Author Archives: Sheila

We Seem to be Going in the Wrong Direction

Is there something in the water?

In Louisiana, a Justice of the Peace refuses to perform inter-racial weddings, insisting that such “racial mixing” produces children who are not accepted by either whites or blacks.

In Paraguay, two women were tortured and killed after being accused of being witches. According to reports, Dorotea Colmán, 50, and María Espínola, 23, died after being submitted to three days of brutal torture by members of the Bya Guaraní ethnic group in Santa Lucía, 220 miles north of Asunción. The women were hung upside down, beaten with sticks and had boiling water poured on them.

In Congress, we are regularly treated to comments by elected officials– Michele Bachman and someone named King from Iowa come to mind, but there are plenty of others–that are not simply stupid (that would be a very long list!) but paranoid and delusional.

Anyone have an explanation for this explosion of irrational behaviors?

Maybe in this age of blogging and 24/7 news cycles, we’re just more aware of crazies who’ve always been around. I hope that’s the answer, because otherwise, I feel as if I went to bed in the 21st Century and awoke in the 16th.

Clean Water, Vibrant City

I often read the Urbanophile’s blog; he has a good grasp of urban issues, and generally includes a wealth of data and perceptive commentary. In this post, he tells us about an ambitions program that–if successful–will yield benefits to the environment AND to city life. Worth pondering.

Obama and Gay Rights

As was evident in yesterday’s March on Washington, many members of the gay community are angry that the Obama Administration has not yet acted on several promises to advance equality for gays, lesbians and transgendered people. The general sentiment is: yes, you talk the talk. But where’s the walk?

Others–generally those who have worked on these issues for many years–recognize that  actually achieving these changes is more complicated than the critics seem to understand.

Legal change almost always lags cultural change. That’s because legislatures and even the courts (angry accusations about “socialist” policymakers and “imperial” courts notwithstanding) rarely act until something like a social consensus emerges. Nor can a President unilaterally make most changes. And even when a President can act without Congress, through Executive Order, there are legislative consequences to be expected.

The impatience displayed by many of yesterday’s marchers is understandable. It’s like being told that “if you just stay in the back of the bus a bit longer” America is more likely to get health care and environmental protection. Why should their rights be held in thrall to other goals?

My own analysis is somewhat different. Barack Obama is one of the most strategic politicians to come along in my lifetime. I believe him when he says–as he did at the HRC dinner–that he is committed to achieving equal rights for the GLBT community. And I believe he will do so in his first term. But there are two things any constituency needs from its political champions: sincere commitment and the strategic smarts to actually get something done. I think Clinton had the commitment; but he couldn’t get it done.  He faced a culture that was not ready, and his approach to the issue of gays in the military was badly timed. I think Obama knows how to get things done–even very difficult things. He is asking the gay community to trust him.

It’s easy for me to say, of course–I’m not gay. But I DO trust him. And those of my friends who’ve been long-time activists on behalf of GLBT  rights, people who know how tough these fights still are, trust him too.

$64,188,492

That’s the amount the Commonwealth Fund says Indiana could save annually in Medicaid payments if we had healthcare reform.

Commonwealth has just completed a national survey that ranks states on a variety of health dimensions. Those who live in Indiana and pay any attention to such things will not be surprised to find that we land in the bottom quartile of the states overall, and rate comparatively poorly in most of the categories for which there was a ranking.

As our state continues to struggle to provide essential services with declining revenues, Governor Daniels might consider the merits of healthcare reform rather than threatening once again to cut (cripple)education. (I’m sure his long affiliation with Eli Lilly has nothing to do with his disinclination to support measures that might affect its bottom line…)

This Says It All

I was about to post on the surprising award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama when I read this.

It expresses my own thoughts on the matter, and does it better than I could.