What does a fight with a giant squid have to do with the battle to save the Senate? Read on.
OF GIANT SQUIDS, CELL PHONES, AND THE U.S. SENATE: Victory Against Impossible Odds
By Don C. Reed
One foggy morning in 1873, on the waters of Portugal Cove, Newfoundland, a small boy fought a giant squid—and won.
Tom Piccot and his father Theophilous, and their neighbor Daniel Squires, were rowing out to fish, when they came upon something unexpected in the water, so huge they thought it must be a dead whale.
The father sunk a boat hook into the back of the sleeping giant squid, which woke. Huge eyes glowed green, and the monster’s ten arms grasped the small dory and began to pull it underwater.
The two older men, realizing it was the end, shook hands and blessed each other, prepared to die.
But twelve-year-old Tom Piccot was too young to know there was no chance.
He picked up the bait axe—and attacked the giant squid.
He chopped off two of the enormous long tentacles. The squid pulled back the other eight limbs, like a spider from the fire-- darted backward into the deeps-- and the fishermen’s lives were spared.
A fragment of a cut-off tentacle, preserved in alcohol, was sent to the British Museum, where it exists to this day—it was nineteen feet six inches long, three times the height of a man. (I visited the boy’s descendants in Newfoundland, and wrote about the incident in a long-forgotten book, THE KRAKEN.)
Like Tom Piccot and his axe, young people --and their cell phones-- may be the real predictor of victory in Tuesday’s elections. In a moment, I will suggest why.
First, the United States Senate, which we must save.
You have seen the polls, which seem to suggest overwhelming victory for Republicans.
That bothers me, for one gigantic reason.
Stem cell research must not be criminalized, as the Republican platform promises to do. Embryonic stem cell research must be protected, supported, and allowed to move forward without political interference.
Generally speaking, that means Democrats.
But not always.
Given the choice between a Republican who supports embryonic stem cell research, like Mike Castle of Delaware, and a Democrat who doesn’t, like Bart Stupak of Michigan, I will vote Republican in a heartbeat. Stupak (fortunately retiring this year) co-sponsored legislation which would literally have put stem cell scientists in jail for their research. That legislation, supported largely by Republicans, went through the House without a single public hearing. It was finally stopped in the Senate.
Unfortunately, the GOP is too owned by the Religious Right, and its leadership may vote against the medical needs of their own constituents, just so they can get that ideological power base behind them.
But when you can find a Republican leader with the independence to buck their party on this issue, that is someone worth standing up for.
Like Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Courage, loyalty, intelligence and caring-- Lisa Murkowski has been there for stem cell research from the very beginning. She has also been attacked by the Religious Right viciously, systematically, and continuously—but she did not fold.
If she were standing in front of me right now, I would tell her thank you.
Because every time she voted to support stem cell research, she was fighting for my paralyzed son.
One day, when my son Roman Reed fulfills Christopher Reeve’s great prediction, to "stand up from (his) wheelchair and walk away from it forever", I will feel that one of his first steps was taken in Alaska.
To the residents of the largest state in the Union, twice as big as Texas, I suggest: please write in LISA MURKOWSKI on your ballot.
The other nine people on our must-save list are all Democrats—every one strong in defense of stem cell research—and everyone up against an opponent of that same research.
Every one of those friends we lose will be replaced by an enemy of our hopes for cure.
So much rests on that single issue.
As we cure disease, we fix the economy. It is that simple.
Consider just one disease, polio, which would be costing America roughly one hundred million dollars a year—not to mention the incalculable costs of suffering—but Jonas Salk came up with a vaccine, and today polio is gone. We don’t have to pay for it any more.
Last year, incurable disease cost America more money ($1.65 trillion) than all federal income tax receipts ($1.2 trillion) put together.
No medical system on earth can pay such bills.
These Senators understand that we cannot fix the national debt until we lower the cost of chronic disease. They have the heart to feel our families’ suffering, the vision to see what must be done, and the courage to make it happen.
If you have a dollar left, or an hour to volunteer, support them now.
- California: Support Barbara Boxer
- Washington: Support Patty Murray
- Wisconsin: Support Russ Feingold
- Kentucky: Support Jack Conway
- Missouri: Support Robin Carnahan
- New Hampshire: Support Paul Rhodes
- Ohio: Support Lee Fisher
- Pennsylvania: Support Joe Sestak
- Nevada: Harry Reid
- Alaska: write in LISA MURKOWSKI
Now: young people and their cell phones. I have been following and supporting Congressman Jerry McNerney (Democrat of California, district 13) and the polls show him behind.
But I predict he will win for two reasons:
- In addition to being strongly for stem cells, Jerry McNerney is an environmentalist. He believes in the possibility of a world working together: a greener, better world. He has consistently taken the practical, day to day steps to make jobs happen in the new sustainable resource economy. This appeals to young people especially, because they will live long enough to experience either the benefits of a planned future, or the disastrous results of ignorance.
- Young people have cell phones. If a cell phone is your primary means of communication, as it is for many individuals and couples of the computer era, pollsters may not know you exist—but you can drop in and make a difference at any campaign you support. Find the office in the phonebook (or on line), stop by and give an hour of your time. In a close race, that hour of effort might swing an entire election.
So, to young people especially, ignore the polls; support your candidates: turn out and vote.
Remember Tom Piccot and the giant squid, and the bait axe he picked up, when all seemed lost. He won, and so can we.
P.S. Here is something new in the McNerney race.
McNerney’s rival, David "abolish the public schools" Harmer, just received a check for $5,000—guess who it was from? Read this press release from the McNerney campaign.
For Immediate Release
October 28, 2010
Contact:
Sarah Hersh
McNerney for Congress
Phone: 925-833-0643
sarah@jerrymcnerney.org
J.P. MORGAN DELIVERS ONCE AGAIN FOR HARMER
Dublin, CA – Corporate lawyer David Harmer has come full circle with former employer and Wall Street bank J.P. Morgan Chase underwriting the final days of his third campaign for Congress with a $5,000 campaign contribution.
Following a career spent at a debt collection agency, a credit card company, and a predatory lender, corporate lawyer David Harmer signed on in 2008 as a senior executive at Wall Street bank J.P. Morgan Chase.
J.P. Morgan Chase received $25 billion in bailout funds and David Harmer walked away with a golden parachute of almost $160,000. Then, he collected over $7,000 in unemployment benefits.
Now David Harmer is looking once more to his former employer for a bailout. Just days ago, he accepted a $5,000 contribution from J.P. Morgan Chase to fund the final days of his campaign.
"Corporate lawyer David Harmer has come full circle with Wall Street bank J.P. Morgan Chase," said Sarah Hersh. "His former employer is now underwriting the final days of his third run for Congress. But that leaves voters in California’s 11th Congressional District wondering whose side corporate lawyer David Harmer is really on."
Background:
David Harmer worked as a First Vice President at J.P. Morgan Chase following a career spent as a lawyer for corporations that include Utah-based debt collection agency Riddle and Associates, credit card company Providian Financial, and predatory lender Washington Mutual [David Harmer LinkedIn Profile].
J.P. Morgan received $25 billion in bailout funds [MSNBC, "JPMorgan Chase allots $9.3 billion in bonuses" January 15, 2010].
David Harmer collected nearly $160,000 in bonus and severance from J.P. Morgan and then filed for over $7,000 in unemployment benefits [David Harmer Personal Financial Disclosures, June 10, 2009 & August 30, 2010].
David Harmer accepted a $5,000 campaign contribution from J.P. Morgan Chase [Harmer for Congress FEC Report, October 22, 2010].
Sarah Hersh
Communications Director
McNerney for Congress
Office: (925) 833-0643