LorieByrd.com

Taters vs. Punkins

While I don't expect John Kerry to show up at the debate tonight in all his orangeness (makeup will fix that disaster), it has been a fun distraction this week. I posted a song at Polipundit from Pat Curley's blog about O' Pumpkinhead and even linked to a post I wrote a while back about Teresa Heinz Kerry's Pumpkin Spice cookies entered in the Family Circle contest. Being a North Carolina girl, I realized today that the color displayed by John Kerry this week actually more closely resembles a sweet potato. Sweet potato puddin', with a crunchy brown sugar and pecan topping, and sweet potato pie are specialties of mine. I would share the recipe, but I don't really measure things out, I just judge the amount by sight and taste. North Carolina grows both pumpkins and sweet potatoes. I don't know where we rank with pumpkins, but in sweet potatoes we are #1.

Tonight's Debate

I have posted my take on what Bush needs to do in tonight's debate at Polipundit. Please check it out and add your comments.

A Reader's Open Letter to "The Boss"

The following is an open letter to Bruce Springsteen sent to me by a reader. The writer lets "The Boss" know that at least one fan thinks he has abandoned his "common man" beginnings.

Dear Bruce,

How are the preparations for the tour going? Will you be coming back to Jersey? I know when you announced this thing you didn't think New Jersey would be a swing state but here we are in a virtual tie. I'm a Jersey guy myself Bruce, born and bred and still living here. I come from the same grimey blue collar streets you used to write about and I certainly have a deep connection with many of your songs. As a matter of fact, the song "Johnny 99" about a worker at the Ford plant in Mahwah who finds himself in prison particularly struck a chord with me because that Ford plant is where my father spent most of his time while I was growing up. He worked the graveyard shift and took as many overtime hours as he could get. I myself worked at a friends factory every summer when I was a kid so that I could save money for the school year and my older brother used to tease me with the lyrics of your song "Factory". You know the words I'm talking about...."early in the mornin, factory whistle blows, man rises from bed and puts on his clothes..."I'm just telling you this so you know where I'm coming from ok?.

I also want to tell you that, like yourself, I was also a big fan of one of your tour-mates, Jackson Browne. On his first few albums I could relate to his sense of disillusionment, both in interpersonal relationships and in the world(but for different reasons). But when he started writing songs about politics, well let's face it-his music got boring and he lost many of his fans-including myself. Let me get back to the business of this tour. Yourself, Jackson Browne, and a bunch of other musical midgets(compared to you two)-yes Mellencamp will be there but he is so pretentious that it hurts(so good). You guys are out there laying it on the line for John Kerry. John Kerry Bruce? He of the fake tan, expensive coif, windsurfer extaordinaire, marry twice for money, live in five mansions, nuanced, longwinded blowhard? And that sweet talkin little pretty boy trial lawyer thats his running mate?C'mon Bruce, these are the types of guys you used to put on a skewer in your old songs. What do you reallly think these two cats are going to do for your beloved working man? Raise taxes on the rich guys I guess is the answer to that question but Bruce, in case you havn't been paying attention for the past forty years, just giving people money isn't going to improve their situation. They need opportunity and I don't see how these two are going to help with that.

I mentioned my father before, Bruce, He was a union guy-so was mom- she was a telephone operator. You say the Democrats are for the working man. I guess if my folks voted strictly with their own financial interests they may have gone with the Democrats. But they voted for what was best for the country and for what was best for their children. They used to laugh at the weak- willed Carters and Mondales of the world. They knew Ronald Reagan was fighting the good fight against communism and in the end they were right. Just as George Bush is fighting the good fight against terrorism and in the end he will be right too.

The other reason they always voted republican is the abortion issue, You and all your lefty friends are always blathering on about helping our weakest citizens. What about the 45 million who innocents who have been killed by their own mothers just for showing up? 45 million since 1973 Bruce. Can you imagine how mant great artists, writers and musicians have been killed just because they were an inconvenience? I know you've said the song "The River" was based upon your own sisters experience so I assume you have a niece or nephew out there somewhere who was spared a violent death. I also know you've said that you are a "lapsed catholic" but you only have to be a liitle bit religious to realize that 45 million just ain't right. And yet your boy, Kerry, who has said that he thinks life begins at conception, well he hasn't met a pro abortion law that he hasn't liked-including the gruesome late term abortion. You can have him.

Lately you've been popping off on the media as well which I don't really understand. These guys have been propping you up for years now making a legend out of you. Even giving you good reviews for "The Rising" which, well let's just say I'll take any minor song from the old days like "point blank" over any of the best songs on this album. And what about this whole Dan Rather fiasco? He goes on the air with obviously forged documents in a concerted effort with your Democratic party in an effort to throw the election and then, amazingly, denies it, and you have a problem with Fox news?

So this is how you want to go out. A brilliant career ending with you walking into the sunset arm in arm with your buddies Begalia, Carville, Rather, Kerry and Edwards. Years from now when anyone asks me what I remember about you my response will be "Yea , Bruce Springsteen, Democratic party hack. Don't look for me at any of your shows.
yours,
Dennis P. Garrity

The Mean Fritz

Many have commented lately on how genial the Reagan-Mondale debate was in 1984. Check out the latest edition of Jay Nordlinger's Impromtus at NRO for some comments on the other "Fritz" in politics, who is not so genial:

Speaking of blows, particularly of the low kind: It just may be that Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D., S.C.) is the meanest man in politics. I have a sharp memory of a 1984 Democratic-primary debate — one moderated by Barbara Walters. Hollings was a candidate, and so was Reuben Askew, the former governor of Florida. Hollings thought Askew had misquoted him (or something), and Hollings barked, "You got a tic in your ear, too?" (Askew suffered from an eye twitch.)

Anyway, Hollings keeps calling Bush a "draft dodger." In recent days, he has said, "Look at the record. We're defending a Silver Star recipient against a damned draft dodger." Earlier in the month, he had said, "The Silver Star is being kicked around by a draft dodger."

A) Bush is not a draft dodger. And b) the Democrats nominated a genuine draft dodger for president twice, in the 1990s. Shouldn't Democratic senators keep their mouths shut on this? I mean, facts aside?

This item is cross posted at Polipundit.com. Check there for additional posts by me and many more talented than me.

Kerry Leads By Wide Margin -- Outside The U.S.

Here is another one of those stories about how Kerry is favored by a majority of those outside of America. Big flippin' deal. A majority of women in many of those same countries don't shave their armpits, either. But seriously, I can't imagine why George Bush would be thought of by people in some foreign countries as a lying, misleading, warmonger who sacrifices the lives of young men and women in order to acquire no bid contracts for Halliburton. Who could possibly have given them such an idea? Anybody? Anybody?

(This item is cross-posted at Polipundit.com)

Welcome and Thanks

Welcome to all who found your way here today via Polipundit, Crush Kerry and Betsy's Page. Thanks to Betsy and Crush Kerry for the links and for their friendship and encouragement. Thanks to Polipundit for that and everything else.

Please come back and check in periodically. I will be posting primarily at Polipundit, but will occassionally post items here that are more lengthy or don't quite fit the Polipundit subject matter and format. Please leave comments or email me if you have anything to share. Thanks again for stopping by.

If Anyone Could Be The Poster Child for the Current Health Care "Crisis" It Is Me -- Thanks, But No Thanks

I am probably the perfect target for John Kerry's pitch for a new approach to health care. My husband took a new job several months ago, and while the job conditions and pay are better than they were in his previous position, there is one big drawback. His new company is small and does not offer a group health insurance plan. We have tried, but been unable to get private health insurance due to pre-existing medical conditions. We are currently paying an astronomical amount of money each month for COBRA coverage. I recently took a job working nights and weekends (so we didn't have to get a babysitter) to get onto a group health plan, but will not even be eligible for coverage for several more months. I'll bet the Kerry campaign would love to let me be a poster child "victim" of the American health care "crisis." No, thanks.

So why would I reject the tempting promise of a government solution to the health care "crisis" in America and why would I find it hard to take John Kerry's proposals seriously and trust Kerry-Edwards to solve the problems that exist today? For one thing, I think that John Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, did a lot to contribute to the high medical costs that result in more and more expensive insurance premiums. The main reason though is out of concern for the quality of health care that would be available under a system with increased government control. Although John Kerry says that his health care solution would not be government-run health care, his liberal record in the Senate and the demands of many of his biggest supporters lead me to believe otherwise. Though Kerry doesn't propose government administered health care services, there is no question that his plan would involve increased government control of health care. Because of my personal experiences, the quality and availability of health care is of utmost importance.

Between my two parents alone, there is a history of two battles with cancer and heart problems. What are the chances that I am going to get through life without inheriting at least one of those medical conditions? Probably not so good. My driving interest in maintaining access to quality health care, however, has even more to do with my children than with me or my parents. My daughter is four years old and has had five surgeries and multiple treatments for various other medical problems in her short life. We also have quite a list of prescriptions that we fill each month. Probably what convinced me most to be suspicious of those wanting the government to play a bigger role in the health care system is our most recent experience.

My daughter had a cholesteatoma removed from her ear this summer. A cholesteatoma is a growth in the ear that, if not removed, can ultimately be fatal. It grows until it crushes and destroys the hearing bones in the ear, then eventually, if left unchecked, can cause damage to the brain. My daughter's surgery took longer than expected because the doctor found her case to be the worst he had ever seen in a child her age. The recurrence rate for cholesteatoma is quite high. Many with the condition require multiple surgeries to remove regrowth. All those with this condition require regular monitoring to make sure the growth has not recurred. This is a condition she will have to deal with for the rest of her life.

I have read many stories of people in Canada waiting for weeks or even months for hospital treatment, sometimes even for serious health concerns such as cancer. (It seems that Americans who can, cross the border for prescription drugs, and Canadians that can, cross the border for timely and quality medical services.) Even more frightening than that, however, are first hand accounts I have read recently. I have been part of a cholesteatoma internet support group for several months now and have seen stories from those having problems both here and in other countries. Here the main problems, in addition to those related to the condition itself, are with insurance companies and are related to how much of the surgery and other expenses of treatment they will pay. The problems for those with government-run health care, in my opinion, are much more troubling. One woman in the cholesteatoma group wrote that she was on a waiting list for months for her surgery. When my daughter was first diagnosed, her ENT doctor told us he was having surgery himself and that if we wanted him to do the surgery we would have to put it off for four weeks. Although she had already had tubes put in her ears twice by this doctor, and we liked and trusted him, we chose to have a partner in his practice do the surgery, rather than wait. I cannot imagine being in the position of knowing that there was something growing in my daughter's ear that was destroying her hearing, and potentially causing damage to her brain, and we had to just wait and let it continue to grow for months. If I was in that position, I would imagine that I would sell or mortgage whatever I needed to in order to travel to wherever it was possible to have the surgery done sooner.

Since I am currently working nights and weekends solely because we are currently unable to get health coverage any other way, I would love to see some innovative alternatives to the current system. Tax free health savings accounts are a great start, but from what I know about them, do not address the issue of catastrophic medical expenses. Tort reform to address the problem of medical malpractice insurance costs is another proposal that could significantly contribute to solving the problem of rising health costs, and along with them, rising health insurance premiums. Whatever combination of approaches ultimately best addresses the current problems is not clear to me, but what I do know is that I do not trust Kerry-Edwards to solve those problems.

UPDATE: Thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the link! If you feel so moved, please leave a comment. I have gotten some great comments and emails already giving me lots of information I didn't have about health insurance alternatives. Thanks to all.

Renewed Attention on Vietnam Causes Some To Recall Fond Memories, Along With The Bad, And To Look Up Old Friends

Although the Kerry Vietnam controversies have no doubt revived many painful memories for veterans of that war, there have been some positive things to come from the discussion. My father-in-law, while discussing the Kerry Vietnam issue with my husband, told him some stories that my husband had not heard in quite a few years and my father-in-law even decided to look up an old Army buddy and get back in touch. One of the stories my husband related to me follows:

When Dad was in Vietnam, one night he and some others were on guard duty. Someone got word that a General was on his way for a visit so they needed to be sure to follow proper protocol. Several soldiers tried to get the word to the "good ole boy" soldier who was working the gate, but the word did not move fast enough. When the General approached the gate, disturbed that no one asked him to identify himself, he yelled out "Password". The good ole boy soldier at the gate, not realizing this was a big wig, replied, "'Oh, you just holler 'bull' and I'll holler 'shit'." Dad and his fellow soldiers did their best to scatter as far away as they could before they burst out in laughter.