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Doug Drenkow is a writer, editor, webmaster, and producer. A fourth-generation Democrat, Doug has produced the political talk shows "Barry Gordon From Left Field," on radio, and "NewsRap with Barry Gordon," on cable TV, featuring top progressive guests in the nation. Having met his wife through the Internet, Doug is a big believer in the power of new media!
Doug Drenkow's progressive political commentaries have appeared in print, on radio and TV, and online -- as in OpEdNews, DailyKos, BuzzFlash, UPI, BBC, The Guardian, etc.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, October 27, 2009 The Insurance Companies' "License to Kill": ERISA
Health insurance companies administering employer-based health plans -- the very private insurance plans covering most Americans, even under the health reform bills being considered by Congress -- have a "license to kill": It is contained in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, ERISA -- little known to most Americans but very profitably exploited by health insurance companies, costing many people their lives.
SHARE Monday, February 6, 2006 "DON'T TREAD ON ME"!
One of the greatest hypocrisies is the claim by the Right to stand up for life, liberty, and property under assault by the Left. ... The Right has no right to our bodies, minds, or souls (let alone the fruits of our labors, which they apparently cannot help but try to horde for themselves).
(25 comments) SHARE Thursday, November 11, 2010 $#@&!
The swing voters indeed had a choice. They chose wrong. Dead wrong. The correct answer to the question of, Where do we go from here? wasn't to turn the country to the Right, but to the Left -- make Congress more progressive, not less. Invest more in infrastructure and green technology, not less. Make the wealth more equitably distributed, not less. Look out more for middle class and working class households, not less.
(4 comments) SHARE Friday, October 9, 2009 Pres. Obama: An Inspired and Inspiring Nobel Peace Prize Choice
It is obvious that Pres. Obama represents a new face, ethnically and figuratively, of America -- the most powerful nation -- to the world: a vision of hope through working together with, not against, one another. And that indeed is the only road that leads to peace. Pres. Obama says he is "humbled" by the Prize; I am proud of the honor he has brought to America.
SHARE Saturday, September 27, 2008 Straight Talk on the Financial Crisis
There's plenty of blame to go around for the current financial crisis -- both parties "drank the Kool Aid" of deregulation in the '90s -- but Obama and the Democrats in Congress are doing right by everyday Americans in rewriting the Bush Bail-Out bill, as McCain flips and flops day by day.
SHARE Saturday, November 26, 2005 Probing the Psyche of the Information Age: Repella.net (A Digital Art Website Review)
Endlessly stimulating, the visual language of artist Don Repella is both cautionary and inspiring: As individuals in a mass society we can be overwhelmed by the sheer volume and complexity of the information to which we are exposed; but we can also find meaning if we open our eyes, ears, and minds.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Make history? Yes, we can. And did. Again.
From Teddy Roosevelt to Teddy Kennedy, some of the best and brightest American leaders have fought for the now--"45,000 Americans who die each year because they have no health insurance, and the nearly one million who go bankrupt each year because of medical expenses, even though most of those Americans had health insurance when they first got sick.
But today, President Barack Obama has signed into law historic reforms.
SHARE Thursday, October 6, 2005 The Truth, The (Less Than) Whole Truth, & (Almost) Nothing But The Truth About Harriet Miers
As if it weren't frustrating enough to have so little information to go on about Harriet Miers, some of the most crucial information that is being published about her one day is being contradicted the next! To set the record straight, here is some of what we do in fact know.
(7 comments) SHARE Friday, February 26, 2010 The President Calls the GOP Bluff.
In his dramatic, historic, seven-plus-hour summit yesterday with both Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate -- televised for all the world to see -- President Obama remained true to his reputation and convictions, and thus our cause: better, more affordable health care for more Americans.
(8 comments) SHARE Wednesday, December 2, 2009 The Least Bad Option in Afghanistan
After eight years of mismanagement of the Afghan War under Pres. Bush, there are no good options left, only less bad ones. Pres. Obama has done his best to balance the military and political realities, both here and abroad, to arrive at his strategy. His earnest, sober reasoning — in stark contrast to the leadership of Bush — should be respected, even if one disagrees with his ultimate decision: the least bad option.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, February 27, 2010 The President Calls the GOP Bluff.
In his dramatic, historic, seven-plus-hour summit yesterday with both Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate -- televised for all the world to see -- President Obama remained true to his reputation and convictions, and thus our cause: better, more affordable health care for more Americans.
SHARE Friday, December 30, 2005 If George W. Bush Had Not Been An Un-American Un-President ...
... he would not have been put in office by a rigged election. ... he would have condemned any actions even vaguely resembling torture. ... he would not have defied the laws of the land or dreamed of employing the most powerful intelligence operations to spy on millions of innocent Americans. ...
(4 comments) SHARE Monday, August 17, 2009 Video Clips of Schiff Town Hall: Democracy Will Not Be Silenced
28 VIDEO CLIPS document how over a thousand well-organized, very vocal opponents of health care reform failed to drown out over a thousand well-organized, very vocal supporters in the town hall meeting courageously hosted by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on August 11. He and a panel of experts presented much verifiable information and debunked many myths. Free speech was not silenced by mob rule!
(2 comments) SHARE Sunday, August 9, 2009 The Would-Be Town Hall Putsches
If we want to preserve and defend our democratic republic and all it stands for -- What could be more quintessentially American than a town hall meeting? -- then we cannot let bullies tell us what to do, or keep us from saying what needs to be said. Read how the Right has been so successful in uniting in opposition, and read some concrete steps you can take in support of vital health care reform.
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Report: Public Option as Best Cost Control
In order to assist other progressive activists in moving health care reform -- including a public option -- forward, I have prepared a report entitled Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise: The Public Option as the Best Insurance of Health Care Coverage and Cost Control. As indicated by its Executive Summary, this report includes comprehensive (searchable) content, commentary, and hyperlinked references.
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Closing the Deal in Health Reform, With or Without the GOP
Any ideas will be considered in the health care summit; but most Democrats are confident that after public debate, with input from recognized health care experts, any reasonable observers will conclude that the GOP proposals, as we've heard before, will not be better than the (probably-by-then-reconciled) House/Senate plan for making health care insurance more available, dependable, and affordable (and lowering the deficit).
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, September 11, 2008 Election 2008: Hope vs. Fear. Unity vs. Division. Success vs. Failure.
Today, seven years after a horrific shock to our collective system, we are embroiled in an election that the entire world recognizes is of truly historic proportions -- and not just because of the amount of pigment in one candidate's skin, or even the centuries of slavery and discrimination with which his race has been burdened. Simply put, the election of 2008 is no less than an epic contest between hope and fear.
SHARE Wednesday, September 9, 2009 Personal Tragedies Show Need for Health Care Reform: Video of "Congressional Send-Off Rally" in L.A.
I shot, edited, and posted on YouTube video clips of the Sept. 3 "Congressional Send-Off Rally" held in L.A. by Organizing for America and Health Care for America NOW! See and hear how people have lost their lives due to insurance company failures and how political leaders are supporting health care reform, including a public option. And call the HCAN hotline to leave a message for your congressional representative!
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, December 9, 2010 Pres. Obama's Mentor & Role Model & Hope for America
I now sincerely believe that -- no matter how you or I may see him -- Pres. Obama sees himself as carrying on the mantle of his late "friend, colleague, and counsellor" Ted Kennedy, as the leader of, let's say, "pragmatic progressive" Democrats -- not really "centrist," like outgoing-Sen. Evan Bayh, but also not really "liberal," like Sen. Barbara Boxer.
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, September 14, 2009 When is a Public Option Not a Public Option?
As an alternative to the public option -- which unfortunately has been losing public support -- the Senate Finance Committee is reportedly coming together around a plan to expand Medicaid to cover Americans not covered by private insurance. However, there are several vital concerns to consider, to ensure coverage and cost-control; in short, Medicaid must become more like Medicare. We don't want "No Patient Left Behind."
SHARE Thursday, October 13, 2005 Another Crony?! It's Enough to Make You Sick. Or Dead.
Meet Stewart Simonson...charged with safeguarding the nation against a devastating attack of smallpox from Osama Bin Laden or a cataclysmic pandemic of bird flu from Southeast Asia...a lawyer, not a doctor or anyone else with an iota of formal training in the field.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, May 29, 2010 See No Oil. Hear No Oil. Speak No Oil.
Even though Pres. Obama has promised that oil company reps would no longer be -- literally as well as figuratively -- in bed with government regulators, it seems now as if another arm of the federal government has too "cosy" a relationship with BP ...
SHARE Friday, November 6, 2009 Election Lesson: It's right -- not Right -- to be Democrats.
If we really, truly believe in the fair and wise policies we talk so much about, then by God, let's act upon them! And in the very best way that we can -- not some second-rate, watered-down version. Who knows, we might actually be right -- to not be Right. Our policies -- on the economy and health care and green jobs and so on -- might actually work. And people might actually, rightly re-elect us.
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, July 27, 2009 The "Bottom Lines" on Health Care Reform
In yesterday's NYTimes online there was an excellent summary of what the various aspects of health care reform would mean to everyone: The "bottom line" on the proposed legislation. So if you haven't yet read this great article, please do. Intelligence and reason are on trial. And we cannot forget how many lives are truly on the line.
SHARE Tuesday, March 21, 2006 Backed by Big Money, Congress May Gut Identity Theft Laws
With most of its members taking big money from big banks, the House Committee on Financial Services just voted in favor of legislation that would supercede strict state laws vs. identity theft. Article includes Action Form to oppose the bill US PIRG calls "the worst data security bill ever."
SHARE Friday, September 30, 2005 Save Grassroots Democracy: Save Community Access TV!
The very existence of Community Access TV is threatened by powerful interests in the nearly trillion-dollar-a-year telecommunications industry. Use the "action page" to send a powerful message to your senators and representative in support of this contemporary form of grassroots democracy.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 7, 2006 One Less Bell to Answer
No sector of the economy is more vital to our Information Age than communications. The announcement this weekend that AT&T has agreed to buy BellSouth is not only newsworthy but also historic, in terms of its sheer size (one of the largest deals ever) and of its social impact. This article is a comprehensive review of the communications industry, from telecoms and cable companies to content providers and consumers.
SHARE Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Use Reconciliation vs. "President Lieberman"
If Geo. W. Bush had not been handed the presidency by the Right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme court back in 2000, Al Gore would have become president; and Joe Lieberman, vice president. Reading how smug and happy Sen. Lieberman is as "point man" and spoiler, dictating terms of legislation, I cannot help but feel that Mr. Lieberman is playing out a fantasy of his envisioning himself as by now being "President Lieberman."
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, August 26, 2009 Kennedy's Greatness: Not Who He Was But What He Did
Love him or loathe him, Sen. Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy was an undeniably great public figure. But his greatness did not spring from who he was -- the surviving one of four, larger-than-life brothers of a powerful American family -- but from what he did -- champion the rights of all Americans, including those not born to such wealth and privilege.
SHARE Wednesday, November 2, 2005 I Am Pro-Choice AND Pro-Life
It is no more murder to abort a human fetus in the first two trimesters than it is to withhold life-support from a terminally ill patient in a permanently vegetative state. Unpleasant as they may be, those are the facts of life.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 10, 2008 The Case for a Woman as Vice President, and then President
Should the Democrats nominate a woman to be vice president in 2008 and, thus, potentially, hopefully president in 2016? Should gender be a factor at all? Shouldn't this very important decision, potentially affecting every person on earth, be "gender neutral"? Well, at the risk of offending all those who recoil at anything even remotely resembling "affirmative action," here are a few facts to consider.
SHARE Tuesday, December 6, 2005 Killing the Messengers
Getting an "F" in Homeland Security, the Bush administration retaliates against whistleblowing Chief of the U.S. Park Police and Agents of the FBI.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, September 21, 2010 Vote for Job Creation Not GOP Extortion!
The GOP ruined the economy, threw millions out of work, stood in the way of any and all help, and now wants our votes? And trillions for the rich? That smells like EXTORTION to me. We cannot afford to reward that behavior; we just cannot afford them in power again, not at this critical time. Work for jobs. Don't give in to extortion!
SHARE Saturday, December 10, 2005 Truth, Suffering, & Growth: "A Liar's Tale," by Andre Coleman (Book Review)
In his wonderfully inventive, thought-provoking first novel, Andre Coleman, who as a journalist has made a profession of unearthing the truth, creates a character, Scott Hampton, who tries to take the easy way out in life by lying, only to find the price of lies to be higher than that of the truth.
(2 comments) SHARE Sunday, August 2, 2009 Fact Check in the Health Care Debate
I think the subtitle of this AP article, from Yahoo! News, tells it all: "Distortions rife in health care debate."
To help set the record -- and a lot of our fellow citizens' minds -- right, check this out ...
SHARE Tuesday, September 1, 2009 Taking Health Care Reform to the "Belly of the Beast"
See and hear on YouTube how the Orange County (California) March for the Public Option, a passionate, yet orderly -- grassroots, not astroturf -- group of hundreds of men, women, and children, braved the heat and, in the words of a woman who nearly went broke when her husband got cancer, "took it to the belly of the beast."
SHARE Friday, September 11, 2009 Media in States with Centrist Senators - Research Report for Action
In the wake of President Barack Obama's stirring and historic speech this week to a joint session of Congress, I have prepared a research paper to aid those who want to help the health care reform effort by grassroots action; namely, contacting the media in the states of those "centrist" Democratic and Republican senators whose votes will most likely be decisive.
SHARE Wednesday, October 19, 2005 Iraq, LNG, Credibility: As Plame Was Losing Her Cover, Cheney Was Losing His Power
First in a Four-Part Series. Next -- The Conventional Wisdom: Trying in Vain to Salvage the Hostile Takeover of Iraq. Then -- The Inside Story: Trying in Vain to Salvage the Historic Saudi LNG Deals. Finally -- The Bottom Line: Trying in Vain to Salvage Dick Cheney's Credibility.
My name is John G. Roberts...I would like to apply for the position of Chief Justice of the United States...
Just please don't ask me about any of my opinions, passions, or prejudices; I just don't have any. Really. I'm not an ideologue; I'm a...uh...um...
(6 comments) SHARE Friday, February 15, 2008 On Michigan, Florida, & Superdelegates: Democrats Be Democrats, or Else
My greatest concern all along with the issues of seating or not seating the Democratic delegates from Michigan and Florida and with the now probably decisive role of "superdelegates" in the convention has not been about procedure in the primaries but about the outcome in the general election. Ultimately, Democrats need to play by the rules and be democratic; that is, not become what we are striving to overcome.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, September 22, 2010 Vote for Job Creation Not GOP Extortion!
The GOP ruined the economy, threw millions out of work, stood in the way of any and all help, and now wants our votes? And trillions for the rich? That smells like EXTORTION to me. We cannot afford to reward that behavior; we just cannot afford them in power again, not at this critical time. Work for jobs. Don't give in to extortion!
SHARE Monday, January 30, 2006 The Top Ten Reasons to Reject Samuel Alito
Why risk the majority's wrath, their threat to violate the rules of the Senate and exercise the Nuclear Option? I'll give you ten good reasons for Democrats, Independents, and moderate Republicans to stand tall and reject this nomination, pandering to those far to the right of the mainstream.
SHARE Friday, December 2, 2005 The Wit & Wisdom of Tom DeLay (A Little Levity & Some Serious Business)
"So many minority youths had volunteered [to serve in Vietnam], that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like myself." Gems like these seemed too “good” to be true, until I found some sources. Without further delay, here’s a peek inside the mind of our favorite indicted co-conspirator.
SHARE Monday, December 19, 2005 Multi-Site Action Alert: Jam the Senate's Phones Monday Protesting Illegal Bush Wiretaps!
From Daily Kos throughout the 'net, the Action Alert is going out: Contact your senators and demand that Bush be held accountable for breaking the law and bragging about it. Article includes ref. to find your senators' phone numbers and easy-to-use Action Form! Fight this blatant abuse of power!
SHARE Monday, October 19, 2009 My "Health Reform Video Challenge" Submission
Organizing for America is sponsoring a "Health Reform Video Challenge": "Create the best 30 second video you can that makes the case for passing health insurance reform in 2009." So I wrote a script, structured around these three themes: making health insurance "available, dependable, and affordable." And what could make more of an impression than presenting the names and faces of those who were victims of our current system?
SHARE Wednesday, December 7, 2005 Killing the Messengers *
Getting an "F" in Homeland Security, the Bush administration retaliates against whistleblowing Chief of the U.S. Park Police and Agents of the FBI. [ * RE-POSTED WITH WORKING ACTION PAGE LINK, TO CONTACT YOUR SENATORS, CONGRESS. REPS., OR NEWSPAPER IN SUPPORT OF CHIEF AND OUR SECURITY AND LIBERTY]
SHARE Tuesday, April 28, 2009 The Specter of Hope, as the GOP Implodes
The best comment I heard this morning was on MSNBC: David Shuster said that Arlen Specter didn't leave the Republican Party; the Republican Party left Arlen Specter. Now we've GOT to make some real, positive change for the people at large.
SHARE Tuesday, November 22, 2005 George Plays Dumb as Dick Plays Dirty. Welcome Back, Karl!
As Cheney mounts an Orwellian defense of lies that led to war, Bush picks the wrong door in China and looks like Inspector Clouseau falling for "the old closet ploy." Which is the lesser of two political evils: To be seen as a liar or a fool? It seems to me Karl Rove is back in the saddle again.
SHARE Friday, March 13, 2009 Right-wing Hangover
The Right complaining about all the time, effort, and expense that will be required to clean up the mess left behind by eight years of their policies under the Bush administration is like a bunch of spoiled frat boys with hangovers complaining ...
SHARE Monday, October 31, 2005 The Nuclear Question: Are Women Chattel?
There is no more "middle ground": the moment of truth has arrived. Either we stand up for women's rights -- and all other human rights -- or every last one of us will indeed be reduced to chattel. (Article includes Action Form to contact your senators vs. the Alito nomination.)
SHARE Thursday, September 22, 2005 The GOP Drowning in Their Own Hypocrisy
Bush told...his prime-time audience: "We have a duty to confront this poverty [that exacerbated the Katrina disaster] with bold action..."
The very next day, Bush offered his solution [to the problem of rebuilding]..."It's going to mean that we're going to have to cut unnecessary spending."
SHARE Wednesday, October 5, 2005 Meet "Justice Miers": Love-Child of Bush in Bed with Top Dem
Certain members of our leadership are apparently more part of the problem than part of the solution, more appeasers of the Right than champions of Left. But at least they kept our powder dry.
SHARE Monday, September 26, 2005 GOP Jackals Descend on the South
While everyday people, on the Left and the Right, have contributed record amounts to help the victims in the South, this catastrophe has brought the positions of the leaders on the Right and the Left into much sharper focus.
They are as different as greed and compassion.
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, March 16, 2009 Right-thinking among righteous anger
In the short term, stop the bleeding before it's too late (and enough already with these insane, obscene bonuses!). And in the long term, never again let so much money and power accumulate in so few hands, in any sector of our economy. We're ALL too important to fail.
SHARE Wednesday, November 16, 2005 What Could Be More Moderate Than To Be Progressive?
The conventional wisdom is the GOP has become too extreme; Democrats are cautioned not to go too far to the Left. But sometimes, God forbid, Liberals actually do lead our country in a better direction than Conservatives; that's why we're called Progressives. What could be more moderate than that?
SHARE Tuesday, March 14, 2006 A Legacy of Damage to America: The President's Vile Precedents Etcetera
This president and his ilk are inflicting lasting damage upon America and the world -- a legacy that will haunt us and cripple us for generations yet to come. Let us not be as foolish or arrogant as those who misgovern us; let us never forget or dismiss their betrayals of the public trust.
SHARE Tuesday, January 3, 2006 If Bush & Alito Have Their Way, Our Votes May Not Count.
Call me old fashioned; but I thought that the president, sworn to uphold the Constitution, and a potential justice of the Supreme Court would hold democracy in reverence, not contempt.
SHARE Saturday, February 18, 2006 Priorities
“Put your money where your mouth is.” That’s how you tell the straight-shooters from the hypocrites. And see where someone’s priorities really lie. By that standard, I’m afraid our current leadership is misleading America.
SHARE Tuesday, January 3, 2006 More Bush Insanity: Fomenting Instability in Iraq
We're told that it would be patently irresponsible to withdraw our troops from Iraq without first making the country stable and then handing it over to Iraqi security forces. So does that mean we've got to redouble our efforts to restabilize Iraq, so we can get the hell outa there? Well, maybe not.
(11 comments) SHARE Wednesday, June 4, 2008 Progressives Must Not Be Divided: We Cannot Afford a Pres. McCain
African Americans and American women have made great strides with the Obama and Clinton candidacies. But we must not allow ourselves to be divided: Only by uniting can we prevent the continuation of the Bush legacy, under a Pres. McCain; only by uniting can we achieve a great progressive agenda for our nation.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, November 9, 2006 The Last, Best Hope of the American People
As the Democrats retake Congress and statehouses and governorships across the country - and as President George W. Bush replaces NeoCon-in-Chief Donald H. Rumsfeld with the reportedly more pragmatic Robert M. Gates - it again becomes apparent, as it has throughout our history, that the power in the United States of America ultimately resides in the people.