EVEN SNOOPY WOULD APPROVE

Until last week, Michael Vick had lost all opportunity to earn a living at the two talents he possesses.

In his public life Vick was a bullet passing quarterback who could run like a halfback. In his private life Vick was a mogul in the netherworld of illegal dog fighting. His conviction for the latter talent cost him just about everything: his hero sports status, his multi million dollar contract and freedom itself during his 600 days in prison.

Having paid his societal debts, Vick has, at age 29, been given a rare opportunity to come all the way back to the ranks of premier NFL quarterbacks with his two year Philadelphia Eagles contract. A lot of folks are upset by Vick's second chance and want to keep him down forever. Their lack of mercy and forgiveness is a big reason America has the shameful distinction of having the highest incarceration rate and the largest prison population in the world. At the start of 2008, we had 2.3 million souls behind bars, 800,000 more than China which has four times our population.

I, for one, will be pleased to see Vick piling up yardage again instead of dead dogs. I hope he succeeds and if he does he will have come full circle: from top dog to dirty dog to under dog and back up to top dog.

Now, that's something to bark about.

Origianlly published in Glen Ellyn Sun, August 21, 2009
Also published in Chicago Tribune, August 23, 2009

CONG. PETER ROSKAM'S JULY, 2009 REPORT CARD ON MIDDLE EAST WARS

August 16, 2009

Congressman Peter Roskam
150 S. Bloomingdale Road, Suite 200
Bloomingdale, IL 60108

Dear Congressman Roskam,

At first glance, your “Medi-Fraud Alert” blog on your Congressional website is a good thing. Every American should welcome the identification and rooting out of fraud in government spending on a local, state and national level.

Unfortunately, the underlying truth behind this blog is its goal of derailing the administration’s health care reform measure, as you explicitly pointed out in your Chicago Sun Times op ed piece, “Medicare fraud proves Fed run health care won’t work”.

Sir, I have two questions for you regarding this piece and your new blog. First, if there is so much fraud in Medicare, prompting your call to prevent health insurance reform for all Americans, why don’t you just call for the abolishment of Medicare entirely? Could it be that such a logical step would prompt revolt against you from your 60% favorable voter constituency? If medicare fraud is so pervasive and pernicious to our economy, maybe you and your extended family should opt out of it to show your commitment to its demise.

Second, why is it that you are compelled to highlight the fraud in a governmental program which has provided its intended benefits of greater longevity and functionality to its tens of millions recipients these past 44 years, when you utter not a syllable of complaint against the tens, if not hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud committed in the prosecution of our fairy tale wars in the Middle East that have created several million dead, fled and injured Muslims and Christians there, as well as over a hundred thousand American casualties, including 4,500 dead? Could it be that the war party would excommunicate you from the support they give you in return for your support for their mis-deeds?

Sir, you need to spend a tad more time actually trying to promote good health care for the nearly fifty million Americans who may as well be living in a third world country they way the private sector shuts them out of our wonderful medical resources, and a lot less time supporting military enterprises which are destroying the health care system of an entire region.

Respectfully,


Walt Zlotow
Glen Ellyn, IL