Bush spanked by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court, in a 5-3 decision, said the Chimperor….El Commandante….the President does not have the power to order military tribunals for detainees held in Guantanamo.

With Chief Justice Roberts abstaining, and Justice Kennedy siding with the majority, Bush was given a firm butt-whoopin’ and told that his power to decide  - because he is The Decider - isn’t what he thought it was.

From The New York Times: [emphasis mine]

The Supreme Court on Thursday repudiated the Bush administration’s plan to put Guantánamo detainees on trial before military commissions, ruling broadly that the commissions were unauthorized by federal statute and violated international law. 

“The executive is bound to comply with the rule of law that prevails in this jurisdiction,” Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the 5-to-3 majority, said at the end of a 73-page opinion that in sober tones shredded each of the administration’s arguments, including the assertion that Congress had stripped the court of jurisdiction to decide the case.

A principal flaw the court found in the commissions was that the president had established them without Congressional authorization.

The decision was such a sweeping and categorical defeat for the administration that it left human rights lawyers who have pressed this and other cases on behalf of Guantánamo detainees almost speechless with surprise and delight, using words like “fantastic,” “amazing” and “remarkable.”

That’s the good news. Here’s the bad:

President Bush said he planned to work with Congress to “find a way forward,” and there were signs of bipartisan interest on Capitol Hill in devising legislation that would authorize revamped commissions intended to withstand judicial scrutiny.

[snip]

Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, introduced a bill immediately and said his committee would hold a hearing on July 11, as soon as Congress returned from the July 4 recess. Mr. Specter said the administration had resisted his effort to propose similar legislation as early as 2002.

Two Republican senators, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jon Kyl of Arizona, said in a joint statement that they were “disappointed” but that “we believe the problems cited by the court can and should be fixed.”

“Working together, Congress and the administration can draft a fair, suitable and constitutionally permissible tribunal statute,” they added.

Uh-oh…I see where that’s going. Bushie’s going to head over to his buddies at the Rubber-Stamp Republican Congress and get them to write him a law that lets him to do what he’s already been doing. Kind of similar to what Arlen’s trying to do with the whole “spying on Americans” thingiemabobber.

They’ll just retroactively make it legal to ignore the Constitution and to break laws.

Then, they’ll make even more laws that say it’s okay to do things that aren’t legal as long as the The Decider decides it’s necessary.

Then, they’ll make a law that says they don’t need to make laws because The Decider doesn’t need laws written down. (not like he could read them anyway.)

Pretty soon, they’ll be all set to sign a bill that dissolves Congress and gives Chimpy McFlightSuit all the power of the land to do whatever he wants, whenever he want, to whomever he wants… in order to - naturally - protect Americans from the “terra-rists.”

Again, I suggest some in Congress do some reading up on the fate of the Reichstag in 1930s Germany….

Water, water everywhere - Day 2

Good morning! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and yep - the water’s still here. The Sewer Treatment Plant shut down last night, so we’re being told to conserve water. I imagine we’re going to see a boil advisory soon, but I’ve been doing that anyway.

I would like to point out that our area is populated with a lot of idiots. Example? People who decide to stay put despite knowing the very spot they live in flooded up to the eaves during the April ‘05 flood.

First, if you’re crazy enough to live next to a river, you need to understand that your home will flood and might wash down the river, so get the hell out!

Another example? Employers who do not realize that in a declared state of emergency, only emergency vehicles and those leaving evacuation areas or returning from work are allowed on the roads. Despite Tioga County’s “state of emergency” declaration most businesses still had their employees report to work.

From the Gannett News Service:

Tioga County, N.Y., banned all unnecessary travel and threatened to ticket anyone who violated the order. BC Transit, BC Lift and BC country bus routes didn’t operate Wednesday. Some buses were used for evacuations.

The same state of emergency was declared in Bradford County, so stay the heck off the roads!
At the same time, we have a lot of heroes, and I hope they’re not forgotten when all this is over. I’m talking about the volunteer fire companies, ambulance companies, the Red Cross volunteers, the animal rescue teams, and those who’ve volunteered time and/or materials just to help out their friends and neighbors in the Valley.

They’ve been working non-stop since Tuesday afternoon. Sandbagging, water rescues, feeding and sheltering the evacuees, working out response plans with their mutual aid companies to provide services once they were cut off by rising water. The animal rescue team has rescued about 300 pets, and is providing shelter for them at various locations

Also, huge rounds of applause go to the businesses helping out. Several restaurants are providing meals for the emergency shelter. Businesses like Walmart and Kmart have been working like crazy to get supplies in, not just for the evac. center, but for those like me who are unaffected by water, but have relatives seeking refuge.

There was some sort-a good news: The supposed crest of 33 feet was a goof of some kind, and our area saw a crest of 23.4 feet early this morning. The river is cresting in Towanda at 21 feet currently.

We also got some sad (but not unexpected) news: The 4th of July celebration, normally at the Sayre Little League park has been cancelled. You can see why:

That yellow line you see in the picture is the top of the fences at the Little League field.

The National Weather Service is calling for rain off and on for the next 10 days, and the river isn’t expected to drop below flood stage (11 feet in Sayre) anytime before Sunday or Monday.

You can read more at: The Star-Gazette (Elmira NY), The Daily Review (Towanda PA), and WICZ-TV (Binghamton NY).

Water, water everywhere!

Update: (7/5/06) I need to make a correction to the following section of this post:

Athens Boro, on the other hand, is at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chemung rivers, and this area is no stranger to flooding. During the ‘72 Flood after Hurricane Agnes, much of the downtown was destroyed. A couple years later, the Army Corps of Engineers built levees along both rivers to prevent future destruction. (My class was one of those that spent a couple hours spreading grass seed over the levee next to our elementary school.)

My mom corrected me on this. In fact, the Army Corps of Engineers decided that levees were unnecessary, that a flood of similar proportions was unlikely to ever occur again. The towns of Athens and Sayre raised the money, and local companies donated time and labor to build the levees themselves. And what a good thing they did! The water level from this flood was within inches of overtopping them.

M elementary school - which sits next to the levee - adopted the levees’ landscaping project. The students and faculty raised the funds to purchase grass seed and saplings that we later planted along the river bank.

* * * * *

Welcome to the “Endless Mountains” of Pennsylvania - currently known as the Endless Rains region.

After five and a half days of rain, we’ve got water everywhere. Living where I do in Sayre, I’m fairly flood-proof. If the water gets as far as my house, we’re going to need an ark.

Athens Boro, on the other hand, is at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chemung rivers, and this area is no stranger to flooding. During the ‘72 Flood after Hurricane Agnes, much of the downtown was destroyed. A couple years later, the Army Corps of Engineers built levees along both rivers to prevent future destruction. (My class was one of those that spent a couple hours spreading grass seed over the levee next to our elementary school.)

These levees have held since then, but it looks like this is going to be their big test.

Around 10am, I rode along with my brother as we took a little tour to see how bad things are. At 10am, standing near the Athens Bridge, the river was within 8-9 feet of the top of the levee, and moving incredibly fast. From Rte. 220, we could see the Chemung River was within 10 feet of the top of its levee.

In the downtown area, merchants are busy emptying their stores and shops into rental trucks, the vehicles of family and friends, or vehicles loaned by other businesses. The furniture store is loading its stock into 18-wheelers provided by Rynone, Inc.; the Dandy Mini-Mart was emptied into trucks belonging to its parent corp, Williams Oil. According to the scanner, over 25 ambulances from various volunteer EMS squads converged on the nursing home downtown, to transport its patients to other, flood-proof facilities.

Flood stage here in Sayre is 11 feet, 15′ in Athens where the two rivers meet. We’re told that the Susquehanna will crest at 25-29 feet tomorrow morning.

Just heard on the scanner that one of the levees in Athens Boro is breaching and the Sayre River bridge will be closed to all but emergency traffic at 4pm.

My son the smart-alec (and future Democratic voter) heard the news and said - in a very serious tone, “Well, I don’t think anyone could have predicted that!”

North and east of us, Nichols, Owego, and Binghamton areas are seeing lots of flooding as well, and Interstates 88 and 81 in Binghamton are now closed. They’re expecting to close Rte. 17/I-86 sometime in the next couple hours. Most roads are closed or restricted to local travel as the cricks, creeks, streams, and rivers go over their banks. Not to mention the lakes and ponds.

So far we’re doing fine, but I’ll post updates if it all goes to hell. *laugh*

You can read more here - with the note that the area mentioned as “Bradford, Pa” is actually Bradford County, Pa. The town of Bradford is about 150 miles west.

* *

Update: (4:11pm)

Rte 17/I-86 is closed from Exit 65 east. Rte 17C is closed from Barton east. River Road is closed from Nichols NY to Towanda PA due to water over the roadway.

The Susquehanna is rising at about 2′ per hour.

Athens Borough has declared a state of emergency and is commencing mandatory evacuations. If you choose not to leave, I’d advise using a permanent marker to record your name and SS# somewhere on your body, so the recovery teams will know who they’ve found.

Read more here, and here. Interestingly, the AP story on YahooNews mentions helicopter rescues of stranded people…in Sayre. Odd…no one I’ve spoken to has heard about that, and no part of Sayre was underwater as of 10am. I think someone mixed up a helicopter responding from Sayre, thinking it was responding to Sayre.

We do have a helicopter attached to the Packer Hospital - STAT Medivac - but the only call regarding high water, etc, was last night - to see if two divers from the local water-rescue team could hitch a ride to Montrose PA to assist in evacuations there.

But, good news!! The Wal*mart is not closing despite its proximity to the Chemung. I guess HQ told them to stay open unless water starts reaching the merchandise?

* *

Rivers are still rising. Crest is now expected to reach 33 feet in Sayre, which means it will be much higher downstream. Wilkes-Barre is sure to be hit hard. Lots of questions being raised as to whether or not the levees down there will hold, considering the amount of pressure on them from high water and debris.

Down in Towanda, the crest is expected to be around 35 feet, which means it will reach the courthouse and Boro Hall. The new River Road/Merrill Parkway is already covered in some places.

What Does America Mean To You?

MSNBC has a message board asking the question: What does America mean to you? Some of the answers are the usual “Love it or leave it” crap, and some tell us what a lovely place America is, and some “may contain profanity and are hidden.”, but turn out to be screeds written by some winger. Some question the right of our government to break the laws and ignore the Constitution.

I sat and thought for a minute. What does America mean to me? I know what it used to mean….but how has that changed?

Let’s go back to how it started:

In 1776, our founders issued the Declaration of Independence - a list of reasons why the colonies had decided to secede from the British Empire.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

—Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. [...]

When Congress released an explosive document creating a new system of government, it not only set the course of American history, but ricocheted around the globe. The ideas contained were so revolutionary, so new, that few gave the country much chance of succeeding.

All 13 states ratified the Constitution, and thus our system of government was born - a government that allowed no one person to hold all the power, and based all power in its citizens (and states), while giving its citizens certain and specific rights that the government could not breach.

What powers were left to the federal government were distributed across all three ’separate but equal’ branches of government, creating the necessary ‘checks and balances’ our founders believed would ensure that no one person could seize control of government.

I assume most of you learned this in civics class, but for those who missed it (or have been too busy weeing in your pants with fear to remember), here’s the nutshell version:

Congress - two houses of duly-elected representatives of the people - could create laws; the President could sign or veto. A veto sent the bill back to the Congress where they could try to muster a 2/3 vote to override. If an override failed, the bill was dead. The Supreme Court judged the Constitutionality of the laws. Any law violating the rights of the people as guaranteed in the Constitution was invalidated.

Now, as we look back at our history as near the momentous occasion of our country’s 230th birthday, we can only assume the founders weep to see their Constitution shredded in the name of fear.

In 1776, the men of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence knowing their lives and their families’ lives were on the line as soon as ink touched paper. They knew that, as soon as they signed, everything they loved could be taken from them - material and non-material. They knew that, if they were lucky, they would be killed by the British redcoats. If unlucky, they would be transported to Britain to stand trial for treason - a mere formality before being hung.

Contrast the Second Continental Congress and today’s Rubber-Stamp Republican one. The former literally put everything on the line for a government “of the people, by the people, for the people”. The latter tells us we must fear, fear, fear…but don’t forget to keep shopping and driving those SUVs.

Contrast the words of patriots like Patrick Henry

“Give me liberty, or give me death!”

and Nathan Hale

“I regret I have but one life to give for my country”

with Senator Pat Roberts (R-Ks):

“You don’t have civil liberties if you’re dead.”

Today, the 4th Amendment exists only on paper. The government not only spies on all our communications and banking transactions, but - thanks to the death of the “knock and announce” rule - even our homes are no longer safe.

While the bed-wetters will tell us (again) that we have nothing to fear if we aren’t criminals, they miss the point. The 4th Amendment was created because the Founders knew what it was like to have the King’s troops enter homes at will, often without reason.

America used to be a beacon to the world, but no longer.

Not while our government tortures and renditions its enemies. Not while they hold prisoners without due process and access to counsel. Not while the rich are making money while the poor become even more so and the middle-class disappears. Not while we allow our Constitution to be violated without speaking up. Not while our country is in debt that will take generations to repay.

Not while we start a war with a country that was no threat to us. Not while our soldiers are dying now for a lost cause, sent into combat without proper equipment. Not when our veterans are seeing cuts in their benefits and healthcare. Not when 45 million Americans have no healthcare.

Not when 1/5th of our children live in poverty. Not when CEO pay rises exorbitantly while working Americans’ wages stagnate. Not when an entire city can be left to die through ignorance and incompetence. Not when many of our citizens on the Gulf Coast are still living in travel trailers 10 months later.

Not while our government seeks to curtail the very rights endowed to us by our Founders.

I love America - and I weep for what she’s become. I despair for her future and that of my children and (eventual) grandchildren.

Arlen goes tummy-up for Bush

Thanks Arlen. Jack Cafferty said you were our last hope, and now we see just what a faint hope it was that any Republican would stand up for the rights and freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution. Instead, yet again, you've proven that the only thing the Republican party stands for is greed and more greed. You and your kind have done precious little for anyone who isn't one of the wealthy elite.

Now, you're busy 'negotiating' with the BushCo to retroactively legalize the administration's illegal domestic spying.

From the Associated Press:

Bush and senior officials in his administration have said they did not think changes were needed to empower the National Security Agency to eavesdrop — without court approval — on communications between people in the U.S. and overseas when terrorism is suspected.

But Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and other critics contend the program skirted a 1978 law that required the government to get approval from a secretive federal court before Americans could be monitored.

[snip] 

“We’re getting close with the discussions with the White House, I think, to having the wiretapping issue submitted to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court,” Specter told “Fox New Sunday.”

The administration has asserted that a post-Sept. 11, 2001, congressional resolution approving the use of military force covered the surveillance of some domestic communications.

[snip]

“I’ve talked to ranking officials in the White House, and we’re close,” Specter said. “I’m not making any predictions until we have it all nailed down, but I think there is an inclination to have it submitted to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and that would be a big step forward for the protection of constitutional rights and civil liberties.” [emphasis mine] 

Why don't you and the rest of the Rubber-Stamp Republicans just give up any pretense of being representing "the People"?
You and your collegues represent nothing, stand for nothing, and govern nothing. You have empowered an administration with all the earmarks of a monarchy — after nearly 230 years of democracy.

By 'negotiating' to make the administration follow a law they were supposed to be following already, you will give the President the power to do what he wants, when he wants, to whomever he wants, without having to go through that pesky "advise and consent of Congress" deal. 

Pretty soon, instead of just writing signing statements on the laws you and your cronies have passed, he'll just start writing the laws.

Congratulations, Arlen. You and your buddies in the Rubber-Stamp Republican Congress who are phasing out your own jobs. (You might want to read up on what happened to the German Reichstag in 1933 after they passed laws to "protect the homeland" - giving all their power away in the process.)

Friday Anti-War Song

What Are We Fightin' For? - Live

Battle flag in the bassinet
Oil and blood on the bayonet
Crowded downtown hit the floor
What are we fightin' for?

What are we fightin' for?
What are we fightin' for?

The world got smaller but the bombs got bigger
Holocaust on a hairpin trigger
Aint no game so forget the score
What are we fightin' for?

What are we fightin' for?
What are we fightin' for?
What are we fightin' for?

What will I tell my daughter?
What will you tell your son?
Where were all the doves?
That we were nothing but a shadow,
a faceless generation devoid of love?

The crucifix ain't no baseball bat
Tell me what kind of God is that?
Ain't nothing more godless than a war
So what are we fightin' for?

What are we fightin' for?
What are we fightin' for?
What are we fightin' for?

What will I tell my daughter?
What will you tell your son?
Where were all the doves?
That we were nothing but a shadow,
A faceless generation?

What are we fightin' for?

Iraqi Gov’t Offers Amnesty

Gee whiz…surprise, surprise.

The Iraqi government will announce a 28-point plan for peace that includes - among other things - amnesty for insurgents .

From the Times Online:

THE Iraqi Government will announce a sweeping peace plan as early as Sunday in a last-ditch effort to end the Sunni insurgency that has taken the country to the brink of civil war.

The 28-point package for national reconciliation will offer Iraqi resistance groups inclusion in the political process and an amnesty for their prisoners if they renounce violence and lay down their arms, The Times can reveal.

The Government will promise a finite, UN-approved timeline for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq; a halt to US operations against insurgent strongholds; an end to human rights violations, including those by coalition troops; and compensation for victims of attacks by terrorists or Iraqi and coalition forces.

Not to anyone's surprise, the US Ambassador to Iraq is right in the midst of the secret talks that created this proposal.

The deal, which has been seen by The Times, aims to divide Iraqi insurgents from foreign fighters linked to al-Qaeda. It builds on months of secret talks involving Jalal al-Talabani, the Iraqi President, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Ambassador, and seven Sunni insurgent groups. [my emphasis]

I'm not the least bit surprised that this is the plan, and - despite earlier protests by the Rubber-Stamp Republicans - I have no doubt it will go through. It will be praised high and low, and everyone will pretend this is somehow a victory.

It's nothing more than a Nixonian 'Peace with Honor' that will allow the US to get its troops out while pretending the administration has done something good and noble and honorable. It's cutting and running Republican-style - ignoring the reality on the ground by waving a big flag and singing the Star Spangled Banner.

The truth is, regardless of how Iraq prospers in the future, the legacy of the Bush administration will be the bungling and general stupidity that created an Iranian-style Islamic theocracy. Any so-called "freedom" we may have brought to Iraq came at the expense of our Constitution and the freedoms guaranteed therein. It came at a cost of 2500+ American lives in an unjust war of aggression that destroyed America's reputation for honor and respect for the law.

Whether this peace plan ends the war and the American occupation or not, the question remains:

Was it worth it?

I believed the answer was no during the run-up, and I still believe that. Not one bit of it was or is worth the cost in American blood.

Still, our troops will come home, and we just might be able to get out of this quagmire without a cloud of helicopters ferrying Americans off rooftops in a "Frequent Wind" redux.

Maybe that's enough?

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today my mom is celebrating her birthday. It's hard to believe, but we're the same age and have been for the past few years……since we celebrate the anniversaries of our 29th birthdays.

From an early age, she learned that life isn't easy. When she was 18 months old, she was scalded by her father's shaving water when she pulled the bowl down off the sink. The medical care she received was so good, most people would never know. Even those of us who do cannot see any real difference between the areas burned and what wasn't.

It was probably the only time she actually screamed her head off. Back then, she didn't curse, but if she had, it probably would have been something like, "Damn, damn, damn."

Mom's language when she gets mad is one of our greatest sources of amusement (after the fact), mostly because her "yelling" voice is what most people use with babies or at funerals. The only real curse word she ever uses is when she drops or breaks something unimportant - and mostly in a "Now I've got to clean that up" voice.

We kids could usually tell just how serious a situation was by whether mom was saying, "Oh, oh my." or "Damn, damn, damn."

Sprained ankle? Damn, damn, damn. Nearly cut off a thumb? Oh. Oh my. Dropped and/or smashed a plate? Shit.

When she reached her breaking point, frustrated and furious beyond belief by the constant bickering and whining of 5 kids, she would usually yell, "Goddammit all!" But it took a lot to get her to that point.

Even in a crisis, her response is pretty understated. If you're injured, she is calmly efficient, doing whatever needs to be done with a minimum of fuss.

When she's injured, she's calm to the point of coma. She had a heart attack once, and just kept repeating, "Oh, oh my" in a tone that suggested she was hearing about a child's poor grades from a teacher.

About 15-16 years ago, she was halfway down the stairs and slipped on one of my brother's Matchbox cars. She tried "yelling" for help from the three kids still living at home and got no response from the sound sleepers. Finally, she gave up, crawled to the phone and called me - five miles away. I had to drive up, not only to take mom to the ER, but to wake up the kids so they could babysit my munchkins.

We laugh now, but only because there were no serious injuries. Although, to this day, my mom dislikes that Alabama song, I'm in a Hurry because that's what was playing on the radio as she fell. (For a long time, I would hear that song, think of Mom, and go into Eddie Murphy's Aunt Bunny routine.)

Mom also has this way of appearing far larger and far more deadly to people who really make her mad. Ten foot tall and bullet-proof, as the saying goes.

She's 4'10, but my ex - who's 6' tall - used to be terrified of her. When we were dating (and I was 16) Mom took everyone camping at a lake a few miles away. I had to stay at home for some reason…..(There was an actual reason, but I have no idea what it was now.)

Anyway…there I was, alone at home, so I invited my then-boyfriend to spend the night. Unfortunately for me (and for him) Mom forgot the pancake spatula and drove home to get it before anyone else woke up. He and I woke up to the front door slamming against the wall and my mother yelling, "Happy, I'm not!"

The man literally cowered in my bedroom while I faced the she-demon. As soon as she left, he tore out of there like the hounds of hell were chasing him. It wasn't until much later that he told me why - and I've laughed ever since. He was 20. He really thought my mom would call the cops and have him arrested!

Not a chance. It would have been too easy. Mom likes the punishment to fit the crime.

He still treats my mom like a human time bomb - friendly, but cautious. Ironically, she likes him much more now than she did when I first introduced him.

As you've noticed, I have a lot of funny anecdotes. It's genetic. At family gatherings, laughter is everywhere. And most of the time, it starts with, "Do you remember when…."

That is one of the greatest gifts our mom gave us. It's only in looking back that we remember the poverty because at the time, we didn't know. We always had clean clothes, a clean home, and plenty of food. We had acres of woods and fields to play in and a huge array of books. We had many daily events that became fodder for the stories that are funnier than hell now. Sometimes I wonder how on earth we made it to adulthood with some of the stuff we tried.

We also had lots of chores. You can't run a house with five kids unless they pitch in. Even the youngest learned how to tell a weed from a carrot top by the time he was four. My sister and I - being "The Two Big Girls" - were mother's helpers from the beginning. By the time we became teenagers, we knew how to cook, clean, take care of babies and toddlers, sow-weed-harvest-and-can an entire garden, and much more.

Of course, we were children, so we didn't realize life was hard for Mom. Working two, sometimes three jobs to make ends meet, providing love, support, and guidance to five children, dealing first with an alcoholic husband and later with an abusive one. It's also in looking back that I realize just how much strength my mom has, because I don't know that, in the same situation, I could do 1/10th of what she did.

At age 34, she decided to pursue her dream to become a nurse. She enrolled in the local LPN program, and I'm sure started that first day wondering if she could do this.

It was my junior year of high school, and I know I spent my first day wondering if I could do it.

I was taking some of my senior year classes in order to free up my schedule, so I could qualify for one of the IBM co-op assignments. (You worked a real job for credit, but you had to have at least 20 credits at the start of your senior year. so you would have half the day free. Due to freshman insanity, I only had 11 at the start of my junior year, so I had to get the regular 6, plus three more.)

Patty, Mom, and I would do our homework, help each other out, etc. Patty and I learned lots of medical vocabulary quizzing Mom for tests. Certain things remain - like knowing itis always means inflammation and being able to pronounce otorhinolaryngologist (oh-tow-rye-no-lair-in-gahl-ah-jist) which is an ear-nose-and-throat specialist. And Mom was sometimes better than a card catalogue when you were trying to research a paper.

We both survived, and even did well. Mom had always received high marks on her exams, and graduated at the head of her class. Then came the big test: the state licensing exam. Mom wasn't sure how she'd do. She knew she would pass, but she wanted to do far more than just scrape by.

Naturally, we kids were certain she'd get high marks, but even we were unprepared for just how well she did. She aced it! An 800-question test, and she got 800 out of 800! She was one of only eight people in the entire state to receive a perfect score. (out of some 1900!)

One of the most important things I learned from my mother was that the parent has to be in charge. She was fun and made us laugh a lot, but we always knew who the boss was.We didn't have to like her or her decisions, and we could fuss and fume to our heart's content, but we sure as hell had to treat her with respect while we did it.

One thing I think of right off the bat is that four of the five of us called her something other than Mom only once. That is the only time I remember her hitting me, other than the occasional butt-swat when we were very young. (more than occasional with me…) The surprise of that one hit was more lasting than the actual event.

I said it while she was sweeping the floor - and found myself whacked on the butt with the broom. My brother Harry tried it and, despite being much taller, was backhanded into a wall. I think Josh was smacked into a chair in the living room. Not so sure on Patty, but I guarantee it only happened once, and she never ever called Mom that again. Beth was the only one smart enough to never, ever use that word while speaking to our mom.

In February of 2000, my mom was devastated by the loss of her brother, Skip, but that same month, she met the other half of her soul. She and Glenn had a whirlwind courtship (and boy was that hard to digest! Our mother…dating??!!) and married in April. She retired from nursing two days later, to help Glenn run his business. Now, she's an Ebay mogul with an online business [shameless plug: 73volts and Al-Tech] and happier than I've ever seen her.

From my mom, I learned to work hard, play hard, always make time for family and friends, laugh a lot, cry only as needed, and that the best tasting vegetables are the ones you eat right off the vine while weeding the garden. (Mom grew organic vegies long before organic was fashionable.)

I learned that no matter how old you are, you are always somebody's baby.

And because I've always had a mom who supported, encouraged, laughed, and helped out, I learned a universal truth:

When times are tough, and troubles seem to sprout like weeds, having the right person on your side makes all the difference.

Love you muchly, Mom!
– Jenn

Requiem

I couldn't find a better title for this post that the one Christy used for hers at Firedoglake, which you can read here.

The two missing American soldiers have reportedly been found dead, and, according to an Iraqi general, their bodies show evidence of having undergone torture before being "barbarically" killed. What this means exactly is unknown.

I can't even begin to talk about this, especially after learning earlier today that a lifelong friend of my brother's - a man I've known since he and my brother stole my eyeliner at age 12 to emulate their favorite band (Motley Crue) - was killed in a freak accident as he left work yesterday evening.

I'm busy getting my home ready to host my step-sister's Sweet 16 party tonight, and I can't stop crying. Crying for a boy I knew, and two boys I didn't. Crying for the shattering heartbreak all three of their families are going through right now.

I expect we will soon hear threats of retaliation and the like from the White House, even as they blatantly ignore the hypocrisy of condemning the torture of American soldiers while other American soldiers are committing acts of torture.

I expect we will once again hear that we can't leave Iraq because - in their twisted, corrupt logic - allowing more young men and women to die will somehow give these deaths meaning.

For the past several days, Christy has been asking FDL's readers, "Had enough?"

I have grieved for a nation so wrapped up in patriotic fervor and divisive rhetoric that it allowed these deaths and every other death in this war - American and Iraqi - to occur; one that allowed 225 years of Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms to be eroded and forgotten even as the administration told us we were bringing those same freedoms to Iraq.

I echo her sorrow at the loss of more lives in a pre-emptive war, based on this administration's lies, that sent ill-prepared children into a situation they didn't want to see.

And I most certainly echo her absolute fury at this administration:

Yes, I have damn well had enough.

Pass the candle around the blogosphere. Light up the dark corners where this administration hides its dirty work, and tell your Congressional Representatives it's time to bring our troops home.

Happy Birthday to Patty in Troy!

I'm going through a bit of the blues, and really haven't been interested in writing about all of the depressing and/or frightening things in the news. I'll get back to that eventually, but today I'm going to concentrate on something else. It's kind of a ramble, but you'll live…

*

Today is my sister Patty's birthday. Now, I am sensitive enough that I would never, ever tell her age. (*cough, graduated in 1988, cough*). I'm just 16 months older, and when she was born, I was quite fascinated with her. Right up until the day, two weeks after her birth, when I asked my mom when that baby was going back to its mom. That's when my little heart was broken, and it was revealed that this intruder was not just another kid my mom was babysitting. This one was ours….forever.

It was roughly a that point that I changed her name to Joey and began my campaign to be an only child again. I tried selling the baby to strangers in the supermarket for a quarter or a Hershey Bar, whichever. When that didn't work, I started offering quarters and/or Hershey Bars. Still no takers!

When people asked her name, I'd tell them: Greta Grindel. Who knows where I came up with that, but boy did it get funny looks. I also made up stories about how my mom had found her in a garbage can, or had stolen her, or bought her from the circus freak show, etc. Nowadays, that would get my mom locked up in a heartbeat, but back then, no one seemed to freak. They just nodded and smiled and clucked their tongues at her and laughed with my mom. Stupid baby!

When I was about two-and-a-half, I nearly ripped her little nose off her face. Not on purpose!! I had a wonderful swingset with one of those "horse" things (two people rode it like a swing, but sitting on seats while facing each other.) Now, back in the early '70s, child safety wasn't quite the big deal it is now, and swingsets had lots of metal and sharp edges. Combine all that with a kid just learning to walk in some seriously clunky leg braces, and you have a recipe for disaster.

The poor kid walked right in front of empty seat and - fast as a knife through butter - her nose was hanging by a thread. If you know where to look, you can see two tiny scars, but otherwise you'd never know she was nearly nicknamed "Noseless McGhee."

Much later, when she was about four, I discovered the practical uses for baby sisters.

You could play barbershop with them! I had a wonderful time picking up every single curl on her head and chopping it off at its base. I also discovered my mother loved the baby more than me… (Spanked, yelled at, and sent to my room. And when my dad got home, she told on me! Of course, Mom claims this was because I didn't give a very good haircut, and the baby looked like a mangy duckling when I was done.

You could also send them on exploratory missions into forbidden places your mom said you couldn't go because she never said Patty couldn't! (And then you'd get yelled at and sent to your room again.) They never seemed to understand that I tied a rope around her for a reason…so I would know if something bad got her. Then, you see, I would know WHY I wasn't supposed to go there! Okay, the rope around her neck was probably a bad idea….but it worked for the dog!

You could use them as traffic cops to stop traffic so you could ride your new bike in the road! (And then get yelled at, sent to your room and lose the bike for a month.)

But the absolute best use of my sister was to save me from the horrible, terrible, and truly evil "buckets."
For whatever reason, I was terrified of crickets, and so, God sent me a sister who would eat absolutely anything. She didn't have to be told; she just did it. Dirt, plants, dog biscuits, etc. And, in an act of true love that was repeated many times, she ate the bad crickets whenever I saw one. Thankfully, I outgrew my fear, and she outgrew eating nasty stuff.

Whenever I was punished (which was a lot) I pouted and whined about how unfair it was. I'd cry over how much she loved the baby, and - naturally - how much she didn't love me.

This was when I learned The Worm Song, which my mother duly passed on down the line to all the other siblings. Leo Buscaglia would have loved my mother. She didn't kill herself trying to prove her love - she just showed us with equal parts love and exasperation. Naturally, we all passed The Worm Song down to our own children whenever they whined or pouted about being unloved.

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me
I'm gonna go eat worms.
Big ones and fat ones
Juicy ones and fuzzy ones.
I'm gonna go eat worms.

I have no idea where it comes from, or what sick mind came up with it, but it's always been a favorite.

Anyway….

Time passed, and a brother showed up five years after Patty, then another sister two years after him, and yet another brother showed up two years after her. (My mother really did not understand that I wanted less siblings, not more!)

Once Patty and I hit the pre-teens, she stopped being my little Odie and started rebelling against my wishes. She actually seemed to think she wasn't a slave! When I refused to give up my dictatorship, she became my mortal enemy.

Our fights were - and still are - legendary amongst our younger siblings…and the kids who rode our bus. (Yes, I really did bang her head off the furnace, and yes, she really did pull a clump of hair out of my scalp.)

But heaven help the outsider who tried to do the same. No matter how angry we might have been with each other, this did not extend to allowing other people to hurt one or the other of us.

Even while we were busy hating each other, she was my best friend. No one else on earth knew just how horrible a parent our mother was for making us go out and weed her humongous vegetable garden as punishment for fighting. No one else ever understood just how awful it was to have little baby kids hanging around all the time when you were trying to impress your friends. And certainly no one else on earth had it as rough as we did!

As teenagers we outgrew the fights and being Garfield and Odie, but we never outgrew the love and the deep bond we share as sisters. Our mom often told all five of us that we had to be good to each other because someday we would be the only people who will remember those wonderful moments. She also told us that one day, we would appreciate our siblings, and she was right.

I'm lucky to have Patty as my sister. One who remembers all the things I did to her and loves me anyway.

Happy Birthday Joey!

Love, Jenn