Republicans: We see dead people

Hey, I think we finally found those death panels Sarah Palin was talking about.  They’re attending the Republican Presidential debates!

Have you heard the crowds at the last two debates?  For a party filled with people who call themselves “Right to Lifers”, they certainly like the prospect of people dying. 

At last night's Tea Party debate, when Wolf Blitzer was asking Ron Paul a health care question….a hypothetical case involving a 30 year old uninsured man with six months to live….and when he asked if the man should just be left to die, the audience answered for him. “Yeah!”

But this was pretty tame compared to last week’s debate at the Reagan Library. I’m sure you’ve seen this clip. Brian Williams wasn’t even finished asking Rick Perry a death penalty question….but when he said Texas has executed more death row inmates than any other state, the audience cheered. Louder than they did for Nancy Reagan.

So I’ve come to three conclusions.

First, if Sarah Palin liked to shoot people from airplanes instead of wolves, she wouldn’t just be the frontrunner….she’d be the Republican nominee by now.

Second, when Dick Cheney shot his hunting buddy in the face, IT WAS NO ACCIDENT!

And finally, speaking of vice presidents shooting people, maybe Aaron Burr had the right idea. Maybe the Republicans should scrap all the remaining debates, and all the primaries, and begin a series of duels to the death. You think Bachmann is gunning for Perry now? Wouldn’t people cheer at that? It would be just like “Spartacus” without the sex & nudity.

Are you ready for some...... commemoration?

There’s so much going on today in Western New York.  It has the potential to be a really fun day.

Of course, mostof us will be in front of the TV at 1:00 to watch the Bills season opener.  Are you all stocked up on beer & munchies?

But there’s other stuff going on around town.  Maybe you’re thinking of heading up to Niagara Falls for the Blues Festival.  As long as you’re in Niagara County, why not go to the Peach Festival in Lewiston?  The Sunset Hill Festival in Colden sounds like fun too.

Or you could go to a ceremony marking the 10^th anniversary of 9-11.

Yep, that’s today.  Has it really been 10 years since that terrible day when our world changed forever?

So if you’re planning to have fun today, which most of us are…..do you feel guilty about that?  I don’t.  I don’t think that makes us unpatriotic, or un-American.  Because life goes on.  People are celebrating birthdays today.  Couples are celebrating wedding anniversaries.

That doesn’t mean I won’t think about that day, and all the lives that were lost.  I may pause and look at the clock this morning and think “this is the time it happened”.  Or I may not think about it until later in the morning.  But I will think about it….and I’m sure you will too.

There’s actually a lot I’ll think about.  I’ll think about what it was like to work in the newsroom at Channel 2 that day.  Journalists are kind of like first responders when things like that happen.  We don’t have time to dwell on what’s happening….we have to do our jobs.  Managing a newsroom in Buffalo on that day had its challenges.  We have an international border…get a crew to the Peace Bride.  What about the air base in the Falls….get someone there.  Wait, we have one of the world’s largest power plants in our backyard…we have to cover that.  Plus the usual local sidebars…the airport, bus & train station, command center……not to mention waiting to find out how many local victims were among the dead.  I remember marveling at how cooperative their families were with the media on the worst day of their lives.

Speaking of families….back then, mine lived in California.  I remember calling my parents when there was a moment….and calling my sister, who was less than two weeks away from having her first child.  We wondered what kind of a world that child was entering.

I have better memories of that first week.  I remember how Western New Yorkers came together to help, however they could.  The long lines at blood drives.  The donations.  The prayers.  I remember that Friday, when we held a mini telethon for the Red Cross.  In just a few hours, it raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Speaking of life going on, we celebrated the birth of a co-worker’s first child.

For weeks, 9-11 was all we thought about.  Eventually, that changed.  But a year later, the first anniversary was another wall-to-wall coverage day….and once again, we were flooded with memories.

But the second anniversary wasn’t that big of a deal….the third, even less….and September 11^th became another day again.  A day for festivals.  Weddings.  And football.  The Bills played on September 11^th in 2005.   And they won the game.

That nephew of mine, who was born a few weeks after the attacks, is coming over to my house today with his younger brother to watch today’s Bills game.   In fact, for us, today is a family day.  Football with the boys, along with Mom & Dad.  Dinner with them and my sister & brother-in-law.  (It’s Grandparents Day, by the way…again, helping life go on)

So I’m planning to have fun today and I’m not going to feel guilty.  Yes, I’ll think about what happened 10 years ago today.  I’ll do that on every anniversary….not to mention other days….but I won’t dwell on it, and I won’t feel bad about feeling good.  And I think that’s pretty good.

Oh, one last memory.  Two months after 9-11, like millions of other country music fans, I tuned in to the CMA awards.  Alan Jackson took the stage, and millions of people cried all over again.

Buffalo Bills Opening Day Memories

This is the best weekend of the year if you’re a Bills fan.  Opening Day.  A new season.  A new beginning.  A new reason to believe.  Because until the season actually begins, and the Bills begin to dash our hopes, anything is possible. 

It’s not the biggest game of the year.  It’s not the most important.  But it’s the first.  It’s the season kickoff.  And it’s special.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t always been kind to the Bills.  They lost their very first season opener.  Not to mention their second, third, and fourth before they finally won the opening game of their fifth season.  Marv Levy lost his first opening day.  So did Lou Saban (twice).  So did Chuck Knox.  So did every single Bills head coach except...believe it or not....Joe Collier.

But over the years, there have been some truly memorable opening games.  And some of them were memorable in a good way.  Here’s my list of five that stand out.

September 16, 1973: The Juice is loose

Before he killed two people (allegedly) OJ Simpson killed ‘em on the football field.  Not right away.  He struggled his first couple years, and there were those who thought he would be a bust in the pros.  But in 1972 he had his first 1,000-yard season.  And 1973 was magical.  And the opening game kicked it off in a big way.  Simpson ran over, around, and through the New England Patriots in Foxboro.  He ran for 250 yards.  A new NFL record.  Two touchdowns, one of them a spectacular 80-yard run.  And the Bills stomped the Patriots, 31-13.  Simpson would have two more 200-yard games that season….another one against the Pats, and then the season finale against the Jets, when his final carry gave him the first 2,000-yard season in NFL history.  Others have broken his record, but they took 16 games…OJ is the only one to do it in a 14-game season.  And that opening day set the tone.

September 7, 2003: Pounding the Pats

Is this really the last time the Bills beat the New England Patriots?  Yep.  15 straight and counting.  But the last Bills victory was a good one.  31 to nothing.  Oh, the memories.  The Bills intercepting Tom Brady four times.  Including a pick by Lawyer Milloy, cut by the Pats and signed by the Bills just that week.  Another by Sam Adams…how can we forget the 300-pounder rumbling stumbling his way 37 yards into the end zone.  On the offensive side, Drew Bledsoe was still good back then.  Travis Henry scored two touchdowns that day.  (12 points for the man with 11 children!)  It was  a good old-fashioned butt-whipping.  Which is pretty much what the Pats have done to the Bills ever since.  But on this opening day, the Bills ruled the Ralph.

September 9, 2007: A chilling moment

It may be the scariest sight ever at Ralph Wilson Stadium.  (except for the time we saw Dick Jauron smile….people still have nightmares about that)  But on this day, every person at the stadium and everyone watching on television held their breath at the second half kickoff when we saw Kevin Everett lying still on the field….and we saw the replays of the collision that left him paralyzed.  Not to mention in danger of dying.  We didn’t know at the time how close he came to losing his life….but we knew it was bad.  Really bad.  Imagine being one of the Bills players that day….trying to go on with a game (a game!) after the ambulance took your teammate away and you saw the look on the faces of the medical staff.  The Bills were leading Denver at the time.  The Broncos took the lead, the Bills got it back….but then Denver won the game on a last-second field goal.  As we know, Everett made a miraculous recovery thanks to trend-setting treatment, and was walking again later that year.  That may be the biggest victory ever by a Buffalo Bill.

 

September 10, 1989: Magic in Miami

The Bills opened the 1989 season on the road against the Dolphins….and it provided one of the most memorable moments of the Jim Kelly era.  The Dolphins led the game 10-3 at halftime, and when they took a 24-13 lead in the 4^th quarter, things looked pretty good for our hated rivals in front of their obnoxious fans at Joe Robbie Stadium.  (Personal note: I lived in Miami then and I was at that game with a group of fellow former Buffalonians…taking our lives in our hands by wearing Bills shirts in a stadium full of coke-fueled, gun-toting Dolfans)  But the Bills closed the gap to 24-20 when Kelly threw a touchdown pass to Flip Johnson.  An interception of Dan Marino gave the Bills the ball back….and with two seconds left, the Bills were on the Dolphins two-yard line with time for one last play.  Kelly shocked everyone (especially the Dolphins defense) with a quarterback draw….he made it over the goal line and the Bills won a last-second thriller, 27-24.

September 7, 1980: Snapping “The Streak”

The mother of all great season-openers.  The mother of all memorable Bills-Dolphins games.  The end of “The Streak”.  If you’re old enough, you lived through it….if not, you’ve heard about it for years.  Oh for the 70’s.  The Dolphins beat the Bills every single time they played in that decade.  20 straight.  No other team in the history of the NFL has lost as many consecutive games to another team as the Bills did to the Dolphins.  (of course the Bills’ losing streak to the Patriots is getting dangerously close….but let’s not worry about that for a couple more years)

But 1980 was a new decade….and with Chuck Knox as coach, Bills fans were hopeful.  Nearly 80,000 filled Rich Stadium for opening day…..and they got their money’s worth.  A 17-7 Bills win that led to the wildest celebration ever at the stadium….fans pouring onto the field and tearing down the goalposts.  Breaking the curse.  Getting a decade-long monkey off their backs.  For my money, 31 years later it is still the best opening day ever for Bills fans.

So what will it be this year?  Well, the game is in Kansas City, where recent Bills games have certainly been entertaining.  Last year we had the last-second overtime loss, and  in 2008 the Bills scored 54 points against the Chiefs.  (That’s when Trent Edwards was still good)  Will we have a memorable game?   Will we have a memorable moment?  It’s Opening Day.  Anything is possible.  

If President Obama asked me my opinion

Everyone on the planet is telling the President what to say in his jobs speech this week.  He didn't ask me my opinion...but if he did, it might be something like this:

Dear President Obama:

Hi, it’s us.  The unemployed.  The millions of Americans who don’t have jobs.  Not to mention the under-employed, those who are working part-time or have jobs that pay half of what they used to make.  We’re looking for work, Mr. President.  Just as important, we’re looking for hope.

I know, you haven’t asked us what we’d like to see in your jobs speech.  But since everyone else seems to be giving you advice, and we’re the ones who have the most riding on this (other than you, of course….there is that pesky re-election thing you have to deal with) we thought we’d let you know what we think.

Mr. President, GO BIG.  Go really big.  Go unbelievably and unprecedented big.  We’re talking New Deal big.  We’re talking Great Society big.  We’re talking defining moment in your presidency big.

We know you can do it.  You’re a smart man, Mr. President.  You have smart people advising you.  You all know we’re in a big mess and it takes big ideas to get us out.

I know what you’re going to say, Mr. President.  Those Republicans won’t pass anything that doesn’t involve a tax cut.  They won’t approve anything that involves spending money.  After all, there’s a debt crisis.

But Mr. President, the jobs crisis is the real problem facing our country.  So you need to put on your economics professor hat and give the American people a lesson in reality.  The fact is, the debt will shrink as the economy grows.  Give us a math lesson.  Point out how the economy will benefit every time someone stops collecting unemployment benefits and begins collecting a paycheck.  Point out how people who return to work will buy cars, and houses, and spend money at stores and restaurants….and oh yes, will pay taxes.

Speaking of tax cuts Mr. President, here’s one for your plan.  Give every American company a tax credit for every unemployed person they hire.  If that person has been out of work more than a year, make it a bigger credit.  If it’s a small company, make it a bigger credit.  Give companies a financial incentive to not just hire people, but hire people who need jobs.

I know, Mr. President, you think if you go big your plan won’t get passed.  Well guess what?  No matter what you propose the Republicans won’t say yes, because they care more about making you lose your job than helping me and millions of other people get one.

But there is a way to get the Republicans to approve your plan.  Of course, it means you have to do something you don’t like to do.  You have to go on the attack.  Forget Mr. Nice Guy.  Forget compromise, which is usually just caving.  Forget give and take, which is just giving in.  Mr. President, go after them with everything you’ve got.  Make it clear to everyone that they’re not voting against you.  They’re voting against us, millions of us, including every single person in their district who is unemployed, under-employed, or has a job but is scared to death it’s not going to last.  In other words, the voters.

Take the fight on the road.  To John Boehner’s district.  Or Eric Cantor’s district.  Or how about Michele Bachmann’s district?  Get out there and stand in front of that bridge that’s crumbling, or that factory that shut down, or that school that’s laying off teachers.  Stand there and tell everyone about all the jobs your plan will create IN THAT DISTRICT ALONE.  Then ask Mr. Boehner, or Mr. Cantor, or Ms. Bachmann, or any other Tea Party Republican how they can vote against those jobs in their districts.  Use Mr. Boehner’s own words against them: “Hell no you can’t!”

You’ve lost too many fights.  Too many times you’ve given up before the fight even began.  This fight is the most important of all.  Fight for your beliefs.  Fight for us.

Mr. President, you may not win the fight.  You may not get everything you want, and everything we need.  But go down swinging.  We voted for you last time because we believed you would make things better.  We want to vote for you again.  We want to believe in you again.

We’ll be watching your speech Mr. President.  Watching, and hoping.  Give us a reason to have hope.

Sincerely,

The Unemployed