With all the justifiable anger about the BP oil spill, some people want to see BP just “go out of business.”  While gratifying at some level, at least for a few minutes, I don’t think that would be the most effective thing in terms of business as a whole learning a lesson from this.  It would also penalize a lot of “little people” — people who have investments in BP, if only indirectly through mutual funds and, yes, pension funds and the like.

I believe the best thing is that a number of top executives and any others who made key decisions to shortcut safety procedures (and we know there were such shortcuts despite the huge risks) be fired and, most importantly, not walk away with any golden parachutes or the like.  I also think that at least some of them should be subject to criminal process, and if guilty, fined a very substantial amount of their net worth.

There is no such thing as a “corporate decision”.  All decisions in a corporation are made by individuals based on what they think will come out of it.  Only when the individuals in power know that they themselves will suffer for decisions that damage society, including perhaps spending a long time in jail, will they stop making such decisions.

It’s the same with the big bankers.  They caused massive damage to the economic well-being of millions of people, but with very few exceptions, still have boatloads of money from all their bonuses.  Therefore, given the chance, they will do it again.

“Priest, 7 others held in sex sting”.  That is the headline of a story on the front page of our local small-city newspaper.  It’s sad that we are still doing such things here in the second decade of the 21st century and after 2 or 3 millenniums during which we should have learned that “prostitution” cannot be eliminated by legislation or police enforcement. As reported, the police ran ads in Craigslist offering some kind of sex for money at a specific hotel, and when some potential customers showed up, they were arrested.

Does anyone but me wonder why the Nashua police are spending their time and the taxpayers money cracking down on crime that does not exist? The police statistics say there were only three arrests for prostitution in the last two years — not exactly an epidemic. And why are the police advertising in Craigslist for services they consider illegal? From now on, if you happen to see an ad for sexual services on Craigslist, don’t worry — its probably just the cops.

The more enlightened Western countries have laws to protect buyers and sellers of sexual services from exploitation, not drive them into the underground economy where both are at risk. Apparently, the lawmakers in those countries realize there are worse ways to obtain sex than by paying for it from a willing adult provider.

In the last week, both before and after the passage of the Health Care Reform bill, we have seen an amazing display of ugly acts here within our own borders. Last weekend, there were demonstrators on the Capitol steps who hurled racist epithets at members of Congress. Some black members said they hadn’t had that kind of experience since the 50s or 60s during the protest marches in the South.

Reports today include “a fax bearing the image of a noose. Profane voice mails. Bricks thrown, a gas line cut. White powder sent to an office” targeted at members of Congress.

We cannot dismiss these as just acts of a lunatic fringe. They are only possible because of the rabid rhetoric of the Republicans and their sympathizers in their efforts to stop the Health Care bill at all costs.

Let there be no mistake. The Republicans did not act as the loyal opposition, using their offices to influence the process as much as they could for the good of the country. No. Their primary objective was to thwart President Obama, and the country be damned. And their rhetoric — threats of communism, socialism, and apocalypse –  gave aid and comfort to those committing the violence.

These acts of violence deserve to be called terrorism just as much as Taliban guerrillas, Islamist bombers, and Nazi Brownshirts. These are terrorists the same as anyone who uses violence and intimidation in attempting to get what they cannot  get in the democratic process, and they are all — 100% — on the side of the Republicans and egged on by flaming talk show windbags like Rush Limbaugh.

Until the Republicans change their strategy and start putting the country before their political rabble-rousing and fund-raising tactics, they deserve to be judged by the company they keep.

It is town meeting season here in New Hampshire, and many smaller towns have an article up for consideration by petition to ask for a state-wide vote on a constitutional amendment to define “marriage” in a way that negates the decision of the legislature last year.  Some towns have passed this non-binding resolution; others have discarded it.  I am happy to say that my town did the latter.  Here is what I had to say to the meeting.

On the day that the governor signed the gay marriage bill into law, I was proud to live in New Hampshire.  Proud that our state chose to do the right thing using the legislative process and taking action through our elected representatives.  No one can dismiss this change by claiming it is just judges exceeding their authority.

I believe that, in passing this legislation, the legislature was acting in the best traditions of New Hampshire where the rights of the individual are held in high esteem and we go the extra mile to be sure our citizens have the freedom to live their lives as they wish without unnecessary interference from government or other narrow interests.

I was proud again in January that the first gay marriage under the new law was celebrated at my church a few minutes after midnight of the New Year.  I emphasize the word “celebrated”.  It was indeed a joyous occasion, just as many weddings have been here and worldwide throughout history.  Many members of the congregation attended, regardless of their own sexual preference or relationship status.

It pains me to think that there is the slightest possibility that the joy and fulfillment of marriage could again be denied to good citizens who, in this regard, wish for nothing more than most everyone here believes they are entitled to.  It troubles me to think that there are those who would have us step backwards on the long road that we have been traveling as a nation toward true equality for all people.

I am confident that the judgment of history will say that we did the right thing in legislating marriage equality.  I believe that 20, 30, 50 years from now, it will be unthinkable to outlaw gay marriage, just as we now find it unthinkable to outlaw interracial marriage or reinstate segregation.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”  I ask that we all stand on the side of justice, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the right of all of our citizens to be treated equally and with respect under the law.

I oppose this resolution.

Thank you.

The right wing spin machine is trotting out the usual suspects in opposition to health care reform: “it’s socialist”; “you can’t choose your own doctor”; “you’ll have to wait in line”.

Where have these people been? Some other planet?  They are totally out of touch with the lives of average Americans today.  We already can’t choose any doctor — only the doctors in the insurance plan that our employer chooses.  We already have to wait in line and deal with a massive bureaucracy that questions and disputes our needs.  We are already forced to pay into some system not of our choosing — if indeed we even have that option — or face prohibitive costs for the most basic medical care.

This is not just about the basic fairness of offering health insurance to those who may not currently have a 9-to-5 middle class job.  It is about reducing the massive amount of money that the insurance industry sucks out of the health care system — money that does nothing to provide care or support health.  Make no mistake — the people who sit on the telephone with you, arguing about why they won’t pay your claim, are being paid good salaries, and that money is coming right out of your insurance premiums.

We must reject the fear mongering and move into the community of western nations whose systems work much better than ours.  When “social” security was proposed and adopted, the right-wing opposed it as “socialist”.  They always see government as the problem and never the solution.  No wonder that there are no solutions forthcoming when they are running the government.

To reject health care reform because it might help the less well-off is to cut off our nose to spite our face.  It will help the less well-off and it will benefit the middle class.  And the wealthy may have to pay a bit more.  What exactly is wrong with that??

Even before they walked into the meeting at the White House on Thursday, the two men at center of the country’s most recent vignette on race and police power were talking and mending fences. Nobody was demanding or giving apologies. After the meeting, Sgt. Crowley said on live TV that he and Prof. Gates had agreed to meet again for discussions on their respective experiences. Gates said “I hope that we can get to know each other better, as we began to do at the White House this afternoon.”

This was the genius of President Obama. Some say it was a mistake for him to have commented on the issue in his national press conference a week ago. Some say this meeting was political damage control.  I disagree.

I can’t say I believe he planned the whole sequence in advance, but he did choose an initial action with wisdom and commitment, and responded to the outcome with another very wise move. This is the mark of a great chess player or a great statesman. We never know for sure where the roads ahead will lead, but the wise leader has the courage to make the better choice, and the flexibility to adjust course when conditions warrant.

I think Obama was exactly right in making those comments in his national press conference. I think it was a necessary and powerful message to the minorities in the country that the guy now in the White House gets it, and he didn’t check his commitment to truth at the door when he got sworn in.  Some may find it upsetting  that issues of race still exist in this country and must be dealt with, but the leader of courage does what is required, even if it makes some uncomfortable.

At this point, we are a better and wiser nation for the President’s actions in this matter. The initial incident in Cambridge, while regrettable, now serves as a “teaching moment” for us all, with the two initial adversaries now looking to, in the words of Prof. Gates, “utilize the great opportunity that fate has given us to foster greater sympathy among the American public for the daily perils of policing on the one hand, and for the genuine fears of racial profiling on the other hand.”  This would probably not have happened if Obama had simply remained silent on the matter.

World Peace, it is said, begins at home. President Obama has shown exactly what that looks like.

It has been kicking around in far right-wing circles for a couple years at least — ever since Obama started to get serious consideration as a presidential candidate.  The claim — that Obama’s birth certificate is somehow suspect and that he may not qualify as a natural-born citizen — has been thoroughly debunked, yet the right-wing nuts won’t stop repeating it.  Perhaps they haven’t yet groked that he is President and has been for over 6 months.

If it were just the lunatic fringe still beating this horse, it would not be worth any attention.  Almost all responsible news organizations ignore it and give it no play.  One notable exception is Lou Dobbs on CNN. I wouldn’t have known, since I avoid Dobbs as much as possible.  I watch CNN for news quite a bit, but Dobbs is by no  means a credible news anchor or commentator, nor even an insightful interviewer like Larry King.  He is simply a windbag who fills his time with repetitious cranky rants.

MoveOn.org is now running a petition campaign to call on CNN to hold Dobbs to a standard of responsible journalism.  Check out the full story and sign the petition if you are so inclined here.

The storm of controversy around the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates shows a divide in this country, and it is not just racial. Since Wednesday evening, the storm has been around whether President Obama should have expressed an opinion on the matter, especially as his opinion was that the Cambridge Police acted stupidly.

So one of the divides here is around whether the President of the United States is ‘allowed’ to say that a particular police action was “stupid” when he believes that to be the case. And why not? Aren’t any of allowed to say something like that, or was Freedom of Speech repealed when I wasn’t looking?

And if it turns out that a particular police action was, in fact, stupid, it should be called out so that it may be avoided in the future. Are there those that do not believe police can make mistakes or act stupidly or worse? Have we all forgotten the events of the 1950’s and ’60s when there were many cases of intolerable police behavior in attempts to suppress the drive for racial justice and equality?

Those that sit comfortably watching their TVs and thinking that the police must always be right have never had the experience of being wrongly arrested and are probably quite sure they never would be. They’ve certainly never had the experience of having the police come busting into the house in the early morning hours, ransacking everything and shooting the family dog, in a drug raid where they (oops, sorry) got the address wrong.

And those that believe it can’t happen to them are almost certainly not black or Hispanic.

True, another President might not have made that comment. But now we have an African-American President, and so he did say it because that’s how he saw it. It was important that he say it because of all the profiling incidents that have happened in the past and, because they did not happen to a prominent citizen, got no attention and were swept under the rug.

Ironic that the Cambridge police sergeant involved in this incident teaches police classes on racial profiling and so knows all that is in the police handbook on the issue. Maybe his actions in this event were not influenced by race. Maybe he would have done exactly the same thing if Gates had been white rather than black. If so, it would still have been stupid and a cause for review.

Yes, the President said he did not have all the facts, but how many more facts do you need? It is not disputed that Gates was in his own house and had presented valid IDs. It is also undisputed that he was upset with the conduct of the officer by that point and asked — demanded — his name and badge number. Since when is that not allowed? Rather than defuse the situation in a professional way, the officer arrests Gates on a “disorderly conduct” charge. I mean, would any of us not get angry if that happened to a friend?  Would we remain silent or speak up in support of our friend?

No doubt the police department would much prefer to investigate and resolve the matter internally and quietly, so it was really inconvenient for them to be called out by the President in a national news conference. Sometimes, however, we should not and must not remain silent. As Martin Luther King said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

Welcome to The Outpost — a bit outside of town, and definitely off the beaten track. For a similar perspective, check out Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row”. You remember Desolation Row — it’s just a short way down the road from The Outpost. Dylan’s Sugar Baby comes from the same place but on a cosmic plane.

The Outpost has existed in several incarnations, including a song, a radio program and now this web page. In any event, The Outpost is where we observe… “Lucifer’s motley minions, Gabriel’s holy host … Passing in parade as I look out from The Outpost.”

Used to be, I delivered these on the radio (WMBR, 88.1 FM, Cambridge/Boston and elsewhere) and then put the text here on the web. Turns out the web part is a BLOG.  Who knew.  Maybe I should give it up.  Sometime.

For now, this is a convenient format — for me, and hopefully for you.  You are even welcome to comment — something the old formats didn’t handle too well.

Prior to this, the last few years are online here and the oldie-but-goodie radio commentaries are here.  Amazingly, these old  ones still get a bunch of hits every week.