It seems that one of the reasons we are invading Iraq is to ensure that they have a good wireless communications infrastructure. This InternetNews.com story, covers the introduction of a bill by Congressman Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.) Wednesday, demanding that the Department of Defense and USAID show favor to CDMA (define) technology made by San Diego-based QUALCOMM (Quote, Company Info).
And here I was worried that we were invading a sovereign nation because of greedy, capitalistic oil companies. Silly me. It’s for the greedy, capitalistic wireless companies. Gosh, I feel so much better now.
June 1, 1950, Margaret Chase Smith of Maine spoke on the Senate floor on behalf of the Declaration of Conscience. The declaration opposed McCarthyism. I have reprinted Smith’s speech here, for I feel that we are entering a new era of suppression, fear and helplessness.
While it is rather lengthy it is worth reading; and while you read substitute terrorism for communism, terrorist for communist, and see if you don’t feel this Declaration of Conscience is just as appropriate today as it was 53 years ago.
I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear. It is a condition that comes from the lack of effective leadership in either the Legislative Branch or the Executive Branch of our Government.
That leadership is so lacking that serious and responsible proposals are being made that national advisory commissions be appointed to provide such critically needed leadership.
I speak as briefly as possible because too much harm has already been done with irresponsible words of bitterness and selfish political opportunism. I speak as simply as possible because the issue is too great to be obscured by eloquence. I speak simply and briefly in the hope that my words will be taken to heart.
I speak as a Republican. I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States Senator. I speak as an American.
The United States Senate has long enjoyed worldwide respect as the greatest deliberative body in the world. But recently that deliberative character has too often been debased to the level of a forum of hate and character assassination sheltered by the shield of congressional immunity.
It is ironical that we Senators can in debate in the Senate directly or indirectly, by any form of words, impute to any American who is not a Senator any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming an American—and without that non-Senator American having any legal redress against us—yet if we say the same thing in the Senate about our colleagues we can be stopped on the grounds of being out of order.
It is strange that we can verbally attack anyone else without restraint and with full protection and yet we hold ourselves above the same type of criticism here on the Senate Floor. Surely the United States Senate is big enough to take self-criticism and self-appraisal. Surely we should be able to take the same kind of character attacks that we “dish out” to outsiders.
I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some soul-searching—for us to weigh our consciences—on the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America—on the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges.
I think that it is high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. I think that it is high time that we remembered that the Constitution, as amended, speaks not only of the freedom of speech but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation.
Whether it be a criminal prosecution in court or a character prosecution in the Senate, there is little practical distinction when the life of a person has been ruined.
Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism:
The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood nor should he be in danger of losing his reputation or livelihood merely because he happens to know someone who holds unpopular beliefs. Who of us doesn’t? Otherwise none of us could call our souls our own. Otherwise thought control would have set in.
The American people are sick and tired of being afraid to speak their minds lest they be politically smeared as “Communists” or “Fascists” by their opponents. Freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America. It has been so abused by some that it is not exercised by others.
The American people are sick and tired of seeing innocent people smeared and guilty people whitewashed. But there have been enough proved cases such as the Amerasia case, the Hiss case, the Coplon case, the Gold case, to cause nationwide distrust and suspicion that there may be something to the unproved, sensational accusations.
As a Republican, I say to my colleagues on this side of the aisle that the Republican Party faces a challenge today that is not unlike the challenge that it faced back in Lincoln’s day. The Republican Party so successfully met that challenge that it emerged from the Civil War as the champion of a united nation—in addition to being a Party that unrelentingly fought loose spending and loose programs.
Today our country is being psychologically divided by the confusion and the suspicions that are bred in the United States Senate to spread like cancerous tentacles of “know nothing, suspect everything” attitudes. Today we have a Democratic Administration that has developed a mania for loose spending and loose programs. History is repeating itself—and the Republican Party again has the opportunity to emerge as the champion of unity and prudence.
The record of the present Democratic Administration has provided us with sufficient campaign issues without the necessity to resorting to political smears. America is rapidly losing its position as leader of the world simply because the Democratic Administration has pitifully failed to provide effective leadership.
The Democratic Administration has completely confused the American people by its daily contradictory grave warnings and optimistic assurances—that show the people that our Democratic Administration has no idea of where it is going.
The Democratic Administration has greatly lost the confidence of the American people by it complacency to the threat of communism here at home and the leak of vital secrets to Russia through key officials of the Democratic Administration. There are enough proved cases to make this point without diluting our criticism with unproved charges.
Surely these are sufficient reasons to make it clear to the American people that it is time for a change and that a Republican victory is necessary to the security of this country. Surely it is clear that this nation will continue to suffer as long as it is governed by the present ineffective Democratic Administration.
Yet to displace it with a Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to this nation. The nation sorely needs a Republican victory. But I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.
I doubt if the Republican Party could—simply because I don’t believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely we Republicans aren’t that desperate for victory.
I don’t want to see the Republican party win that way. While it might be a fleeting victory for the Republican Party, it would be a more lasting defeat for the American people. Surely it would ultimately be suicide for the Republican Party and the two-party system that has protected our American liberties from the dictatorship of a one-party system.
As members of the Minority Party, we do not have the primary authority to formulate the policy of our Government. But we do have the responsibility of rendering constructive criticism, of clarifying issues, of allaying fears by acting as responsible citizens.
As a woman, I wonder how the mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters feel about the way in which members of their families have been politically mangled in Senate debate—and I use the word “debate” advisedly.
As a United States Senator, I am not proud of the way in which the Senate has been made a publicity platform for irresponsible sensationalism. I am not proud of the reckless abandon in which unproved charges have been hurled from this side of the aisle. I am not proud of the obviously staged, undignified countercharges that have been attempted in retaliation from the other side of the aisle.
I don’t like the way the Senate has been made a rendezvous for vilification, for selfish political gain at the sacrifice of individual reputations and national unity. I am not proud of the way we smear outsiders from the Floor of the Senate and hide behind the cloak of congressional immunity and still place ourselves beyond criticism on the Floor of the Senate.
As an American, I am shocked at the way Republicans and Democrats alike are playing directly into the Communist design of “confuse, divide, and conquer.” As an American, I don’t want a Democratic Administration “whitewash” or “coverup” any more than I want a Republican smear or witch hunt.
As an American, I condemn a Republican “Fascist” just as much as I condemn a Democrat “Communist.” I condemn a Democrat “Fascist” just as much as I condemn a Republican “Communist.” They are equally dangerous to you and me and to our country. As an American, I want to see our nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy instead of ourselves.
It is with these thoughts that I have drafted what I call a “Declaration of Conscience.” I am gratified that Senator Tobey, Senator Aiken, Senator Morse, Senator Ives, Senator Thye, and Senator Hendrickson have concurred in that declaration and have authorized me to announce their concurrence.
Michele and I are still somewhat raw emotionally due to the loss of Abby. Last evening we tried to have dinner out but neither of us was in a space to tolerate the costs necessary to be out in public in that situation.
I think each of us has an emotional reservoir that gives us flexibility in our responses to normal situations. You know that going out to eat will require some sacrifices on your part but you have the capacity to allow for those. When some large or unexpected emotional event occurs you use up some of your reserve capacity. You aren’t as forgiving or flexible about little things, and being out in the world becomes much harder.
Even though we understood that Abby’s time was coming we both used up our emotional reserve getting through last Thursday at the vet, and in the days since trying to reconcile our lives without her. I have had exposure to people at work, but that is ritualized and formal, with plenty of barriers to true emotional exposure. When I am at work I am not as accessible emotionally to others, or to my self. Since I am not open emotionally in the workplace it is oddly safe in this time of grief.
At home I am far more open emotionally for it is safe there. With Michele I don’t have to hide any of my feelings or thoughts. When the two of us go out for dinner we often have very deep intellectual and emotional conversations. We look forward to eating out not only for the food, but for the chance to connect with each other. Going out with my Sweetie is far more emotionally open than being at work, so it is oddly less safe right now. Both of us felt at odds with the restaurant and each other last evening. Our emotional reservoirs are near empty and we didn’t have the flexibility necessary to deal with the world while being open emotionally. In the end we got take out from another restaurant and ate at home.
I know that we are working through the stages of grief and that we are both respecting ourselves in letting this process happen at its own pace. Already the anger and hurt is starting to pass, and the love and happiness at Abby’s memory will be what remains.
This is good.
Updated: (3.29.2003 @ 3:30 p) It appears that the original page is either gone, or not always accessable. Therefore you can see the page, in PDF format, by clicking here instead.
At the 75th Academy Awards last night, the Oscar for Best Documentary feature went to Michael Moore for his critical anti-gun documentary Bowling for Columbine. The outspoken moviemaker invited his fellow nominees in the non-fiction category with him on stage and then both roused and infuriated the audience with an impassioned speech.
“They’re here in solidarity with me because we like non-fiction. We like non-fiction and we live in fictitious times. We live in a time with fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time when we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it is the fiction of duct tape or the fiction of orange alerts, we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush! Shame on you! You’re time is up.”
I am proud to say I saw this movie; it is completely deserving of the Oscar awarded last evening. Furthermore, I am proud that there are still people in this country who will stand up and say what they feel. America is nothing if we cannot have openly expressed opinions, for or against the issue of the day.
Michele and I have been slowly moving forward from Abby’s death. Both of us have experienced moments of intense grief and moments of relative peace. Several thoughts and ideas have been explored as we process the loss of Abby.
One is that grief, like so many other powerful emotions, has a state trait component. In other words, your emotional, physical, spiritual, and intellectual state is unique to that situation. Since grief doesn’t happen everyday we aren’t used to the demands it places on us. We were both surprised at the physical exhaustion we felt Thursday evening and Friday. We were also surprised at the depth of our emotions. After talking about it for a while we decided that each of us has unexpressed grief from earlier events in our lives that is being expressed now. Most people aren’t comfortable with the whole grief process and therefore it is rarely ‘safe’ to completely process. As a child, grieving for my sister, I got a very strong sense of ‘okay, move along now,’ when I still had strong feelings of loss, hurt, and anger.
Over the years I have been able to emote those unexpressed emotions, but not until I had a safe place. Michele is my safe place; with her I have no fear of recriminations or come-backs due to my being in my truth. Currently my truth is about grief and remembrance. I alternate between utter sadness about Miss Abby, and great joy at remember all the wonderful ways she touched my life.
Michele gives me a safe place to fall and she doesn’t place any expectations on how or when I need to talk, cry, or rage about this loss. I do the same for her. I could not get through this process as honestly and openly without my dear sweet Love. I thank her for helping to create the wonderful place we call home. And I am honored that she turns to me in the same fashion.
Abby brought so much to us and I am proud that we can honor her memory by fully expressing all the emotions we have about her. There is no time limit and no right way to complete this process. We simply have to be in our truth.
I have cleaned up the presentation a bit. I haven’t checked it out on all browsers yet. It does work on Safari, Camino, and IE for Mac. If you are using something else and it doesn’t come off smoothly let me know and I’ll see what I can do to patch the CSS.
Last evening was the longest I can ever remember. Michele and I alternated between a kind of shocked silence, tears, and pretense at normalcy. In gestalt therapy two terms are used to describe the current focus verses the rest of your life. When something is ‘figure’ it is your current focus and it often blocks your ability to see anything else in your life. ‘Ground’ is the term given to the rest of your life. Last night we each had periods where the loss of Abby was intensely figure and also periods where her death faded into the ground.
The hardest part was expecting to see or hear our little Abby-cat in her normal routine. Often times, just before we go to sleep, we’ll lay across the bed watching television reruns. Abby would jump up on the bed and then curl up on my hip or chest and purr loudly. When I realized that she was never going to do that again I thought my heart would break. I woke up this morning without her raspy breathing inches from my face, her left paw poised to touch my nose again and again until I played with her.
We cried and cried after turning off the lights. Somehow going to sleep meant that it was really real. Letting yesterday slip away meant that we were that much farther away from our beloved little fur ball. We questioned our resolve to let go of Miss Abby in the darkness and had to rely of each other for answers and affirmations we did the right thing. Gradually our conversation slipped around to remembrances of Abby and the wonderful personality she possessed. Michele and I both believe in reincarnation, and we also believe that dogs and cats have a spirit that is part of a larger ‘hive-mind.’ We know that Abby has returned to her sisters and brothers, and that she took a lifetime of love and caring with her.
Nekko, our other cat, is acting oddly. She has never known a time without Abby. I know it will be a few days before she starts to adjust. I am not sure what changes we’ll see in her personality. I hope that she comes back to us soon as we need her wonderful self to brighten our days and lift our hearts.
The CD that has had the most airtime in my car lately is Peter Gabriel’s ‘UP.’ Filled with darker songs and themes one in particular stands out for me, and has since the first listen last fall, ‘I Grieve.’ In an interview, Gabriel explained that his earlier song, ‘Don’t Give Up,’ had generated hundreds of letters from people who found solace in it’s words and message. He went on to say that he hoped ‘I Grieve’ would touch people in a similar fashion. I find that I am finding solace in this refrain from the song: Life carries on.
I know that life will carry on, I know that we will gradual lose the heaviness in our hearts and that we will remember all the love and joy Miss Abby brought to our lives. Eventually we’ll add a new kitten or maybe a puppy to our household. But for now I grieve.
My cat needs to be let go. She is 10 years old and starting to have some significant health and quality of life issues. All of her life she has suffered from a respiratory issues that at times makes it extremely difficult for her to breathe. About 5 years ago she started to have problems with constipation. Two years ago we had to take her to the emergency hospital overnight due to a severe blockage.
We have noticed a slowing down in her activities this winter, and an increase in blockages. She has had 3 bouts of constipation in the last 4 weeks. She has also started to lose control of her bladder resulting in several instances where she has urinated on the floor or couch. She urinated on the furniture again sometime yesterday, and this morning we found another fecal deposit the size of a golf ball. Today her anus is distended and obviously sore. She is avoiding us and will until the blockage passes.
Michele and I are both strong advocates of the whole living will idea for people. When we first started talking seriously about Abby’s condition in February we started keeping a diary so that we could objectively measure her quality of life. Based on that diary we are now seeing that her life is starting to diminish. Since she can’t tell us what she wants we have to take on the awesome responsibility of deciding for her, based on our knowledge of her and our desires for how life should be lived.
As I am writing this, Michele is contacting the vet to make arrangements for a final visit. We are going to let our sweet, dear, wonderful Abby go. I don’t want her to suffer needlessly. I don’t want my life prolonged through artificial means and I am not going to be hypocritical and force medicine or surgery on Abby. She can’t understand and the trauma of the treatment outweighs any additional life it may buy.
We have an appointment for tomorrow afternoon at 3 to let her go forever.
Update (1:00 pm) After coming home early today to spend time with Michele we decided that putting it off until tomorrow was just making it worse. We called the vet back and we are going to let go of Miss Abby this afternoon. We fed her a bowl of her favorite ~ salmon, and now we are rattling around the house waiting for the time to leave.
We have shed a lot of tears already, and I know that many more will come afterwards. Miss Abby has had a wonderful life, full of love and care. I know that she has touched my heart deeply. I also know that as long as her memory lives on in my heart she won’t truly be gone.