And Republicans Complain About Big Government?

The Statistical Reporting of Abortions Act was originally scheduled to take effect last Sunday in the progressive State of Oklahoma. As a result of this legislation, the State Department of Health will now be required to publish data concerning all patients who have abortions performed in the state on a public web site. Any physicians who fail to provide such information will be subject to numerous penalties, including fines, criminal prosecution and/or loss of their medical licenses. (By the way, I use the term "originally" in my initial statement because the enforcement of this ridiculous law has fortunately been postponed due to a legal challenge from the Center for Reproductive Rights.)

Despite the numerous complaints, supporters of the Statistical Reporting of Abortions Act denied the fact that the legislation violates a patient's right to privacy and, in turn, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This legislation from 1996 mandates the establishment of guidelines which ensure patient information is "utilized in a manner that appropriately protects the confidentiality of the information and the privacy of individuals receiving health care services and items". However, these supporters continue to deny these privacy violations although physicians will be required to report, among other things, the following information on all abortion patients:

1. County in which abortion performed
2. Age of mother
3. Marital status of mother
4. Race of mother
5. Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother
6. Reason given for abortion
7. Was the abortion necessary to save the life of the mother?
8. Did the pregnancy result from an act of forcible rape? or Did the pregnancy result from an act of incest committed against a minor?
9. If the female was a minor at the time of conception, please indicate the age of the father of the unborn child at the time of conception?

And these are just nine of the up to thirty-seven questions (with some of them requiring extensive details) that physicians will be required to answer for every patient. And although such detailed detailed demographic information would allow for the identification of certain patients, especially those women who live in small towns. But even with this glaring evidence staring him in the face, State Rep. Daniel Sullivan (R) , the Republican visionary who authored the bill, obviously has a different opinion: "There's no way a person can be singled out or identified the way it would be listed." Tell that to, for example, the fifteen-year-old African-American girl in the town of Davidson (population 0f 375 estimated by the United States Census Bureau in July 2007), who is being ridiculed after it was discovered that she had an abortion. The town of Davidson whose population, according to the 2000 census was 1.33% African-American. Yes, Mr. Sullivan, I am sure that no one could ever be identified from this site. With that being said, Sullivan's defense of the supposed actual purpose of the legislation may be even more offensive. Claiming the data generated by the new bill will be used to educate the demographics with high rates of unwanted pregnancies, Sullivan provided this statement to FOX News: "If there's something that we can do to positively impact that segment of that population -- and have a lowering effect on those rates -- then we want to be able to look at what policy decisions we can make."

Despite the absurdity of the Statistical Reporting of Abortions Act, this isn't the first time that the State of Oklahoma has attempted to enact an unconstitutional law regarding abortion procedures. Last year the state legislature passed a bill which required the following to be performed on every abortion patient (regardless of the situation):

1. Perform an obstetric ultrasound.
2. Provide a simultaneous explanation of what the ultrasound is depicting.
3. Display the ultrasound images so that the pregnant woman may view those images.
4. Provide a medical description of the ultrasound images, including the dimensions of the embryo or fetus and the presence of external members and internal organs (if present and viewable).

The law was introduced by Sen. Todd Lamb (R) because he "wanted to encourage life in society. In Oklahoma, society is on the side of life." (As if wasn't everywhere else.) Luckily this particular piece of legislation was overturned in August of this year by an Oklahoma County District judge because the law violated constitutional requirements.

This Day in History

Sixty-two years ago today, the current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, was born at Edgewater Medical Center in Chicago, IL to Hugh and Dorothy Rodham. Aside from her present role within the Obama administration, Clinton has also served as First Lady of the United States and as a Senator for the State of New York. Despite the fact that Republicans have continually attacked her and her family ever since former President Bill Clinton announced his plans in 1992 to run for the White House, Clinton has remained a prominent figure in politics. And I will openly admit that, even if I disagreed with Clinton's ideology (which I don't), I would be extremely proud if my two daughters looked up to Clinton as an idol and wanted to follow in her footsteps. Of course, my daughters will be raised properly and with the ability to see through the female disgraces on the right, such as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Ann Coulter.

Maybe Senility Is Settling In

On Friday, President Obama and former President George H.W. Bush commemorated the twentieth anniversary of President Bush's "Thousand Points of Light" speech by hosting a Presidential Forum on Service at the George Bush Presidential Library on the campus of Texas A&M University. The event honored the tremendous advances in the service movement which was started during President Bush's administration and has been sustained and expanded through the leadership of President Clinton and President Obama. President Bush issued a letter the day before, asking the "Texas A&M Family" for their assistance in showing "the open, decent and welcoming Aggie spirit" to President Obama.

Despite his letter of civility regarding President Obama's visit, President Bush conducted a radio interview with CBS News which contained a slightly different message. Although President Bush preached during the interview that President Obama is "entitled to civil treatment and intellectual honesty when it comes to critics", he then proceeds to insult MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann by describing them as "a couple of sick puppies". President Bush continued with the following hypocritical comments:

• "The way they, the way they treat my son and treat anybody that's opposed to their point of view is just horrible."
• "When our son was President, they just hammered him mercilessly, and I think obscenely, a lot of the time."
• During a discussion regarding the critics of his son's wonderful tenure in the White House, President Bush stated that those individuals "weren't singled out as much as they should have been".
• Regardless of the fact he labeled Maddow and Olbermann as "sick puppies", President Bush declared that harsh criticism "should not be par for the course. To the degree it turns off one student or one person from serving, that's bad."

This lesson in civility comes from the man who hired Roger Ailes as his media strategist for his 1988 presidential campaign against former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. Ailes, the current President of FOX News Channel and Chairman of the FOX Television Stations Group, was once described by fellow lowlife Lee Atwater as possessing "two speeds -- attack and destroy". When contemplating the content of a campaign commercial concerning William Horton, a convicted felon from Massachusetts who committed assault, armed robbery and rape while released on a weekend furlough program, Ailes remarked that "The only question is whether we depict [Horton] with a knife in his hand or without it". As the executive producer of the short lived television show, "The Rush Limbaugh Show", Ailes referred to President Bill Clinton as the "hippie President" and verbally attacked the so-called "liberal bigots".

This Day in History

On this day in 1867, the United States formally took possession of Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less than two cents an acre. Now I am aware of the fact that this transaction for such a beautiful part of the world was a tremendous deal and I am sure that the majority of the state's residents are wonderful individuals. However, based on what I know about and have seen from a certain Alaskan family, is it too late for us to give the territory back?

Riding (But Ignoring) Coattails

When the Nobel Foundation announced last week that the organization was awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama, it is certainly safe to say that a large portion of the international community was surprised, including the President himself. I tend to hold the same opinion of many other individuals about the fact that President Obama probably received the award more for the anticipation and potential for peace and diplomacy as opposed to the actual realization up to this point.

Although I agree there were more deserving individuals for the award than President Obama, I must completely dispute the argument from the right that the Nobel Peace Prize is now tainted or not as meaningful. Let's not forget that this is an award whose nominees include Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Joseph Stalin (Enough said.) and whose recipients include Yasser Arafat (a known terrorist), Henry Kissinger (a warmonger) and Shimon Peres (massacred hundreds of Lebanese). Therefore, you will have to excuse me if I don't protest President Obama's award because it is obvious that the Nobel Peace Prize has become highly political.

With that being said, I am bewildered most by one objector in particular: Michael Steele. I certainly expected the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) to release a statement against President Obama receiving the award and I certainly expected his comments to be immaturely along these lines: "It is unfortunate that the President's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. One thing is certain -- President Obama won't be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility or backing up rhetoric with concrete action." However, I am amazed that Steele would begin his statement with this sentence: "The real question Americans are asking is, 'What has President Obama actually accomplished?'." While his election as the first African-American President has no bearing on the issues our country currently faces, it is most truly an enormous accomplishment which provides tremendous hope to millions of people worldwide.

What I am most frustrated about with Steele's comments is his inability to realize (or desire not to admit) the fact that President Obama's election accomplished one more feat: his Chairman of the RNC. Does Steele honestly believe that, if an African-American had not been elected to the White House, he would be in the position he is in today? President Obama got Steele elected without even voting for him! The Republican Party is attempting to use Steele in order to hopefully attract voters from a group that they have continuously ignored year after year. Now don't get me wrong. With remarks such as the ones below from just one interview on "The Curtis Sliwa Show" on ABC Radio earlier this year, it is obvious that Steele and the Republican Party know what they're doing. (By the way, this interview occurred less than a month after Steele assumed office in his new role.)

• When discussing Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (who was born to immigrants from India), Steele offered "some slum love out to my buddy. Gov. Bobby Jindal is doing a friggin' awesome job in his state."
• In describing President Obama's stimulus package, Steele uttered: "There's a lot of bling bling -- the bling bling's got bling bling in this package. That's how bad it is."
• "[The Republican Party] has got to take it's head out of it's you know what and recognize that America doesn't look like America in 1952. That America now is something very different, very beautiful -- that has a lot of strips and strains to it. But it's real and we've got to get in the real."
• In response to Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and her opinion that Steele's new "hip-hop" strategy isn't "going to work", Steele claimed: "I'm not stupid. I was born in [Washington, D.C.] on 8th Street. I know what's up. I know what time it is. I used to hang out in Brooklyn and in the Bronx as a teenager. I know what the real world is like."
• After Sliwa informed Steele that he was going to play a song from Jay-Z, Steele responded with "There you go, playa".

Hypocrisy/Insult of the Week

The employees of FOX News are bent out of shape after members of the Obama administration criticized the network earlier this week. Anita Dunn, the interim White House Communications Director, stated "The reality of it is that FOX News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. And it's not ideological but what I think is fair to say about FOX, and certainly the way we view it, is that it's really more a wing of the Republican Party." Not to be outdone, Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary, offered this comment when addressing Dunn's previous comments: "I have watched many stories on that network that I found not to be true." In response, Glenn Beck informed the audience of his self titled television show on FOX News that he had installed a telephone for the White House to use in case the network incorrectly reported any information.

Aside from the telephone devoted to the Obama administration, Beck uttered that "They're more worried about the war on FOX than the actual war in Afghanistan". With that being said, an analysis of Beck's program by POLITICO.com proves that this is clearly an instance of the pot calling the kettle black. The following are the threats (listed by the frequency of the words used) that Beck has discussed since his show began on FOX News on January 19th (the day before President Obama's inauguration):

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN): 1,224
Czars: 533
Socialist/socialism: 404
Communist/communism: 330
Liberals: 272
Service Employees International Union (SEIU): 259
Community organizer/organizing: 167
Marxist/Marxism: 127
Afghanistan: 97
Iraq: 95
Troops: 95
Soldiers: 52
Al-Qaeda: 50
Left wing: 43
Taliban: 38

Beck's list of individual enemies targeted on his show is also lacking when it comes to international terrorists:

Van Jones: 267
Valerie Jarrett: 52
Mark Lloyd: 50
William Ayers: 46
John Holdren: 43
Jeremiah Wright: 42
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: 41
Osama bin Laden: 40
Kim Jong Il: 7
Mullah Omar: 2
Najibullah Zazi: 0

These numbers do not apply to Beck's program alone because the entire network has undergone a dramatic shift since President Obama entered the White House. Reporting extensively on terrorism during the Bush administration, FOX News has, much like the conservative movement overall, has turned its focus towards a smear campaign on the Obama administration and the Democratic Party.

Beck did briefly touch on the subject of Afghanistan last week when he, on the eight-year anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan, offered these remarks: "A real quick mention of a couple of things. Eight years of fighting in Afghanistan, almost eight hundred Americans killed. Thank you, families, for your sacrifice. This has been happening in Afghanistan when we struck back against the terrorists. Eight years -- eight years. Do you really think, if we were really fighting to win and our politicians were serious, we would still be there?" But in true Glenn Beck fashion (and the entire network, for that matter), he embarrassed himself by continuing to speak: "And another anniversary -- FOX News Channel began its journey thirteen years ago. I'm proud to be part of the family." And there you have it. While FOX News has continually attacked President Obama since he entered the White House, the network's crying and whining poster boy accuses the White House of ignoring the war in Afghanistan. However, when he finally does mention the topic of Afghanistan, Beck minimizes the issue and, in turn, insults the troops in that area by also bringing up another ridiculous anniversary.

Kiss My Czars!

A number of issues (including the financial crisis, health care reform and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) have garnered the headlines over the last few months (and deservedly so). However, there is one storyline that has been forgotten so I wanted to address it now. With potentially the most ironic name in all of politics, the Brainroom at FOX News recently compiled a supposed "detailed" (code word for highly exaggerated) list of the thirty-two "czars" that President Obama has added to his administration since he entered the White House in January. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, the informal title of czar (for example, drug czar) is given to certain high level officials in the executive branch who either direct or manage federal operations on a specific topic or coordinate policies between different departments on a given topic. Numerous fringe web sites have posted similar lists on this topic but, for this posting, I will use the one developed by the Brainroom and subsequently posted on the web site of the crying lunatic otherwise known as Glenn Beck.

Before I address the aforementioned list, it is important to point out that the czar title is an extremely subjective term and that President Obama, as Republicans would have you believe, did not create the czar role in the United States government. (Couldn't you refer to anyone serving as a department Secretary as a "czar" of some type? You could but it just wouldn't make sense.) As a matter of fact, the media has referred to appointed executive branch officials as czars since the early 1940s and President Richard Nixon appointed his drug czar in 1971. However, conservatives want you to believe that President Obama has drastically overstepped the boundaries in this area when compared to previous administrations. (By the way, for a portion of my research, I utilized the list published on Wikipedia. Now while I am definitely not taking the word of Wikipedia as gospel, I must emphasize that so-called czars are only included in the web site's list if, first and foremost, a political opponent or member of the media have referred to these individuals as czars in a citable publication. With all of that out of the way, let's take a look at the czar list from Brainroom, as well as czars from the Bush administration:

1. Afghanistan Czar--Richard Holbrooke
NOTE: It certainly seems to be an enormous stretch to label the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan as a "czar". This is highlighted even more by the fact that, in 2001, Mr. Bush appointed Zalmay Khalilzad as his Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan but Khalilzad was never labeled as any type of czar. According to the web site for the previous administration, the Special Presidential Envoy is "a representative to the Afghan people". Well, that sounds completely different.

2. AIDS Czar--Jeffrey Crowley
NOTE: This role and the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) were both created in 1993 by President Bill Clinton.
Bush: During his two terms in the White House, Mr. Bush appointed three individuals to the role of Director of the ONAP and all three have been criticized for, among other things, their poor performance.

3. Auto Recovery Czar--Edward Montgomery
NOTE: See below in information for Car Czar.

4. Border Czar--Alan Bersin
NOTE: Holding an extremely similar position under President Clinton, Bersin serves as the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). And although Bersin was appointed to his post by President Obama, confirmation by the United States Senate was also required.
Bush: Numerous members of the Texas State Senate spoke with the White House in 2001 about the idea of creating a border czar. However, the Bush administration decided against the border czar role and instead assigned the tasks of this particular individual within the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and then eventually within the DHS. Thank goodness Bersin won't be working under the DHS. Hey, wait a minute!

5. California Water Czar--David Hayes (not on Wikipedia's list)
NOTE: Hayes serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, which is the same position that he held during the Clinton administration. Therefore, labeling Hayes as the "California water czar" just because that will be one of his major focuses during the Obama administration is absolutely ridiculous. And while Hayes was appointed to his post by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.
Bush: The Bush administration was and continues to be consistently criticized for its lack of support for California in the state's struggle to fix the water supply and environmental crises it has been experiencing.

6. Car Czar--Ron Bloom
NOTE: Nothing underscores how truly absurd this czar list truly is than if you conduct any sort of research on the "car czar". Multiple sources will name Ron Bloom as that individual while others will mention Edward Montgomery (the aforementioned "auto recovery czar").
Bush: At the end of last year, the Bush administration (specifically former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson) was considering the adoption of a plan which would select a car czar with oversight responsibilities concerning the financial troubles of the American automobile industry. Sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it?

7. Central Region Czar--Dennis Ross
NOTE: Ross previously served as the Director of Policy Planning under President George H.W. Bush and then the Special Middle East Envoy under President Clinton. Due to his knowledge of that particular area of the world, Ross recently joined the staff of the National Security Council as a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Central Region (encompassing the Afghanistan, the Middle East, Pakistan, the Persian Gulf and South Asia). Seriously? Are we now labeling members of the National Security Council as "czars"?
Bush: As was the case with my earlier mention of Zalmay Khalilzad and his role as Special Presidential Envoy to Afghanistan, Mr. Bush named other individuals (Anthony Zinni, for example) for similar roles who handled the same region with which Ross is supporting.

8. Climate Czar--Todd Stern
NOTE: Once again, this czar list proves its absurdity if you conduct research on the "climate czar". Multiple sources will name Todd Stern as that individual while others will mention Carol Browner (the soon to be discussed "energy and environment czar"). With that being said, Stern served in a similar role as the Coordinator for Climate Change under President Clinton.

9. Domestic Violence Czar--Lynn Rosenthal
NOTE: During the announcement of Rosenthal's appointment, Vice President Biden, who spearheaded the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, stated that this topic "has not been a front and center issue for the last eight years on the national agenda".

10. Drug Czar--Gil Kerlikowske
NOTE: The term "drug czar" was first used when Jerome Jaffe was named as the Chief of the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODAP) by President Nixon. And although Kerlikowske was appointed to his role by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.
Bush: John Walters served as the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for all eight years of Mr. Bush's presidency. Otherwise known as the "drug czar", Walters eventually allocated more than $100 billion to the war on drugs. At the same time, illegal drug use among American adults during the Bush administration remained virtually unchanged. In fact, during his testimony in May of this year before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, John Carnevale, the former Director of Planning and Budget at the ONDCP, remarked that "The strategy totally failed to achieve any progress in this key goal area established by the previous administration".

11. Economic Czar--Paul Volcker
NOTE: It is certainly a stretch for someone in an unpaid, part time position to be viewed as a "czar". Nonetheless, that is the title that has been bestowed upon Volcker is in his role as Chairman of the newly formed Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
Bush: When Mr. Bush appointed the Directors of the National Economic Council (four separate Directors during his presidency) and the Secretary of the Treasury (Henry Paulson, who was the last of three to hold this post during Mr. Bush's administration), multiple media sources referred to all of these individuals as "economic czars".

12. Energy and Environment Czar--Carol Browner
NOTE: See above in information for Climate Czar.
Bush: Despite his approach towards the environment and smart energy, I should point out that the two individuals who ironically served as Secretary of Energy during Mr. Bush's presidency were referred to as "energy czars".

13. Faith Based Czar--Joshua DuBois
Bush: This term started to be utilized after Mr. Bush created the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) in January 2001. By the way, four separate individuals served as Director of the OFBCI by the time Mr. Bush's presidency thankfully ended.

14. Government Performance Czar--Jeffrey Zients
NOTE: Aside from the fact that he needed to be confirmed by the Senate, Zients's official position is Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget.

15. Great Lakes Czar--Cameron Davis
NOTE: Davis was actually appointed by Lisa Jackson, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to manage President Obama's initiative to clean up the Great Lakes.

16. Green Jobs Czar--Van Jones (resigned on September 5th)
NOTE: As I stated in my comment regarding President Obama's supposed "climate czar", we certainly would not have expected Mr. Bush to have anyone focusing on jobs which improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources.

17. Guantanamo Closure Czar--Daniel Fried
NOTE: As the Special Envoy to Guantanamo, Fried serves as a member of an interagency committee chaired by Attorney General Eric Holder and responsible for reviewing the cases of the remaining captives in the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Fried's position has a rank equivalent to that of an ambassador. However, that has not stopped conservatives such as Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) from labeling him as a "czar". By the way, please keep in mind that, as I have pointed out in previous postings, the base established at Guantanamo Bay by the U.S. military is completely illegal.
Bush: This Pandora's box was opened by Mr. Bush so he, of course, never designated an individual to concentrate on closing the prison.

18. Health Czar--Nancy-Ann DeParle
NOTE: Holding the position of Director of the Health Care Financing Administration under President Clinton, DeParle currently serves as the Director of the Office of Health Reform.

19. Information Czar--Vivek Kundra
NOTE: Kundra is the first individual to serve as the Federal Chief Information Officer after being appointed by President Obama. With that being said, this position was created during the Bush presidency through the E-Government Act of 2002. Kundra will also serve as the E-Government and Information Technology Administrator.

20. Intelligence Czar--Dennis Blair
NOTE: In the role of the Director of National Intelligence, Blair is responsible for heading the sixteen-member Intelligence Community and managing and directing the National Intelligence Program, while serving as a principal advisor to the President, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council. Does this sound like someone who should simply be labeled a "czar" to you? And although Blair was appointed to his post by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.
Bush: While the Director of National Intelligence position was not created until Bush signed it into law in December 2004, Bush also issued an executive order in July 2008 to expand the role.

21. Mideast Peace Czar--George Mitchell
NOTE: Appointed by Secretary of State Clinton, Mitchell is currently serving as a Special Envoy to the Middle East. As I have pointed out with other entries on this list, individuals (Khalilzad, Zinni, etc.) in similar envoy roles during the Bush administration were not labeled as czars.

22. Pay Czar--Kenneth Feinberg
NOTE: Following his appointment by the Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, Feinberg was tasked with examining the executive compensation practices of companies which received funds from the federal bailout program. As is the case with Paul Volcker, Feinberg is performing his responsibilities as an unpaid employee. Feinberg also served in a pro bono role during the Bush administration when he was appointed by Attorney General John Ashcroft as the Special Master of the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund.

23. Regulatory Czar--Cass Sunstein
NOTE: Even though Sunstein was appointed by President Obama to the post of the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), confirmation by the Senate was also required.
Bush: Susan Dudley, the second individual to hold the position of the Administrator of the OIRA, was originally nominated by Mr. Bush in July 2006. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs conducted a hearing on Dudley's nomination in November of the same year but did not vote on her confirmation. Mr. Bush then re-nominated Dudley in January 2007, appointed her as a senior advisor to the OIRA later that month and then granted Dudley with a recess appointment as the Administrator of the OIRA in April 2007.

24. Science Czar--John Holdren
NOTE: Aside from being the Co-Chairman of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Holdren will serve as the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. And although Holdren was appointed to his post by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.

25. Stimulus Accountability Czar--Earl Devaney
NOTE: As the Inspector General for the Department of the Interior, Devaney has been responsible for "overseeing the administration of a nationwide independent program of audits, evaluations and investigations" of the agency's programs and operations since 1999. Therefore, Devaney was appointed to his role as the Chairman of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board in order to manage the $787 billion from the American Recovery and Re-Investment Act.

26. Sudan Czar--Scott Gration (not on Wikipedia's list)
NOTE: Despite the fact that Mr. Bush appointed three individuals to the post of Special Envoy to Sudan, President Obama's selection (Gration) is the only one of the four labeled as a czar.

27. TARP Czar--Herbert Allison
NOTE: As a member of the Department of the Treasury, Allison serves as the Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability. So yes, the right has attempted to describe a high ranking official within the Department of the Treasury as a "czar". And similar to the individual performing the same role during the Bush administration, Allison was required to be confirmed by the Senate following his appointment by President Obama.
Bush: The post of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability was created in October 2008 while Mr. Bush was still in the White House.

28. Technology Czar--Aneesh Chopra
NOTE: Chopra serves as the Federal Chief Technology Officer and the Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. And although Chopra was appointed to his post by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.

29. Terrorism Czar--John Brennan
NOTE: In his role as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Brennan reviews options for the Homeland Security Council, including the council's responsibility for preparing for and responding to natural and terrorism related domestic disasters. However, despite the fact that the title of Assistant to the President is the highest rank any staff member of the White House staffer can hold, the right wing has decided to label Brennan as a czar.
Bush: Two separate individuals, Richard Clarke (who also served under President Clinton) and Wayne Downing, were referred to as "terrorism czars" during the Bush administration. As a matter of fact, along with his position as Deputy National Security Advisor, Downing also served as the National Director for Combating Terrorism, which was a new role created by Bush.

30. Urban Affairs Czar--Adolfo Carrion
Bush: Considering the assistance his administration provided to the residents of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, Bush should have at least entertained the idea of creating an "urban affairs czar".

31. Weapons Czar--Ashton Carter
NOTE: As the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquistion, Technology and Logistics (AT&L), Carter is the principal staff assistant and advisor to both the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense for all aspects of the AT&L area. And although he was appointed to his role by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.
Bush: Carter replaced John Young, who was the second individual to hold the same post during the Bush administration.

32. Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Policy Czar--Gary Samore
NOTE: Prior to his current role as the Coordinator for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation at the National Security Council under President Obama, Samore served as an arms control negotiator during the Clinton administration.
Bush: Despite signing a Congressional mandate for the creation of a "WMD czar" into law in August 2007, Bush never appointed anyone to this post. Suggested by leading members of the 9-11 Commission, the provision, which was passed in Congress by a large margin and with bipartisan support, called for a Coordinator for the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Proliferation. This individual would serve as "the principal advisor to the President on all matters" relating to WMDs.

After analyzing the list from FOX News, my subjective research determined that only six of the thirty-two "czars" could actually be pinned with that label. Due to various reasons (the actual role and duties, the appointment/confirmation process, the existence of the role in previous administrations, etc.), the other twenty-six individuals (in red) were deemed to be simply high ranking officials in the Obama administration. For example, the Federal Chief Technology Officer (Aneesh Chopra) should not be described as the "technology czar". No CTO at a corporation would be described in a similar fashion so the same should apply to Chopra.

Aside from the Brainroom's list, other individuals at FOX News have continued this charade regarding these so-called czars. On the shining example of absurdity otherwise known as "FOX & Friends", co-anchor Gretchen Carlson falsely claimed that "Even though these advisors are not Cabinet positions, they don't answer to Congress because...they don't have to be confirmed". And then in a subsequent interview with Carlson, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) displayed his intelligence by remarking that a line "should have been drawn in the sand a long time ago" because "the advice and consent of the Senate is required for high ranking administration officials". Later in the same interview, Carlson uttered: "I have really been sitting back and waiting for Republicans to stand up and speak out about this. You seem to be the first person to bring it to national attention that you actually have a problem with it." Do you know why that is, Gretchen? Because both you and McHenry are complete idiots who have no idea what you are talking about!

One final point: In response to information published by FOX News and other conservative media sources concerning Obama's supposed czars, more liberal organizations have produced their own lists regarding czars from the Bush administration. (As is the case with the Brainroom's list, these lists from the left wing are purely subjective.) At the same time, a list on FactCheck.org (a project from the Annenberg Public Policy Center, whose founders have served under former Republican Presidents and supported Republican candidates), included these titles for czars during the Bush White House:

• Abstinence Czar (a position confirmed by the Senate)
• Bird Flu Czar
• Birth Control Czar (Isn't this the same as an abstinence czar?)
• Democracy Czar (But just not in the United States.)
• Gulf Coast Reconstruction Czar (Should we ask the residents of the Gulf Coast how that turned out?)
• Homelessness Czar
• Mine Safety Czar
• Reading Czar (Laura Bush previously worked as a school teacher and librarian, for Christ's sake. Couldn't she focus on this topic?)
• World Trade Center Health Czar (Czar or not, this individual completely failed in this role.)

Dedicated to the Lemmings of This Country

Following a ten-month "investigation", the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, otherwise known as the Warren Commission, released its 888-page final report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to the public. This absolute abomination of a government report amazingly concluded that "the commission has found no evidence of conspiracy, subversion or disloyalty to the U.S. government by any federal, state or local official" in executing the assassination and, if this wasn't enough, that "[Lee Harvey Oswald] acted alone" in the murder of the President of the United States.

Led by Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, this disgrace of an investigating body shockingly determined that the bullets which killed President Kennedy and wounded Texas Gov. John Connally were fired by Oswald (and only Oswald) "from the sixth floor window at the southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository". Oswald's life, including his three-year emigration to the Soviet Union and his supposed "renouncement" of his U.S. citizenship, was described in detail but the Warren Commission made absolutely no attempt to analyze his so-called "motives" for the assassination. And despite a great deal of evidence to the contrary, the Warren Commission also concluded that Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who somehow murdered Oswald in the Dallas Police Headquarters on live television, had no previous contact with Oswald before that convenient day.

Despite the "official findings" of the Warren Commission, many intelligent individuals fortunately expressed their disbelief in the report. As a result, the House Select Committee on Assassinations determined in 1979 that President Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy", with a "high probability" of "two gunmen". At the same time, neither the Warren Commission nor the House Select Committee on Assassinations did nearly enough to disclose the real truth to the American people.

Now while there are countless things wrong with the crazy nut and lone gunmen theory used by the U.S. government to frame Oswald, one quick look at the members of the Warren Commission tells you everything. Those individuals are as follows:

1. Warren (Republican): After ascending to the presidency following the assassination, the highly suspect Lyndon Johnson named Chief Justice Warren as the commission's Chairman.
2. Sen. John Cooper (R-KY)
3. Allen Dulles (Republican): Following the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion and various unsuccessful assassination attempts against Cuban President Fidel Castro, President Kennedy's mistrust of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) grew. As a result, Dulles, the Director of the CIA at the time, and his staff were forced to resign.
4. Rep. Gerald Ford (R-MI): The eventual thirty-eighth President of the United States believed in the lone gunman theory and had strong ties to the FBI and its Director, J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover personally directed the FBI investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy, who had considered firing Hoover on multiple occasions.
5. John McCloy: Initially sceptical of the lone gunman theory, McCloy curiously changed his opinion after accompanying Dulles on a trip to Dallas in 1964.
6. Arlen Specter: Serving in the United States Senate since 1981, Specter was recommended by Ford as an assistant counsel for the Warren Commission. Specter introduced the absurd "single bullet theory" to explain how the non-fatal wounds to President Kennedy and Connally were caused by the same bullet. (According to this ridiculous theory, the bullet passed through President Kennedy’s neck and Connally’s chest and wrist and then embedded itself in the Governor’s thigh. By doing so, this bullet would have traversed fifteen layers of clothing, seven layers of skin and approximately fifteen inches of tissue; struck a necktie knot; removed four inches of rib and shattered a radius bone, before being found in nearly pristine condition on a stretcher at Parkland Memorial Hospital, to which President Kennedy and Connally transported following the fateful events on November 22, 1963.)

The other two members of the Warren Commission, Rep. Hale Boggs (D-LA) and Sen. Richard Russell (D-GA), repeatedly voiced their concerns with the report released to the public. At least a small semblance of logic and sanity existed with some individuals closely associated with the assassination.

As If Being Abused Wasn't Difficult Enough...

Whether you agree or not with President Obama's health care bill, the enormity of what he is trying to accomplish should be blatantly obvious to even the densest of individuals. With that being said, because of the size and scale of this effort, certain aspects of this debate unfortunately get lost in the shuffle. However, as this drama plays out on stage right in front of this, a few of the villainous characters (and their unscrupulous behaviors) are coming out from underneath the shadows. Let's take a look at various aspects of this "performance":

Cast of Characters and some of their memorable quotes:
1. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN): "Thumbing their nose at the American people by ramming through a partisan bill would be the same thing as going to war without asking Congress' permission."
2. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC): "The federal government taking over a larger piece of the health care pie would be devastating long term to innovation and to the quality of care that the American people are accustomed to."
3. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV): When discussing the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Ensign remarked that "They get better health care than the average American citizen does".
4. Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY): "If I hadn't been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care...It's not where I get them to compromise, it's what I get them to leave out."
5. Former Sen. William Frist (R-TN): "Let's face it, in a country as productive and advanced as ours, every American deserves affordable access to health care delivered at the right time. And they don't have it today."
6. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH): "Health care affects each person in our country on a personal level. Here in New Hampshire and throughout our country, families are worried about whether they will be able to pay for routine care, such as doctor checkups or prescription medication, not to mention how they would pay for unexpected large medical costs, such as a life threatening illness or injury. They are concerned about how to afford staying healthy or how to cope with medical bills that could bankrupt their families."
7. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT): In a response letter to President Obama's speech on health care earlier this month, Hatch admitted that "No American should be denied coverage or care simply because of a pre-existing condition".
8. Sen. John Isakson (R-GA): "State or regional exchanges would not be allowed to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions." In Isakson's response letter to President Obama's address, he commented that "In Washington, the devil is always in the details".
9. Sen. Patrick Roberts (R-KS): From his web site, "Roberts believes guaranteeing access to health insurance for all Americans should include preventing health insurers from denying coverage for people with pre-existing conditions".
10. Sen. Jefferson Sessions (R-AL): From his campaign web site, "Access to quality health care represents a large and growing burden on the American people".

Storyline:
As you can see from the quotes above, these ten old and white members of Congress criticize President Obama's proposed plan to reform health care because they truly have the well being of all Americans in mind. However, I am starting to think otherwise. In 2006, Sen. Patricia Murray (D-WA), a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, proposed an amendment to the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act. The act itself was introduced "to expand health care access and reduce costs through the creation of small business health plans and through modernization of the health insurance marketplace". And the amendment, you ask? This little piece of legislation would have prohibited insurance companies from ignoring state laws providing protection to victims of domestic violence, specifically in regards to denying insurance coverage to those victims. Why is such an amendment necessary? Because in seven states (Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming) and Washington, D.C., insurance companies are permitted to classify domestic violence as a pre-existing condition. An eighth state (North Carolina) forbids classifying domestic violence as a pre-existing condition for group insurance plans but not for individual or non-group plans.

It is important to point out that, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, domestic violence is one of the most powerful predictors of increased health care utilization. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that this serious public health issue affects more than thirty-two million Americans, or more than ten percent of the population. And although I certainly understand that men can be victims of domestic abuse, let's just take a look at the statistics on domestic violence against women for convenience sake. An estimated two to four million women are physically abused every year in the U.S., which translates into a woman being battered every eighteen seconds. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that women are about six times as likely as men to suffer violence from an intimate partner. Finally, the National Family Violence Surveys have reported that women experience a violent act by an intimate partner at an annual rate of 116 per every 1,000 women.

Plot Twist:
Despite the focus of the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act, the bill (and, in turn, the amendment regarding domestic violence) did not pass. The irony of the situation is that the original sponsor of the bill (Sen. Enzi) and several of the co-sponsors (Sen. Burr and Sen. Roberts) decided to vote against the legislation.

Quote of the Day

"The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation ALL the time, loyalty to the government when it deserves it." -- Mark Twain

While this quote can definitely be applied to certain members of the three current branches of government, it goes without saying that this statement from Twain would have been a perfect theme to the previous eight years.

Liar of the Week

Former President Jimmy Carter is being criticized by Republicans for his comments this week regarding the vehement but cowardly attacks on President Obama. When specifically addressing the outburst by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) during President Obama's televised speech on health care reform before Congress a week ago, Carter stated that Wilson's scream of "You lie!" is "based on racism and...an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be President". While the White House is distancing themselves from Carter's remarks, Michael Steele, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, described the comments as "disingenuous and...just wrongheaded". I should point out Wilson did "apologize" for his outburst during President Obama's speech, expressing that "While I disagree with the President's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable". Well, let's take a few minutes and examine different aspects of this whole situation:

1. Wilson's accusation that President Obama was lying in his speech when he stated the health care reforms he is proposing would not apply to those individuals "who are here illegally".
Truth: The H.R. 3200 bill specifically states that this legislation will not "allow federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States".

2. Wilson's interruption of the President of the United States with the added perception that Wilson himself has always opposed health care for illegal immigrants.
Truth: Wilson actually voted in 2003 for the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, which mandates that the federal government must reimburse "hospitals, physicians and ambulance providers...for their otherwise unreimbursed costs of providing services and...related hospital inpatient, outpatient and ambulance services...furnished to undocumented aliens, aliens paroled into the U.S. at a U.S. port of entry for the purpose of receiving such services and Mexican citizens permitted temporary entry to the U.S. with a laser visa".

3. Wilson's interruption of the President of the United States as an attempt to show that he is a champion of health care for all U.S. citizens.

• Wilson was rated 11% by the American Public Health Association, indicating an anti-public health voting record.
• Wilson voted against (1) putting mental health on par with physical health, (2) extending health insurance to six million more children, (3) requiring negotiated prescription prices for senior citizens on Medicare and (4) permitting the re-importation of prescription drugs.
• He voted for limiting (1) prescription drug benefits for Medicare recipients and (2) antitrust lawsuits against health plans and insurance providers.

4. Wilson's superb voting records on issues other than health care.

• Wilson has voted on legislation against (1) abortion, (2) allowing voting by stockholders on executive compensation, (3) increasing the minimum wage, (4) investing in homegrown biofuel, (5) prohibiting employer discrimination based on sexual orientation, (6) requiring warrants for wiretaps conducted in the U.S., (7) restricting no-bid defense contracts, (8) revitalizing distressed public housing, (9) stem cell research, (10) tax incentives for renewable energy and energy production and conservation and (11) $84 million in grants for black and Hispanic colleges.
• He has supported legislation to (1) authorize the construction of new oil refineries; (2) ban a gun registration and trigger lock law in Washington, D.C.; (3) deauthorize critical habitats for endangered species; (4) grant retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies conducting warrantless surveillance on the American public; (5) permanently enact the PATRIOT Act; (6) prohibit same sex marriage and (7) restrict independent grassroots political committees.

5. Alan Wilson, the Congressman's son, and his attempts to paint a picture that his father is not racist.
Truth: Despite the younger Wilson remarking that "There is not a racist bone in my dad's body. He doesn't even laugh at distasteful jokes.", there are some instances in the father's past and present which may prove otherwise.

• In his earlier years, Wilson served as an aide to former Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC), who was infamous for his prejudicial views towards African-Americans. As a matter of fact, Thurmond, among his many quotes, once uttered that "There's not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the Nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes and into our churches".
• As a member of the South Carolina Senate, Wilson was one of only seven individuals in April 2000 to vote in favor of keeping the flag of the Confederacy flying over the State House. Wilson defended his vote by stating that "The Southern heritage, the Confederate heritage is very honorable".
• Wilson has been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), an organization comprised of male descendants of soldiers and sailors who served the Confederacy during the Civil War. In more recent years, some of the more vocal members of this group have expressed interest into transforming the SCV into "a modern, twenty-first century Christian war machine capable of uniting the Confederate community and leading it to ultimate victory".

This Unforgettable and Unfortunate Day in History

At 8:46AM on a clear and sunny Tuesday morning in 2001, American Airlines Flight 11, carrying ninety-two individuals (including five hijackers) and loaded with ten thousand gallons of jet fuel, crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at a speed of approximately 466 miles per hour. The airplane left a gaping and burning hole between the 93rd and 99th floors of the 110-story skyscraper, instantly killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more in the floors above the point of impact. As the evacuation of the North Tower continued, a second airplane, United Airlines Flight 175, turned sharply towards the World Trade Center and then, just sixteen minutes after the North Tower was struck, sliced into the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors. Traveling at approximately 545 miles per hour, five more hijackers killed the other sixty individuals on board and caused an explosion which showered debris on the surrounding buildings and the streets below.

As millions nationwide watched the horror of the events unfolding on television, American Airlines Flight 77 circled over Washington, D.C. and slammed into the west side of the Pentagon at 9:37AM. Fuel from the Boeing 757 created a large inferno, causing a portion of the building to collapse. All told, 125 military personnel and civilians were killed in the Pentagon, along with all 64 individuals aboard the airplane (including six hijackers).

Less than fifteen minutes after the terrorists attacked the Pentagon, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed in a massive cloud of dust and smoke. Designed to withstand winds in excess of two hundred miles per hour and a large conventional fire, could not endure the tremendous heat generated by the burning jet fuel. And then, at 10:28AM, the North Tower collapsed.

Meanwhile, a fourth and final aircraft, United Flight 93, was hijacked by four terrorists approximately forty minutes after taking off from Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, NJ. Because the airplane's departure had been delayed, passengers on board were aware of the tragic events in New York City and Washington, D.C. through the use of cell phones and Airfones. They were, therefore, also aware of the terrible fate awaiting them so a group of passengers and flight attendants decided to revolt against the hijackers. Following the passengers' suspected attack on the hijackers in the cockpit with a fire extinguisher, the plane flipped over and sped towards the ground at close to five hundred miles per hour. Believed to be ultimately targeting, among other locations, either the White House or the United States Capitol, the airplane eventually crashed in a rural field in western Pennsylvania at 10:03AM, killing all forty-four individuals on board, including the terrorists.

Some of the nineteen terrorists had lived in the United States for more than a year and had actually taken flying lessons at American commercial flight schools. Utilizing knives and box cutters easily smuggled through security checkpoints at three airports on the East Coast, these despicable individuals commandeered the four planes shortly after takeoff on September 11 and, by doing so, transformed the ordinary commuter airplanes into guided missiles.

In total, 2,995 people died in the attacks on September 11, including 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers, 37 Port Authority police officers and 8 additional emergency medical technicians and paramedics from private EMS units. Cantor Fitzgerald, an investment bank located on the 101st–105th floors of One World Trade Center, lost 658 employees, a staggering amount much higher than any other company. Almost ten thousand other individuals were treated for injuries, many of them severe.

Mr. Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office that same evening at approximately 8:30PM, stating that "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them". Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. led international effort to remove the Taliban regime in Afghanistan from power and destroy Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, began on October 7. However, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan continues, bin Laden is still at large and it has been 2,325 days since Mr. Bush declared "Mission accomplished".

Whew, That Was a Close One

During the last two weeks, so much of the country has been engrossed in the debate surrounding President Obama's address on Tuesday to the nation's students. And after taking a couple of days to rewatch the video and read the transcript of the speech (http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/academic/bts.html), I can certainly understand why conservative parents and politicians alike were opposed to President Obama talking directly to their children concerning the importance of education. Just take a look at the following excerpts and you will immediately see the socialism seeping through:

• "Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide."
• "Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you because, here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future."
• When discussing earlier struggles that Michael Jordan and J.K. Rowling faced earlier in life, President Obama remarked: "These people succeeded because they understood that you can't let your failures define you -- you have to let your failures teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently the next time."
• "Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength because it shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something and that then allows you to learn something new."

Yes, he truly is evil incarnate. With a speech like that, it is clearly obvious that he was pushing his socialist agenda onto individuals with an attention span of a Jack Russell Terrier. Sarcasm aside, it was nice to see that Newt Gingrich had this to say about President Obama's address: "It’s a good speech. I recommend it to everybody if you have any doubts. I'd love to have every child in America read it, think about it and learn that they should stay in school and they should study." It was even nicer to see Jim Greer, the Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida who previously claimed that President Obama was attempting to "indoctrinate America's children" prior to the speech even being delivered, was then in favor of the address after reading the text. In fact, Greer declared that "It’s a good speech. It encourages kids to stay in school and the importance of education and I think that’s what a president should do when they’re gonna talk to students across the country." Last but not least, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), the former United States Secretary of Education under President George H.W. Bush, stated "I’m glad that the President has spoken to the schoolchildren of this country".

Update: Education Is Such a Pain in the Ass

Even before the White House decided on Friday afternoon to release the text of President Obama's speech later today on education in advance, even more school districts nationwide persisted in succumbing to the pressure from Republican politicians and conservative parents alike. This includes Henrico County Public Schools, one of the school districts in my local area. Henrico County Public Schools added a statement on its web site on Friday afternoon which declared that President Obama's speech could be shown live as long as the teachers first contacted the parents. In other words, teachers would be required to contact the parent(s) for each student (1) at the last minute, (2) over the course of a long holiday weekend and (3) before the first day of classes. Regardless of the level of support a teacher may show to President Obama and his speech, he/she should not be expected to contact each student on their last free weekend before the start of the school year. (Which is exactly why this cowardly district announced this policy when they did.)

Those same critics of President Obama's speech also continued their lies regarding the list of suggested classroom activities provided to schools last week. They do so by claiming the outline for pre-kindergarten to sixth grade students instructs those children to read books on President Obama prior to the speech. This is completely untrue. What the document does, in fact, recommend is that "Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about Presidents and Barack Obama". As you can see, not only does the suggestion specifically mention teachers but it also speaks to reading books about Presidents as a whole.

A Speech From a President Well Overdue

At the recent Centennial Convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), President Obama delivered an incredibly moving and impassioned speech, even for him. The full video and transcript can be accessed at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/31951708#31951708 and http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-to-the-NAACP-Centennial-Convention-07/16/2009/, respectively. (It is unfortunate to say that President Obama is the only President to date who could deliver such a speech.) With that being said, the following excerpts are just some of the extremely memorable moments of his address:

• When speaking about the founders of the Civil Rights Movement, President Obama stated that those individuals realized change "would come from men and women of every age and faith and every race and region -- taking Greyhounds on Freedom Rides, sitting down at Greensboro lunch counters, registering voters in rural Mississippi; knowing they would be harassed, knowing they would be beaten, knowing that some of them might never return".
• "Because ordinary people did such extraordinary things, because they made the Civil Rights Movement their own, even though there may not be a plaque or their names might not be in the history books -- because of their efforts, I made a little trip to Springfield, IL a couple years ago -- where [President Abraham] Lincoln once lived and race riots once raged -- and began the journey that has led me to be here tonight as the forty-fourth President of the United States of America."
• "What's required today -- what's required to overcome today's barriers is the same as what was needed then. The same commitment. The same sense of urgency. The same sense of sacrifice. The same sense of community. The same willingness to do our part for ourselves and one another that has always defined America at its best and the African-American experience at its best."
• "The pain of discrimination is still felt in America. By African-American women paid less for doing the same work as colleagues of a different color and a different gender. By Latinos made to feel unwelcome in their own country. By Muslim Americans viewed with suspicion simply because they kneel down to pray to their God. By our gay brothers and sisters, still taunted, still attacked, still denied their rights."
• "The African-American community will still fall behind in the United States and the United States will fall behind in the world unless we do a far better job than we have been doing of educating our sons and daughters."
• "There are overcrowded classrooms and crumbling schools and corridors of shame in America filled with poor children -- not just black children, brown and white children as well. The state of our schools is not an African-American problem; it is an American problem. Because if black and brown children cannot compete, then America cannot compete."
• "We need a new mindset, a new set of attitudes -- because one of the most durable and destructive legacies of discrimination is the way we've internalized a sense of limitation; how so many in our community have come to expect so little from the world and from themselves."
• "They might think they've got a pretty good jump shot or a pretty good flow but our kids can't all aspire to be LeBron [James] or Lil Wayne. I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers -- doctors and teachers -- not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court Justice. I want them aspiring to be the President of the United States of America."
• While discussing his recent trip to Ghana with his family, President Obama remarked: "I was reminded that no matter how bitter the rod, how stony the road, we have always persevered. We have not faltered, nor have we grown weary. As Americans, we have demanded and strived for and shaped a better destiny. And that is what we are called on to do once more."
• "If three civil rights workers in Mississippi -- black, white, Christian and Jew, city born and country bred -- could lay down their lives in freedom's cause, I know we can come together to face down the challenges of our own time."
• "And one hundred years from now, on the two hundredth anniversary of the NAACP -- let it be said that this generation did its part; that we too ran the race; that full of faith that our dark past has taught us, full of the hope that the present has brought us -- we faced, in our lives and all across this nation, the rising sun of a new day begun."

Paranoia of the Week

As we all know, numerous Republicans (and even various Democrats) do not fully support President Obama's health care plan and, in turn, have issues with multiple aspects of the legislation. With this particular posting, I wanted to address a specific section in the House of Representatives version, a section towards which those opponents are truly taking an alarmist's view. When addressing the establishment of a national medical device registry by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the H.R. 3200 bill states this registry will "facilitate the analysis of postmarket safety and outcomes data on each device that (A) is or has been used in or on a patient and (B) is a Class III device or a Class II device that is implantable, life supporting or life sustaining".

The concerns being incorrectly raised by certain individuals are not so much about the registry but the actual devices themselves. With that being said, let's address the section cited above. First and foremost, the national medical device registry would include "claims data, patient survey data, standardized analytic files that allow for the pooling and analysis of data from disparate data environments, electronic health records and any other data deemed appropriate".

The proposed registry certainly seems to be an extremely valuable tool, especially considering the fact that data would contain information from Class III devices. Class III devices are defined by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as either "(1) life supporting or life sustaining, (2) for a use which is of substantial importance in preventing impairment of human health or (3) presenting a potential unreasonable risk of illness or injury". Those types of devices include brain stimulators, heart pacemakers, intrabone implants, replacement heart valves and silicone filled breast implants.

Now where the alarmists start to come out of the woodwork is the portion concerning Class II devices. Designated as such due to their need for special labeling requirements, mandatory performance standards and postmarket surveillance, Class II devices are typically non-invasive and include acupuncture needles, gas analyzers, infusion pumps, medical imaging machines, physiologic monitors, powered wheelchairs, surgical drapes and surgical needles and suture materials. However, since the FDA approved and classified an "implantable radiofrequency transponder system for patient identification and health information" as a Class II device in January 2005, critics of the current administration's health care bill are claiming that these transponder systems will be utilized by President Obama to provide U.S. citizens with the "mark of the beast" (as described by at least one white supremacist web site).

Am I saying that these transponder systems will not be a possibility in the future? Of course not. I am also not saying that I would be the first in line to volunteer for one to be implanted under my skin. At the same time, I would not oppose the implant either, especially if the new information technology involved with the process would both improve the secured access of medical records and reduce health care costs. With that in mind, many Americans continue to condemn President Obama without taking just a couple of minutes to look into the annals of the previous eight years. Under the Bush administration, all new U.S. passports issued in October 2006 and beyond were (and still are) equipped with radio frequency ID (RFID) chips which can transmit personal information, such as the name, date and place of birth, gender, nationality and a digitized photograph of the passport holder. Also during the Bush presidency, the United States Department of Agriculture implemented a program intended the extend animal health surveillance by identifying and tracking specific animals (including most livestock species, various wild game and certain species of fish) through the use of RFID tags. Last but not least, when the aforementioned "implantable radiofrequency transponder system" was approved by the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services (which oversees the FDA) was headed by Secretary Tommy Thompson. The technology, manufactured by VeriChip Corp. (a subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions), was officially approved in January 2005 and Thompson left his Cabinet post two weeks later. Less than six months later, Thompson was appointed as a compensated member of the Board of Directors of VeriChip and Applied Digital Solutions. And just when you thought you had heard it all, Thompson almost immediately announced that he was planning on having one of the transponder systems from VeriChip injected into his arm. (In true Tommy Thompson fashion, he never went through with the actual procedure.) However, just four days after it was announced he was joining the Board of Directors of both companies, Thompson had some very interesting things to say about the technology (things that apparently everyone has since forgotten) during an interview with CBS MarketWatch:

• "All you have to do is run a wand over [the chip] and will then bring up your medical records. So it's very beneficial and it's going to be extremely helpful and it's a giant step forward to getting what we call an electronic medical record for all Americans."
• "There will be no encroachment on privacy, there won't be any adverse impact on the arm or tissue. And so it's really, very -- it's a failsafe kind of system."
• "You can also do it to replace dog tags with the United States Armed Forces."
• "The whole health care industry is way behind in technology and this is going to give that, really that impetus, to get the changing, the transformation which I call, that's badly needed in our health care system. Ninety-eight thousand people died last year because of mistakes in hospitals, in clinics, by doctors and other providers. And the chip philosophy, the chip procedure and technology, can help to prevent a lot of those untimely deaths and a lot of those mistakes and that's why I'm so excited about it."