Really Good Money

Really good money is the stuff you screw someone out of!
by Charlie Leck

My wife has a language quite her own. I wrote an essay about that a number of years ago and I think it's worth repeating here. I find her sense of extra dry humor delightful and delectible. It's also great fun being married to someone who, when they speak, you want to listen carefully in order to catch all the little inuendo that might get away if you aren't attentive.

Let me recreate for you here the entire essay as I wrote it in approximately 1991.

Really good money, the best, the golden stuff, is the money you screw someone out of. Forgive that dangling participle, but the sentence works best that way. Also, that's close to a verbatim quote, which I must credit to my wife. She calls it Pitchfork Philosophy. She talks that way a lot. There's Fern Gully Philosphy and Guggi Philosphy and Bowling Philosophy. Don't ask me to explain them all. I'll just deal with Pitchfork Philosophy. It's "the stuff" farmers come up with while they're forking manure into a spreader. An hour or so of cleaning out cow barns, sheep pens or horse stalls can be pretty boring -- causing one to think in such a manner that we might assume one has inhaled too much.

So, that's from whence came this idea about "really good money" -- straight off the pitch fork. "Really good money, the best, the golden stuff, is the money your screw someone out of."

Well, let's be honest here! She was also up pretty late last night and rose at her usual early hour. So she's been running on empty nearly all day. And, it hasn't helped that she's also unusually ticked off. We went to another city council meeting last night and listened to politicians being politicians. There's nothing quite like a small town hack. They can lay it on heavier than a southern senator or a French baker. They were laying it on pretty thick last night.

It was obvious that they have an agenda they need to implement over the objections of a strong, large section of the community. So, they took to attacking the wealthy and how they get their money. When all else seems to be failing, get after those with the money. That always works. They attack trust-wealth and inherited money as particularly evil. Fees collected by lawyers come in as second most terrible.

Never mind that the motive for what these town legislators want to shove down our throats is surrounded with the pleasant aroma of real estate development money. That, you see, is good money. It's the money that comes about as a result of screwing your neighbor good. You know what I mean. It's that slick contented look on the face of the cat, just before she closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep, satisfied by the deep, full feeling in her tummy. Never mind the fish bowl is missing one goldfish!

"So," my wife said, "the money your mum gives you is bad. And the money you make from farm subsidies, so that your neighbors can eat cheap, is bad. But, screw the town and make happy some crazed developer who needs a new hamlet to pave over -- that's good money! Oh, pitch fork!"

She seethed a while over her hot vegetable soup, fueling up so she could go face another dirty barn. A chaw of crusty French bread and she was ready again to take pitch fork in hand.

"You know," she said seriously, "the really good money is the stuff you get and you're still able to look your neighbor right in the eye after you get it."

She was back to thinking and talking about the council meeting. She was startled by how few councilmen could look anyone in the eye. They always seemed to be looking out over the heads of the audience, at some far distant dollar sign, never focusing, in word or thought, on anyone to whom they spoke. (No danglers there, boy!)

GIANTS SPEAK THE TRUTH

Two quotes which speak volumes and echo in my soul!
by Charlie Leck

In reaction to the election victory we just celebrated, a neighbor emailed to me Margaret Mead's most well known quotation. How many times I've heard it! It is so appropriate to what has happened here in the last several days and I appreciate being reminded about it.

"Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has."

Oh my! I sent it on to the entire campaign committee. It was their hard and persistent work that won the day.

Then, lately, I've been thinking again of how easily the United States seems to choose the course of war instead of reason and negotiation. I thought back to Bill Clinton's first inauguration and Maya Angelou's powerful poetry reading at that ceremony.

"History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, and if faced
With courage, need not be lived again."

That's quite enough for a Friday morning blog!

Reading Recommendation

As President Obama prepares his decision about more troops for Afghanistan, here's a blog that has some wise things to say.
by Charlie Leck

Vietnam's Shadow, a blog by David Williamson at Van Peebles Land, is really worth reading. In light of the decisions President Obama is about to make regarding Afghanistan, I highly recommend it to you. Williamson is a good writer and a good thinker.

AN EXTRAORDINARY PRAYER

Notes found in a box long unopened.
by Charlie Leck

I found a box upon a shelf in an infrequently visited closet. The box, which has traveled with me from place to place and life to life, had not been opened in years. I found, upon opening the box, a pile of notes to myself that I had hoped, when I put them there, I would one day find and shuffle through with some curiosity. They were about matters that, back then, I had thought important and that I had hoped, back then, that I would find important at that future time when I opened the box.

One is a note about a prayer that, back then, I thought terribly meaningful and inspiring. I still do, I guess, and so I'll share it with you. It was composed by a Danish theologian and philospher, Soren Kierkegaard.

"Father in Heaven! What is a man without Thee? What is all that he knows, vast accumulation though it be, but a chipped fragment if he does not know Thee? What is all his striving, could it even encompass the world, but half-finished work if he does not know Thee? Thee the One, who art one thing and who art all."

I cry out with Saint John: "I know Thee!"

"Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, 'I have come to know him,' but does not obey his commandments is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, 'I abide in Him,' ought to walk just as he walked.

"Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says, 'I am in the light,' while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness..."

"...let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love."

Enough for a full day? Indeed!

MY TOWN

A beautiful barn on Nelson Road at sunrise!

Let me give you a little tour of my town and, perhaps, you'll understand why I worked so hard for it during the recent election!
by Charlie Leck

Today's is a photographic blog -- a little tour of my town. (By the way, whenever I use this phrase, "my town," the emphasis should always be upon the second word (town) and not on the the first. If you try it both ways you'll see the big difference.

Back in '96 I wrote a book that I called My Town. It's a collection of essays I wrote about living here in this lovely place. I wrote about the birds...

"One awesome sight breaks into my contemplation. Dazzlingly bright gold finches are out in the heavy weather. Instinctively they understand how to use the full force of the wind. They fly here and there -- wherever they choose to go! People are off the lakes and golf courses. Police have barricaded those downtown streets that run beside the tall, glass skyscrapers and pedestrians are not allowed to walk near them. We keep an ear bent toward the radio for some unexpected warning about imminent danger. Yet, in my yard, the finches, swallows, jays, sparrows, blackbirds and cardinals continue on their merry way. Their understanding of aerodynamics has not been approached by the folks at NASA or Boeing or any other research facility. It is one of those wonders of the universe that I might have missed had I not looked out just now."

I wrote about Mary, the town clerk...

"Mary may be the most important person in Independence. The elected officials, with their changing ideas and ideals, come and go. The workmen, who plow the snow and mend the pot-holes, change with regularity. Mary, however, is at the center of order in the community. Without what she does, things would break apart. She is the City Clerk. It's not a fitting title. Chief Operating Officer would be more appropriate.

"Government is an ordering institution -- it provides the community with structure and a sense of organization. Without government, at any level, there would be turmoil and anarchy!

"Here in Independence, Mary is the government. The town's council-persons create chaos through the legislative process. Mary takes that discord and, with file folders and loose-leaf binders, she gives it all order. The council spends money and allocates funds. Mary writes the checks. The mayor and the council propose law, which by its language is distorted and senseless. Mary's pencil rearranges and repunctuates motions and resolutions and makes them intelligible. If someone needs a particular map or plat, Mary is the only one in town who can immediately produce it."

And, I wrote about the weather in winter...

"But, today it is very cold! So, I sit here in my library before a warming fire and look out at the blistering, blustering day. Oh, for a little store or cafe in the center of town with a pot belly stove and men sitting around a glowing fire, warming their toes and telling delightful lies about the triumphs of their youths. That's the kind of thing that could make this Minnesota winter bearable."

Today, though, I'll just let these photographs tell you the story of my town.

Our friends, the Albers' house on Turner Road

Sunset over Lake Robina on County Road 92 North

Entrance to Maple Ponds, a small residential community

Our local "watering hole," the Ox Yoke Inn

Peterson's Produce Farm, were good things grow!

Pioneer Creek, which meanders all through my town.

A very common scene in Independence

Lake Independence from the south.

Pioneer Creek Golf Course, a lovely, inexpensive public golf facility
in the southwest part of Independence.

Connecticut and America is for the Public Option

The Joe Lieberman Problem
by Charlie Leck

One could see this one developing from a million miles away. Joe Lieberman is one of the biggest problems the Democrats have got. He’s a former faithful member of the Party. He was spurned a few years ago and rejected as an endorsed candidate for Senate race. Angry at the rejection, he ran anyway – as an independent in a primary – and won. He counts himself as an “independent” now, but caucuses with the Democrats and even chairs the important Homeland Security Committee. There are plenty of Democrats who now want that committee chair taken away from Lieberman as punishment for his failure to stand with the party on so many issues.

Most significantly, Lieberman has come out strongly against any health care reform bill that includes a public option. If nothing else, Lieberman has some unusual set of testicles!

Just Liebermann's support -- just the support of one more U.S. Senator -- would likely be enough to get the bill through the Senate and on to a joint committee of both houses for a final rework.

In the state of Connecticut, it appears that approximately 70 percent of voters favor a national health care reform bill with a public option. Among Democrats the favorable percentage increases to over 80 percent and stays above 70 percent among independents. It fails to receive as favorable a percentage only among Republicans (33 percent favor and 55 percent oppose).

A Quinnipiac University poll, published on September 17 had this to say: “"Good news for Obama is that Connecticut voters trust him more than congressional Republicans (54 - 30 percent) to handle health care…" The results of the poll also appear to show that voters in Connecticut believe by an overwhelming margin that Republicans want Obama to fail on health care for strictly political reasons.

Now, let me ask you if you know which State it is that Joe Lieberman represents? Yup! You got it! I just don’t get it! What’s he up to?

Of course, it’s his last term in politics and he just doesn’t give a damn, but does he want to go down in history as theeeeeeee politician who killed real health care reform in America?

President Obama needs to take Joe to the wood shed – or, as it’s better known in Washington, he has to have him into the White House for a visit. Come on Mr. President, you need to remind Joe just how big you won in his home state and just how many of the people up there in Connecticut and all of New England want a public option provision included in this reform.

As for you, my dear readers, you can ask Harry Reid, the leader of the Senate, to take Joe’s committee chairmanship away from him – and Joe can just see how much the people of Connecticut like that. Go ahead and sign the petition. I have.

Connecticut’s other Senator, Christopher Dodd favors a health care bill with a public option:

“Joe and I disagree on the public option,” said Dodd. “I and many others support a strong public option because it will save money, and it will introduce more choice and competition into an industry that badly needs both. And I’m optimistic Joe will join us.”

As Sam Stein points out in his Huffington Post blog, Lieberman is out of step with his Connecticut colleagues. Connecticut’s congressional delegation in Washington is going to support the public option and has already supported it in the vote returned by the House two days ago.

The pressure on Joe Lieberman at this moment is very intense. The leadership of both houses is leaning on him and the President will soon be calling if he hasn’t already. Pressure from citizens all across America must also be zeroed in on the Senator. That’s where you come in. Make sure Lieberman hears your voice. He must hear from hundreds of thousands of American voters.

And, oh, by the way
The State of Connecticut has a public option of its own within the state. At Media Matters, they’ve reprinted an ad from the Charter Oak Health Plan, which is just such an option for the citizens of the state. Take a look at and read the ad and you’ll see just how a public option would also work nationally.

Keep the pressure on Joe!
Let Joe know… you want him to support the President on this health care reform package. If you go to this site on Congress.org, you’ll find it very easy to send your own personal message to Senator Joe Lieberman.

“Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way” [Thomas Paine]

Where were the Republicans on Medicare in the 60s?
by Charlie Leck

I think a massive campaign ought to be undertaken to remind Republican senior citizens where their party was on Medicare when the idea was first advanced. They stood in the same rigid trenches in which they stand today in opposition to a public option in health care reform legislation.

Remember, prior to Medicare, about one-half of all seniors in the U.S. had no health care coverage – none. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why our nation’s insurance companies did not want to insure seniors. So, they made the cost so prohibitive that most seniors could not afford it.

When the idea of Medicare was proposed, the insurance companies, just like they have in these days, lined up four-square against the legislation and lobbied Republicans to defeat the plan. The Republican members of Congress got their talking points from insurance company lobbyists.

Conservatives, like Ronald Reagan, mightily opposed the idea of Medicare.

“If you don’t stop Medicare…,” Regan told a crowd in 1961, “you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.”

Oh my!

It was over 44 years ago that Medicare became a reality in the United States and access to health care was nearly instantly improved. The plan has allowed older folks to live longer and healthier lives. It is now, in fact, hailed as a great success. Medicare brought with it many side-bracket advantages along with its direct ones. For example, it led to the desegregation of southern hospitals.

Republicans were warning that Medicare would lead to socialism in America. What it led to was better health care for older Americans. Republicans fought the plan tooth and nail.

Barry Goldwater asked very sarcastically: “Having given our pensioners their medical care in kind, why not food baskets, why not public housing accommodations, why not vacation resorts, why not a ration of cigarettes for those who smoke and of beer for those who drink?”

Now, in historical perspective, Goldwater’s remarks sound much like the screaming idiots who have gathered at tea party rallies all across the nation. I could just hear Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachman asking the same question in her screeching, irritating voice.

There were Republican lawmakers who forecast a “Soviet-style model” in caring for seniors.

Those seniors ought to be reminded today of the Republican Party’s fanatical opposition to Medicare legislation and how, over the years, they have hatched one plan after another to end Medicare or, at least, privatize it.

Instead, Republicans are trying to frighten seniors by telling them that the proposed health care reform would mean a significant diminishment of their Medicare benefits. These attempts are out-right lies and there is not a word in the legislation that would either do that directly or cause it to happen indirectly.

If you’d like to see, point by point, the ludicrous arguments the Republicans have leveled against Health Care Reform with a public option, go to this release by the Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor (Representative George Miller). There you’ll see each wild-assed charge put to a fact-check and refuted in the absolute.

By the way, what’s behind the sudden revival of the public option? Let’s tell it plain, now! The progressive wing of the Democratic Party just wouldn’t let up. They made it clear that the Party was going down in the next election if they broke their promise to the voters on health care.

When a few Congressional members came around and announced they were putting a public option back into the bill, the fragile lion in the white somehow found his lost courage and jumped back into the fray.

Way to go Howard Dean! You never stopped fighting.

Congratulations to the wonderful progressives who wouldn’t be quiet on this one!

Now let’s hope the lions in the Senate finds some courage, too.