Posts by Hines Brian

It drives me crazy when people (usually right-wingers) ignore what has worked in other countries, wanting the United States to go its own dysfunctional way.Allowing gays to serve openly in the military is a great example. The first question Congress and Defense Department officials should be asking is, "what do other countries with top-notch forces do?"Just fine. Most Western military forces have now removed policies excluding sexual minority members; of the 26 countries that participate militarily in NATO, more than 20 permit open lesbians, gays, or bisexuals to serve; of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, three (United…

Ah, it's nice for my progressive and once-Catholic soul to see the head of the Catholic Health Association coming out in favor of the Senate health insurance reform bill -- the abortion language being just fine with her.Sister Carol Keehan makes a lot of sense when she says that supporting the bill is a pro-life stance.In her statement Saturday, Keehan made it clear she thinks any qualms about abortion language in the Senate version can be resolved, and in any event are not enough to justify opposition to what Catholic leaders say is a pro-life issue and a "human right"…

Talk about a no-brainer. Why shouldn't the United States save lots of money and help tens of millions of people?Today the Congressional Budget Office released an updated analysis of the Senate's health care reform bill, which will be the basis for an improved version planned to be passed through reconciliation.The bottom line is that the deficit will be reduced by $118 billion over the next ten years, which is just about the same as what the CBO projected in a previous analysis.So why are Republicans united in their opposition to a bill that markedly reduces the deficit while giving thirty…

I doubt that our senior senator here in Oregon, Ron Wyden, is losing sleep over Jim Huffman's announcement that he's seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Wyden next November.At least, I assume Huffman is running as a Republican. You can't tell from his campaign web site, which as far as I could tell doesn't mention his party affiliation at all (a wise move, given the demonstrated inability of R's to win statewide offices).His web site is rather strangely named jobsfororegonians.com, a URL that has nothing to do with either (1) Jim Huffman or (2) the race for a U.S. Senate…

I like coffee more than tea. And I like the Coffee Party movement hugely more than the Tea Party version.The Coffee Party got brewed up by Annabel Park via a status update on her Facebook page. let's start a coffee party . . . smoothie party. red bull party. anything but tea. geez. ooh how about cappuccino party? that would really piss 'em off bec it sounds elitist . . . let's get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion.Friends replied, and more friends replied. So last month, in her Silver Spring apartment, Park started…

It's a good thing that I have (outrageously expensive) private health insurance. Because I suffered through frequent bouts of Nauseated by Bullshit Political Posturing Syndrome while watching -- off and on -- Obama's health care summit today.Of course, if I sought care for my affliction, Blue Cross likely would find some way to deny coverage. After all, everyone knows that the main goal of health insurance companies is to provide as little health care to their subscribers as possible in order to maximize profits.This is why I have a lot of sympathy for Jack Bogdanski's take on the current Democratic…

It was infuriating to read the headlined first page story in today's Portland Oregonian: "Documents detail Campbell death." Now we know a lot more about how the Portland police killed a man who was distraught over his brother's death and was walking outside of an apartment at the behest of an officer, unarmed.Officer Frashour is the trigger-happy cop who shot Campbell in the back. Officer Campbell was communicating with Campbell through voice and text messages.Frashour was not wearing an earpiece to listen to radio communications but said he had his radio microphone on his lapel. He said he wasn't part…

An excellent article by Jane Mayer in The New Yorker, "The Trial," points to a terrific reason for trying Al Qaeda terrorists in the court system rather than military tribunals.According to Kate Martin, the director of the Center for National Security Studies, in Washington, the military can’t simply grab suspects inside the U.S. and hold them without charge or a hearing. “It violates the Constitution, which extends to everyone inside the U.S.,” she said. “You can’t be seized without probable cause. You have the right to due process, and to a trial by a jury of your peers—which a military…

Finally. A Portland (Oregon) grand jury had the guts to say what was obvious to everyone but the city's police department: officers are killing mentally disturbed people unnecessarily because their training is deficient and communication is lacking.A grand jury found Aaron M. Campbell shouldn't have died on Jan. 29, but was killed because of critical police errors, including no central command, lack of communication between officers and training that teaches officers how to shoot without key decision-making skills. The conclusions were contained in a three-page letter the jury released Thursday. "As a group, we are outraged at what happened at…