Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Matt Rothschild likes Black people ... from a distance

BIGGBULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- WHITE CITY.
 
THE PROGRESSIVE'S MATT ROTHSCHILD IS VERY CONCERNED ABOUT RACISM SO THESE REPORTERS REQUESTED AN INTERVIEW.
 
WHEN ONE OF US WALKED INTO HIS OFFICE (WALLY) HE WAS ALL SMILES, WHEN THE OTHER (CEDRIC) WALKED IN, HE SAID, "LOOK, MAN, I DON'T GIVE HAND-OUTS TO BUMS."  WHEN WE EXPLAINED WE WERE BOTH REPORTERS, MATT ROTHSCHILD SAID, "COOL.  I THINK THERE WAS A COLORED PERSON IN A COLLEGE CLASS I TOOK.  HAVE A SEAT.  HEY, HOW'S THAT ALICIA KEYS?"
 
AS ROTHSCHILD WENT ON TO NAME CHECK EVERY FAMOUS AFRICAN-AMERICAN EVEN HE HAD HEARD OF IN HIS WHITE, WHITE WORLD, WE PREPARED FOR OUR FIRST QUESTION.
 
15 MINUTES LATER, AFTER ASSURING US THAT HE REALLY LOVED THE JEFFERSONS AND GOOD TIMES, WE FINALLY GOT OUR CHANCE.
 
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HIRING AT THE MAGAZINE?
 
MR: I AM.
 
SO YOU PICK AND CHOOSE WHOMEVER YOU WANT WITHOUT ANSWERING TO ANYONE?
 
MR: THAT IS CORRECT.  YOU COULD CALL ME THE BIG CHEESE. 
 
AND HOW MANY COLUMNISTS DOES YOUR MAGAZINE HAVE?
 
MR: COUNTING ME . . .  LET'S SEE NINE!
 
AND HOW MANY OF THOSE COLUMNISTS ARE AFRICAN-AMERICANS?
 
MR: WHAT?
 
HOW MANY ARE AFRICAN-AMERICANS?
 
MR: WELL . . . NONE.  BUT . . . MOST OF OUR COLUMNISTS HAVE BEEN WITH THE MAGAZINE FOR YEARS.
 
SO IT'S BEEN A RACIST MAGAZINE FOR SOME TIME.  DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT JUST HIRE JIM HIGHTOWER AND DAVE ZIRIN AS COLUMNISTS?
 
MR: WELL . . .
 
YOU HAD NO AFRICAN-AMERICAN COLUMNISTS AND YOU JUST HIRED TWO WHITE MEN?
 
MR: WELL . . .
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT SAYS?
 
MR: I'M NO RACIST!  I SAW ALL THE HOUSE PARTY MOVIES!
 
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  Kenneth Theisen (OpEdNews) writes, "We need to oppose the recruitment of men and women into the military.  We need to support resisters within the military who have realized what they are doing and now choose to resist the role of the U.S. military.  This includes people such as Lt. Ehren Watada who refused to deploy to Iraq.  Watada stated, 'Never did I imagine my president would lie to go to war, condone torture, spy on Americans . . ."  He was the first officer to refuse to go to Iraq and he was court-martialed.  Another resister is Camilo Mejia.  In 2004 Sergeant Mejia was sentenced to one year in prison when he was court-martialed for refusing to assist the military in Iraq.  Mejia said, 'I am only a regular person that got tired of being afraid to follow his own conscience.  For far too long I allowed others to direct my actions even when I knew that they were wrong . . .'  [. . .] James Circello, who joined the Army after September 11 2001, and was sent to Iraq in March 2003 described his experience there: 'We were told that we were giving these people Democracy.  Unfortunately what I saw would best be described as martial law, or what we called "The Old West".  Soldiers joked that "anything goes", which was true and still is . . . I never forgot what I did while in Iraq and what I saw happening: other kids turning into animals.  Some as young as 17, brutalizing, bullying and humiliating individuals sometimes old enough to be their grandparents, and sometimes young enough to be their children.  And it wasn't just the men on the receiving end, suffering through illegal and tiresome searches of their homes and vehicles, simply for being brown skinned, but the same methods were applied to women and children as well.  No one was innocenct.'  James Circello reached a point where he could no longer be part of this killing machine."
 
With just three examples, Theisen finds the common bond: courage.  Each war resister has a unique story but what they share is the courage to say no more, no mas, enough.  Some resistance includes self-checking out and moving to Canada.  You can help US war resisters in that country -- help online as well.   They  were dealt a serious set-back when the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Today, Canada's Parliament remaining the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored.           


There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. 

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).    


Meanwhile IVAW has a DC action this month:

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.          
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.         
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.           
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan


March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'." IVAW's co-chair Adam Kokesh will, of course, be participating and he explains why at his site, "But out of a strong sense of duty, some of us are trying to put our experiences to use for a good cause. Some of us couldn't live with ourselves if weren't doing everything we could to bring our brothers and sisters home as soon as possible. The environment may be unking, but that is why I will be testifying to shooting at civilians as a result of changing Rules of Engagement, abuse of detainees, and desecration of Iraqi bodies. It won't be easy but it must be done. Some of the stories are things that are difficult to admit that I was a part of, but if one more veteran realizes that they are not alone because of my testimony it will be worth it." The hearings will be broadcast throughout at the Iraq Veterans Against the War home page an on KPFA March 14th and 16th with Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz hosting and the KPFA live stream will also be available at Glantz' War Comes Home.
 
Staying on the topic of veterans, Barbara Barrett (McClatchy Newspapers) reports on the Senate Committe on Veterans Affairs hearing yesterday and the reaction to Jackie McMichael's testimony quoting Senator Patty Murray declaring, "It's so overwhelming to listen to you.  This is a reminder that we're still not where we need to be" and Senator Richard Burr declaring, "My assessment is the VA doesn't see the human face behind the patients they're treating."  Jackie McMichael's opening statements can be found here and she discusses how her husband Michael was Lt. Michael McMichael, National Guard from 2003 to the start of 2005: "He walked off the plane.  He smiled.  He was a little skinny, but otherwise healthy looking.  He looked happy.  After the euphoria of Mike being home began to wear off, the changes in him were noticeable and dramatic."  She discussed her husband's difficulty sleeping through the night, his requiring a cane to walk due to injuries from a bombing in Iraq, his migraines, hallucinations, poor memory and "hand and body tremors."  He has PTSD and is unable to manage money and has difficulty with employment.  From her opening statements:
 
None of these events happened to Mike alone.  They happened to me, to my 6 year old son, my 4 year old son, Mike's mom and to my parents and my brothers.  We were left to watch as Mike self destructed not knowing what to do to help him or ourselves.  We had no clue what was wrong with him and he was, at time, completely uninterested in finding out himself.  He said over and over again, "I know guys who lost limbs and they are OK."  
[. . .]  
There is a great need for "Whole Family" Education and resources.  Educating the Vets on the importance of a Collaborative Rehabilitaion is critical.  I believe many Vets see their transition as their issue alone.  Mike was very resistant to me talking to his Doctors or telling me anything about what he was working on.  This is understandable as I am very aware of HIPAA regulations and confidentiality.  But I was losing my husband and I was seeing things I knew they could not have been aware of.  I called his doctors and told them "You don't have to say anything about Mike, just listen to me.  This is what I am seeing at home."  All I wanted was to know what to look for, what to expect, what to do, how to help.  [. . .]
I would have benefitted from earlier awareness of resources for both active duty and citizen soldier families. (Being the wife of a National Guard officer, I was not immersed in the military culture and at times was, again, lost).   The Raleigh Vet Center's "8 Habits of Highly Effective Marriages" and couples counseling resources are examples of invaluable offerings we have gladly taken advantage of, but I want more. Education on PTSD, TBI, legal issues, coping skills, transitioning the family back to a 2 or single parent household, setting boundaries, relationship counseling, personal counseling and navigating the benefits labyrinth (on top of all the emotional and psychological concerns we have to deal with, the financial impact is a crushing blow. I can not express this enough).  These are just a few topics with sustainable benefits to the Vet and the family.  I'd like to see this information advertised. It may already exist, but how do families find out about them? Often the Vet must initiate first contact.             
I'd like to see doors open to families even though their Vet may not be ready to cope emotionally with their injuries yet. This may require a re-education of our medical community on how to do this effectively without jeopardizing the regulations they must follow while still meeting the needs of the Veteran. I'd like to see the VA leverage the relationship and love we have for our wounded warriors to help us all heal and teach us how to be a family again.
 
 
Robert Verbeke spoke about his son Daniel Verbeke who was wounded December 5, 2005 in the Iraq War and how he did not receive the treatment he needed and all the struggles for the basics including after-care as well as modifications needed for the family home due to Daniel's condition:
 
My experiences with the treatment at the Richmond VAMC can be characterized as not good - not good at all.  For the most part, the people who treated Dan were nice and caring people.  What I learned immediately after leaving there, however, was they didn't know what they didn't know.  That is, their skills, capabilities, resources, staffing, treatments, therapies and therapy techniques all fell extremely short of what we immediately experienced at the Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital.  The Richmond VAMC was not accomplished in coma emergence and severe TBI and did not have the cutting-edge experience with a case as severe as Dan's.   
The VA therapists and physicians had little or no experience with patients of the condition of Dan.  The level of therapy and the techniques cannot be compared to the therapy Dan received while at the Bryn Mawr Rehab.  The Bryn Mawr Rehab therapists are much higher skilled; they focused on stimulation constantly while performing therapy.  The techniques in each of the disciplines of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy are far more advanced.   Although the Speech and Physical Therapists at Richmond tried, they just did not have the expertise and they were very lacking in the techniques and resources that Dan received immediately upon transfer to Bryn Mawr Rehab.  The Richmond Occupational Therapist is another story.  Recovery from a TBI is about therapy and stimulation.  While this therapist treated Dan she very rarely spoke to him, I continually witnessed sessions that would last longer than 45 minutes where she would not say more than a few words to him.  When I commented on this, the VA reaction was to shift Dan's therapy sessions to a time when I could not be present.   They didn't fix the problem -- they ignored it!  I escalated the issue to the attending physician and but were no changes.  
After we returned to Pennsylvania I learned that while at Richmond VAMC, Dan was mis-diagnosed on a medical condition that resulted in receiving medications that masked a very serious condition.  He was ignored while in significant pain with the explanation that it was 'tone'.  He was unable to get blood work done over a weekend to properly treat him following a seizure and we were told they could not have the results analyzed over the weekend as people were "off'".  Private care hospitals across this country perform these routine tests 24x7 and within minutes.   He had an open wound that penetrated all the way to the bone on his right foot the entire time at Richmond (4-5mo) where the condition worsened and was only treated by a nurse.  Immediately after being placed in private care, he was treated by a doctor specializing in wound care and under his treatment the wound closed in one month.   Dan was in pain the entire time at Richmond. 
 
 
There was a report on the Sunday evening news (most likely CBS but it may have been local news and not national) about rah-rah, look what private healthcare can do for veterans!  It was a load of crap.  Robert Verbeke details the problems he had with the system getting care for his son.  There are many wounded who do not have someone to advocate for them the way Daniel Verbeke did.  That's why the answer isn't 'out-source the care!'  The answer is training and workshops and futher training for those staffing the VA hospitals.  Otherwise, you'll have some like Daniel Verbeke who will benefit because there is someone fighting for them but you'll have others left alone (the way the VA's 'answer' was to put Daniel in a psych ward where he'd be locked away -- that was the 'assisted-living' care they were going to provide him for the rest of his life).
 
Daniel Verbeke wasn't off on some pleasure cruise of choice.  He was sent into an illegal war by the US government and there are many other men and women who have been sent to Iraq by the government and any injuries are injuries the US government needs to provide care for, the government more than owes the returning that. 
 
Today the US House Armed Services Committee's Military Personnel Subcommittee met.  Kind-of, sort-of.  Many members didn't show for this hearing allegedly on "the Future of the Miliary Healthcare System."  The subcommittee broke repeatedly for votes and the whole thing can be seen as an embarrassment and an insult.
 
Chief among them, the only medical doctor present as a witness, S. Ward Casscells (Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs) who is too damn old and too damn out of touch for his post as he demonstrated repeatedly but most famously when being asked about the future for veterans who are "medical retirees" by House Rep Niki Tsongas and replying with a condescending don't-worry-about-it response that included referring to those wounded for life as "lost sheep." It was a lousy speech attempting to pass for an aswer and Tsongas then moved on to researcher Ron Goetzel who proved that shame was all around by insisting that his interests really aren't about the military's wounded (including, apparently, the veteran Tsongas spoke of who required a cane to walk), what really, really interest him is the health damange in the military done by smoking, drinking, excessive eating, "the silent burden on the military that's not as apparent as someone who's injured in battle."  If you didn't find both men's remarks insulting, you weren't paying attention.
 
Rep Nancy Boyda zoomed in on pharmacies and wondered why the US military was pushing online prescriptions?  Boyda referred to the rural areas in her home state (Kansas) and the best answer she was given was that it was cheaper to have a big warehouse where medicines are pulled down and shipped off.  The question she never asked but should have was what about the pharmicists interaction with the veteran?  In a rural area especially there may not be a VA hospital and the pharmicist (who is trained) is one face-to-face resource.  When that's removed and all that's left is ONE MORE toll free phone number, who's really being helped? It's an area Boyda should have gone to but didn't.  In fairness to her, time was brief.  But not so brief that Rep Walter Jones couldn't gas bag and waste everyone's time.  For example, there may be a point to this: "When you have to borrow money from governments to keep your doors open it won't last long."  No, it may not.  But what does the US borrowing money from other governments have to do with veterans' care? 
 
Jones went on to kvetch about US monies (aid) being sent to Switzerland in 2005.  "Why are we sending money to a country with a surplus when we have a deficit?"  he wanted to know.  And it might be a question worth pursuing but is the subcommittee on military care really the place for his remarks?  Then he tried to shift the blame for the problem stating, "But we're in the minority" meaning Republicans in the House and "can't do anything about it, maybe my colleagues can."  Walter Jones, Republicans were in control of the House of Represenatives in 2005 and in 2006.  The November 2006 elections meant that in January 2007 the 110th Congress would have a Democratically controlled House.  Aid sent to Switzerland in 2005 -- if a problem -- was clearly a Republican problem because that was the party in control. Having never addressed the topic, Jones wrapped up by declaring, "Thanks for letting me preach for about five minutes."  No one commented but, then, the only response to that is, "That was only five minutes?  It felt sooooo much longer."
 
It was time for yet another break and this may have been when chair Susan Davis asked the witnesses to wait again and promised that, after they bot back, if there was a need to break again, they'd wouldn't ask them to stick around.  But, please do stick around -- Davis stated -- and if you need help with a phone call or something, ask the staffers. 
 
Carol Shea-Porter had the strongest section when the committee resumed.  She wanted to know "how much of our costs are we shiftin on to other tax payers" when veterans have to leave the veterans health care system and/or the state.  She explained about a veteran from her home state, New Hampshire, who had to travel out of state for treatment which meant finding childcare, meant her husband needing to travel with her, "everything involved is too much to ask, I think, for someone who has cancer."  Which brings us back to the point about solutions.  The veterans system needs to be upgraded.  The answer isn't outsourcing, it's not counting on individual veterans to have a support system (family or friends) who will fight for treatement.  The system is out of date and all doctors, nurses and therapists working in it need further training.  Not because they're not smart or not trained but because there are 'state of the art' injuries among the wounded returning and advances going on in private medical care need to be part of the training and knowledge base within the veterans healthcare system.  The system is being allowed to rot and it was never up-to-date to begin with.  If it's not taken care of now, it most likely will not be for some time to come.
 

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