Posts tagged as:

Congress

DISABLED: Challenged to discover new ways to function

July 26, 2010

Today is the observance of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, one of the most humane pieces of legislation to take place in the past fifty years.  With its passage and signature of the President the hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities in this country achieved full stature of citizenship and a [...]

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NOES: the plural form of the word “no”

July 20, 2010

In a recent article I read the report of someone who was making the case that the Republicans in Congress are the” Party of No!” It is a  criticism which we have heard numerous times over the past eighteen months of the Obama administration.  Clearly, it is a technique decided upon and organized by the [...]

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Dither: to act irresolutely; vacillate.

July 9, 2010

The word dither is used in its verb form, dithering … as in “dithering around.“  It usually means that the person is not accomplishing anything, but is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. In the form I have chosen to pursue it,  to dither, the word signifies the act of vacillating, unable to [...]

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CHIMERICAL: imaginary, unreal, elusive

May 26, 2010

An article in the New York Times yesterday (May 25) referred to the chimerical constitution of the British government.  The point of the article was to reveal that, in reality, there is no constitution for the British government; it is imaginary.  However, Parliament continues to function as if a real constitution was in existence.
The article [...]

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PARADIGM CHANGE #2: Church and State

April 17, 2010

The fragile relationship between church and state has not always been that way.  It is only a matter of a few decades ago that the question was much more of an intellectual debate than it is now.  Recently, however, the issue has risen to the point of actual legislative testing and there is a [...]

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TALK RADIO HOST: the voice behind the violence

March 25, 2010

There’s a militia mentality prevailing in this country today.  Over the past couple of days it has demonstrated itself in language and actions which offends the sensibilities of people who believe in democratic process.  Angry over the passage of the first stage of Health Care legislation, the language of some people, including people in [...]

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PETARD (as in “hoisted on one’s own”): hurt, ruined, or destroyed by the very device or plot one had intended for another.

March 24, 2010

I don’t think I ever have enjoyed an etymological search as much as I have this one.  In trying to get to the source of the term “hoisted on one’s own petard” I discovered that the origin is  a French word, “peter,” which means (literally) to break wind, or fart!  It was [...]

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LANDMARK: a distinguishing landscape feature marking a site or location

March 22, 2010

When the 216th Member of the House of Representatives clocked in with a “yes” vote on the heavily-debated Health Care legislation last night, it was tantamount to becoming law.  There are a couple of U.S. Senate steps remaining to firm up the decision, but for the most part, the United States now has a Health [...]

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PENULTIMATE STAGE: the last surge before voting on Health Care bill

March 13, 2010

The reactions of the people in the crowd differ during the final stretch.  Some people scream instructions to the jockey.  Some just scream.  Others hold their breath, afraid that if they say anything they will jinx the outcome.  I’ve seen some people turn their backs to the finish line, afraid to see the result.
The pounding [...]

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BIPARTISANSHIP: so much for the attempt

February 26, 2010

President Obama’s attempt to bring together Republicans and Democrats in an exploratory conversation about Health care seems not to have been very successful.  My take on it is that there has been too much partisan bickering and grandstanding over the past months.  The conversation held at Blair House yesterday was, in a sense, “too little/too [...]

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