Senator Human Lie Detector (R) OK

So … I know that many of you may not be as obsessed with inside the beltway chatter as those of who us live here. We really do feel that it is the center of the universe. So I feel it is my humble to duty to draw to your attention from time to time some of the outstanding public servants that make their home here, albeit part time, in the city I currently call home.

This weekend I was struck with a nasty cold that has been floating around my office. So in my coughing, sneezing, hacking misery, I was not able to catch my favorite Sunday program – Meet the Press or MTP as we call it here inside the beltway. However, because of the overwhelming popularity of iPods and podcasting, MTP has begun podcasting each episode. So lying in bed last night, I was listening to MTP on my iPod. The topic of this weeks MTP was … of course …. the President and his current political funk. It seems as if the whole world is colluding to make our dear leaders’ life more difficult. The discussion then turned to the prospects of Supreme Court Nominee Alito.

The first guest was our favorite limousine liberal, Ted Kennedy. Now we know what Teddy was going to say. The President needs to fire Rove, clean house, and dump this radical right wing nominee. No surprises there.

The real fun began with the Republican guest, Senator Tom Coburn of OK. Now I understand the amazing talent that is the GOP bench in the United States Senate, but I had no idea that Senator Coburn is in fact, a human lie detector. That’s right, on MTP, Tim Russert played a clip of Senator Coburn during the John Roberts confirmation hearing. In speaking to Roberts, the Senator indicated that he was very pleased with the nominee’s performance, and that he could tell, because of his experience and training as a physician, that he was being truthful. Well shiver me timbers – send the rest of the Senate home. Senator Coburn is a one-man truth squad. Can you imagine the advantage that this gives the GOP. I shudder when I think about the upcoming mid-term elections. The GOP can trot him out to vouch for the truthfulness of Republican TV ads, while claming that breathing habits of Democratic candidate X indicates that he is lying, and would raise taxes. Truly frightening.

I do take a little comfort in the fact that Senator Coburn indicates that this skill can be learned. It appears that one must go to medical school to learn it, but at least there is hope for our Democrats. I am quickly trying to determine if Doctor Howard Dean on the DNC has this skill.

Click here to listen to the exchange on MTP.

I really encourage you all to spend more of your Sunday morning watching the Sunday programs. It really will learn you a lot. And really, there is nothing more important than what goes on in the city I call home.

Get What You Give

Watching Rosa Parks funeral procession pass my office yesterday, got me thinking about how important activism is to social change. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the importance of the work of my own organization, Greenpeace. Don’t get me wrong, I am no Rosa Parks, but Greenpeace does have a more than thirty-year history of raising hell to protect the planet, and some of our founders were very brave indeed.

Greenpeace is rather unique in the environmental world. Non-violent direct action is at the heart of Greenpeace’s work. Bearing witness to environmental destruction and using non-violent direct action to, even if just briefly, make things as they should be. From activists putting themselves between whaling vessels and whales, climbing smokestacks, or forest rescue stations that protect some of the last remaining old growth forest, the common thread is the activists that place themselves in the right place at the right time to stop a wrong.

A colleague forwarded along a link to this Greenpeace video. I realized as I watched it, the importance of activism and taking stand. And while we may feel discouraged at times, we have do have the power to make positive change.

Check out this link to the New Radicals video – people really can make a difference, and its an inspiring thing to understand.