Article 28

As a former Home Care Administrator in Phoenix, and living with a registered nurse for over thirty years, health care is a daily discussion topic.  During our dialogue, we have lamented the slow destruction of health care as a healing ministry to the rise of health care for profit.  Like the politics of our country, health care has sold its soul to the highest bidder and has become a culture of serving the dollar rather than the person.  While many laud the recent healthcare reform by the government as providing better access to care, it is new clothes on the same emperor and holds no hope for better and responsible healthcare.  The reform is doomed for failure since it does not address the root issue; corporate profits. Insurance corporations, pharmaceutical companies and accountants have taken over the healthcare industry, assumed the roles of healthcare professionals and the public is held hostage.  Here are but a few examples: The primary care p...

One of my favorite stories is about an old mystic who would go out behind his hermitage every day to sit by the stream and meditate.  On one occasion, he noticed a scorpion struggling to climb a large rock.  Slowly and gently, he reached down to help the scorpion.  However, the scorpion recoiled and stung the old mystic.  He rubbed his hand and tried to help the scorpion once more.  Once again, he was stung.   One more time the old man reached down to assist the scorpion and, you guessed it, he was stung violently.   A young man was watching the mystic with great interest and some concern and after the third strike, the youth ran toward the old man and said, "Why don't you pick up that rock and kill that thing!" The mystic responded, "Because it is in this creature's nature to inflict harm, does not mean that I have to change my nature to be like it." Today, our country is more divided than any other time in history.  Why?  We have cha...

RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS  Yesterday's Supreme Court decision for small private corporations, and their desire to exercise a particular faith stance within their business operations, has created a firestorm in both religious and political circles.  The discussion has centered around religious freedom on which, many believe, this country was founded and is protected by the Constitution. I would argue however, that this is an illusion and is practiced only when politically expedient.  A review of our history reveals that the words are there, but the practice of religious freedom has been lacking.  I am always taken aback by those who claim that this country was founded on the principles of religious freedom.  It was not.  The founding fathers took great pains to ensure that there was a separation of church and state and the infusion of religion into governance.  Some of the more notable quotes include these by the these famous founding fathers: “The...

  Immigration reform is a political minefield and more contentious than ever.   With the midterm elections approaching this fall, and the presidential election two years away, immigration reform will once again be at the forefront.   What is at issue though is not just immigration but also that of unchecked foreign policy.     A review of the recent history of immigration and its correlation to foreign-policy will hopefully shed light on the complexity of reform. Throughout the 20 th century immigration policy was generally one of restriction.  However, during a national crisis, the link between foreign-policy and immigration becomes very apparent.  With the spread of communism in Europe, World Wars I & II and the Cuban crisis’s, the government loosened immigration restrictions and even stimulated migration from Mexico and other Latin American countries. 1.   In 1917 the government formalized a migration practice with Mexico.   ...

  The recent events in the Ukraine, and all of the accompanying outrage by the President and Congress, has openly exposed the hypocrisy in United States foreign policy.  This became very clear as I watched the White House Press Secretary respond to questions about the effectiveness of the President as he tries to build support for a response to the Russian invasion of the Crimea. The most recent statement: "No country has the right to  unilaterally encroach  into the territorial sovereignty of another nation......"  WOW!  Let's review. The United States is well know for its unilateral military interventions since the birth of the nation. We have become famous for them in the past few decades: 1983 - Grenada  1989 - Panama 1993 - Somalia  1999 - Yugoslavia 2003 - Iraq 2002 to Present - Drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia (Originally started under President Bush , the number of authorized drone strikes has doubled un...

O ver the past few weeks I have seen numerous posts on Facebook, read articles from the newspaper, and watched commercials about "taking back America" or "Getting Back to American Values." I agree!  But, perhaps we need to ask these questions first:  1.) What, specifically, are American Values?  2.) What is America supposed to look like once we "take it back?" Listing american values is probably the easiest to do as an individual but the most difficult to come to consensus around.  Just look at some of the social network posts to see the divisions with what some claim to be a "value."  Some feel we lost our values when we attack the God element in our governmental language.  For example, removing the term "under God" from the pledge of allegiance.  People make statements like "if one nation under God was good enough for our forefathers it's good enough for us today."  This statement is indicative of the ignorance of ou...

The Media Tree USC Symposium on Digital Media   Anyone who is a child, parent, spouse, teacher, brother, sister, co-worker, boss, minister, or (you pick) is a master of spin.  "How are we going to convince the kids to do....?"  Or, "How can I get mom and dad to allow me to do...?"  Most will say, this is not spin but manipulation.  Exactly!  Spin is manipulating fact to achieve a predetermined goal.  It may not be as obvious in our everyday life but it is a reality.  Today, however, with the widespread use of multimedia, spinning is an art that requires daily attention.  Particularly with politics, it incorporates the use of Plato's Noble Lie.   Plato's Noble Lie has been in practice for centuries and applies a different set of "truths" to different groups in order to achieve maximum support with minimum resistance.  It doesn't require a lot of thought in its application, just a basic understanding of the various groups that ...

The intent of this blog is to provide a forum for open and constructive discussion on the current political environment in the United States.  Our country has become polarized on almost every level because we do not engage in constructive and open dialogue.  It is named Article 28 based on the a proposed amendment to the constitution to reform the government.   While the proposed article has very little chance of survival, to does provide a foundation for discussion and, God willing, a platform for political change. As I begin, I want to provide some personal background information so those who choose to engage in this discussion will have a point of reference for my thought process and opinions. I am a retired Air Force veteran and served in a Special Operations Unit in Thailand and Vietnam.  I retired from active duty in 1991 shortly after Desert Storm.  During my military career, I had the opportunity to live all over the world and experience the politi...