I just read a very interesting article by a man who wrote the book (literally)on Fish.  An advocate of eating this healthy alternative to beef and chicken, he's coming to see that many of the fish we consume are either not good for the environment because they're farmed, or not sustainably fished right now.

He ended the article by talking about his new personal guidelines for eating fish.  One of them is "not to let perfect become the enemy of good."  I found his statement really resonating in my head around two things:

1.  The up-in-the-air status of my liver resection surgery (due to my surgeon being in the Ukraine and my oncologist having questions about the strategy).

2.  The DOMA brief filed by the Department of Justice against the plaintiffs (and supporting the Defense of Marriage Act) and its relationship to President Obama's stated aims of repealing DOMA and "Dont' Ask, Dont' Tell."

Trust me, these all work together!

Taking the Obama administration first, I just emailed a friend that I'm not surprised that Obama is doing some foot dragging on these issues.  I doubt seriously that he read, let alone made suggestions for improving, the relatively offensive brief.  But I do believe there's been a conscious decision by his administration to let the culture wars die down in order to accomplish more pressing and far reaching agenda items.

In other words, he's not letting perfect (sticking with everything you've ever said without prioritizing and/or changing your mind) be the enemy of good (accomplishing the most important reforms first and letting others do some brewing before they come to fruition).

In terms of my surgery, there is some question by my oncologist whether or not this strategy (staged liver resection and rfa ablation for those tumors too deep to remove) is the best route, or even feasible.  Remember, he's a generalist and I went last week to see a specialist...so it's reasonable that he has questions.  Even admirable.

And at the same time, I believe that surgery will end up being my best, if imperfect option.  There's a belief that tumors will recur from rfa treated metasteses.  Okay, but that's down the road.  And who knows what will be at the forefront of the battle against colon cancer then?

I don't want perfect to become the enemy of good when it comes to my health, healing and hope for cure.  It's how I've dealt with this challenge from the beginning.  Using the best information about this complex system known as Laura Morefield, I choose.  Subject to change as new information comes in.  Trusting my medical team.  But mostly, trusting my own inner, God-given voice.

 


Comments

Peter Lowin

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:16:03

Great post, Laura. You rock!!!

Thanks for lending us Dan for the weekend. I look forward to really kicking his ass on the course!

 

Steve Peden

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:55:25

Look, I know you feel like you have to defend him, but being willfully ignorant doesn't become you. Did Obama read and correct the brief?? Hell, no. Did a major brief, on an issue that important and high profile, leave the DoJ without Eric Holder's approval? Hell, no. Did Obama know, at least in broad outline, the position the DoJ was taking?? If you believe otherwise, I've got some beachfront property in Arizona I'll sell you, real cheap.

And the Administration DID NOT have to support the law (it is, frankly, quite common for them not to). They could have "stood mute" and filed no brief, either direction. They could have filed a very simple, straightforward brief, raising none of the offensive issues they raised. Read Aravosis' analysis of the brief, and what it does to the arguments gays are making in OTHER cases - the Obama Administration SHAFTED (pardon the pun) the gay community, in a big way. They didn't just not take a controversial position in the "culture wars," they got out there on the front lines . . . on the other side.

Man up and admit it - Obama is a politician, and a thug, and he'll smile, promise you the world, and stab you in the back without a MOMENT of remorse. And that is just what he did to the GLBT community, on this brief, and on DADT, and most left/gay commentators (Aravosis, Greenwald) are admitting it. Only people, like Andrew Sullivan, who have terminal Obamanitis are pretending otherwise.

He is NOT sitting out the culture wars - he's switching sides. Or maybe not - he said, during the campaign, he opposed gay marriage. You (and I) believed he was lying then, for electoral reasons. Turns out, looks like he was telling the truth.

 

Laura

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:13:37

Thanks, Pete!

Good luck on whooping Dan...he just missed an eagle this weekend. Have fun!

 

Laura

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:25:23

Hey Steve,

It's probable that Obama knew the brief was being filed. What I was saying, in a "nuanced way" is that he didn't write the language that most blogs have banged on about as being so offensive.

I didn't say the Administration had to support the law...although it's been our experience with other briefs on a much different topic that it's a frequent refuge of various Administrations who don't want to spend political capital (foreign or domestic) on a ticklish issue.

Didn't I read somewhere that the guy that wrote the brief is a holdover from the Bush Admin?

Given Obama's move today to extend some benefits to same-sex couples, it seems he's taking a slow approach while letting social conservatives "catch up." After seeing what happened to Clinton when he tried to repeal prohibitions on gays in the military, I can see why Obama would be more cautious.

I never said Obama wasn't a politician. I don't think anyone gets to be President in our current system without being a politician.

I don't find that politician automatically equals "thug." Your mileage may vary.

I also don't pretend to know men's hearts. It's quite possible that Obama has a lot of remorse over this. It's quite possible that Bush has remorse over some of his decisions. We'll never know.


 

Steve Peden

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:59:57

My daddy always told me, "If a man says one thing, and does another, pay attention to what he DOES, not what he says. Talk is cheap, and lies are cheaper."

Whether the writer of the brief was a Bush holdover, or not (I don't know, but I doubt it), the SUBSTANCE of the brief had to be cleared through DoJ and the AG - that's how these things work. And for something THIS high profile, it would have been coordinated with the White House.

This was quite intentional, I assure you. The "it was an accident" defense doesn't fly. And Obama's pathetic sop to the gays (EXTENDED CARE benefits, for Pete's sake?????? NOT health care. NOT survivor benefits. EXTENDED CARE. And that's pretty much it. And he announced it - but there is no plan to implement it. That was what's known in the trade as "damage control" - performed about as competently as this bunch has done everything else. Which is to say, not at all.)

 

Laura

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:28:47

Regarding your father's saying, I don't know anyone who is 100% good on their word. Does that make them (including me) all thugs?

Certainly our politicians have grown adept at the dysfunctional relationship with an electorate that wants them to say they believe what the right or the left believes about individual issues...rather than holding them accountable for the business of governing.

Wedge issues are not the way to govern. They divide and polarize. Honestly, I'm sick of that.

You believe that Obama deliberately insulted gays, gave them a sop and then doesn't intend to follow through on the plan to implement the sop. That all this was intentional.

So what does he gain? Or do you suggest he just hates gays?

 

Steve Peden

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:20:17

The thuggishness comes from his treatment of people, not his dishonesty - browbeating creditors, firing non-compliant inspectors general, etc.

No, I don't think he hates gays (although I dare to say he doesn't come across as "gay friendly") - I think he loves power. He is treating gays exactly the way the Democratic Party has been treating blacks for years - pander to them at election time, then ignore them and their concerns. Where they gonna go???? Blacks overwhelmingly favor school choice - no soap. Blacks by a large majority favor tightened immigration laws - like THAT'S gonna happen! Blacks, as you saw, tend to oppose gay marriage specifically, and "gay rights" in general. Tough noogies, says the Dem Party. The Social Security scam adversely affects blacks disproportionately to whites - but the Dems have consistently blocked reforms. And the beat goes on.

Obama got the votes, and the money, of the gays. He got elected. He don't need no stinkin' sissies anymore, so why do anything for them? What are they gonna do, vote Republican?

He doesn't hate them; he's just indifferent to them, because he doesn't need them, anymore.

 



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