Quote of the Day

"Recently, I voted against moving ahead on a health care reform proposal. This legislation, drafted behind closed doors with only Democrats involved, is a massive government takeover that will drive up the cost of health insurance and medical care. The legislation passed on a strictly partisan vote of 60 to 39. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced that the Senate will begin full debate on the measure following the Thanksgiving state work period."

-- Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) in his December E-Newsletter released today. If the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was drafted behind closed doors, why then did we have to wait so long for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee and the Senate Finance Committee to pound out language in a bill, opening the floor to each member of each committee including Mr. Crapo for their comments, input and amendments?

TDIH: Another Year, Another Anniversary

With every passing year, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy becomes a distant memory. For those who were in Dallas that November day, it remains a memory they cannot escape. New generations of Americans have been introduced to the myth of Camelot and the political legacy of young John Kennedy, but their understanding of what the assassination meant to this nation comes from history books and the stories they've heard from their parents, even grandparents, about where they were when they learned of Kennedy's death.

Every year Kennedy historians, professional and amateur, produce a myriad of books on various subtopics of Kennedy-related research. Assassination analysis pops up in both mainstream non-fiction distributed by credible publishers and in the counter culture that is conspiracy theory. This year has been especially fruitful for those seeking new information on the Kennedy family -- John's presidency, Bobby's candidacy, Eunice's legacy of volunteering, and Teddy's career in the Senate. Teddy's memoir is perhaps the single greatest publication of the year, perhaps decade, for those with any vested professional or academic interest in the Kennedy legacy.

In print isn't the only place the Kennedy legacy has appeared this year. MSNBC aired a documentary in the hours after Ted Kennedy's passing and the History channel aired a new documentary, The Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours After, that focused specifically on the events directly following the assassination and how Vice President Lyndon Johnson was told about and responded to the death of JFK (based on the book by Steven M. Gillon).

We've learned in the past months a great deal about Jackie Kennedy from images taken of her in 1971, images that tell the story of her time on Skorpios after Jack's death. Notes taken by William Manchester, while he penned Death of a President at the request of Jackie, were recently made public and tell the story of a widow securing the place of her husband in history through a vivid myth-like narrative. Now, more than ever since his death and thanks to the New York Times, we know the role the CIA played in the aftermath of the assassination of President Kennedy. The story of Jack Ruby, the assassin's assassin, was told to another generation as items related to Ruby went up for auction. We've heard from yet another person there in Dallas, this one a former FBI agent who watched the autopsy of President Kennedy, tell another first-hand account of what happened that god-awful day in Dallas. And a television-obsessed nation has watched the events of November 22, 1963 replayed on the 60s-based drama Mad Men.

I've written on the Kennedy family extensively this year, not only because the passing of Ted Kennedy required it, but also because Ted Kennedy's passing reminded me of why I believe the things I do about America, being an American, and who taught those principles to me. The passing of Eunice was as significant for me as Teddy's death because of all of the Kennedys, it may have been Eunice that touched my life the most substantially--as a teenager and young adult I spent every summer serving in the capacity of coach or volunteer for the Special Olympics. My siblings, their friends (who are now my friends), and my uncle all participated in the games. I have held a great respect for the Kennedy family, not just the former President. We speak of the Kennedy family and their legacy indirectly, sometimes, but there is no denying their direct influence on this country as a family devoted to public service, offering their distinct brand of leadership.

With every passing year, the assassination of President Kennedy may become a distant memory, but every year on the 22nd of November, we can be sure someone is marking the date, remembering it for the horrific event that took place in Dealey Plaza. Every year we let the memory slip further from our collective national memory, but the event remains embedded in our country's history as if it were a strong characteristic, reflective of our collective character. We remain a nation that survived an incredibly dark period, a period of rattling events that shook us to our very core.

It has been forty-six years since Lee Harvey Oswald infamously killed the leader of the free world. It has been forty-six years since America said goodbye to its innocence. It's been forty-six years since families across the country sat around their television sets as their young president's body was returned to the nation's capital to lie in state and to be laid to rest. Forty-six years and those black and white images still capture our hearts as if we were there in that moment when Walter Cronkite choked up as he read the flash "apparently official" about the death of the president.

Forty-six years--perhaps the memory isn't so distant...

Senator Byrd's Milestone

Yesterday was the 92nd birthday of Senator Robert C. Byrd (R-West Virginia), but his 92nd birthday came second to another great milestone in his life celebrated earlier in the week.

On Wednesday, Senator Byrd became the longest serving member of the United States Congress in history. Byrd, who has served in both houses of the West Virginia legislature and both houses of the U.S. Congress, took the opportunity to discuss some of the most memorable votes he has cast in the United States Senate where he has served since 1959. I was impressed by Senator Byrd's humility as he admitted in his statement that he had been on the wrong side of history, voting against the Democratic legislation that created Medicare in. I was reminded of his greatest speech and what must be one of his greatest votes--that against the invasion of Iraq. And I was reminded of the fragility of life, that this man who is the first in history to serve a half century in the United States Senate uninterrupted, is so frail in body, but still so determined in his soul as he participates in the historic vote this evening on health care reform.

Senator Byrd's speech on the floor after a great deal of praise from his fellow senators can be found on C-SPAN's website, but a shortened version of his remarks on Wednesday's milestone appeared on his website and reads as follows:

"I am so deeply grateful to the people of the great State of West Virginia for demonstrating such confidence in me and enabling me to reach this momentous milestone. My only regret is that my beloved wife, companion and confidant, my dear Erma, is not here with me to witness this wonderful day. I know that she is looking down from the heavens smiling at me and saying congratulations my dear Robert -- but don’t let it go to your head.”

“Although we are marking a longevity milestone, it has been the quality and dedication of service that has guided me over the years. I have strived to provide the people of West Virginia the best representation possible each of the 20,774 days which I have served in the Congress of the United States. From the bottom of my heart I thank each and every West Virginian for the support they have given me during this time, and for putting their trust and faith in me.”

“The only way for me to close on this historic day is to say that I look forward to serving you for the next 56 years and 320 days! Thank you and may God bless you.”

Senator Byrd still has his humor, his encyclopedic knowledge of the Senate (being the only sitting senator to write an exhaustive history of that body), and the utmost respect of his colleagues. As Senator Leahy said as Senator Rockefeller came to the floor to introduce the bill honoring Byrd, Byrd has been a friend to every member of the Senate and for Leahy doing so for thirty-four years.

As I said before, Senator Byrd has reminded me of the fragility of human life. This year was the first in many, many years of Senator Byrd's esteemed tenure in the Senate that he has not taken the floor on Constitution Day to give a speech about the importance, sacred nature and absolute respect required for the United States Constitution. Constitution Day just didn't feel the same without the stoic senator taking to the floor with his pocket Constitution, waving his arms about, and speaking in that large voice. When Bob Byrd is no longer here to take to the floor to speak of the tradition of the Senate, I can't help but wonder who might fill that role. Historians aren't often elected to the Senate, which is perhaps why the foster son of a West Virginia coal miner became just as likely as any other member to take upon himself the role he has.

It is too bad that Senator Byrd's wife couldn't be there Wednesday for the milestone. It is also too bad, despite his politics and recent troubles, that former Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) couldn't be there to congratulate his good friend. We have for decades watched Stevens, Byrd, and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) portray a friendship above ideology forged in common service to the American people.

The United States Senate has seen a great deal of change in the last year. Three members of the Senate left to join the administration, one as the head of the executive branch. One member changed parties. Senator Ted Kennedy, the true lion of the Senate, passed and left shoes that no Democrat will ever fill. The Senate may not look as it once did through the eyes of Senator Byrd, but Senator Byrd is now, more so because of this milestone, still deeply respected in the eyes of his Senate colleagues and this blogger.

TGIF Tunes

"I Taught Myself How to Grow Old" by Ryan Adams from Easy Tiger.

Minnick's Balancing Act

Over the weekend, Sisyphus of 43rd State Blues made some very good points regarding Congressman Walt Minnick and his dwindling Democratic base. Hopefully Sisyphus won't mind that I quote him extensively here, his points are more than worth repeating and succinctly illustrate the predicament Walt Minnick has created when it comes to his base.

Mark Johnson has written a superb piece on this topic that several of us keeping tabs on Minnick have linked to. Perhaps the most telling component of Johnson's post, as has also been pointed out, isn't actually anything written within the piece, but the connection between Johnson and Minnick's former campaign manager Isaac Squyres. In fact, Johnson isn't only drawing on his unique vantage point as a colleague of Minnick's former staffer, but quite possibly also as a colleague of former Idaho Governor Cecil D. Andrus. As you may remember, Andrus had supported and endorsed Larry Grant (who nearly beat Bill Sali in 2006) for the 2008 1st congressional district race until his old friend Walt Minnick threw his hat into the ring. Johnson, Squyres and Andrus are all part of Gallatin Public Affairs.

If Minnick does in fact have a problem with his base, as many of us believe he does, surely the aforementioned individuals are very much aware of it--the question then becomes, what are they telling Minnick to do about it?

Has Walt Minnick lost his base? And if so, when did he lose it? Was it when he voted against the then extremely popular Obama and his stimulus package? Was it when he voted against climate control legislation, widely supported by the Democratic Party? How about when Minnick voted in committee against the Consumer Financial Protection Agency? Or will Minnick's vote against health care reform be the final straw for Minnick's base?

If, for argument's sake, Minnick hasn't completely deserted his base already, Sisyphus makes a great point about what health care reform could be for the embattled congressman, the embattled congressman who as recently as last night in a telephone town hall stated he votes as he believes is right for Idahoans, not along party lines, and he has not been "ostracized" for doing so (apparently those of us who have expressed our frustration with Minnick's voting record have not been taken seriously by the congressman). Sisyphus writes:

"Walt just needs one populist issue to champion. HCR with a robust public option seems the one to me. Its popular everywhere its polled. If the highest profile Democrat in the state champions an essential and popular element in the Democratic agenda, he'll provide the necessary leadership in a state party starved for it. Instead, judging by his press releases, he's embarrassed by Democrats. I know it runs against his ideological grain so he can pick another issue. But he better work some pragmatic political savvy into his game plan or he will truly be endangered no matter how much money he raises."

Not only is Minnick embarrassed by Democrats, he publicly has called progressive Democrats in north-end Boise "crazy" when meeting with teabaggers, and in the past, during that portion of his career in the private sector when he was so successful, had harsh words for environmental activists and those involved in the green movement. Where Sisyphus mentions a state party "starved" for leadership, he could have easily mentioned the recent interview of Minnick by the Moscow-Pullman Daily News where Minnick expresses very little interest in holding onto his congressional seat for himself or the party that sent him to Congress. Additionally, it is both possible and plausible that Minnick could raise the most money of any candidate for the 1st CD seat in 2010 and still lose the race.

One particular mode of thinking that Minnick seems to subscribe to is that in 2008 the moderates and conservatives who were sick of Bill Sali or impressed with Minnick's independence put him over the top and sent him to D.C. It may very well be that moderates helped put Minnick over the top, but it was the larger number of progressively minded voters who came out to support Obama that sent Minnick to D.C. and they more than likely will not be around in 2010 to support Minnick. Not only will Minnick have lost a chunk of voters who turned out in 2008 because of Obama, he will lose both a handful of moderates who will surely find some strength in the Republican candidate and a handful of progressives who will vote for anyone else, even a write-in. The progressives Minnick will lose won't vote for the Republican, but they will be anxiously watching the race hoping that a real progressive, a Democrat in name and ideology, primaries Walt Minnick.

Sisyphus points out in his latest post that Walt Minnick may have been able to get behind a Baucus-like health care reform bill, but that Minnick needs to be cautious of the hit that Baucus took in his home state for supporting such a giveaway to the insurance industry. The problem is, Minnick is pro-business to the point that he favors enterprise over consumers, even if those consumers are his constituents. Something also tells me Minnick would have no qualms when it came to voting against a bill that hurt business in any way, even if it meant denying uninsured Idahoans the desperately needed opportunity to access affordable, effective health care.

If Congressman Minnick is at all concerned with his base problem, a problem that has now been pointed out by the MountainGoat Report, Johnson Post, Ridenbaugh Press, 43rd State Blues, IdaBlue, and this blog, he better start planning how he'll either appease the base or be forgiven by it, and no, that doesn't mean lining up conciliatory votes like the one he cast against the Stupak amendment.

Good Riddance, Bryan Fisher

In the ongoing media frenzy and Fox News hysteria surrounding the tragedy at Fort Hood, a former Idaho nuisance is making himself known to the entire country by comments he has made via his American Family Association (AFA) radio show and blog. Bryan Fisher, former executive director of the Idaho Values Alliance, and now author of Focal Point for the Mississippi-based AFA, has been widely ridiculed for his anti-Muslim, bigoted and racist rhetoric of late. Fisher has made his opinion that Muslims have no place in the United States military widely known, appearing not only on the AFA site, his own blog, and a wide range of fringe conservative websites, as well as in Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" segment. What the people of Mississippi and the country are just learning about the outright hatred of Bryan Fisher is something progressive, moderate, and sensible Idahoans of every ideology have known for years.

Fisher's comments have been written about extensively in the Idaho blogosphere, no stranger to Fisher's antics, however, something that isn't being written about (either out of ignorance or pure embarrassment) is that Fisher isn't completely gone from this state. No, Bryan Fisher still expresses his misguided views on national politics, religious topics and local events on the Magic Valley radio program of one Zeb Bell.

It seems that Bryan Fisher isn't the only one of Zeb's longtime guests that has a problem with Muslims serving in the military, in fact some of what Fisher has said recently has been vocalized by the David Duke apologist and weekly guest of Bell, Frosty Wooldridge of Denver, Colorado. Frosty Wooldridge's xenophobic writings are plastered all over his own website as well as Zeb Bell's blog. Wooldridge tends to write about illegal immigration nearly as frequently as the rest of us take a breath of air and never are those opinions sympathetic, compassionate or thoughtful. Wooldridge expresses his own blatant racism in a manner that suggests he is never surrounded by anyone who sees a problem with his racism because he is not at all ashamed of the filth that flows from his mouth and his pen.

Since Fisher started making news Friday afternoon, he has not retracted his despicable comments on Muslims in the military. Instead, Fisher has countered the outrage directed at him with another post--this one stating that the military even says that Muslims shouldn't be serving. Fisher, who must think himself some sort of expert on who is fit to serve their country and who isn't, had this to say in his latest piece:

"The only Muslims who can safely serve in our military are those who don't take their religion seriously, because the more devout they become, the more likely they are to go jihad on their comrades in uniform."

"Go jihad on their comrades"? The 90's phrase "go postal" has apparently been replaced by the premature conclusion that what happened at Fort Hood was in fact an act of terrorism (rather than an act carried out by a man who wanted nothing more than to be released from the United States military).

While those in parts of the country that had been previously so lucky to avoid exposure to Bryan Fisher are grappling with Fisher's hatred and racism as it hits the national media, those of us in Idaho who put up with Fisher all those years while he forced his particular brand of hate into our communities are just simply glad he isn't our problem anymore.

Of course, we here in this state still choose to ignore certain forms of hate speech spilling into our communities, like that which is broadcast in the Magic Valley daily by KBAR, but we're sure glad Bryan Fisher was Mississippi's problem last week when he decided that referring to a tragedy as "going jihad" on service men and women was acceptable.

Walt Minnick (D-ID): Not Interested In Keeping His Seat?

Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) sat down with the Moscow-Pullman Daily News for a story Sunday that contained some rather irritating quotes--quotes that spotlighted exactly why it is that progressive Democrats, Minnick's base, are frustrated with Minnick's voting record and may not support him for re-election.

Apparently, the freshman congressman wouldn't be disappointed should he be unseated in the 2010 congressional race. Minnick offered the following quote to the Daily News when discussing his re-election bid for the 1st congressional seat he won in 2008 by defeating one-term conservative Rep. Bill Sali:

"I would like to go back. If I don't, that's not the end of the world."

Minnick went on to say that he wasn't looking at his election to Congress as a possible career, just an opportunity to vote his conscience "in lieu of retirement." This suggests that Minnick will indeed be running again, but isn't particularly interested in keeping his seat for any amount of time. As if Walt Minnick's voting record hasn't been damaging enough to Idaho Democrats who supported him in a race against a far-right conservative and have been sorely mistaken by any assumption that Minnick was or could be a progressive, now they're faced with the possibility that Minnick doesn't have much interest in keeping the seat in the hands of the Democratic Party.

Could it be because Minnick was never anything resembling a Democrat, but merely a conservative running on the Democratic ticket? Another quote offered to the Daily News supports this assumption:

"I don't vote by party, I don't think that's what somebody should do. Good ideas come from both parties. Neither party has a monopoly on good ideas."

It is quite clear that Minnick doesn't vote by party, at least not by the party that he caucuses with. He has now voted against the President's stimulus bill, climate change legislation, the Democratic health care reform bill in the House, and a whole list of other progressive bills.

As has been said before, now would be a good time for Minnick to shed the (D) behind his name so the Idaho Democratic Party can find a real Democrat to run in 2010. A real Democrat who would like to see the 1st CD seat stay in the hands of the Democratic Party.