Monthly Archives: May 2011

In Memoriam

In 1868 General John Logan, the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued a proclamation that Decoration Day be celebrated nationwide. The GAR, an organization of Northern Civil War veterans, promoted the holiday (built around celebrations at Civil War cemetaries and supported by the Women’s Relief Corps.)  By 1890 the event was a state holiday in every Northern state, celebrated on May 30 (a date chosen because it was not the date of a battle.) Southerners, being made of the same good stuff as there Northern brethren, followed a similar path.

In 1913, North and South gathered at Gettysburg to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the terrible affair. Though it would be another 54 years before Memorial Day was declared a federal holiday, its place in America’s life was secured on that occasion. The holiday began as a way to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice; for a nation or a lost cause. The holiday continues to signify that wars may be unjust, ill-considered, or tragic in their necessity; but that the sacrifices made by soldiers and their families are always acts of heroism. Over our long history of good deeds and questionable motives, noble ideals and hypocritical execution, compassion and indifference, almost 3 million Americans have sanctified our decisions with injury and death.

Some jaded souls have seen this day as an opportunity for political gain, but Memorial Day remains gloriously apolitical. We can all of us appreciate the efforts, hardships, and heartache that form the whole of military service. We can all of us stand humbled by the sight of rows and ranks of military graves. We can all of us be touched by the single tear that falls from the eye of a warrior remembering a fallen friend; it looks remarkably similar to me, whether that friend was lost last year in Afghanistan or 56 years ago on Iwo Jima.

I have heard some decry Memorial Day’s evolution into one of hot dogs, baseball, car racing, and family fun. Those warriors I have been privileged enough to speak with on the matter think the notion ridiculous. What better way to celebrate and acknowledge the sacrifices that made, and make, such glimmering examples of Americana possible? Just find a moment, my friends tell me, and let them know you understand the reason for the Holiday.

The Rational Middle says Thank You, and bids the fallen peace…

Casting The Medicare Villain

Nothing brings out America’s political schizophrenia like Medicare. The program is universally popular with consumers, and universally seen as a necessity by providers. Despite these facts, the reality is that Medicare is Socialism. The program ranks behind only Social Security and public education (by percentage of GDP) in the United States welfare state (with police, firefighting, and Medicaid ranking behind it). In 2009, literally millions of independent and conservative voters were convinced to fight health care reform on the grounds that it damaged Medicare, the United States’ preeminent example of Socialism. Confusion reigns supreme!

But American politics likes when a program inspires schizophrenia, because it means American politicians can use the program like a weapon. During the aforementioned debate over health care reform, Republicans (who fought Medicare’s enaction in the 1960′s and have spent decades trying to kill it), used the cuts to Medicare against the Democrats. The Affordable Care Act provides for $500 billion worth of direct cuts, reimbursement changes, and quality programs to Medicare over a 10 year period. None of the cuts will deny coverage or service, focused as they were on reductions designed to force providers to be more efficient, and the elimination of subsidies for the Medicare Advantage Program. This idea sounds suspiciously like fiscal responsibility, but it was a convenient and well-used weapon in the conservative arsenal circa 2009.

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On Profits, Oil, And Taxes

Exxon Mobil makes a lot of money; billions of dollars per quarter, to affix some scale to the notion. During those quarters that the massive firm only makes a few billion in profit, most Americans are oblivious. When those same Americans have to pay $4.00 per gallon to go to work, they get a little testy at the mention of “Big Oil”. The political hot air competition (Republicans blame prices on the inability to drill everywhere, Democrats blame them on greed and reckless subsidy) is getting us nowhere. But, just for the sake of argument, let’s cover the two arguments, and be done with them.

Taking $4 billion in subsidies away from Big Oil (if those subsidies went exclusively to those firms; which they don’t), would not lower gas prices. Period. For the same reasons that The Rational Middle lampoons GOP legislators for their attacks on Big Bird and Food Stamps, a $4 billion cash grab by Democrats is a stab at chump change in the scale of our budget. Yes friends, $4 billion, on the scale of the budget of the greatest country on Earth, is very nearly as important as the freshener you might see in a public urinal. As to the Republicans shrill, incessant, and obnoxious screams to Drill, Baby, Drill…

IT WON’T LOWER GAS PRICES NOW, AND NOT MORE THAN A QUARTER OR SO OVER TEN YEARS!

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The Question Of Israel

Christians defending Muslims during prayer.

Columns about Israel and the geopolitics of the Middle East are a sure way to get passions to flare and, sometimes, attract hate mail. The conflicting positions of Zionism and antisemitism are typically used as the default for all commentary on the subject; the middle ground has no appeal in a win at all costs culture. Hatred, however, has far less power than the alternative (as the picture shows). These are the challenges that cross my mind as I reflect on President Obama’s calculated decision to include the Israeli/Palestinian negotiations in his speech on the Arab Spring.

The question of Israel isn’t a simple one, even for Jews. Philip Roth, in his interesting historical fiction, The Plot Against America, expressed a sentiment I have heard in some quarters: “…the poor old man who…seemed unable to get it through his head that we’d already had a homeland for three generations. I pledged allegiance to the flag of our homeland every morning at school. I sang of its marvels with my classmates at assembly programs. I eagerly observed its national holidays…Our homeland was America.” But it isn’t that simple either; driven out of Palestine by the Romans 19 centuries ago, the idea and reality of a Jewish Israel is powerful. And it needs to be noted that synagogues are really just an acceptable, temporary, replacement for the Temple to an observant Jew.

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Obama’s Foreign Policy

Capturing the views of 300 million isn’t an easy task, so we Americans have evolved a simple solution for solving political problems; we oversimplify everything. Literally every problem, challenge, obstacle, and opportunity facing our democracy is folded, compressed, and shoved into one of two boxes; liberal and conservative. That most domestic problems do not fit neatly into one of those oversimplified boxes should be obvious. Trying to shove the policies, priorities, and predilections of the world as a whole into our two neat little boxes is absurd.

But shove is one thing we Americans are exceedingly adept at; it is a strength when we are shoving the Nazis out of power. At other times, the tendency to shove causes many more problems than it resolves, and so it is that we come to our democracy’s uncertain view of President Obama’s foreign policy. Other presidents in our history liked to shove; this president prefers to have conversations. Teddy Roosevelt endorsed the notion of speaking softly while carrying a big stick. Until recently, many Americans believed that President Obama believed in speaking often and pretending like the stick didn’t exist.

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The Terror Of Food Stamps And Big Bird

My wife and I are preparing to celebrate our eleventh anniversary, and I am racing about trying to finish preparations for a local youth sports event. Others in our democracy have a very different agenda this week. Some are waiting for the end of the world (this time, it is guaranteed to be May 21), others are doing their best version of Chicken Little…the budget sky is falling!

We do have a very large current deficit fueling an ever-growing national debt. Left unchecked, this fiscal situation could cripple our economy at least as effectively as the geniuses on Wall Street were able to accomplish during the first decade of this century. So, being the fiscally responsible, business-minded people that we are, we seek to control those aspects of our budget driving the deficits. Are the budget issues related to the diminished tax revenues that are characteristic of a recession? Are they by-products of the calamitous inflation in health care expenses? Could they be linked with the Bush tax cuts which, by definition, slashed tax revenues? Is there a connection with the ongoing wars in the Middle East?

If we are to believe the diagnosis of congressional Republicans and the so-called liberal mainstream media, the answer is none of the above. If we are to believe those beacons of fiscal responsibility and budget integrity, the real culprits are poor people, PBS, public school teachers, and food stamps.

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