Honorary Maturity Party Members Doug Baldwin & Michael Bennett

Straight Shooters:

For their boldness in speaking out against the status quo and focusing on what is best for the American people rather than degrading their discussions into the cliques of political parties.
And for speaking out against racism in a thoughtful and mature way, that enlightens and broadens the national conversation. I nominate Seattle Seahawks' Michael Bennett & Doug Baldwin  to the Maturity Party.

In the wake of backlash from peaceful protesting during the National Anthem, Seattle Seahawks players Doug Baldwin & Micheal Bennett appeared last week on a Town hall Special led by CNN's Anderson Cooper where they calmly and eloquently explained the very real issues behind their protest.

Even if you do not agree with HOW the NFL players are protesting I would invite you for just a moment to look beyond that difference and listen to WHAT they are protesting.
If the majority of Americans acted with the same level of engagement and outrage when a person of ANY color is unjustly shot by the police as they do when an individual chooses to protest the treatment of black men by police during the National Anthem then there might not be any need to protest.
Instead, on the whole the dialogue in this country appears to be value holding people to a false standard of patriotism over actual discussion of issues. We cannot have growth as a society if we continue to resist difficult conversations.

In the interview last Monday Anderson Cooper asks these men "Where do we go from here?" adding that he doesn't expect anyone to have an answer.  Doug Baldwin replied to that question with the most eloquent response I have heard in this debate so far.  Putting host Anderson Cooper to shame by the sheer brilliance ad simplicity of his answer which included:

• More police resources such as deescalation training (YES!)  
• Better police policies and protocols that would help to prevent future unnecessary shootings
• Bringing back DARE programs to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the communities
• Putting resources back in schools. 

Doug Baldwin's answer to "What next?" and Michael Bennett's challenge to all Americans to treat people as human beings actually brought tears to my eyes because they unemotionally and intelligently went straight to the heart of the matter cutting through all of the silly questions and posturing that has been going on in this debate.  These two NFL players demonstrated that they have given much more thought to this issue and resolving it than people have given them credit for .

Having a mature discussion to resolve this issue means that we have to be willing to hear the other side.  
Just as no one can tell you as an American that you cannot own a gun you cannot tell another American  the correct way to for them to protest. For their right to do so peacefully is built into the 1st Amendment.  That is what makes this country great ... no one group gets to define what a patriotic American is.  
And isn't that the point of protest? To draw attention to an issue by making people uncomfortable?

While we may not all agree with their taking a knee .... take a moment to listen the their WHY first.

Thank you so much gentlemen.  Keep those wonderful brains safe out there on the field!

Let's Get Better at Having Difficult Conversations

Listening to the back and forth recently between President Trump and many NFL players, owners and coaches regarding their protest during the National Anthem I am struck by the fact that many people in America respect freedom of speech only as long as the speaker is saying something they want to hear.

The irony is that the 1st amendment to the Constitution explicitly preserves  "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
And that is exactly what the NFL players, coaches, and owners involved in this very public debate are doing.  I'll leave it for those involved in the protest to explain exactly what they are protesting and why.  But let's not get this twisted.  If kneeling and bowing your head during the playing of the National Anthem is our biggest problem then this country is in great shape!

Unfortunately, that is not the case.  This argument regarding what is an acceptable protest is simply a distraction.  Issues such as affordable health care, crumbling infrastructure, student loan debt, transitioning workers from manufacturing to tech jobs, police-community relations etc. need our attention and focus and far too often take a back seat to silly discussions such as what  is and is not patriotic.

The word "patriotic" is defined as "having or expressing devotion to and vigorous support for one's country" 
That definition is a bit obscure and is extremely dependent on your personal perception of devotion. The beauty of living in this amazing country is that NO ONE gets to tell another person  how to be patriotic.  And yes, the first amendment even protects the backlash to these protests such as angry fans burning $400 football jackets on YouTube in response to these protests.  But  I would ask that everyone participating in the debate of whether or not the NFL players should be kneeling during the National Anthem PLEASE take a step back, calm down and ponder the idea that by putting our focus and attention on this minor issue (and given the state of affairs in this country today this IS a minor issue) we are playing into the establishments wishes that we not ask questions such as:

• Where are the Coal jobs that were supposed to return?  Or at least let's have a status update on progress made on that end.
• Why are programs such as the Appalachian Regional Commission  designed to support coal mining communities and train former coal miners for jobs in the tech industry up for elimination under the current administrations budget proposal?
• When can we expect a health care bill that will "take care of everyone" as promised by Donald Trump?
• Why are sll police not required to take de-escalation training? 
• Why is the renewable energy industry, which employs over 800,000 across the US and employs 8 million people worldwide, not being expanded by the current administration? This could be a great industry to transfer unemployed coal miners to.

I could go on and on but my my point is that if we continue to focus on small issues and refuse to discuss the real issues that affect and touch our daily lives we relinquish control to politicians who may or may not have our best interests at heart.

Unless we start getting comfortable with having some REALLY difficult conversations and continue to leave the big decisions up to politicians, celebrities or just those who shout the loudest we are not going to make progress on any of the issues that so desperately need our attention.

Instead of complaining about issues to the same group of people who share your viewpoint let's think of ways to have mature conversations with people who do not share our view.  I would love it if we could brainstorm some ideas to move forward on important issues instead of simply complaining about how screwed up everything is.

As a first step please think about contacting your local elected officials and asking them what they are doing about the issues that are important to you.
I am going to ask mine what they are doing about affordable housing and healthcare.
These people are paid to represent us and we let them off WAY too easily.

Click here to find the contact info for your local elected officials

Honorary Maturity Party Members for the Week of 9/18/17

Healthcare Heroes:

For their boldness in speaking out against the status quo and focusing on what is best for the American people rather than degrading their discussions into the cliques of political parties I nominate the following Healthcare Heroes to the Maturity Party:

John McCain:   This Friday Senator John McCain stood up for the second time in 2 months to say that he will not support repeating the mistake that was made while passing the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a Obama Care). Namely ramming through legislation without bipartisan support in the government to sustain long term funding for said legislation.
It would have been so easy for Senator McCain to join in and support this legislation which was written by his friends, Senators Graham and Cassidy.  But instead Senator McCain spoke out for the need for a comprehensive debate and discussion to develop a Health Care Reform Bill that would actually make the system better for all Americans. 
It is clear from his official statement that this was not an easy decision for him to make.  For that and for putting his service to the American people before party loyalty and friendship  Senator John McCain has this week embodied everything that the Maturity Party stands for.

Click HereTo Read John McCain's Official Statement on his Stance on the Health Care Reform Bill

Jimmy Kimmel:  This week Jimmy Kimmel used his air time to ignite discussion about a decidedly unsexy and unfunny topic that many were resigned to accepting defeat on.  You may remember that earlier this year Kimmel and his wife welcomed a newborn son who required 3 very expensive surgeries. While Kimmel has very good health insurance that paid for the large hospital bill incurred by his son's surgery and could choose to be thankful and focus on his own life, he instead chose bring attention to the fact that many American's who are not wealthy would suffer greatly if this proposed legislation passes. Instead of going on a 1 night rant Kimmel spent 3 nights this week detailing why this Healthcare bill will hurt Americans:

In his Monologues this past week Kimmel talked about:
*The provisions in the Cassidy Graham Healthcare Bill that would negatively affect the average American.
*How Senator Bill Cassidy has gone back on everything that he publicly promised he stood for regarding Health Care reform.
* How the Senate is burying the hearings for this legislation so that most Americans will not learn of the details of this bill until it has been passed into law.
* How the Senate is counting on the American people to be too overwhelmed, busy, or disinterested to worry about how this legislation will affect them.
* 10 Organizations devoted to healthcare that oppose this bill.
* A call to action by urging anyone opposed to this bill to call (202)224-3121 and leave a message for their Senator.
*His right to discuss the Health Care bill even though he is not a Health Care expert.

Click Here to View Jimmy Kimmel's 9/19 Monolouge
Click Here to View Jimmy Kimmel's 9/20 Monolouge
Click Here to View Jimmy Kimmel's 9/21 Monolouge

Whether or not you agree with everything/anything that Jimmy Kimmel said this week he must be given props for being mature enough to wade into a devisive topic and standing up to respond to specific points of public criticism for his speaking out and for urging action from the American people who would be most affected by this bill.
This is a very important issue and we should all be more open to discussing it's  substance.