Tweedledee and Tweedledum - 48 Hours after Massachusetts both Parties Double Cross Public

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In a stunning reaction to the Supreme Court ruling on campaign finances, both Democrats and Republicans seem to be suffering short term memory loss from the Massachusetts Senate debacle and they immediately took the most hypocritical and self-destructive positions possible. One thinks the American public knew this was coming, just more of the same politics as usual.

As for the lesson at the Boston Tea Party last Tuesday night, it fell on deaf ears in the White House and in both political party caucuses in the House and Senate. People are fed up with politics as usual. The Wednesday morning after the election Obama, Reid, Pelosi and the Republicans all said they recognized the angry mood of the public.



By Thursday both parties hoped the public would remember what they said Wednesday and forget what they had said before Wednesday. Thursday both had returned to vintage form in responding to the Supreme Court decision regarding campaign finance. You need a daily scorecard to keep track of how many times they change positions per day.

Obama led the Democrats in condemning the Supreme Court decision saying it opened the floodgates to corporate financing of candidates. Duh... As reported before, Obama and the Democrats are the chief beneficiary of corporate money in campaigns. They also failed to mention the unions were also given carte blanc to buy politicians by the Supreme Court. So the Democrats double crossed the public less than 48 hours after the campaign catastrophe in Boston.



How about the new found populist element of the Republican party? Well they double crossed the public in the same 48 hour period when they reacted to the Supreme Court ruling by saying it restored free speech in America or it puts media corporations and the rest of corporate America on the same footing. Either way it means the same thing, they supported the decision.



Both political party bosses and our young president sank back into the old world of politics before the ink even dried on the stories of how they learned their lesson in Massachusetts. My goodness, the mental institutions are filled with people with multiple personalities, self-destructive psychosis and subliminal paranoia.

Get out the straight jackets and move over patients, we have 539 politicians, (437 House, 100 Senate and 2 in White House - Obama & Biden) in need of a heavy dose of America's favorite cocktail, Prozac, or kid's drink, Ritalin, a straight jacket and a few years to sleep off their attack of sheer idiocy.



Obama, the Democrats and Republicans are all addicted to corporate and union money and all share in the spoils of hundreds of millions of dollars being poured into campaigns by special interests who own our elected leaders. Do not express your dismay, shock or approval in press conferences while you are stuffing your campaign accounts with money from these bad guys.



Any politician who takes the money or support from such dirty money should admit their deception immediately and give back the bucks or be thrown on the scrap heap of history. Untruth still rules our nation's capitol and the Non-political Independent movement that has already plowed through Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts the last few weeks can take aim at the rest of the gang in DC and keep on house cleaning.



We will continue reporting on the hypocrisy as long as the lies and cover ups keep flowing from the mouths of the guilty in Washington. Keep it up people, we have a lot of straight jackets to fill. In the meantime responsible public officials will eliminate private financing of campaigns, make corporate and union contributions of any kind illegal, provide limited public financing and require media to give ads to viable candidates. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out how to eliminate corruption, just an honest president and congress.

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Supreme Court Knocks Down Corporate & Union Spending Limits - Time to Get Rid of All Special Interest Bribes

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In a stunning decision the US Supreme Court knocked down the federal limits on non-candidate spending in campaigns. What this means is there is no limit to the money corporations or unions can spend in support of federal candidates for office as long as they don't give it directly to the candidates. The current spending limits on campaign contributions will remain.



Now we will see if our Congress and President intend to work for the people or for special interests. If they have heard the disgust of the people toward current campaign spending and special interest influence they will find a way to stop all corporate and union contributions and expenditures for campaigns on the grounds that it will protect the integrity of campaigns.



A ban on all contributions in the interest of fairness and assuring equal opportunity to get elected would go a long ways toward cleaning out the mess Congress has made of campaign finance laws. This action by the Supreme Court though stunning in throwing the door open to millions more in special interest money, also will demonstrate once and for all which elected officials serve the public and which serve special interests.



You will be kept informed of those that are for and against the people and the revolution of getting rid of politics as usual will have a daunting task ahead, purging our nation's capitol of corruption once and for all. Watch for campaign reform actions. If there are none then they are all crooks.

Through the Looking Glass at The Vintage Source - Another Lost Weekend

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I took my monthly outing to see the ladies at The Vintage Source, the Fine, Funky Home Decor and Social Club of Southern Maryland where nothing is as it seems and not the least the four ladies who never seem to lose their thirst for living or good wine.

Of course there were the bargains, hundreds of them, and hundreds more had already been purchased before I got there. If you are not waiting in line before daybreak the third Saturday and Sunday of every month you lose out on the best buys. I tried it once but prefer to wait until the crowd thins and I can get the latest news from the most unusual proprietor and partners on the East coast.



If you haven't made it there you are missing out on great bargains, great conversation and the opportunity to see the world through their eyes, from the back side of the mirror, and a most bizarre view it can be. You see there are no rules when it comes to creative thinking when this gang gets together.



There is Michelle, who set out on a dream to build a business from a tent in her front yard and wound up building a spectacle where people line the street before it opens waiting to get in the doors. She actually thought she could be successful being open one weekend a month and did it. Outside running the Hotdog Wagon serving the best dogs this side of Manhattan is Tyler, her husband, a vice principal during the week and dawg hawker on weekends.



Then there is Cathe, the blueblood of Philadelphia and debutant of the Pocono Mountain resorts who shattered all the strictures of the Philly upper crust and ran off and married a Sicilian who joined the Navy. This girl was so sheltered that when she got married she had never driven a car (why when you had a chauffeured limo), cooked a meal or even seen a washer and dryer. From Dirty Dancing to Navy housewife it was a heroic transition.



The third wheel of the original gang is Cheryl, Miss perpetual motion from the Texas panhandle who also married into the military and used it as a stepping stone to learn every craft there is related to furniture, homes and unusual things. Cheryl took hands on experience to a whole new dimension with a desire to understand how everything is made, repaired or reconditioned in the world of antique furniture.



Finally there is Joy, the survivor of a vaudeville family upbringing who was once lost as a child in her mother's collection of over 600 antique dolls. I have never seen her not laughing about life even though she is also married to yet another military dude. But then I had the pleasure of meeting her rather eccentric mother and I could see how Joy was so full of joy with a mother like that.



So this month it was a little like joining Alice in Wonderland as they showed me their newest marketing gimmick. There were four antiqued postcards about The Vintage Source, each with a photo of one of the ladies when they were quite young. I was supposed to match them to the ladies. Nothing is as it seems.



You try it if you think it is so easy. Match the kid shots with the grown up shots in this story. I was okay with Joy (the weird dog), then Cheryl (the red hair), and finally Cathe (who else climbs out of a Pocono Mountains resort pool with dry hair). But Michelle, now that was a stretch no matter how hard I studied the photo.



Either the ladies were playing a joke on me and it was not her, or she had been the victim of an alien abduction and they returned the wrong body to her home. Since that happened to me once between second and third grade I was suspicious. You look at these photos and tell me you don't agree.



The little Michelle looks like a midget football player in drag with a strange hair style, a large soup bowl cut, and nothing at all like the rather stunning specimen remaining today. On her worst day of the year she could not look like the little curmudgeon of yesteryear on the postcard. I know when a person was replaced and if that was her back then we need to look for her on Mars today, not at The Vintage Source. In the meantime we will keep the alien.



You really should experience the place one of these days. Maybe you will meet Michelle's mother and you can ask her for the truth about her daughter. Was she abducted and was she returned or replaced? See you at the true Source, The Vintage Source.

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If Women Ruled - Why Don't They Rule? America is Ready

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"There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers."
Susan B. Anthony



Susan B. Anthony, one of the heroines of American history whose lifelong fight to get women the right to vote in America almost got it right with her quote. She should have added, "...and elect women lawmakers."

Men have been in control of the world for thousands of years and of the United States government for 222 years and look what it has gotten us. I am one who believes there are certain characteristics of women that would make a significant contribution to our political and cultural evolution. Twice in my career I worked with and for women in top government positions and they were every bit as successful as any man.



When I worked for Governor Thomas Kean of New Jersey I was chief of staff in the Energy Department when Christine Todd Whitman was President of the Public Utilities Commission. She went on to become the first and only female governor in New Jersey history and the first Republican female to defeat a Democrat incumbent for governor in America. I also worked as assistant Treasurer for Feather O'Connor, New Jersey State Treasurer. Both were exceptional leaders.

So what stops a Whitman, who can capture a powerful statewide office, from becoming president or vice president? Well, it is a male club she would be trying to capture and it will take a monumental effort by many, many women and some men to get the job done of breaking through. The hardest part of the task, as Sarah Palin found out, is getting the women to agree on a woman candidate.

Why can't women put aside petty differences, even differences on policy and social issues, to join forces and once and for all break down the barriers keeping all women out? Men set aside personal causes and policy differences to get in the door. And remember, if you are not inside the door to the club you will never change the club for the better.



After an incredible 50 year battle against the world of men Susan died in 1906, just 14 years before enactment of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution that finally recognized women's right to vote. She did not go to her grave without experiencing the right, however, for in 1872 she set off a firestorm when she did vote in spite of being denied the right to register to vote. It resulted in her arrest and one of the most fascinating trials in our history. By the way, she voted for the Republicans.

We do not know enough about Susan and her passion for equality so the Coltons Point Times web site will be presenting history lessons about her life and about the historic trial and it would do you well to read them. But that is not the main purpose of this article. This article explores why women don't rule.

The United States Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ratified by conventions in each U.S. state in the name of "The People". The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times; the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.



That means that today, the legal framework of our nation has been in effect for 222 years. This will be the 90th year women have had the right to vote. After suffering second class citizenship for the first 132 years of our history what have women achieved with the right to vote during the past 90 years?

While it is true that women have slowly broken down many barriers to not just voting but being elected to public office, it is also true that no woman has been elected president or vice president. In the last election we came the closest ever with viable candidates for president and vice president and Sarah Palin came within 7.2% of being elected.



In 1984 Geraldine Ferraro was the vice president nominee with Walter Mondale but they were defeated by Ronald Reagan and George Bush by 18.2%. Thus the Palin election was the closest a woman has ever come to winning a national election. No woman has ever been a presidential candidate on the ballot.

Why is it no woman has won the top two offices in our nation when women are the majority of the voters and gender prejudices were never as strained as racial prejudices yet Barack Obama won in 2008? The answer may be obvious. Women have never united as a voting block.

In America we have this thing called single issue focus, it means being so obsessive about a single issue that anyone disagreeing is condemned. This narrow minded view of political reality stands as the greatest barrier to women breaking down the last bastion of politics and getting elected as president or vice president.



The most publicly recognized groups of women are members of the most polarizing of groups and therein lies the problem. There is the feminist movement whose leftist priorities are so far removed from the mainstream of American politics they will never get elected. They are also the first to condemn anyone who does not advocate their far left agenda.

Social causes like pro-life and pro-abortion face the same dilemma and the until the groups drastically lower their virulence toward each other nothing will ever be accomplished but deeper polarization. Think about it. If anyone from either of these groups were ever elected president or vice president they must take the Oath of Office to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Whatever law is on the books and upheld by the Supreme Court, Roe versus Wade for instance, they are sworn to defend it. That does not mean our elected officials have to agree with the law and they have every right to pursue change through our Constitutional processes but while the law is in effect they must enforce it.



Women activists must get past their tendency to condemn those who disagree or they will never get women elected to our highest offices. Look at all the Founding Fathers who did not agree with elements of our Constitution yet set aside their own beliefs for the benefit of the nation. They understood that a higher good must always be served in our federal government, preserving the nation, while changes to our nation could take place as the public came to accept the need and it was adopted according to prescribed methods.

So women are their own worst enemy. If they could get beyond the litmus test of social issues or prejudices against those women they feel are less qualified to lead because they do not have the same education or beliefs, the floodgates to women in office would be thrown open.



That might be a real good thing for America. This is the first of several stories on Why Women Don't Rule in America and I would like to hear your thoughts on the issue. I would also like to hear about women you know that are present or future leaders of this nation and why you think they might be able to break through. Please comment on the Coltons Point Times web site and maybe we can help get them where they belong.

"I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand."
Susan B. Anthony

Electing Our Past
January 7, 2010 by generationgapping
by Tara Aarness

"Friends and fellow citizens: I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote. It shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in thus voting, I not only committed no crime, but, instead, simply exercised my citizen’s rights, guaranteed to me and all United States citizens by the National Constitution, beyond the power of any state to deny."
Susan B. Anthony, 1873

Susan B. Anthony was sentenced to jail (however only after paying a fine, which she never paid, thus escaping her jail sentence) and on August 18, 1920 women received the right to vote, just 14 years after her death.

Today, though, we subconsciously realize our societal advances, and we recognize more of what is tangible. For example, I am sitting here typing this on my laptop, just an hour prior to my bone scan; both things that were unheard of just under a hundred years ago. Technology is quite literally in our faces on a daily basis. A text message arrives and reading it, I am informed that on October 23, 1915 over 25,000 women marched in New York city, demanding the right to vote; I’m intrigued by what has helped shape our society.

Despite the chilled fall air, 40,000 women and men alike gathered in Washington Square hours prior to the parade beginning. Joining them were women from 26 countries showing their support and it was noted that every state in the union was represented, as well. Women from every walk of life stood side by side, the majority wearing white clothing, however all were unified by wearing white hats, men included. There were to be no talking or laughing during their march, as to impress upon the voters the magnitude of the issue which was to be voted on that November 2nd.

At noon, the huge procession began silently walking up to Fifth Street toward the public library on Forty Second Street where it still stands today. There a platform was erected for the mayor and other dignitaries to view women with their children, some with their dogs, pass by. Remaining strong, they march toward their destination of Fifty Ninth Street, totally fifty blocks in all, thus completing the greatest women’s suffrage march ever held in America.

November 2, 1915 votes were cast and the result was women were still not allowed the right to vote, despite being citizens. For another five years, women persevered, often enduring cruelty, by women and men alike, for their beliefs of equality and bettering society.

94 years later, women have the right to vote and are widely considered equals. As politicians grasp at straws, desperate to obtain just one more vote to elect them into whatever office they’re fighting for, I’ll proudly cast my vote, remembering another fight that was of greater importance, and just as hard won.

More than any other woman of her generation, Susan B. Anthony saw that all of the legal disabilities faced by American women owed their existence to the simple fact that women lacked the vote. When Anthony, at age 32, attended her first woman's rights convention in Syracuse in 1852, she declared "that the right which woman needed above every other, the one indeed which would secure to her all the others, was the right of suffrage." Anthony spent the next fifty-plus years of her life fighting for the right to vote. She would work tirelessly: giving speeches, petitioning Congress and state legislatures, publishing a feminist newspaper--all for a cause that would not succeed until the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment fourteen years after her death in 1906.



She would, however, once have the satisfaction of seeing her completed ballot drop through the opening of a ballot box. It happened in Rochester, New York on November 5, 1872, and the event--and the trial for illegal voting that followed--would create a opportunity for Anthony to spread her arguments for women suffrage to a wider audience than ever before.

Reporting on the Reporters - Rating the Media in Haiti & Massachusetts - The CPT Hall of Fame

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Let it not be said that those who report the news are not the news as that is one of the journalistic standards in this day and age of egocentric journalism. My stories often call attention to the violators of journalistic integrity disguised as our nation's news media, and the elitist media of major newspapers and television.

More often than not the elite reporters have agendas that checkmate their desire for objectivity, non-biased reporting or telling the story of the subject of the article. Such a mindset leads directly to the reporter judging rather than reporting on the person being discussed.

Another distraction from the truth for reporters of today is the intense pressure on them from bosses or peers to write books, once again essays in judgment and violations on the confidentiality of news sources for the purpose of creating celebrity status for the reporters. In the eyes of the newspaper or TV network such celebrity status translates to recognition, ratings and money.

Of course it is little different than the pressure put on university professors, especially scientists, who are viewed by the school administration as a revenue source more than a teaching instrument for kids. Often the grants brought in by these professors pay for the cost of the department or unit. It is an atmosphere for corruption as altered test results may make the difference between winning or losing millions of dollars.

In journalism, however, it never used to be that way until the reporter or TV anchor retired. No one ever wrote books while they were supposed to be reporting the news. When I was a reporter it was impossible to tell whether the seasoned old pros were Democrat or Republican, normally they were Independent, or how they felt on any topic. They reported the news, did not editorialize or inject bias into the stories.

Oh but for the good old days. Today most reporters are not like that. Once the press was highly respected and their writing was the protection of the people from corruption. The Fourth Estate, as I like to attribute to Edmund Burke in 1792 was the English reference to the press who covered the actions of the English government. In America the press was considered important enough to protect with the Bill of Rights and the shield of the Constitution.

Today the definition of press includes almost every kind of trash known to men along with a few good papers and TV programs. Thus reporters who seem to uphold the principles of our founding fathers are few and far between. Most are entertainers like the O'Rielly, Beck or Hannity of Fox News or Olbermann, Matthews, Schultz and Maddows of MSNBC.

While Fox dominates the ratings as conservatives must dominate in America where limited federal government and states rights have long been held sacred, none of those mentioned from the right and the left would ever be accused of objective reporting. As TV network news self-destructed over the past 30 years the audience has moved from the big boys to the cable news where the news of the world must be in sound bites and 2 minute stories. It also ceased being news and became entertainment.

Once in while I come across journalistic performances so foreign to our normal trash talk and sound bites that I must draw attention to these reporters as they may be the last of the endangered species and you should enjoy them while they exist.

Two major recent stories have resulted in new candidates for the Coltons Point Times "Who can you trust" news reporters Hall of Fame. The tragic earthquake in Haiti was the first in which the real news people stepped forward to tell the real story of what was going on in the rescue and recovery effort. I must say I was surprised and pleased to discover gems of reporting amongst the many people covering this disaster.



First and standing alone in superior reporting was Anderson Cooper of CNN, a network that at least tries to report the news and to remain somewhat unbiased. As a result few people watch the network except when in depth news is sought like in the case of Haiti. Cooper should earn a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage from being one of the first on the scene to his fearless travels to every nook and corner of the disaster.

His stories pointing out the flaws of the rescue and recovery efforts when the government officials were telling a different story probably saved many lives. He discovered medical facilities with no medicine first, mass burials with no identification of bodies, the failure to distribute food, water and medicine when it was sitting at the airport for days, and on and on.



When Cooper reports you get empathy, compassion, emotion and truth in doses not often seen in reporters and you just know he will not stop digging for information until he finds the truth. His stories told the horrors of the thousands of deaths, the potential for thousands more from untreated injuries, and the sad failure to search for the 100,000 or more trapped under the debris. Cooper and his 360 program on CNN are a must if you seek truth.



Most surprising to me was the addition of Doctor Sanjay Gupta also of CNN. May times before I had seen him but the seriousness of the stories were never much so I did not notice him. But in Haiti, he performed as no other using his skills as a medical reporter combined with his skills as a neurosurgeon to tell the story and save a life by treating victims he found.



One night when a Belgium hospital team abandoned patients on the operating table for fear of their own safety Sanjay stayed at the tent and spent all night treating the abandoned patients. His reporting deadlines were sacrificed while saving lives.

When Cooper and Sanjay did joint reports which they did often they were always humble while upset over the treatment of the victims. Very subtly they asked critical questions about the promises for help and the failure to deliver and many times their reports resulted in help arriving.



The third reporter deserving recognition for her Haiti performance was Ann Curry of the NBC Today program who was sent to the disaster and literally scoured the city from one end to the other with no regard for the danger to herself in order to make certain the true stories of the tragedy were broadcast on the Today show every morning. I must say Curry was also a pleasant surprise since I was so accustomed to the entertainment aspects of the morning news shows but now I know she has a great news presence.



In regards to the Massachusetts Senate race the coverage was generally lousy as the bias of reporters dominated their reports. Thus the right was overly rejoicing and the left was overly depressed. It does not occur to either of them that the Independents embrace neither the right or the left but the middle.

However, I have been watching the evolution of Savannah Guthrie of NBC and she came into her own recently when they made her co-host of a morning show on MSNBC, The Daily Rundown this year. Ever since she left a lucrative law practice to be a journalist she has been on a fast track spending about a year with Court TV, jumping to NBC, and soon becoming a White House correspondent with Chuck Todd.



I knew there was something about Savannah that made her special and it took a while to discover she was a Tucson, Arizona native who graduated with honors from the University of Arizona, my school, and Georgetown Law School. She was always first in everything. Unlike most network correspondents she seems to have no axe to grind and no political philosophy to advocate but actually reports the news as fair and unbiased as you will find.



The Los Angeles Times named her one of the top female entertainment personalities in the nation to watch in 2010 this past December, she ranked #3, and was the highest ranked from the news media. As long as MSNBC does not corrupt her and she seems far too strong for that to happen she is a delight to watch and a fountain of truth and information. Her new show is a must see.

So Ann Curry and Savannah Guthrie of NBC are the two newest additions to my very limited Hall of Fame along with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN. You should give them a try as they are rocketing to fame based on talent and truth.

Independents Win Massachusetts - Ominous Warning to Politicians

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When a Republican running as an Independent for John and Ted Kennedy's Senate seat can beat the Democrat endorsed by the Kennedy family and President Obama by over 100,000 votes, it is a landslide of historic proportions that should strike fear into the hearts of all politicians. So goes Scott Brown of Massachusetts in a stunning upset over Obama, health care, liberals and the old political guard.

Contrary to the views of the Democratic and Republican strategists, this was not a victory for the Republicans but a victory for all Americans. It was the clearest signal to date that our leaders in Washington, DC no longer can be trusted to lead, leaders of both political parties.



Our new president along with the Democratic controlled House and Senate and the Republican minority have blown it. People can see through the lies and smokescreens. They know exactly what goes on behind closed doors in our nation's capitol and they know the president, Pelosi, Reid and our elected representatives have sold out our government to special interests, and sold their souls to money.

A failure to recognize these signs will spell doom to all politicians who miss the point. America stands on the precipice of revolution, peaceful revolution, against politics, political parties, and a burgeoning bureaucracy whose secret agenda is self-preservation over the needs and wishes of the people. The people know it and the people, like a sleeping giant, have been aroused.

Unfortunately our politicians continue to drink the Potomac waters and believe they are superior to the people. Politicians believe they know what is best. They ignore warning signs and polls that prove we are a nation in discontent. In the past few weeks in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts the unrest could not be clearer and the politicians could not be more stupid in missing the signs.

Independent voters are forming unexpected alliances with disgruntled Democrats and Republicans and state by state they are throwing out the establishment candidates in favor of candidates who have no strings attached. This juggernaut will not be stopped by clever legislative manipulations, by born again policy decisions of our political parties or by the bold faced lies and half-truths from our politicians. No, it is too late to expect to fool the public all the time.

While the politicians and political analysts who make their money keeping the politicians in office repeat their mantra that we know what is best for Americans, and that the work of congress is too complicated to explain to Americans, the public has figured it out. The public knows that politicians who criticize banks while accepting hundreds of millions of dollars from banks for their campaigns have lost their morality.

When millions of dollars flow into leading politicians from the health care and insurance industries as the politicians complain about the spiraling cost of health care, the public knows the magnitude of the bribes being paid by the immoral politicians. The Washington establishment is based on need, greed and deception and the masters at the game are no longer invisible to the people.



The principles of our great nation have been compromised by the greed of our politicians. Just look at the record of the Majority Leader of the House, Steny Hoyer, as he stands behind the president and castigates the banks, health care, pharmaceutical and insurance industries. He says one thing to the public, but behind the closed doors of Congress with the special interests and lobbyists inside look what happens to our protector from the bad boys of industry.

Top industry contributors to Hoyer's campaign committees are Lawyers, Lobbyists, Health Professionals, Electric Utilities, Real Estate, Insurance, Securities, Investments, Banks, Pharmaceuticals, Hospitals/Nursing Homes and Unions, a total of over $13 million for 2010 already. Now that covers most industries he calls the bad boys and to see just how extensive his support is from these industries take just the banks. He has received money from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup and Credit Suisse among many others.



He attacks the banks but approves the bailouts. Then approves the insurance bailout while attacking healthcare costs, yet rakes in big bucks from the very industries he attacks. What do these industries know that the public does not know? Why are they pouring money into someone who attacks them? Does it have anything to do with the fact there is no prosecution of the crooks or changes in the regulation of the industries or does it mean they are being protected in other ways?

These are samples of the reason the people have had it with the old political guard in Washington. Elected officials are in bed with the enemy, have forgotten the meaning of truth and integrity, and continue to attempt to deceive the public. Hoyer is a protector of Wall Street and a protector of those who increase the cost of health care just like many other elected officials are and will remain. Money for campaigns, especially when it totals millions of dollars, come with a price tag and we have leaders too willing to pay the price.



That is why people do not trust politicians. That is why being a Washington insider may very well be the kiss of death to their careers. That is why America is controlled by special interests and lobbyists. That is why government aid goes to Wall Street, unions and special interests and not to the needs of the people. That is why the revolution of independents may well be the salvation of our nation.

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The Haiti Earthquake - What Have We Learned?

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The American response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti has proven once again that we still have not developed a strategy to handle disasters and that in spite of record contributions, record supplies and a record number of volunteers, getting the resources to the places where they are needed is far from a proven science.

Current estimates are that about 200,000 people will die in the disaster, up to 400,000 are injured and about 1.5 million homeless. It is possible that a week after the quake up to 100,000 may remained trapped in the debris with very little chance of saving them.

Of the injured, thousands need extensive medical care for crushing injuries and one clinic alone in Haiti is amputating limbs from over 70 people per day. With injuries taking so long to treat infections have already begun killing survivors who are unable to get medical care.



Hundreds of thousands still have no place to stay, inadequate food and drinking water and are in need of medical treatment. While many are dying needless deaths because we failed to respond immediately or failed to treat people who were injured, medical supplies, food and water remain stacked up at the airport and hundreds of rescue workers still cannot get to the places they are needed.



While it is true there are special circumstances that we faced in Haiti, like a collapse of the government and inferior infrastructure before the quake, in addition to the deaths of thousands of relief workers already in Haiti, the excruciating slowness of the response has been deadly and was not necessary.

American disaster response is flawed for several reasons. First is that there are two distinct types of immediate response needed for a tragedy of this magnitude. There is a need for first responders for search and rescue operations of those trapped in the disaster. There is also a need for distribution and recovery operations for the survivors.

Our failure is to think they are part of the same operation. There are so many differences between the two functions they should be treated as separate and distinct disaster responses with different teams, resources and missions. In an earlier story I highlighted the failure of the first response because it was caught up in the bureaucratic function of planning the long term recovery response.



The first response was a miserable failure by any measurement. Rescue teams that did make it to the scene immediately faced enormous problems with security, the selection of targets where the most people could be saved, and a way to get those that were saved medical treatment before infection and injuries killed them. After the first few rescue teams got into the city many others were left stranded at airports trying to get on site and it took them one or more days to even get there.



Once at the scene they had no heavy equipment to assist them, not even a week later, and still had minimal medical facilities available for those they rescued. Earlier I wrote that Haiti had 2000 pieces of construction equipment but none seemed available at the disaster site. Helicopters could have been used to move the machines to the disaster zone. In a week's time many pieces could have been driven to the site but were not. A crucial element of rescue operations must be to get heavy equipment to the site along with medical treatment facilities.



By it's very nature the long term recovery process does take the planning, resources and long term commitment that can be managed quite successfully by the military working with non-government relief agencies and the United Nations. In Haiti this element was more successful than the first response but could be improved in many ways. Food and water distribution and the establishment of a network of medical treatment centers were the areas most in need of improvement.

The Haiti emergency response was certainly better than Katrina but far short of what might have saved the maximum number of lives. Let us hope the Obama administration will put aside pride and take responsibility for what happened or did not happen. In the end all we want is the most successful rescue and recovery operations possible. A thoughtful re-examination of the actions will go a long way toward saving more lives the next time.

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