Looking Deeper Into John McCain

Warm greetings.

I believe that most of us will all agree that the upcoming election is deeply important. And yet it is so easy to be lacking in accurate and meaningful information about the candidates. My son, Matt, has actually been among those who have helped me to become more informed. He was at times insistent that I watch both Republican and Democratic debates, and he was insistent from early on that Obama is the one who will help Americans to make huge and desperately needed changes in our country and beyond. Yet, like most of us, while deeply listening to my sons and to others, I had to find out for myself what is going on.

So part of what I have done is really pay attention to all the candidates. In listening to Mr. McCain and doing a lot of research about this candidate, I have learned a great deal that I had been previously ignorant about. For me, it is not helpful to just look at labels - right/left, conservative/progressive, etc. - for those can distract from facts. And what is concerning for me about John McCain are very specific facts related to issues -- such as his votes for torture, his being last of the Congressional list regarding the environment, his views on war/occupation as reflected in his comments on being in Iraq for 100 years and singing about bombing Iran, his votes and open endorsement of the failed - and often criminal - policies of the Bush administration, and - very importantly - his close alignment with the corporate powers that have stolen the American government from we the people. I also had no idea that the Children's Defense Fund rated Mr. McCain as the "worst senator in Congress for children".

Here are a few of many resources that can shed significant light on this candidate:

The Buying of the President 2008 - John McCain: http://www.buyingofthepresident.org/index.php/the_candidates/john_mccain/
Excellent Article in The Nation: http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20080324&s=dreyfuss
McCain's Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/81342/
McCain Laughs, Sings "Bomb Iran": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAzBxFaio1I
McCain Votes Against Torture Ban: http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20080214_mccain_votes_against_torture_ban/
McCain Draws Criticism For Torture Vote: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/17/7110/
The Other Side of the McCain Lobyist Scandal: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/05/7492/
McCain Under Fire Over Environment Record: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/27/7934/
The American Tragedy of John McCain: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040607J.shtml
Going Against Campaign Finance Reform: http://firedoglake.com/2008/03/24/the-john-mccain-campaign-finance-concern-troll-quote-award-goes-to/
CLICK HERE to view Senator John McCain's record on veteran's benefits

Reflections & facts from someone who previously had been a big fan of John McCain: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/what-john-mccain-told-me_b_100183.html

For information on all presidential candidates from the Center For Public Integrity, please go here: http://www.buyingofthepresident.org/index.php/the_candidates/

Here is a list of "10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't)":

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.
4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."
5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.
6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.

For the full article, please go here: http://truth-about-mccain.blogspot.com/2008/04/move-ons-ten-things-to-know-about.html

While the corporate media is busy focusing on lapel pins, race and Reverends, what whites want and who said what about whom, all the while stirring up and preying on fears and prejudices, many of the deeper issues affecting us all are not coming to light for far too many Americans. How many who can vote know Mr. McCain's stand on torture, his overwhelming ties with corporate interests, his bottom of the barrel score card on children and the environment, his pro-war/occupation stand which utterly mirrors that of Bush & Co., etc., etc.? The corporate media certainly works overtime to ensure our remaining distracted and in the dark. How many Americans - out of a combination of ignorance and apathy - will not even choose to vote? Yet - what is the true definition of patriotism? Thomas Jefferson, Bill Moyers, and many other visionaries have affirmed that democracy cannot exist without an informed citizenry. So perhaps part of what is asked of each of us in these times is that we assume increasing responsibility to inform ourselves, to shine our own light upon critical issues, and then to help one another know what is truly happening which impacts, not only the welfare of a few, but ultimately the welfare of us all... Tag, you're it...

Peace & blessings ~ Molly

Pangea Day: Seeing the World Through Each Other's Eyes

Warm greetings.

Yesterday I learned about Pangea Day from my son, Matt. Thank you, Matt! All too often profoundly meaningful and moving events of this nature do not make the news. So I unfortunately heard of this first ever global event after it happened on May 10, 2008. But no matter, for there are so many ripples that reach out to invite us into this wondrous planetary experience in an on-going way.

Matt told me that the Pangea Day video was the most viewed video on U-tube over the weekend. What a great triumph of the Internet! Yes! You can find this extraordinary video here: http://www.pangeaday.org/filmDetail.php?id=101.

The theme and intent of Pangea Day is to invite us all to see the world through each other's eyes. There are films, stories, inspiration, and more included on the Pangea Day website - http://www.pangeaday.org/ - which gift us with glimpses from around the world! and into such an incredible diversity of topics and experiences. The lives of those from all over the planet come alive to our senses and before our eyes as we witness stories of love, sorrow, coming of age, dance, hope, marriage, religion, war, family, music, and more. There are countless beautiful children and people of all ages, nations, races, religions, ethnicity's, and cultures. There is such incredible richness here! In watching the videos and listening to the stories, what comes to mind is the Maori elder quote: "I am you and you are me."

This experience of bringing us face to face with one another - with our sisters and brothers - from all over the world is an antidote, I believe, to the stories we tell ourselves that our differences must keep us divided and that , therefore, there is an "Us" who is naturally somehow better or more entitled than a "Them". Indeed, my experience in exploring Pangea Day was moving, illuminating, and heart-opening. And what better way to invite a deepening dissolution of the distortions that promote polarities and separation than to experience the heartfelt experience of others through the smiles, tears, hopes, and dreams of their day to day lives?

What comes to mind in this moment for me is this bumper sticker I recently saw: If you see yourself in others, how can you harm another? Amen.

There are countless leading authors, film makers, visionaries, peacemakers, and others who contributed to Pangea Day. Included also are inspiring quotes which emerged out of this event ... such as this one: "We have a responsibility to expose ourselves to our world, to see our common humanity, to learn about other people -- not only in times of war, but in times of peace. " - Ishmael Beah, former child soldier and advocate for peace .

I respect and love Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa for the remarkable and courageous peacemaker and visionary that he is. It was he who opened the Pangea Day film with these words: "Hey?! Do you know something? You and I - all of us! - are members of one family. We are sisters and brothers. And we are going to sink or swim together..."

It is so hopeful how many from all over the world and from all different cultures are reaching out to one another, gently and sometimes urgently, calling us all to awaken, to care, to be the change we all wish to see in the world.

Peace ~ Molly

JD Rocks!

For all of us who work at the Midtown branch of DHS child welfare, we know Jeremy Devros as "JD" - a great supervisor with a big heart who has been a longtime, tireless advocate for children and families. And then there's this other side that can be seen as he plays guitar and other instruments with his band of today, and can also be glimpsed with his band of yesterday. Here's JD (wearing a hat and on guitar) close to 2 decades ago playing "Charlie Must Dance" with his band Big Medicine Head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKuE6ZkxNd4. Great video! And here's JD with his incredibly gifted and diverse band of today - Negara: http://negaramusic.org/iWeb/Negara/Negara.html. (On the songs--he's playing electric guitar on Essakane & Juana and cumbus saz on C min. jam, which is the tiny, banjo-sounding instrument.) For those reading this who are local, you can also check out this web site to see where you can catch JD and Negara live. Today and yesterday - JD rocks ... and more! Enjoy! :-) Molly

Help needed for a friend

I just sent out this email message today and wanted to also add this new post to my blog site...

Warm but sad greetings today. I just learned this morning that a friend has been diagnosed with stage 3 cancer of the pancreas. He and his wife were also told that most people with this diagnosis have 6 months to 1 year to live. In talking with my friends this morning, I have their permission to share their names and to outreach for any kind of support anyone may deem helpful. For all those who were part of our very strong and loving team at Healthy Start, it is Bonnie and her husband Dave who just learned on Thursday that Dave has this cancer. They will be meeting with an oncologist on Monday and will then learn more ideas for treatment, possible radiation, chemotherapy, and palliative treatments. Bonnie shared in an email that "we have been told there is nothing that will stop the growth of the cancer and the death of his body. I have wondered if there are alternative therapies that you might know of, or might know someone to refer us to. Anything that would alleviate pain and itching as the cancer progresses." So they are now aware that I am sending out this email, and will also add a post to my blog site, asking for any help and ideas that anyone may have for alternative treatments - especially anything which might help with the pain and itching. My understanding is that the itching is from the inside out and affects the whole body. Anyone who feels that they may have some feedback which may help can email Dave and Bonnie directly at delyclark@comcast.net. Any ideas which may help in any way possible would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. Peace and blessings ~ Molly

Acknowledging the Race Chasm

Warm Greetings.

Author, columnist, journalist David Sirota is a man I very much respect for his truth-telling and his ability to shine light on the complexities and deeper layers of many of the most important issues facing us all today. Of course, one which is brimming up with great force in all its overt and covert ugliness - and, therefore, also with the very real potential for true recognition, healing, and transformation - is racism. As David states, "racism... will exist until we recognize it and reject it." Amen.

Here is David's website: http://www.davidsirota.com/. And here is his article "Acknowledging the Race Chasm": http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080508_acknowledging_the_race_chasm/.

I see these times as inviting us to deepen our courage and our connection with Creator, our capacity for truth and vision, and our heartfelt caring for all. My own experience is that this has required of me, and in an on-going way, to deepen my spiritual practice and that, in doing so, to embrace the humility and courage it takes to see my blind spots and what may be getting in the way of being a greater force for kindness, compassion, caring, and peace. Growing up many years ago in what was a very white and very racist suburb of Detroit, Michigan, I fully own that I have had, and continue to do, much work on lifting my own veils which have kept me from recognizing and healing the distortions of the often subtle, but deeply hurtful and damaging stories and belief systems which were one part of my inheritance of growing up in Grosse Pointe. That said, I am so grateful today for all the opportunities to see more clearly and deeply. In opening my heart to the Love that is the root and core of my spiritual path, and with the lifting of each new veil of distortion, I have found that buried in often hard and painful truths - right down there in the thick of things - is much beauty, greater joy, and a deepening sense of lovingkindness and connection with the sacredness of all life. Even along very bumpy roads in which there have at times appeared to be insurmountable obstacles, on the other side I have always discovered profound lessons for which I am deeply grateful.

Perhaps a diversity of opportunities for us all abound in these times.

Brightest blessings ~ Molly

Chris Jordan: Running the Numbers, Intolerable Beauty, In Katrina's Wake ...

Warm greetings.

My oldest son, Brian, recently sent me an email reminding me of the extraordinary work of Chris Jordan, former corporate attorney turned photographic artist. Chris Jordan has joined the countless others around the planet who are finding their very own unique way to be a voice for the voiceless, to shine light on both hard and higher truths, and to make a very real positive difference in the world. Chris does this through providing Americans a mirror with a very unique lens which offers a profound opportunity to look upon ourselves from an entirely different perspective. And this perspective is riveting. As are the facts that his phenomenal photographs speak to.

Chris Jordan's website is: http://www.chrisjordan.com/.

Here are examples of what you can view in his photographs:
- 1 million plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the US every six hours
- 2 million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes
- 8 million toothpicks, equal to the number of trees harvested in the US every month to make the paper for mail order catalogs
- 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds
- 2.3 million folded prison uniforms, equal to the number of Americans incarcerated in 2005
- 9 million wooden ABC blocks, equal to the number of American children with no health insurance coverage in 2007
- 60,000 plastic bags, the number used in the US every five seconds
- 30,000 reams of office paper, or 15 million sheets, equal to the amount of office paper used in the US every five minutes
- 125,000 one-hundred dollar bills ($12.5 million), the amount our government spends every hour on the war in Iraq

These photographs blew me away when I first saw them. I was deeply impacted. Chris Jordan's work is just one more inspiration for me to work toward ending the occupation of Iraq, using my own cloth bags rather than store bags whenever I shop, staying away from the use of plastic water bottles, etc., etc. See what you think.

To see Chris Jordan on Bill Moyers Journal on September 21, 2007, or to read the transcript, please go here:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09212007/profile4.html

Truly amazing to look in the face of American consumerism and the intolerable beauty that Chris Jordan captures in his amazing art.

And, yes, another world is possible. Tag, you're it...

Many blessings ~ Molly

Work of Howard Zinn Comes to Portland... and that includes Viggo Mortensen

Warmest Greetings!

I am so excited to share that readings from Howard Zinn's Voices of a People's History is coming to Portland.

For more information about this and other events, to view the Animated video of People's History of American Empire (voiceover by Viggo Mortensen), and/or to learn more of one of America's greatest visionary-truthteller-hero-Elders, you can go here: http://howardzinn.org/default/. I believe that there are still tickets available for this event. And the video is amazing. As is - and as always - Howard Zinn. Blessed be the peacemakers.

Peace ~ Molly

Voices of a People's History - Live in Portland, Oregon!

[NOTE DATE AND VENUE CHANGE!]

Friday, May 16, 2008, at 8:00 pm

First Baptist Church

909 SW 11th Avenue

Portland, OR

http://www.fbc-portland.org/

Featuring readings by Viggo Mortensen, performance poet Staceyann Chin, singer Shontina Vernon, Portland student activist Sarah Levy, actor Michael Ealy, teacher, actor, and musician Eric Levine, editor and author Anthony Arnove, and other fine actors and activists.

Voices of a People's History of the United States, edited by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove, is the long-awaited primary-source companion to Howard Zinn's best-selling A People's History of the United States. It features the words of rebels, dissenters and visionaries from our past -- and present.

The performance is sponsored by the Illahee Lecture Series and is a benefit for Voices of a People's History of the United States, a 501c3 created to encourage civic engagement and to further history education by bringing the rich stories of dissent and activism in the United States to life through public readings.

For more information, contact Illahee:Box office phone: 503-222-2719

email: info@illahee.orgweb: http://www.illahee.org/lectures

Tickets: $20, $10 for students

Celebrating Mother's Day With Laughter!

Happy Mother's Day!

Perhaps some of you have seen this one before, but I never had until an old Michigan friend - thanks Kate! - sent it to me. It is hysterical - and perhaps especially to all mothers of sons! Ha!! Enjoy! :-) Molly

http://www.imeem.com/thefrenchmeister/video/wgQt3bnS/barats_and_bereta_com_mothers_day_comedy_video/

Matt's TV Debut: To syphon or to siphon? That's the question.

Okay... I was wrong. I admit it. I was under the impression that FOX "news" (with a small "n"!) was always nothing more than a sound piece for Rupert Murdoch. I went so far as to never watch it because I held the belief that there would never be anyone on FOX who was truly worth listening to. But I was wrong! On Tuesday night, May 6th at about 10:10pm there was someone on who is absolutely and completely and awesomely fantastic!! - my son Matt! Yes, young Matthew has now - at the ripe age of 21 - made his television debut. Earlier in the day, he had just stepped outside a local sporting goods store when he suddenly found himself being questioned with a microphone pointed at his face. Young Matt, having a flare for the dramatic, gave a very dramatic response to the question at hand, never truly dreaming that his words would make television. But, think again!: this is FOX we're talking about! So, of course, and as usual, the dramatic is what made it onto the "news". Only this is no usual experience for my son! What a hoot! For all who would actually like to view something on FOX that is worth watching (admittedly in my opinion), you can refer to Matt's oldest brother's email (below) which takes us all right to the source. Enjoy! I certainly did! ;-) Molly


----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Murray
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 7:34 PM
Subject: To syphon or to siphon? That's the question.

Hi all,

Just a friendly note to share that my brother, Matt, was on Fox news in Gresham a few days ago. 15 seconds of fame and all that. ;-)

Seriously, though, here's the story: http://www.kptv.com/news/16174660/detail.html.

And here's the video itself: http://www.kptv.com/video/16173369/index.html.

He shows up for a few seconds about a minute into the clip. Crazy world... gas siphoning and what not. ;-)

peace,

brian

A Final Word: Follow-up to April 26, 2008 Post

Warm greetings.

It feels important to add a final word to my first post from 4/26/08 in which I explored the controversy surrounding Reverend Wright and the host of deeper issues which so often get buried in the distractions of the of moment. Included were issues related to the truth of the remarkable and complex nature of this man and his life, the buried truths and distortions of soundbites, the harm done by American corporate media, choosing projections over self-reflection and accountability, racism both past and present, shrink wrapped patriotism, the demonization of truth-tellers, and more. Then, in the week following this post, the fire storm amped up to levels which I found deeply disturbing and tragic. And yet such behavior is normalized and accepted in our culture. What does the "normal news" in American media say about what it is to be a normal American? What were and are the costs to us as individuals, and to all of us collectively, of tolerating and actively participating or passively colluding in such a feeding frenzy that swallows up greater truths and devours the hearts, minds, spirits, and souls of its viewers along the way? I believe that there are countless answers to these questions which would reflect our unique experiences and perspectives. For now, I am deeply drawn to share the response one week later of Bill Moyers to this feeding frenzy and what it says about hypocrisy, race, religion, media, and more. It is truly an American and a human tragedy. For all who are interested and missed this particular episode, printed below is the 5/2/08 transcript from Bill Moyers Journal. You can also go here for more information or to watch the video of that week's broadcast: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/05022008/watch.html. Which was searing. Telling the truth can be that way... I love Bill Moyers for being a man who never shies from the truth, who refuses to compromise his integrity or that which needs to be spoken for the higher good, and who always and consistently has the courage to, as Michael Meade (http://www.mosaicvoices.org/) would say, move toward the roar... Bless Bill Moyers. And bless you ~ Molly

May 2, 2008
BILL MOYERS: Welcome to the Journal.


I once asked a reporter back from Vietnam, "Who's telling the truth over there?" "Everyone," he said. "Everyone sees what's happening through the lens of their own experience." That's how people see Jeremiah Wright. In my conversation with him on this broadcast a week ago and in his dramatic public appearances since, he revealed himself to be far more complex than the sound bites that propelled him onto the public stage. Over 2000 of you have written me about him, and your opinions vary widely. Some sting: "Jeremiah Wright is nothing more than a race-hustling, American hating radical," one viewer wrote. A "nut case," said another. Others were far more were sympathetic to him.


Many of you have asked for some rational explanation for Wright's transition from reasonable conversation to shocking anger at the National Press Club. A psychologist might pull back some of the layers and see this complicated man more clearly, but I'm not a psychologist. Many black preachers I've known — scholarly, smart, and gentle in person — uncorked fire and brimstone in the pulpit. Of course I've known many white preachers like that, too.


But where I grew up in the south, before the civil rights movement, the pulpit was a safe place for black men to express anger for which they would have been punished anywhere else; a safe place for the fierce thunder of dignity denied, justice delayed. I think I would have been angry if my ancestors had been transported thousands of miles in the hellish hole of a slave ship, then sold at auction, humiliated, whipped, and lynched. Or if my great-great grandfather had been but three-fifths of a person in a constitution that proclaimed, "We the people." Or if my own parents had been subjected to the racial vitriol of Jim Crow, Strom Thurmond, Bull Connor, and Jesse Helms. Even so, the anger of black preachers I've known and heard about and reported on was, for them, very personal and cathartic.


That's not how Jeremiah Wright came across in those sound bites or in his defiant performances this week. What white America is hearing in his most inflammatory words is an attack on the America they cherish and that many of their sons have died for in battle ? forgetting that black Americans have fought and bled beside them, and that Wright himself has a record of honored service in the Navy. Hardly anyone took the "chickens come home to roost" remark to convey the message that intervention in the political battles of other nations is sure to bring retaliation in some form, which is not to justify the particular savagery of 9/11 but to understand that actions have consequences. My friend Bernard Weisberger, the historian, says, yes, people are understandably seething with indignation over Wright's absurd charge that the United States deliberately brought an HIV epidemic into being. But it is a fact, he says, that within living memory the U.S. Public Health Service conducted a study that deliberately deceived black men with syphilis into believing that they were being treated, while actually letting them die for the sake of a scientific test. Does this excuse Wright's anger? His exaggerations or distortions? You'll have to decide or yourself. At least it helps me to understand the why of them.


But in this multimedia age the pulpit isn't only available on Sunday mornings. There's round the clock media — the beast whose hunger is never satisfied, especially for the fast food with emotional content. So the preacher starts with rational discussion and after much prodding throws more and more gasoline on the fire that will eventually consume everything it touches. He had help — people who for their own reasons set out to conflate the man in the pulpit who wasn't running for president with the man in the pew who was.


Behold the double standard: John McCain sought out the endorsement of John Hagee, the war-mongering Catholic-bashing Texas preacher who said the people of New Orleans got what they deserved for their sins. But no one suggests McCain shares Hagee's delusions, or thinks AIDS is God's punishment for homosexuality. Pat Robertson called for the assassination of a foreign head of state and asked God to remove Supreme Court justices, yet he remains a force in the Republican religious right. After 9/11 Jerry Falwell said the attack was God's judgment on America for having been driven out of our schools and the public square, but when McCain goes after the endorsement of the preacher he once condemned as an agent of intolerance, the press gives him a pass.


Jon Stewart recently played a tape from the Nixon White House in which Billy Graham talks in the oval office about how he has friends who are Jewish, but he knows in his heart that they are undermining America. This is crazy; this is wrong -- white preachers are given leeway in politics that others aren't.


Which means it is all about race, isn't it? Wright's offensive opinions and inflammatory appearances are judged differently. He doesn't fire a shot in anger, put a noose around anyone's neck, call for insurrection, or plant a bomb in a church with children in Sunday school. What he does is to speak his mind in a language and style that unsettle some people, and says some things so outlandish and ill-advised that he finally leaves Obama no choice but to end their friendship. We are often exposed us to the corroding acid of the politics of personal destruction, but I've never seen anything like this ? this wrenching break between pastor and parishioner before our very eyes. Both men no doubt will carry the grief to their graves. All the rest of us should hang our heads in shame for letting it come to this in America, where the gluttony of the non-stop media grinder consumes us all and prevents an honest conversation on race. It is the price we are paying for failing to heed the great historian Jacob Burckhardt, who said "beware the terrible simplifiers".