first getting picked by Edward R. Murrow to become one of his select few correspondents at CBS News.
CBS Newsman, Robert Schieffer, himself a standout in the field of Television Newsmen, gave Howard Kurtz of CNN and the Washington Post some of his memories of his colleague, Daniel Schorr, this morning. Schieffer recalled a time when Schorr was using a cane due to a leg injury or an operation or something and when attending a press opportunity on Capitol Hill used the cane as a weapon to clear a path for himself to get to the front of the press pack limping badly as he hurtled himself forward. Schieffer also recalled that Schorr, who was quite proud of his status as being close to the top of Richard Nixon's famed "Enemies List", found out that he was on the list on live television when having come up with the list he was reading the list and reporting on camera when he found his own name close to the top of the the notorious list. According to Schieffer he thought Dan Schorr would probably want his inclusion on the "Nixon Enemies List" to be on his gravestone.
There was a good reason that Daniel Schorr was on the "Nixon Enemies List". Schorr was a probing and fearless White House Reporter who was constantly trying to find the leaks in the Nixon Administration's Ship of State and when he found them he was not satisfied just to report them. He constantly wanted to find more out about the dark dealings of the Nixon Administration and did so consistently. Although Daniel Schorr did not break many of the stories on Watergate that eventually sunk the Nixon Administration, he and CBS News were for a long period of time the only national Television News Organization that reported those stories to the National Television Audience. In the research I did for my book on Watergate, "Letters To A Lost Nation: A Watergate Chronicle" I list only Daniel Schorr and Walter Cronkite of CBS and Carl Stern of NBC as the only Network Reporters who regularly contributed Watergate stories to Network news prior to the Senate Watergate Hearings.
Schiedffer and Kurtz also talked about the fact that Daniel Schorr not only stood up to politicians like Nixon in the White House but also to his bosses at CBS News, as well. He left CBS News due to a heated dispute about reports he did on the CIA that CBS refused to air. He moved on to CNN where he only agreed to take a job as Correspondent if Ted Turner and company promised him complete autonomy and independence and freedom from interference.
Schorr eventually had problems with the CNN brass also and left CNN ending up on NPR Radio for the last 25, or so, years of his life. When he died this week he was 93 years old and had given his last NPR News Analysis only a couple of weeks before his passing.
Dan died with his family beside him and it is hoped that the integrity that he showed throughout his career will somehow be emulated by others in later years in what will be left of the News Business.
He was clearly one of the last surviving members of a dying breed of Courageous and Legendary Reporters and I will personally miss his compelling News Analysis Reports on NPR.
He was an example in so many ways of what a Reporter should and could be in America and he will be missed terribly by NPR News Junkies like me.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
A Case of Mistaken Ideology - The Strange Misunderstanding about Shirley Sherrod
July 22nd, 2010
My Dear America:
It has been a half a week from Hell for former United States Department of Agriculture Administrator, Shirley Sherrod.
Recently the NAACP in a very almost cordial way requested that the Tea Party Movement lighten up on the Racist Rhetoric and Racially charged Signs that some super extremists in the movement have been presenting. In what I seem to feel is at least a showing of good faith the National Tea Party Movement apparently did pass the word to their members to lighten up on the blatant racism and even expelled one of their groups whose leader put a racially charged post on his blog after the word went out.
Apparently in reaction to the mild chastising of the Tea Party Movement by the NAACP a Conservative Blogger named Andrew Breitbart put on his Blog a video that apparently showed United States Department of Agriculture Official Shirley Sherrod talking at an NAACP Dinner about how 20 years ago she was put off by a white farmer acting superior to her while requesting her help in saving his farm. Shirley commented in her speech that she did enough but not as much as she could have for the white farmer but did put the farmer in touch with one of his "own kind" for further help.
Clearly the video when initially viewed was disturbing in its blatant reverse racism of this black woman toward that white man seeking her help. Apparently officials in the Obama Administration and in the Agriculture Department without checking out the facts with Shirley Sherrod immediately asked for her resignation, which she gave them, without being allowed to explain how, when and why she gave her speech and what the extenuating circumstances were behind the video.
The Administration, The Agricuture Department and the NAACP all condemned the video and the person in the video, Shirley Sherrod.
Now a few days later, after she was essentially fired by USDA, circumstances have changed. Shirley Sherrod is no longer the victimizer she appeared to be in the video because the video was a short clip from a 45 minute speech in which she was trying to show how her racial views had changed since that time many years ago when she was working with a Non Profit organization helping rural farmers.
Now, after the spectre of the video being shown on Glen Beck's show is past and most people have heard the other side of the story the entire incident has turned into an embarassment for Barack Obama and USDA head, Tom Vilsack. Shirley Sherrod will probably be offered another position with USDA although she has indicated that she might not be willing to come back to an organization that was so quick to make rash judgements about who she is and what type of person she is.
Understandably enough, the news media jumped on this story and joined in on the initial condemnation. I have to admit that when I first saw the video clip I was also shocked and apalled at what appeared to be Shirley Sherrod's racism.
Now I can only respect her for the magnificent way Shirley Sherrod has conducted herself in what must have been a living nightmare for her. Andrew Breitbart has semi apologized stating that he wasn't after Sherrod but was merely trying to tarnish the reputation of the NAACP. The NAACP has also apologized to Sherrod for their quick condemnation without finding out the facts.
CNN has shown interviews with individuals in the audience for Shirley's speech that night and they all found the speech one that was condemning racism in any form and was especially encouraging to young people. CNN has also broadcast interviews with the white farmer that Shirley talked about in the video and his wife. The farmer and his wife state that Shirley Sherrod was responsible for helping them save their farm and since the time that Shirley talks about in the video they have been good friends with Shirley Sherrod.
Clearly the Obama Administration and USDA jumped the gun on this situation and I hope that they learn some valuable lessons from this incident. First of all, a video clip taken out of context can be manipulated in many ways, as this one was. Secondly, cooperating with the Republican Party should not be given up on entirely but it certainly should be put into perspective. Bipartisanship certainly has a place in our government but when bipartisanship is only one sided it is not bipartisanship, it is foolishmness. And please don't be guided by what is going to be showing up on Glen Beck's show, or any Fox news show. Investigate what is really happening before you just chop off a hand that has been giving to you for a long time.
On the positive side, Barack Obama and Tom Vilsack could have written off Shirley Sherrod, and weathered the storm of criticism from all sides that this entire situation has produced and not backed down from their mistakes. They have not done that. They have looked at the facts and from their statements seem to have learned from their mistakes and seem to be doing what they can to help restore Shirley Sherrod's reputation.
Barack Obama, I believe, owes Shirley Sherrod and her husband, a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinading Committee, at least a beer summit and quite possibly a dinner party with the Obamas and the Vilsacks.
I just hope that Shirley Sherrod's reputation is able to be restored and that she is able to go on with either USDA or elsewhere to continue to teach others the lessons of Tolerance and Respect.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
My Dear America:
It has been a half a week from Hell for former United States Department of Agriculture Administrator, Shirley Sherrod.
Recently the NAACP in a very almost cordial way requested that the Tea Party Movement lighten up on the Racist Rhetoric and Racially charged Signs that some super extremists in the movement have been presenting. In what I seem to feel is at least a showing of good faith the National Tea Party Movement apparently did pass the word to their members to lighten up on the blatant racism and even expelled one of their groups whose leader put a racially charged post on his blog after the word went out.
Apparently in reaction to the mild chastising of the Tea Party Movement by the NAACP a Conservative Blogger named Andrew Breitbart put on his Blog a video that apparently showed United States Department of Agriculture Official Shirley Sherrod talking at an NAACP Dinner about how 20 years ago she was put off by a white farmer acting superior to her while requesting her help in saving his farm. Shirley commented in her speech that she did enough but not as much as she could have for the white farmer but did put the farmer in touch with one of his "own kind" for further help.
Clearly the video when initially viewed was disturbing in its blatant reverse racism of this black woman toward that white man seeking her help. Apparently officials in the Obama Administration and in the Agriculture Department without checking out the facts with Shirley Sherrod immediately asked for her resignation, which she gave them, without being allowed to explain how, when and why she gave her speech and what the extenuating circumstances were behind the video.
The Administration, The Agricuture Department and the NAACP all condemned the video and the person in the video, Shirley Sherrod.
Now a few days later, after she was essentially fired by USDA, circumstances have changed. Shirley Sherrod is no longer the victimizer she appeared to be in the video because the video was a short clip from a 45 minute speech in which she was trying to show how her racial views had changed since that time many years ago when she was working with a Non Profit organization helping rural farmers.
Now, after the spectre of the video being shown on Glen Beck's show is past and most people have heard the other side of the story the entire incident has turned into an embarassment for Barack Obama and USDA head, Tom Vilsack. Shirley Sherrod will probably be offered another position with USDA although she has indicated that she might not be willing to come back to an organization that was so quick to make rash judgements about who she is and what type of person she is.
Understandably enough, the news media jumped on this story and joined in on the initial condemnation. I have to admit that when I first saw the video clip I was also shocked and apalled at what appeared to be Shirley Sherrod's racism.
Now I can only respect her for the magnificent way Shirley Sherrod has conducted herself in what must have been a living nightmare for her. Andrew Breitbart has semi apologized stating that he wasn't after Sherrod but was merely trying to tarnish the reputation of the NAACP. The NAACP has also apologized to Sherrod for their quick condemnation without finding out the facts.
CNN has shown interviews with individuals in the audience for Shirley's speech that night and they all found the speech one that was condemning racism in any form and was especially encouraging to young people. CNN has also broadcast interviews with the white farmer that Shirley talked about in the video and his wife. The farmer and his wife state that Shirley Sherrod was responsible for helping them save their farm and since the time that Shirley talks about in the video they have been good friends with Shirley Sherrod.
Clearly the Obama Administration and USDA jumped the gun on this situation and I hope that they learn some valuable lessons from this incident. First of all, a video clip taken out of context can be manipulated in many ways, as this one was. Secondly, cooperating with the Republican Party should not be given up on entirely but it certainly should be put into perspective. Bipartisanship certainly has a place in our government but when bipartisanship is only one sided it is not bipartisanship, it is foolishmness. And please don't be guided by what is going to be showing up on Glen Beck's show, or any Fox news show. Investigate what is really happening before you just chop off a hand that has been giving to you for a long time.
On the positive side, Barack Obama and Tom Vilsack could have written off Shirley Sherrod, and weathered the storm of criticism from all sides that this entire situation has produced and not backed down from their mistakes. They have not done that. They have looked at the facts and from their statements seem to have learned from their mistakes and seem to be doing what they can to help restore Shirley Sherrod's reputation.
Barack Obama, I believe, owes Shirley Sherrod and her husband, a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinading Committee, at least a beer summit and quite possibly a dinner party with the Obamas and the Vilsacks.
I just hope that Shirley Sherrod's reputation is able to be restored and that she is able to go on with either USDA or elsewhere to continue to teach others the lessons of Tolerance and Respect.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Happy Birthday, America - You look Good for a Country that is 234 Years Old
July 4th, 2010
My Dear America:
Happy Birthday, America. I'll bet you are as surprised as anyone that you have made it this far, 234 Years old. I think that's how old you are, but who's counting.
I just saw an interesting series called "The Revolution" on the History Channel yesterday. Although there wasn't a whole lot of new information there were some interesting facts that I hadn't known about your birth.
For instance, France invested so much money, millions in their time and what would have been billions in our time, as well as provided troops and naval support. The end result of France helping U.S in our struggle was that their own financially strapped average citizens revolted themselves against their own Government once they saw what we had accomplished. Their bloodbath of a Revolution put into practice, however, a democracy which, like ours, still survives.
What is also interesting when you think about your birth is just how close we came to losing the Revolutionary War. And if we lost what would have happened to us. We would probably still be under the thumb of British Rule. Who knows. All of our Revolutionary heroes would probably have been hanged or shot and would never even have been mentioned in American History.
But you did make it, America, and you're still making it. You are struggling, yes, and you will undoutedly continue to struggle but even with the awful partisanship of Washington I know that we will get through our struggles just like we have done countless times before and we will hopefully survive many more centuries to come.
Yes, we will have problems but sooner or later our Democracy will produce solutions to those problems. I know it. We make a lot of noise in our Democracy but noise is better than silence that is forced and ominous. We have our share of gutless politicians at the present time who are either too timid to do what is right or too dumb to realize that they are destryong America by trying to destroy it's President.
Certainly our President has made and I'm sure will make some serious mistakes as all Presidents before him have but at least he is trying to do some things that need doing.
Republicans standing in the way of Health Care Reform, Economic Reform and Immigration Reform are, I am convinced, going to learn a serious political lesson in November of this year when voters who are fed up with Obstructionists in Congress vote them out. Republicans who continue to try to strangle the Government from doing anything are going to wake up on Election Day and find out that the electorate was not as stupid as they had counted on. I am sure of it.
As we celebrate your birthday today we look forward to that Day of Reckoning in November when the American People get out, go to their polls and "Vote the Rascals Out" one more time in America.
Once More, America, Happy Birthday To You.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
My Dear America:
Happy Birthday, America. I'll bet you are as surprised as anyone that you have made it this far, 234 Years old. I think that's how old you are, but who's counting.
I just saw an interesting series called "The Revolution" on the History Channel yesterday. Although there wasn't a whole lot of new information there were some interesting facts that I hadn't known about your birth.
For instance, France invested so much money, millions in their time and what would have been billions in our time, as well as provided troops and naval support. The end result of France helping U.S in our struggle was that their own financially strapped average citizens revolted themselves against their own Government once they saw what we had accomplished. Their bloodbath of a Revolution put into practice, however, a democracy which, like ours, still survives.
What is also interesting when you think about your birth is just how close we came to losing the Revolutionary War. And if we lost what would have happened to us. We would probably still be under the thumb of British Rule. Who knows. All of our Revolutionary heroes would probably have been hanged or shot and would never even have been mentioned in American History.
But you did make it, America, and you're still making it. You are struggling, yes, and you will undoutedly continue to struggle but even with the awful partisanship of Washington I know that we will get through our struggles just like we have done countless times before and we will hopefully survive many more centuries to come.
Yes, we will have problems but sooner or later our Democracy will produce solutions to those problems. I know it. We make a lot of noise in our Democracy but noise is better than silence that is forced and ominous. We have our share of gutless politicians at the present time who are either too timid to do what is right or too dumb to realize that they are destryong America by trying to destroy it's President.
Certainly our President has made and I'm sure will make some serious mistakes as all Presidents before him have but at least he is trying to do some things that need doing.
Republicans standing in the way of Health Care Reform, Economic Reform and Immigration Reform are, I am convinced, going to learn a serious political lesson in November of this year when voters who are fed up with Obstructionists in Congress vote them out. Republicans who continue to try to strangle the Government from doing anything are going to wake up on Election Day and find out that the electorate was not as stupid as they had counted on. I am sure of it.
As we celebrate your birthday today we look forward to that Day of Reckoning in November when the American People get out, go to their polls and "Vote the Rascals Out" one more time in America.
Once More, America, Happy Birthday To You.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
Sunday, June 13, 2010
The Sad Goodbye of Helen Thomas
June 13th, 2010
My Dear America:
Monday Morning of this week was a sad day for Helen Thomas and also, I believe, a sad day for America.
A firestorm of controversy erupted following the release of an Interview that Helen had given in an offhand conversation with a Blogger on the White House grounds. The Blogger had asked her what she thought the Israelis should do with regard to Gaza and Helen replied that the Israelis should "Get the Hell out of Palestine".
Where should they go asked the Blogger and Helen replied that they should go back to Germany and Poland.
WHAT
When I first heard about the statements I was quick to fault Helen Thomas for these outrageous statements. Later on I heard the recorded statements on NPR and saw the video on Television and clearly I don't believe that these statements were made as racist rhetoric.
What I have thought about since the abrupt resignation of Helen Thomas from her Front Row Middle Chair in the White House briefing room and her status as a Columnist for the Hearst Newspapers, is that there may be some extenuating circumstances regarding Ms. Thomas's incendiary comments.
First of All, Helen Thomas was 89 years old. Was she too old to be doing her job in the White House. Perhaps. But the truth was that from Day One during the Kennedy Administation when she first took her seat in the White House briefing room she was a standout for many reasons. She was the first woman to be allowed a seat in the press room in any Administration and even at that point in the early 60s She had been working for United Press International since 1943.
Helen Thomas had lived through the Rebirth of Israel in Palestine in the late forties and beyond and knew what anyone with a knowledge of that era knew. Israel did not become a state without a fight with the people who had lived there for centuries before them, The Palestinians. Palestine was occupied by the Israelis in a violent and aggressive manner and although the British and Americans had brought the Israelis to the area the Israelis finally got their "benefactors" out of their country but still kept them as benefactors.
So the truth is that Israel has not existed forever under the control of the Israeli's but is a rather recent country which took control of Palestine in much the same way way that early Americans took control of American Indian Country in The United States of America.
I do not mention these things to cause further incendiary messages but simply to put things in perspective. To Helen Thomas, Israelis probably never deserved to live in Palestine and did not belong there. I do not know if that is what she was thinking when she made her controversial statements but it may very well have been and if so She had a good point.
Regarding the far more disturbing point, which is that Israelis should return to Germany or Poland from whence they came, clearly there is no valid excuse for that comment based on the horrific history of the Jewish holocaust by the Nazi's in World War II. The only possibly reasonable explanation for that comment might be Helen recognizing that those presently high functioning countries were past home countries for many Israeli families and that anti semitism was a thing of the past, or so we might hope.
Who knows what Helen Thomas thought. Only she knows for sure and she has not commented, as far as I know.
One comment that I thought was insightful regarding this situation was Lewis Black's comment to Joy Behar that Helen Thomas' "editing equipment wasn't working."
The truth is that her editing equipment hasn't been working for a long time and thats why we loved her. Her exchanges with President Kennedy were memorably humorous. Clearly Kennedy loved her barbs and responded in classic exchanges.
We should also remember that when other reporters were timid in their questioning of wars and other White House Horrors, Helen Thomas was always there putting Lyndon Johnson's, Richard Nixon's, Gerald Ford's, Ronald Reagan's, George Bush's 1 and 2, Bill Clinton's and Barack Obama's feet to the fire whenever she got a chance to do so.
Helen Thomas was an accomplished Reporter who has had a long and distinguished career. Perhaps it was time for her to retire anyway but she deserved better than to be tossed into the trash heap of history on a trumped up charge of racism that I don't believe is credible.
I would guess that I am not the only one who has had older people in my family that I loved but could not discuss blacks or jews with. Lovely people, for the most part, who grew up in another era in which racism not only existed but was a fact of life. I learned to love those people and to forgive them their faults in that one area and trained myself not to talk about subjects in which we were never going to agree and were probably going to get into terrible arguments.
I think Helen Thomas is probably one of those people who, like my relatives, couldn't help herself and like my relatives, did so much good that this one flaw in her conduct and personal record needs to be forgiven.
This Historically Significant Woman Correspondent was a real Journalistic Pioneer and does not deserve to be tossed out of the White House Press room without attention paid to her countless commendations for journalistic excellence and her many years of gutsy advocacy in favor of the American people and against American involvements in Wars where we didn't belong.
Yes she certainly was not flawless but then, who among us is.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
My Dear America:
Monday Morning of this week was a sad day for Helen Thomas and also, I believe, a sad day for America.
A firestorm of controversy erupted following the release of an Interview that Helen had given in an offhand conversation with a Blogger on the White House grounds. The Blogger had asked her what she thought the Israelis should do with regard to Gaza and Helen replied that the Israelis should "Get the Hell out of Palestine".
Where should they go asked the Blogger and Helen replied that they should go back to Germany and Poland.
WHAT
When I first heard about the statements I was quick to fault Helen Thomas for these outrageous statements. Later on I heard the recorded statements on NPR and saw the video on Television and clearly I don't believe that these statements were made as racist rhetoric.
What I have thought about since the abrupt resignation of Helen Thomas from her Front Row Middle Chair in the White House briefing room and her status as a Columnist for the Hearst Newspapers, is that there may be some extenuating circumstances regarding Ms. Thomas's incendiary comments.
First of All, Helen Thomas was 89 years old. Was she too old to be doing her job in the White House. Perhaps. But the truth was that from Day One during the Kennedy Administation when she first took her seat in the White House briefing room she was a standout for many reasons. She was the first woman to be allowed a seat in the press room in any Administration and even at that point in the early 60s She had been working for United Press International since 1943.
Helen Thomas had lived through the Rebirth of Israel in Palestine in the late forties and beyond and knew what anyone with a knowledge of that era knew. Israel did not become a state without a fight with the people who had lived there for centuries before them, The Palestinians. Palestine was occupied by the Israelis in a violent and aggressive manner and although the British and Americans had brought the Israelis to the area the Israelis finally got their "benefactors" out of their country but still kept them as benefactors.
So the truth is that Israel has not existed forever under the control of the Israeli's but is a rather recent country which took control of Palestine in much the same way way that early Americans took control of American Indian Country in The United States of America.
I do not mention these things to cause further incendiary messages but simply to put things in perspective. To Helen Thomas, Israelis probably never deserved to live in Palestine and did not belong there. I do not know if that is what she was thinking when she made her controversial statements but it may very well have been and if so She had a good point.
Regarding the far more disturbing point, which is that Israelis should return to Germany or Poland from whence they came, clearly there is no valid excuse for that comment based on the horrific history of the Jewish holocaust by the Nazi's in World War II. The only possibly reasonable explanation for that comment might be Helen recognizing that those presently high functioning countries were past home countries for many Israeli families and that anti semitism was a thing of the past, or so we might hope.
Who knows what Helen Thomas thought. Only she knows for sure and she has not commented, as far as I know.
One comment that I thought was insightful regarding this situation was Lewis Black's comment to Joy Behar that Helen Thomas' "editing equipment wasn't working."
The truth is that her editing equipment hasn't been working for a long time and thats why we loved her. Her exchanges with President Kennedy were memorably humorous. Clearly Kennedy loved her barbs and responded in classic exchanges.
We should also remember that when other reporters were timid in their questioning of wars and other White House Horrors, Helen Thomas was always there putting Lyndon Johnson's, Richard Nixon's, Gerald Ford's, Ronald Reagan's, George Bush's 1 and 2, Bill Clinton's and Barack Obama's feet to the fire whenever she got a chance to do so.
Helen Thomas was an accomplished Reporter who has had a long and distinguished career. Perhaps it was time for her to retire anyway but she deserved better than to be tossed into the trash heap of history on a trumped up charge of racism that I don't believe is credible.
I would guess that I am not the only one who has had older people in my family that I loved but could not discuss blacks or jews with. Lovely people, for the most part, who grew up in another era in which racism not only existed but was a fact of life. I learned to love those people and to forgive them their faults in that one area and trained myself not to talk about subjects in which we were never going to agree and were probably going to get into terrible arguments.
I think Helen Thomas is probably one of those people who, like my relatives, couldn't help herself and like my relatives, did so much good that this one flaw in her conduct and personal record needs to be forgiven.
This Historically Significant Woman Correspondent was a real Journalistic Pioneer and does not deserve to be tossed out of the White House Press room without attention paid to her countless commendations for journalistic excellence and her many years of gutsy advocacy in favor of the American people and against American involvements in Wars where we didn't belong.
Yes she certainly was not flawless but then, who among us is.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
Saturday, May 22, 2010
A Farewell to Arlen or Why I Voted for Joe Sestak
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010
My Dear America:
It is just a few days after the extraordinary Primary Election in Pennsylvania which resulted in a loss by long time incumbent Senator Arlen Specter and a win by a previously little known Congressman named Joe Sestak.
Although my wife and I are generally on the same page politically we ended up having a split decision this time. Sandy voted for Arlen and I voted for Joe. I suppose the reason that she voted for Arlen was that he has been a long term Senator from Pennsylvania and certainly has made some good moves in his United States Senate career along with some bad ones. I must confess that in previous Senate campaigns I have voted for Arlen on more than one occasion when I sincerely thought he was a better candidate than his Democratic rival.
That was not the case this time, however. Joe Sestak, in my opinion, was the better of the two candidates for U.S. Senator even though from the first it seemed like Joe had the deck stacked against him. Word has it that Joe was first approached by top Democrats in Pennsylvania and Washington, including the President, to run for the Senate against either of the two likely Republican rivals, Arlen Specter or Pat Toomey. Toomey is a Righter than Right Wing former Congressman from the Lehigh Valley area of Pensylvania who has headed the dreaded Super Right Wing mislabled "Club for Growth" in recent years. Toomey is a Harvard Educated Restaurant owner with a slick personality who manages to look to the uneducated Pennsylvania electorate as if he is just a regular man of the people. He is not that, however. He is a man of the Corporations and I would expect that in the coming race for the Senate he will be fully funded by his Right Wing Republican supporters.
I also expect that, although Joe Sestak had virtually no support from the Democratic Party leaders, Labor Unions and the President of The United States, that this situation will certainly now change. Joe Sestak is no longer just pain in the party Joe, whose annoying presence embarassed Democrats. Those Democratic party leaders including President Obama who threw Joe Sestak under the Democratic Party Bus once Arlen came aboard will likely be singing a different tune now that Joe Sestak has proved that he is no ordinary Joe.
In truth, Joe Sestak's accomplishment must be looked at with a great degree of astonishment regarding what he has done to get to the point where he is presently. Joe started off his primary campaign facing a gigantic lead on Arlen Specter's part. Nobody in their right mind gave Joe Sestak much of a chance at the beginning of his campaign. Nobody, that is but Joe Sestak. Sestak recognized the grim reality of his situation. He was an Underdog with no Democratic support except for a few scattered Democratic leaders throughout the Commonwealth who liked what Joe had to say and didn't like the fact that the Pennsylvania Democratic Party was in the process of nominating a dyed in the wool, George Bush 1 and 2 and a Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon Republican to be their standard bearer in the Senate Primary just because he had switched parties to protect his job.
If there was one issue that I think brought Joe Sestak to the winner's podium on election night it was the issue of George Bush and Sarah Palin embracing Specter in Sestak's powerful video released late in his campaign. Bush stating "I depend on this man" and looking at Specter was the kiss of death for Specter. Specter also looked outclassed in his one and only debate with Sestak and his demand that Sestak apologize for calling Specter a liar made Specter look foolish, not statesmanlike. Sestak held his own in the debate and once you got past his soft spoken halting speech patterns that he used over and over again in every instance that he could find a place to speak in Pennsylvania, I found that that guy made sense.
His stump speech everywhere was pretty standard. He talked about his daughter's brain tumor and his appreciation for the free and competent medical care that he and his family received courtesy of the U.S Navy, where he was an Admiral when he retired. He went into politics to try to obtain the kind of health care for everyone that his daughter received. He went everywhere in Pennsylvania where he was welcomed and over the countless times he was on the Pennsylvania Cable Network and other newscasts it rang true for many Pennsylvanians that this guy was not a Democrat of convenience and necessity but a committed Democrat who had a clear record of voting as a Democrat. He was not, like Arlen Specter, a man escaping to the Democratic Party from a likely defeat in his own Republican Party. Sestak was the real thing. Democrats in Pennsylvania when they finally got that message responded appropriately and Joe Sestak, as he carried his daughter on his shoulders from TV interview to TV interview on election night was a happy man.
I must say, though, that even though I did not vote for Arlen Specter on Primary Election night in Pennsylvania I, like Joe Sestak in his victory speech, also respect Arlen Specter for all of the good things that he has done and there is quite a list of positive things he has done. Arlen worked on the Warren Commission and came up with the One Bullet Theory regarding the Assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas in 1963. The One Bullet Theory was not his best work but he apparently did well in other Warren Commission assignments. He was the District Attorney of Philadelphia prior to being elected to the Senate, where he served for over thirty years.
It is anybody's guess as to what Arlen Specter will do now but after surviving cancer and other serious medical conditions and being 80 years old it might be the time for him to sit down and write his Autobiography. If and when he does that I would count on the book being very interesting and quite likely a best seller.
I know I join many in Pennsylvania and around the Country in wishing Arlen Specter the best in his retirement and further ventures.
I also wish the best to Joe Sestak, who will not have an easy task of beating his slick and sleazy Republican rival, Pat Toomey, in the November Election but I certainly hope Congressman Sestak does it and becomes the next United States Senator from the State of Pennsylvania.
In other words Good Luck to everyone except Pat Toomey.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
My Dear America:
It is just a few days after the extraordinary Primary Election in Pennsylvania which resulted in a loss by long time incumbent Senator Arlen Specter and a win by a previously little known Congressman named Joe Sestak.
Although my wife and I are generally on the same page politically we ended up having a split decision this time. Sandy voted for Arlen and I voted for Joe. I suppose the reason that she voted for Arlen was that he has been a long term Senator from Pennsylvania and certainly has made some good moves in his United States Senate career along with some bad ones. I must confess that in previous Senate campaigns I have voted for Arlen on more than one occasion when I sincerely thought he was a better candidate than his Democratic rival.
That was not the case this time, however. Joe Sestak, in my opinion, was the better of the two candidates for U.S. Senator even though from the first it seemed like Joe had the deck stacked against him. Word has it that Joe was first approached by top Democrats in Pennsylvania and Washington, including the President, to run for the Senate against either of the two likely Republican rivals, Arlen Specter or Pat Toomey. Toomey is a Righter than Right Wing former Congressman from the Lehigh Valley area of Pensylvania who has headed the dreaded Super Right Wing mislabled "Club for Growth" in recent years. Toomey is a Harvard Educated Restaurant owner with a slick personality who manages to look to the uneducated Pennsylvania electorate as if he is just a regular man of the people. He is not that, however. He is a man of the Corporations and I would expect that in the coming race for the Senate he will be fully funded by his Right Wing Republican supporters.
I also expect that, although Joe Sestak had virtually no support from the Democratic Party leaders, Labor Unions and the President of The United States, that this situation will certainly now change. Joe Sestak is no longer just pain in the party Joe, whose annoying presence embarassed Democrats. Those Democratic party leaders including President Obama who threw Joe Sestak under the Democratic Party Bus once Arlen came aboard will likely be singing a different tune now that Joe Sestak has proved that he is no ordinary Joe.
In truth, Joe Sestak's accomplishment must be looked at with a great degree of astonishment regarding what he has done to get to the point where he is presently. Joe started off his primary campaign facing a gigantic lead on Arlen Specter's part. Nobody in their right mind gave Joe Sestak much of a chance at the beginning of his campaign. Nobody, that is but Joe Sestak. Sestak recognized the grim reality of his situation. He was an Underdog with no Democratic support except for a few scattered Democratic leaders throughout the Commonwealth who liked what Joe had to say and didn't like the fact that the Pennsylvania Democratic Party was in the process of nominating a dyed in the wool, George Bush 1 and 2 and a Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon Republican to be their standard bearer in the Senate Primary just because he had switched parties to protect his job.
If there was one issue that I think brought Joe Sestak to the winner's podium on election night it was the issue of George Bush and Sarah Palin embracing Specter in Sestak's powerful video released late in his campaign. Bush stating "I depend on this man" and looking at Specter was the kiss of death for Specter. Specter also looked outclassed in his one and only debate with Sestak and his demand that Sestak apologize for calling Specter a liar made Specter look foolish, not statesmanlike. Sestak held his own in the debate and once you got past his soft spoken halting speech patterns that he used over and over again in every instance that he could find a place to speak in Pennsylvania, I found that that guy made sense.
His stump speech everywhere was pretty standard. He talked about his daughter's brain tumor and his appreciation for the free and competent medical care that he and his family received courtesy of the U.S Navy, where he was an Admiral when he retired. He went into politics to try to obtain the kind of health care for everyone that his daughter received. He went everywhere in Pennsylvania where he was welcomed and over the countless times he was on the Pennsylvania Cable Network and other newscasts it rang true for many Pennsylvanians that this guy was not a Democrat of convenience and necessity but a committed Democrat who had a clear record of voting as a Democrat. He was not, like Arlen Specter, a man escaping to the Democratic Party from a likely defeat in his own Republican Party. Sestak was the real thing. Democrats in Pennsylvania when they finally got that message responded appropriately and Joe Sestak, as he carried his daughter on his shoulders from TV interview to TV interview on election night was a happy man.
I must say, though, that even though I did not vote for Arlen Specter on Primary Election night in Pennsylvania I, like Joe Sestak in his victory speech, also respect Arlen Specter for all of the good things that he has done and there is quite a list of positive things he has done. Arlen worked on the Warren Commission and came up with the One Bullet Theory regarding the Assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas in 1963. The One Bullet Theory was not his best work but he apparently did well in other Warren Commission assignments. He was the District Attorney of Philadelphia prior to being elected to the Senate, where he served for over thirty years.
It is anybody's guess as to what Arlen Specter will do now but after surviving cancer and other serious medical conditions and being 80 years old it might be the time for him to sit down and write his Autobiography. If and when he does that I would count on the book being very interesting and quite likely a best seller.
I know I join many in Pennsylvania and around the Country in wishing Arlen Specter the best in his retirement and further ventures.
I also wish the best to Joe Sestak, who will not have an easy task of beating his slick and sleazy Republican rival, Pat Toomey, in the November Election but I certainly hope Congressman Sestak does it and becomes the next United States Senator from the State of Pennsylvania.
In other words Good Luck to everyone except Pat Toomey.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Message in The Gulf
May 13th, 2010
My Dear America:
There is an Urgent Message for President Obama, The United States Congress and the rest of America floating in the polluted water of the Gulf of Mexico.
That message is clearly "Stop Drilling for Oil in the Offshore Seas of America".
It is a message that is clear and sensible. It is a message that needs to be paid attention to and needs to be heeded.
Clearly America's and indeed the world's Oil companies (BP for one) have been turned loose on the American coastline especially in the Gulf of Mexico. In the Bush years and, quite Frankly, even before the Bush years, drilling in the Gulf of Mexico was not only tolerated, it was encouraged.
Now, in the past few weeks we have begun to see the Ominous Results of our incredibly stupid policy. As the future devastation becomes more clear in scope and we see dead dolphins washing up on the shore, the end of low cost seafood on our tables and the probable end of Swimming, Boating and Beauty on the Gulf of Mexico Shorelines, it is going to become increasingly clear that what we have done in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico is shameful and unforgivable. It is also stupid beyond belief.
Weeks before the incredible BP Oil Spill and weeks after the historic Congressional passage of the Health Care Bill in Congress the President, in a move that I can only describe as pandering to the Republican Right, announced a new policy that in addition to drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico his administration was opening up drilling on the East and West coasts of our country, as well as off Alaska.
What was wrong with President Obama. Was he now taking advice from Sarah Palin. It certainly sounded that way.
"Drill Baby Drill" was now the cry of the Obama Administration.
Obama's reaction to the BP Oil Spill was to reevaluate the procedures involved in granting licenses for companies to drill off the Coastline of America. He did not say he was stopping the drilling he was just slowing down a process that had not even begun.
He has still not backtracked on his prospective policy of drilling off the east coast shoreline although I hope that this misguided policy has been a casualty of the Golf Oil spill.
Meanwhile the spill continues and the oil flows out into the Gulf of Mexico and ever closer to the shores of Mexico, Texas, Louisiana and Florida and the residents and the politicians realize that they are up the creek without a way to hold back the flow that grows more worrisome and more toxic to our wildlife and our environment every day.
I hope the voters in the November, 2010 Election remember those Republican Candidates who stupidly chanted "Drill, Baby, Drill" in prior elections. We have Drilled, Baby Drilled and we are paying for it and will continue to pay for it for years to come, possibly decades to come.
Hopefully Politicians, including our President, will learn a lesson from this incredible disaster and this failed policy of drilling in our oceans will end.
President Obama is, in most respects, a brilliant and thoughtful guy but the truth is that with regard to his Offshore Drilling Policy he was and continues to be on the wrong track. There are very few of Barack Obama's policies with which I am clearly on the totally opposite side of his thinking. This is one.
Another one is Nuclear Power Plants.
Don't get me started on that one.
Barack. Three words: Three Mile Island
Come on, Mr. President. Lets get it together. Stop Pandering to the Republicans. Just remember, They are the party of "Drill, Baby Drill" and you can see just where that policy has taken us.
"Don't Drill, Mr. President, Please at least no new drilling on the East Coast.
I love the Jersey, Delaware and Maryland Shores. We surely don't want to see them in the shape of the Gulf of Mexico Coastlines will shortly be and while you're at it please light a fire under the asses of the BP Executives so that they will get their leaking oil well to stop leaking.
God Bless you, Mr. President. You are certainly going to need his help to get us out of this Mess.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
My Dear America:
There is an Urgent Message for President Obama, The United States Congress and the rest of America floating in the polluted water of the Gulf of Mexico.
That message is clearly "Stop Drilling for Oil in the Offshore Seas of America".
It is a message that is clear and sensible. It is a message that needs to be paid attention to and needs to be heeded.
Clearly America's and indeed the world's Oil companies (BP for one) have been turned loose on the American coastline especially in the Gulf of Mexico. In the Bush years and, quite Frankly, even before the Bush years, drilling in the Gulf of Mexico was not only tolerated, it was encouraged.
Now, in the past few weeks we have begun to see the Ominous Results of our incredibly stupid policy. As the future devastation becomes more clear in scope and we see dead dolphins washing up on the shore, the end of low cost seafood on our tables and the probable end of Swimming, Boating and Beauty on the Gulf of Mexico Shorelines, it is going to become increasingly clear that what we have done in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico is shameful and unforgivable. It is also stupid beyond belief.
Weeks before the incredible BP Oil Spill and weeks after the historic Congressional passage of the Health Care Bill in Congress the President, in a move that I can only describe as pandering to the Republican Right, announced a new policy that in addition to drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico his administration was opening up drilling on the East and West coasts of our country, as well as off Alaska.
What was wrong with President Obama. Was he now taking advice from Sarah Palin. It certainly sounded that way.
"Drill Baby Drill" was now the cry of the Obama Administration.
Obama's reaction to the BP Oil Spill was to reevaluate the procedures involved in granting licenses for companies to drill off the Coastline of America. He did not say he was stopping the drilling he was just slowing down a process that had not even begun.
He has still not backtracked on his prospective policy of drilling off the east coast shoreline although I hope that this misguided policy has been a casualty of the Golf Oil spill.
Meanwhile the spill continues and the oil flows out into the Gulf of Mexico and ever closer to the shores of Mexico, Texas, Louisiana and Florida and the residents and the politicians realize that they are up the creek without a way to hold back the flow that grows more worrisome and more toxic to our wildlife and our environment every day.
I hope the voters in the November, 2010 Election remember those Republican Candidates who stupidly chanted "Drill, Baby, Drill" in prior elections. We have Drilled, Baby Drilled and we are paying for it and will continue to pay for it for years to come, possibly decades to come.
Hopefully Politicians, including our President, will learn a lesson from this incredible disaster and this failed policy of drilling in our oceans will end.
President Obama is, in most respects, a brilliant and thoughtful guy but the truth is that with regard to his Offshore Drilling Policy he was and continues to be on the wrong track. There are very few of Barack Obama's policies with which I am clearly on the totally opposite side of his thinking. This is one.
Another one is Nuclear Power Plants.
Don't get me started on that one.
Barack. Three words: Three Mile Island
Come on, Mr. President. Lets get it together. Stop Pandering to the Republicans. Just remember, They are the party of "Drill, Baby Drill" and you can see just where that policy has taken us.
"Don't Drill, Mr. President, Please at least no new drilling on the East Coast.
I love the Jersey, Delaware and Maryland Shores. We surely don't want to see them in the shape of the Gulf of Mexico Coastlines will shortly be and while you're at it please light a fire under the asses of the BP Executives so that they will get their leaking oil well to stop leaking.
God Bless you, Mr. President. You are certainly going to need his help to get us out of this Mess.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
Monday, April 26, 2010
Inglorious Arrogant Lying Basterds
April 26th, 2010
My Dear America:
Two of my Least Favorite Americans these days are John Boner and Mitch McConnell. Yes I know the Republican Congressional leader's name is spelled Boehner and is pronounced (Ba ner) but this is my Blog and although I have made a great effort to avoid using curse words in my posts, I find it hard to think of McConnell and Boner (Bo ner) without at least thinking about many curse words regarding these two arrogant individuals.
These two Republican Congressional leaders, McConnell in the Senate and Boner in the House, have been the Chief Obstructionists throughout the Obama Administration. They weren't happy with just leading the charge against Health Care Reform in Congress. After helping to water it down (no public option) to where even the Health Care Industry couldn't complain too loudly about the legislation, which was probably going to be a potential bonanza for their profit margins, McConnell and Boner continued to try to completely kill the legislation, lying about its potential effects to the last voting minute and thereafter. Boner acted like the Health Care Reform was the end of Freedom in the United States as we know it. Nothing could have been further from the truth and I still continue to be awed by the lying and manipulation skills of McConnell and Boner who somehow were able to convince normally smart American people that the United States Health Care system would be better off without reform.
To be honest, I have mixed feelings about Health Care Reform. I think the only way to really reform Health Care is to scrap the system we have which is a system that profits by Health Care Providers not having to pay Health Care benefits to recipients. This, of course, leads to Health Care Providers having incentives to cut off benefits rather than provide benefits to Americans who need them.
The only real way to reform Health Care is to scrap the profit making system that we have and go to a Single Payer System similar to Medicare in which everyone is covered and coverage is free and available for all. Unfortunately with the stranglehold that the Health Care Industry has on Congress it is unlikely that Single Payer will arrive anytime soon. I am hopeful, though, that with Congressional Advocates like Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers that somedy Single Payer Health Care will be the law of the land.
Recently Boner and McConnell both went to a meeting of Congressional Leaders at the White House where President Obama explained the details regarding a plan to exercise some control over Wall Street abuses of power. What was explained to the Congressional Leaders was that one of the key provisions of the new legislation was that a fund would need to be set up and contributed to only by Wall Street firms that would essentially be a bail out fund in case Wall Sreet needed to be bailed out in the future. The legislation would protect America from ever needing to bail out Wall Street Companies in the future.
No sooner had Boner and McConnell left the meeting with Obama than they started lying about the proposed fund and calling the legislation a way to have Wall Street continually bailed out by the United States taxpayers in the future. They had not even left the White House grounds before they started lying through their teeth abouth this legislation. How these people can do what they do day after day and live with themselves is beyond me.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
My Dear America:
Two of my Least Favorite Americans these days are John Boner and Mitch McConnell. Yes I know the Republican Congressional leader's name is spelled Boehner and is pronounced (Ba ner) but this is my Blog and although I have made a great effort to avoid using curse words in my posts, I find it hard to think of McConnell and Boner (Bo ner) without at least thinking about many curse words regarding these two arrogant individuals.
These two Republican Congressional leaders, McConnell in the Senate and Boner in the House, have been the Chief Obstructionists throughout the Obama Administration. They weren't happy with just leading the charge against Health Care Reform in Congress. After helping to water it down (no public option) to where even the Health Care Industry couldn't complain too loudly about the legislation, which was probably going to be a potential bonanza for their profit margins, McConnell and Boner continued to try to completely kill the legislation, lying about its potential effects to the last voting minute and thereafter. Boner acted like the Health Care Reform was the end of Freedom in the United States as we know it. Nothing could have been further from the truth and I still continue to be awed by the lying and manipulation skills of McConnell and Boner who somehow were able to convince normally smart American people that the United States Health Care system would be better off without reform.
To be honest, I have mixed feelings about Health Care Reform. I think the only way to really reform Health Care is to scrap the system we have which is a system that profits by Health Care Providers not having to pay Health Care benefits to recipients. This, of course, leads to Health Care Providers having incentives to cut off benefits rather than provide benefits to Americans who need them.
The only real way to reform Health Care is to scrap the profit making system that we have and go to a Single Payer System similar to Medicare in which everyone is covered and coverage is free and available for all. Unfortunately with the stranglehold that the Health Care Industry has on Congress it is unlikely that Single Payer will arrive anytime soon. I am hopeful, though, that with Congressional Advocates like Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers that somedy Single Payer Health Care will be the law of the land.
Recently Boner and McConnell both went to a meeting of Congressional Leaders at the White House where President Obama explained the details regarding a plan to exercise some control over Wall Street abuses of power. What was explained to the Congressional Leaders was that one of the key provisions of the new legislation was that a fund would need to be set up and contributed to only by Wall Street firms that would essentially be a bail out fund in case Wall Sreet needed to be bailed out in the future. The legislation would protect America from ever needing to bail out Wall Street Companies in the future.
No sooner had Boner and McConnell left the meeting with Obama than they started lying about the proposed fund and calling the legislation a way to have Wall Street continually bailed out by the United States taxpayers in the future. They had not even left the White House grounds before they started lying through their teeth abouth this legislation. How these people can do what they do day after day and live with themselves is beyond me.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
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