Portland observer., August 01, 2012, Page 6, Image 6

August I, 2012
Page 6
Watching Fireworks Would Have Been More Fun
My Broken
Heart
D onald K aul
I c e le b ra te d the
Fourth o f July this
year by having a heart
attack. All things con­
sidered, watching fire­
w orks w o u ld h av e
been m ore fun.
I w oke up at 2 a.m. on July 5th with
raging pain in my chest and both
arms. I was bathed in a cold, clam m y
sweat, and my breath was com ing
short. I was slightly nauseous.
"Gee," I said to myself. "I w onder
what's wrong?"
A pparently 1 was w aiting for a
W estern Union m essenger to com e
to the door and say: "You're having
a heart attack, stupid. Call 911."
It went on like that for a few hours
until my w ife w oke up too and con­
by
vinced m e to get help. An am bulance
brought me to the em ergency room,
where a team o f doctors, nurses,
attendants, and G od-know s-
w ho else was waiting for me.
It w as lik e b e in g se n t
through a cardiac car w ash. I
w ent in on one end w ith a
heart attack; I cam e out the
o th er an hour later w ith an
unblocked artery, a stent, and
an optim istic prognosis.
They told me they expected me to
return to close to 100 percent. (This
w as particularly good new s as 1
haven't been close to 100 percent in
years, if ever.)
I'm told that my reluctance to seek
immediate help is fairly typical o f men.
Even male doctors often go into a
state o f denial w hen confronted with
sym ptom s that can only be a heart
attack. They wait. It's a guy thing.
If you take only one thing aw ay
from the new spaper today, let it be
this:
W ash in g to n . I can tell you that
"The best lack all conviction,
If you start show ing sym ptom s o f things have changed, and not for w hile the w orst are full o f p assio n ­
a heart attack, even if they're not as the better.
ate intensity."
dramatic as mine, don't screw around.
I've covered fools, crooks, and
Does that describe C ongress or
Call 911 and have an am bulance take charlatans o v er this h a lf century. w hat?
you to the hospital. T he treatm ent B ut fo r the m ost part, they had som e
D o I w ant to spend m y tim e left
starts in the am bulance.
sense o f seriousness about them — deciphering such people, trying to
As a cardiologist friend told me: an appreciation for the national in­ decide w hether the R epublican lead­
"They say tim e is m oney, but in my terest as they saw it. E ven rogues ers are as stupid as they sound or
business tim e is m uscle." The longer like L yndon Johnson and R ichard m erely w illfully ignorant?
you take to get treatm ent, the m ore N ixon did.
W e are w ell on our w ay tow ard
heart m uscle is destroyed — perm a­
T he current bu n ch o f m iscreants becom ing a nation on the colonial
nently.
is nothing like that. C entrist D em o­ m odel, w here a few people ow n e v ­
The upshot o f this is that I've crats, w ho talk a good gam e but erything and the rest o f us play the
suspended w riting this colum n in ­ don't do m uch about it, are battling lottery and w atch football. T hat's
definitely. (I can h ear the m oans o f increasingly radical R epublicans, a not the A m erica I grew up in. It's not
anguish across the nation now .)
fierce tribe o f Bible-thum ping know- the A m erica I spent my life w riting
A nd there's a real question as to noth in g s fu eled by m oney from ab o u t.
w hether I'll start writing it again when m odem R obber B arons w ho w ant to
I have to figure out w hether I
I feel better. (I can h ear the cheers sell the country o ff by the board w ant to spend m y last years w riting
and shouts o f trium ph drow ning foot and m etric ton for th eir p er­ about this new country.
out the m oans.)
sonal profit.
I'll let you know .
I'm now 77 years old. I've been
Thus w e approxim ate the times
In Other Words Columnist
doing this — w riting c o lu m n s— for described by the Irish poet W .B. Donald Kaul lives in Ann Arbor,
nearly 50 years, 35 years o f it in Yeats:
Mich.
.
Restore the Soul of Democracy
Our voice and
vote is needed
by
M. L inda J aramillo
In the last few decades, we
w atched the long lines o f m il­
lions o f voters w aiting their
turn to cast their vote in places
like South A frica, C hile, N ica­
ragua, and T he Philippines.
Just recently, the sam e h ap ­
pened in Egypt.
It seem s that the new energy and enthusiasm
to vote in these nations follow ed a struggle w ith
oppressive control o f the electoral process. In
m any o f these nations, v o te r’s identification c re ­
dentials w ere rejected. C ases o f b allot box co n ­
trols w ere later revealed. T h o u san d s o f votes
w ere left uncounted. In the U .S., being a nation
built on the values o f dem ocracy, the experience
o f these nations should be a w ake-up call to us
right now .
R ecent developm ents o f states unilaterally
purging election rolls should raise red flags o f
concern. T he fact that state after state in this
country is im posing very rigid election req u ire­
m ents should stir us out o f o ur apathetic slum ber.
O v e r 24 sta te s n ow h a v e so m e fo rm o f ID
re q u ire m e n t, 11 o f th e m d u rin g th e la st tw o
y e ars. T h e ir e x p la n a tio n is th a t w e n e ed to
g u a rd a g a in s t v o te r fra u d ; h o w e v e r, th e d a ta
d o e s not p ro v e th a t fra u d is a m a jo r issu e . In
fa c t, the a v e ra g e fra u d p e rs e c u tio n o f th e last
d e c a d e is o n e p e r s ta te p e r y e ar, a n d th o se w ere
v o te b u y in g sc h e m e s p a id fo r b y w e a lth y in ­
v e s to r s .
T he real result o f these new requirem ents is
that they exclude persons w ho d o not typically
have a gov ern m en t issued ID card. T hose m ost
ex p eriencing this lock out o f d em ocracy “o f the
p eople” are the elderly, the poor, and persons o f
color.
Just one exam ple is a couple nearing 90 years
old arrived at their polling place only to be told
that their ballot w as provisional because they did
not have p ro p er ID. T hey knew the staff at the
polls very w ell, but they did not know o f the new
law . T hey got to subm it their tem porary ballot,
but later learned that th eir votes w ere later re ­
jected.
Sim ilarly, hundreds w ere blocked from voting
in states like G eorgia, T ennessee, and Indiana in
the recent prim ary election season. W hen any
one person w ho is eligible to vote is turned aw ay,
ev ery single person should be w orried.
W e can alm ost understand w hy people get
discouraged and quit participating. H ow ever, w e
can n o t let this stop us; w e m ust revive o ur d em o c­
racy and energize voters once again. W e m ust
turn the tide o f indifference and protect the rights
o f every single person w ho is eligible to vote.
T he need is great to equip ourselves and o ur
com m unities to m ake inform ed, thoughtful d eci­
sions about those w ho w ill lead us in the future.
W e each play a unique role in this electio n cycle,
by enco u rag in g civil, respectful dialogue that
builds com m unity and a hope-filled vision o f the
future that includes all people.
W e can and should participate in voter ed u ca­
tion and em p o w erm en t program s that help us
reflect on our collective life and the com m on good
through the political process. It is o u r fervent
hope that you w ill co n n ect w ith m em bers o f y o u r
local church and co m m u n ity this y ear through the
O u r Faith O u r V ote O u r V oice C am paign.
T he stakes are as high as they have ever been.
N ow , m ore than ever, o u r vote and voice is
needed. T ogether, w e can help to restore the soul
o f dem ocracy.
M. Linda Jaramillo is a minister for Justice
and Witness Ministries fo r the United Church of
Christ.
better thi (Scditoi Civil Rights Fountain
I am the c h ie f executive o fficer fo r the R osa Parks M em orial A ssociation o f
Portland. W e w ant to dedicate a civil rights fountain and R o sa Parks m onum ent
in dow ntow n P ortland at W aterfro n t Park and the T ransit M all.
O u r m otivation is to h o n o r the civil rights p io n eer R osa Parks follow ing her
recen t death and the 51st anniversary o f h er D ecem b er 1, 1955 arrest in
M ontgom ery A la. w hen she refused to relinquish h er seat on a segregated bus
and the bus boycott that follow ed.
“ R osa is a legend o f h er tim e and ch an g ed the course o f history. W e will
dedicate the civil rights fountain to h er fo r the benefit o f the co m m u n ity” . This
w ill build the b etter future fo r O regon and A m erica by bringing us to gether as
one nation u n d er G od.
W e are asking the city o f P ortland and city com m issio n ers to donate a grant
or gift o f $ 300,000 for the m onum ent to extem porize the A frican-A m erican
com m unity in Portland and th roughout the state.
By honoring R o sa Parks and keeping her m em ory alive, w e are asking that the
site be slated d ow ntow n instead o f P eninsula P ark in the P iedm ont neighbor­
hood o f north and no rth east Portland, w here 95 percent o f residents and visitors
never travel. I can n o t say it enough, A frican-A m ericans have been left out in the
cold in every case; and w e need a change here in this city now .
I have w orked on the R osa Parks Project fo r close to eig h t years and it is my
w ill to see this ev en t com e to light.
W e are asking fo r y o u r support in this task and appreciate any assistance that
w ill e x p e d ite th e e v en t. P lease feel free to c o n ta c t m e via e -m a il at
W illieB an k s@ R o sap ark sF o u n d atio n .o rg or by telephone at 503-702-2011 or
503-877-9346.
Dr. Rev. Willie Banks
i
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