Dennis Deery

GO SEE THIS MOVIE! Bully is a documentary that tells the story of 5 kids who are victims of bullying. The kids range in age from 11 to 17. Viewers never get a chance to meet two of the kids, who committed suicide as a result of their victimization. This is a powerfully produced movie. It has been the subject of some controversy due to the producers’ struggle with the Motion Picture Association of America over the final rating of the movie.

We hear a lot of talk around election time about term limits for Congresspersons. People are concerned about long-serving elected officials losing touch with their constituents, and about the difficulty of unseating incumbents due to the advantages of running as an office-holder. I’ve never been a fan of the idea of term limits. I think there’s much to be gained from some of the long-time office-holders developing a large skill base in dealing with issues.

So, did you bother to read the Congressional Budget Office scoring of the health care reform bill passed this weekend? Did you know that this bill could actually reduce the deficit? Funnily enough, many opponents will say they don’t believe the CBO numbers. Somehow though, when pressed, those opponents don’t seem to have any numbers of their own. You think this will bankrupt the nation? Show me your numbers! There is an incredible lack of perspective on this issue, in my humble opinion.

Our local newspaper editor was kind enough to consider a submission from me. The following article appeared in the November 25, 2009 edition of the Dunn County News. Health-care reform is the hot topic in the United States these days. I’ve been encouraged by the number of people discussing the issue while I’m out and about, at the store, the pizza joint, the post office. Sadly, too much of our focus has been on the small number of screaming matches that have erupted in various forums.

I recently attended the Midwest Rural Assembly in Sioux Falls, SD. I wrote a short guest post on the Wisconsin Rural Partners web site describing the conference. 

I just sent the following to the Obama White House: Dear President Obama, I’d like to offer a perhaps radical suggestion for remaking the health-care town hall discussions. The town hall meetings you’ve held thus far are a start. But they’ve not substantially moved the debate, and I suspect in their current form they’re unlikely to. Perhaps it’s time for some new thinking? Schedule some more town hall discussions. Give away tickets through the White House as you have been.

A lot of people have been showing up at town hall meetings these days screaming about the inevitable ineptitude of any government-run health care system. I wonder how many of those same people spent the last eight years (or their whole lives) screaming about how our military is the best in the world? Why do people in this self-proclaimed Christian nation believe that our government power can create the best military in the world, a force for killing, while that same government power cannot possibly run a health-care system?

It’s time. Finally we’ve reached the end. Even for a political junkie like me this campaign has run on far too long. Get out and vote today. When you’re done, call a friend and remind them. I’m going to spend a good chunk of the day knocking on doors for the Obama campaign, reminding people to get out and vote. And at the end of the day, I hope, home to celebrate.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation has a great summary of the technology policies of the two major-party presidential campaigns posted on their web site.

From Ireland’s prolific Pat Phelan comes word of a new web site that can allow you to hedge your gas prices against the rising tide. Check out Pat’s blog for details.

The UW-Stout community was saddened last week by a tragic house fire that resulted in the deaths of three students. The opportunistic nut-jobs at Westboro Baptist Church, known for showing up at military funerals to tout their belief that God is punishing the U.S. for its acceptance of gays, decided this was another golden opportunity to show the world the depths of their hatred. Their four protesters showed up on the Menomonie campus last Thursday bearing placards with statements such as “God Hates Fags” and other well-known bible verses.

****Bernard Goldbach has a good post up on his blog about one of the dangers in traveling with a laptop. As someone who regularly travels internationally with my laptop, this has been a big, and growing, concern to me. The United States’ Transportation Security Administration can be truly draconian in their approach to travelers. Those who run afoul of a screener, for whatever reason, can be subject to pretty unbelievable treatment.

This video, based on a Barack Obama speech, has been making the rounds lately. I’m a fan of Obama, I’m excited by the possibility that he’s going to be the nominee. I’m proud of the fact that America seems to be getting excited by an intelligent, eloquent speaker, a thinker. I think good changes are coming. And after watching this video, I would say not only “Yes we can!”, but “Yes, we must!

An Associated Press article from this past weekend describes a new breed of remotely-piloted vehicle, called the Reaper, that the U.S. Air Force is preparing to deploy to Iraq. This plane is similar to the Predator aircraft which has been used throughout the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, mostly for surveillance activities. The Reaper, as the name hints, has a different mission. Armed with bombs and missiles, the Reaper is an attack aircraft.

A couple of weeks ago Senator Hillary Clinton addressed the National Rural Assembly via a video link-up. This gathering of 400-people, part of the Kellogg Foundation’s Rural People, Rural Policy initiative, was an effort to highlight the issues facing rural areas, and to broaden the discussion beyond agriculture policy, which has generally been the focus of rural policy efforts. To that end, during the Q&A session following her talk, Senator Clinton was asked by one participant if she, as President, would consider changing the name and mission of the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Rural Affairs.

Following his July 4th celebration, author Scott Berkun posted an interesting question on his blog (for my American readers) - when was the last time you read the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution? I’ll confess to being a bit of a geek, so honestly it hasn’t been that long for me, just a few months. If it’s been a while, you should click the links below and go read them, if for no other reason than they’re beautiful pieces of writing.

Anyone who’s spent any time watching CSPAN lately knows that public policy debates in the U.S. often center on dramatic stories. Opposing sides compete to see who can bring the most tearful witnesses to the table, who can show the most heart-wrenching photos, or who can present the most dramatic anger. That’s a natural tactic. Policy discussions, like most debates, are a sales job, and good salesmen are those who are able to make emotional connections.