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How the U.S. Army Kills Its Own Soldiers A horrifying, exclusive report from JoAnn Wypijewski on the grim secrets of Fort Sill, Oklahoma. How a sadistic drill sergeant tortured basic trainees, amid brutal indifference that led to the death on March 19,2006,of 21-year-old PFC Matthew Scarano. Dead Movement Marching? Cockburn and St Clair assess the failures of the national antiwar groups, even as popular opposition to the war tops 60 per cent. Stalin or Confucius? Chris Reed on the Secrets of the Garden of Bliss, otherwise known as North Korea. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! |
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Today's Stories Gabriel
Kolko March 23, 2006 Charles
V. Peña Joe
DeRaymond Robert
Fisk Jonathan
Cook Tom
Engelhardt Joshua
Frank Norman
Solomon Robert
Fitch / Joe Allen Patrick
Cockburn CounterPunch
News Service Website
of the Day
March 22, 2006 David
MacMichael Juan
Santos Paul
Craig Roberts Patrick
Cockburn Ramzy
Baroud Jason
Leopold Dennis
Perrin William
Blum Jeffrey
St. Clair Website
of the Day
March 21, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Winslow
Wheeler Tom
Engelhardt Arnold
Oliver Earl
Ofari Hutchinson Mike
Whitney William
A. Cook Sophia
A. McLennen
March 20, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Dave
Lindorff Ralph
Nader Diane
Christian Jeff
Halper Harry
Browne Norman
Solomon Patrick
Cockburn Website
of the Day
March 18 / 19, 2006 Cockburn
/ St. Clair Werther Chris
Kromm Patrick
Cockburn Elaine
Cassel S. Brian
Willson Fred
Gardner Brian
Cloughley Laura
Carlsen Eamon
Martin Julie
Hilden Alison
Weir Jeffrey
St. Clair Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
March 17, 2006 Eduardo
Galeano Greg
Moses Richard
Falk / David Krieger Cindy
and Craig Corrie Amira
Hass Mike
Marqusee James
Petas and Robin Eastman-Abaya Website
of the Day
March 16, 2006 Norman
Solomon Tom
Philpott Heather
Gray Amira
Hass Missy
Comley Beattie Sen.
Russell Feingold Lucinda
Marshall Andrew
Bosworth Clancy
Sigal Website
of the Day
Jonathan
Cook Winslow
Wheeler Diane
Christian Ron
Jacobs Missy
Comley Beattie Jared
Bernstein Noam
Chomsky Website
of the Day
March 14, 2006 Earl
Ofari Hutchinson Dave
Lindorff Kevin
Zeese Todd
Chretien Jason
Kunin Thomas
Palley Cockburn
/ St. Clair Website
of the Day
March 13, 2006 Uri
Avnery Dave
Lindorff Mike
Whitney David
Green Jeremy
Scahill Mike
Ferner Corey
Harris Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Ralph
Nader Paul
Craig Roberts Ben
Tripp John
Strausbaugh Landau
/ Hassen Robert
Bryce Gary
Leupp Fred
Gardner Ron
Jacobs Jonathan
Scott Ramzy
Baroud Jordan
Flaherty John
Chuckman Joe
Allen Julia
Kendlbacher St.
Clair / Walker / Pollack / Vest Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
March 10, 2006 Ben
Rosenfeld Lila
Rajiva Saree
Makdisi Elena
Shore Joshua
Frank Dave
Zirin Aura
Bogado
March 9, 2006 John
Walsh Annie
Zirin Brian
McKenna Chris
Floyd Rachard
Itani Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Wylie
Harris Alexander
Cockburn Website
of the Day
March 8, 2006 Patrick
Bond Brian
Concannon, Jr. Pat
Williams Lance
Selfa Mokhiber
/ Weissman Walter
Brasch Vijay
Prashad Website
of the Day
March 7, 2006 Werther John
Blair Dave
Lindorff Mike
Whitney Warren
Guykema Sen.
Russell Feingold Robert
Jensen Norman
Solomon Bernie
Dwyer Website
of the Day
Ralph
Nader Dave
Zirin Vanessa
Redgrave Walter
A. Davis Joshua
Frank Nate
Mezmer Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Jennifer
Van Bergen Steven
Higgs Winslow
T. Wheeler Ron
Jacobs Rev.
William E. Alberts Colin
Asher Fred
Gardner "Pariah" John
Scagliotti Seth
Sandronsky Joan
Roelofs Arjun
Makhijani Ardeshr
Ommani Diana
Barahona Ben
Tripp St.
Clair / Socialist Worker Staff Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend March 3, 2006 Laura
Carlsen John
V. Whitbeck Chris
Floyd Mohamed
Hakki Pratyush
Chandra John
Scagliotti Website
of the Day
March 2, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Dave
Lindorff Ramzy
Baroud Saul
Landau Joe
Allen Steve
Shore Denise
Boggs Norman
Finkelstein Website
of the Day
March 1, 2006 Mairead
Corrigan Maguire Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Faheem
Hussain Antony
Loewenstein Elizabeth
Schulte Mike
Whitney John
Ryan Michael
Donnelly Tom
Reeves Website
of the Day
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March 24, 2006 The Disabled, the Elderly and the Invisible Poor The Other California By MARTY OMOTO
Nearly 45 years ago, Michael Harrington wrote "The Other America" a book that lifted the heavy veil that made invisible to the rest of the country, the poorest Americans, millions trapped in poverty - outside of public policy, outside of political power and outside of the American dream. Among those millions were hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities - infants, children and adults, seniors and their families. Harrington wrote about the poor in the Appalachians, the shocking hunger of children in the Mississippi Delta, the thousands who toiled the fields as migrant farmworkers in unimaginable conditions, and the isolation of poverty in the inner cities, while discrimination prevailed against people of color, and agains The book was read by President John F Kennedy and then Attorney General Robert Kennedy and profoundly influenced them - and millions of other Americans since then. The ideas of many critical programs - Medicaid, Medicare, expanded social security benefits, food stamps and more can be traced back to his explosive study on poverty, which, with the civil rights movement, galvanized the nation in the early 1960's into declaring "unconditional war on poverty". Much progress for sure has been made since the book was published in 1962. Major civil rights and voting rights acts, creation of Medicare and Medicaid, the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Rehabilitation Act, California's Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Mental Health Services Act and more were enacted - the work of both Republicans and Democrats. And yet, now almost a half century later the heavy veil that separates the people who have opportunities from the people who do not, remains, sometimes lifting ever so briefly when indifference is overcome by accountability. There is still in this country, the "Other America", and, in this state, the "Other California".
In the "Other California", in bad budget times for people with disabilities, seniors, for low income families, it seems that rights are rationed, and in good budget times, somehow minimized among other worthy priorities. In the "Other California" the State fails to fully enforce the rights that it has an obligation to fulfill, whether it is the right to special education, the right to public accommodations or the right to live independently in the community. We recognize there limits to funding and resources, limits that people with disabilities and community organizations and workers contend with on a daily basis for decades. We could understand and respect the reasons of those who make decisions about limited funding and resources impacting people with disabilities and seniors if policymakers in fact would recognize those limits for other groups in other budget areas. But they don't. We have no quarrel with those other groups who push hard for higher wages or increased benefits or increased funding for pensions, or other funding. It is their right to do so. But there is a profound disconnect to reality and fairness when the Legislature and Governor approve those requests for increased spending for other groups and other budget areas, and then tell the community of people with disabilities and seniors that there are only hard choices to be made. If those in the "Other California" were told that the State is broke and has no money, and if then told that the Legislature and Governor did reject salary increases for themselves, for the correctional system, for pensions, and expanding funding in other areas outside the health and human services budget then at least fairness and honestry would be a part of the debate of what hard choices need to be made. But they have not done that. We know, in the "Other California", that in fact, those hard choices were not hard to make because they were never made for others. Last July, the Governor and the Legislature voted to suspend the small cost of living increases for the lowest income people with disabilities and seniors - the most neediest of all in the "Other California" for two years and are now looking at extending it further. California can be better than that.
Until that time, in the "Other California", it is about denial of rights, and denial of the basic freedom that comes from those rights. Janis Joplin once sang "freedom is just another word, for nothing left to lose." And it does seem that State and Federal governments view the rights of people with disabilities and seniors in that way. But freedom is not just a flag,
or an anthem or a nation at war. It is not just about the right
to religion or speech or words. It is not just a medal or a
moment of silence in honor of a brave soldier serving our country.
It is also about rights - the right to be a part of this country,
to be a part of a community and to have a equal chance and opportunity
to education, to housing, to jobs, access to public accommodations,
access to needed services that allow people the choice to live
in their own homes rather than an institution. The distinction is important, because in the "Other California", while progress has been made, the promise of freedom and those rights recognized has yet to be fulfilled. The unfulfilled promise goes back further than the moment the Federal or State governments got around to recognizing a right. For all its hopes and dreams,
this is a good and wonderful country and state. But we cannot
just talk about freedom and rights in other countries and preach
freedom and rights to other people, while people here are not
fully free, with rights unenforced or denied in the "Other
California". This is not rhetoric or an exaggeration.
The "Other California" exists. Like those people
trapped in the "Other America" - we wish it
didn't. Being invisible does not mean people do not exist even if not seen. In the "Other California" there are over 800,000 people with disabilities, over 21,000 blind and over 350,000 seniors on SSI/SSP (Supplemental Security Income/State Supplemental Income); over 650,000 children with special needs in special education; over 200,000 children and adults with developmental disabilities receiving regional center funded community services; about 3,000 people with developmental disabilities in state operated facilities; tens of thousands of people with mental health needs; thousands each month in nursing homes; over 300,000 people with disabilities and seniors receiving in-home services, over 1.7 million children and adults with disabilities and seniors on Medi-Cal; over 300,000 In-Home workers, over 150,000 people who provide community-based services as front-line staff, managers, or other workers often with low wages. Millions of children and families trapped in poverty. It is a child with autism, it is the uncle with MS. It is the mother with cerebral palsy, and the grandfather with Alzheimer's. It is the grandchild with mental retardation, and a son with a traumatic brain injury. It is a daughter with polio and a grandmother who is blind. It is a neighbor with a spinal cord injury and a friend who is deaf and a aunt with mental health needs. It is the worker being paid just barely the minimum wage and the community provider going under financially.
We are one community in the "Other California", though often we allow ourselves to be divided by how the State or federal government defines a disability, or allow ourselves to be further divided by funding of a program, divided on whether we receive services or whether we provide them or by those who determine who can receive services. We allow ourselves to be divided by all the things that should not matter with the horrible consequence that it prevents us from uniting on the things that do. And what matters in the
"Other California" is simply this: Too many years, too many decades have passed. The pace is slow and the consequences of continued delay, of broken promises, of suspension rights and laws is enormous and devastating. In the "Other California", what do we say to those children with special needs and their families when the bus no longer comes for them for special education? What do we say to them about the opportunities and chances that will never arrive for them? What do we say to the thousands of people with disabilities who want to work, and earn their own way, when funding is cut by the State so that can never happen? What do we say to the thousands of people with disabilities who cannot get their wheelchair or other equipment repaired because of budget reductions? What do we say to the thousands of seniors, who have worked hard all their lives only to find that they may have to sacrifice everything they worked for because of a healthcare system that isolates and makes institutionalization almost inevitable? What do we say to the thousands of people who work in community organizations, who struggle hard to pay their rent or mortgage, who work under difficult conditions? What do we say to the thousands of people and their families and friends who want to enjoy the free life that others may take for granted of going to a restaurant, or theater or park, or other public event or place, only to find barriers, inaccessibility and the humiliation of discrimination? The "Other California" will always exist so long as the when the rights of any California is denied. In the "Other California", it happens all the time.
The funding of services and supports is not just a budget issue. Though some with good intentions often minimize the impact of reductions as exaggerated or unrelated to rights, if you are part of the "Other California", there is no embarassment or hesitation to make the claim that in fact it is about enforcing rights to live in the community - to have choices, and independence. This is not just rhetoric but the reality of a promise that often seems to conflict with the balancing of a budget. It should not be. Early intervention for a infant with special needs makes a difference. Services to a child with special needs makes a difference. Supports and services to adults with disabilities - to seniors, children and adults with mental health needs - makes a difference. Keeping a promise makes a difference. But it is more than that. It is also a moral issue. It is morally wrong, for instance, to take away money from the poorest of Californians who have disabilities, who are elderly or blind, when costs are going up - and to instead use that money to balance the state budget, as proposed last year by the Governor and passed by the Legislature as part of the 2005-2006 budget. We don't need to justify our position beyond that. It is wrong. It is morally wrong. And now another similar proposal is being made this year. It is wrong, especially at a time when elected Statewide officials, and members of the Legislature received a cost of living increase that went into effect in December. It is okay for us to say that - and to say it loud, and say it to the good people in the Assembly and Senate: restore the funding taken away to over 1 million of the lowest income people with disabilities, the blind and seniors, and give the money back. And restore the other cuts, as a first step to reform.
This is not to say that those in State government are evil or reprehensible as human beings or that they do not deserve a cost of living increase. Good people can be indifferent. Good people can do bad things. And good people can do extraordinary things. There have been some good efforts proposed or started by good people from both parties in the legislature, like Sen. Wes Chesbro, Assemblymember Judy Chu, Sen. Deborah Ortiz, former Senate President John Burton, former Assemblymember Dion Aroner, the late Assembymember Marco Firebaugh, and even certain issues by Assemblymember Tim Leslie. There are many others. The response by the Governor and the Legislature, and by state officials like Stan Rosenstein, with the Department of Health Services, to the mishandling by the Federal government in implementing the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program, was swift, powerful, appropriate and meaningful for tens of thousands of people with disabilities and seniors who are eligible for both Medi-Cal and Medicare. The effort led by Secretary Kim Belshe and others, in the outreach that included people with disabilities and seniors in discussions on changes to Medi-Cal (even when we disagreed strongly with the actual proposals) conducted by the California Health and Human Services Agency and the Department of Health Services, was remarkable. Efforts to look at autism and the pilots implementing self determination by the Legislature and the Department of Developmental Services were good; while the efforts by the Department of Social Services in being candid and open with the In-Home Supportive Services Quality Assurance program has been very positive even when we may not agree with the direction or some of the proposals. But the pace is slow - and the consequences for that delay is enormous. Too many years have passed for people with disabilities, for providers being strangled for funding, and workers without decent wages for doing work that the State is required to have done by state or federal laws. Children with special needs who are denied needed services at a young age suffer a loss that cannot be replaced and could mean the difference of how a family can cope and stay together. And there is a special humliation and an absolute denial of basic rights for people with disabilities who live in the community and yet cannot be a part of it because it is not accessible either in public accomodations or in supports, services and healthcare.
The problem isn't the lack of good alternatives or solutions - or the fact that the State (including the Legislature) simply needs to be "educated" on the issues. It underscores that what is lacking is not a better proverbial mousetrap - but the political will. Communities of people with disabilities and seniors have long lacked the unified political power to hold policymakers accountable. We are all working to change that in a positive way with an effort called "advocacy without borders" (see CDCAN's website at www.cdcan.us).
It is hard to make a case to those in the "Other California" to come up with new ideas or a new proposal or new efficiencies or new laws - when the State has failed to keep the promises already made, or the rights already recognized, or the laws already passed and enacted. By reducing funding, freezing reimbursements at levels that do not come close to matching the costs of providing services - the State - including the Legislature has created a "Wal Mart" approach in community based services and enforcement of rights: rights and services for people with disabilities and seniors at the lowest possible discounted price, quality always a gamble, and provided by workers at the lowest possible wages and benefits, creating a workforce of poverty. That isn't real reform. It doesn't even make sense money-wise. We owe ourselves and California something better than that.
40 Years Ago and Now: We Are Here To Speak for Justice Nearly 50 years ago America discovered that there was the "Other America". In that "Other America" - in that "Other California" nearly 40 years ago, groups of parents of children with developmental disabilities came to Sacramento to fight for their rights and said to the Legislature that "we are here to speak for justice". The response then from the Legislature and the Governor was the passage and enactment of the only civil rights act for people with developmental disabilities in the nation - the landmark Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act. In 2006, some 40 years later, the "Other California" still exists. Some 40 years later, we are again here to speak for justice. We will always be here now. Let the response be from the Governor and Legislature that they will finally fulfill promises already made and enforce rights already enacted and bring down the divide that separates those in the "Other California" from the dream and hopes that every Californian wants to believe in. Marty Omoto is director of the California
Disability Community Action Network.
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from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann  Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair          Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.                  |
