Deanie Mills
- : http://deaniemills.com
- : Deanie Francis Mills is the author of 10 suspense thrillers, including ORDEAL and TIGHTROPE, and one true-crime, FACES OF EVIL, (which she co-authored with Houston PD forensic sketch artist Lois Gibson.) Her work has also appeared in numerous national magazines, and she is an experienced public speaker. In 2004, when her son, Dustin, deployed to Iraq with the United States Marine Corps, Mills found she could no longer sit on the sidelines and watch a war she opposed, not when three close family members deployed, between them, six times to Iraq with the Marine Corps and the army. In 2006, when her son deployed to Iraq a second time, Deanie started the political blog, "Deanie's Blue Inkblots" (formerly "Blue Inkblots"). She misses the "great wiseass Texas broads like Ann Richards and Molly Ivins," and hopes that her blog, which she now does full-time, will serve their memories well. Her daughter, Jessica, marched against the war in New York City during the Republican convention in 2004, wearing her brother's picture pinned to her shirt. Mills lives in rural west Texas, "the buckle of the Bush Bible Belt." She jokes that she's used to being "a voice, crying out in the wilderness, like a lost coyote."
HELL JUST FROZE OVER
"I don't know who else to call," said my friend Robby. "I don't know anybody else who would understand."My friend Robby. We love each other; call each other "big sister" and "little brother," and I adore his little FDR-Democrat mama...more »
Posted on October 9, 2008 7:28 PM
HELLO. MY NAME IS DEANIE, AND I'M A POLL-PUSHING POLITICAL JUNKIE
Guys, this is just up over at HuffingtonPost.com:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deanie-mills/a-poll-pushing-political_b_132923.htmland, as always, at http://deaniemills.comI had some fun with it; figured we could all use a laugh. Hope you do, too.Hello. My name is Deanie, and I'm a poll-pushing political junkie."HI DEANIE."Okay...um...I have...more »
Posted on October 8, 2008 12:05 PM
THE HATE THAT DARES NOT SPEAK ITS NAME
"There's just something about him. I just can't trust him.""I heard he's a Muslim, and that he's really Arab-American, not African-American.""If he gets elected, he's going to appoint an all-black Cabinet, and start pushing a socialist agenda for inner-cities.""I'm not...more »
Posted on October 6, 2008 5:16 PM
I SURRENDER, SARAH!
Guys, this is my latest debate-coverage post for HuffingtonPost.com's Off the Bus page:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deanie-mills/i-surrender-sarah_b_131538.htmland, as always, cross-posted at my regular blog, Blue Inkblots, at http://deaniemills.com For those of you who couldn't finish my last post--this one's short and sweet: Girl, you had...more »
Posted on October 3, 2008 11:14 AM
I SURRENDER, SARAH!
Girl, you had me at the wink.As soon as ya looked right at me and gave me that cute little wink and nod and that big winner smile, I knew that the Republicans were right after all--this election should not be about...more »
Posted on October 3, 2008 10:54 AM
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FUNCTIONAL LEADER and a FICTIONAL ONE
Guys, this is just up over at HuffingtonPost.com:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deanie-mills/the-difference-between-a_b_130743.htmland, as always, at: http://deaniemills.comIt is an in-depth analysis of the definition of leadership, the difference between a real leader and a fictional one, and how media narrative can drive both ideas. And how...more »
Posted on October 1, 2008 9:06 AM
WHAT SEN. McCAIN DOESN'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND
Thanks to the modern miracle of the virtual community, I was able to meet with a fiesty, funny, great group of military families via liveblogging, during the Foreign Policy debate between Barack Obama and John McCain that just wound down.I'm...more »
Posted on September 27, 2008 3:39 PM
From a Marine Mom: THE ONE QUESTION THEY NEVER ASK THE WAR-MONGERS
Guys, this is cross-posted at HuffingtonPost.com's Off the Bus:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deanie-mills/from-a-marine-mom-the-one_b_128959.htmlDuring the foreign policy debate coming up this Friday night, there will be one group of constituents who will be eagerly awaiting the one question I never see asked of the war-mongers.I'm...more »
Posted on September 24, 2008 4:44 PM
GIMME A TRILLION BUCKS NOW. Trust Me. I Spent the Last Trillion in Iraq. What Can Go Wrong?
It wasn't that the Bush administration asked for the trillion bucks to fix yet another mess they've gotten us into that bothered me so much.It's HOW they went about, not just asking for it, but DEMANDING it before DISASTER and...more »
Posted on September 22, 2008 12:39 PM
A PRESIDENT VERSUS A PRETENDER
As we go into the final stretch of this campaign season, right now is the best time to see for yourself the difference between a president and a pretender.Yesterday, Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, gave a concise, four-point response to...more »
Posted on September 21, 2008 2:45 PM
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UrbanCowboy, you BAD! Those pie-charts are AWESOME--sweet as actual real true PIE.
Wow, those electoral votes are really adding up. It sounds like a drought-breaking rain...
Posted at October 8, 2008 5:13 PM in response to HELLO. MY NAME IS DEANIE, AND I'M A POLL-PUSHING POLITICAL JUNKIE
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Just so you know, bslev, since you referred to me as "elitist" several times...I went to Stephen F. Austin State University in the Deep East Piney Woods of Texas (not exactly ivy league) where racism in the early 70's was very alive and still exists in some places. My parents had no money. I worked three jobs to put myself through and worked every holiday and summer, saving money for school. I did not attend summer school because I had to work and got out in four years because I couldn't afford any more time than that to graduate. It took me ten years to pay off my student loans.
That's what all us elitists do, eh?
I did not take any African American studies (it wasn't even offered) but I had black friends, and I have black friends now. We caucused together for Obama in a county a hundred miles from where Bush likes to claim he grew up, that is so conservative only now have they taken off the W signs from their cars, in order to make room for all the Support the Troops magnets.
In college, I marched for civil rights and I wrote for civil rights and did my own small part, a drop in the bucket, but enough drops adds up. If that is "elitist" then so be it.
I posted this because of a very moving speech by the president of AFL-CIO that he gave because internal pollling by the unions shows that this is still a problem. If he's "elitist" to you then maybe you need to look up that word instead of throwing it around all the time like Sarah Palin.
Zemer, you're right about Austin. I love Austin too. I'm about five hours from there, or I'd visit more often.
Any time you'd like to chat more, drop in over at my blog, Blue Inkblots, at http://deaniemills.com and we can trade e-mails.
Posted at October 7, 2008 9:11 AM in response to THE HATE THAT DARES NOT SPEAK ITS NAME
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This is an outstanding analysis of your experience, Raider99; I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. You really drew a word-picture of your experience, and I was encouraged because you pointed out it was a conservative area and that you were surprised at the size of Obama support you discovered there, considering.
As I've mentioned before, Molly Ivins once wrote that, in West Texas, "Gay people stay in the closet because they're afraid people will think they're Democrats." But what I think is happening is that a LOT of conservatives are hiding their support for Obama in the closet but will vote his way in the privacy of the voting booth. McCain is starting to scare them, and thinking conservatives are appalled at Palin.
Thank you for your work, and for sharing.
Posted at October 6, 2008 11:24 AM in response to What I Learned In a Weekend of Canvassing for Obama
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Oh my gosh JasonEverettMiller--I had no idea the numbers had gone up that high. Wow. Now, granted, every single solitary one of them won't necessarily vote for Obama, but I'll bet a majority do.
UrbanCowboy, GREAT quote!
Posted at October 1, 2008 5:27 PM in response to THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FUNCTIONAL LEADER and a FICTIONAL ONE
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You guys are so eloquent; it's an honor to hang out here with you.
Tom Wright, you expressed it beautifully, and I do think that one of the key components of leadership is the ability to inspire people, not just by stirring speeches, but by example.
And JasonEverettMiller--you really hit on something I keep meaning to mention and keep forgetting. We've registered two million new voters while the Reps have LOST 344,000, and new registrants ARE NOT POLLED.
Add to that the vast number of young people who do not own land lines and you really do see, I think, a skewering of polls. Deep in my heart I can't help but wonder if a landslide may be rumbling so far below the media seismograph that they're hardly measuring a blip.
Posted at October 1, 2008 10:58 AM in response to THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FUNCTIONAL LEADER and a FICTIONAL ONE
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There is a huge gap between most Americans' perceptions and reality, for the simple reason that for the past 15 years or so, and especially the past ten, they have been fed a daily dose of deliberate mythology by Republican power-masters, aided and abetted by a cowed and infotainment-driven corporate media. Consequently, they don't seem to be alert to methods of manipulation; don't seem to realize when they are being played.
Right now is a crucial case in point. I keep seeing words in the media, referring to McCain's drama queen nutcase actions this week, as "decisive," and "bold," and "a gamble"--as if they are deaf dumb and blind to our current president who was decisive and bold all over the place, AND ALL HIS DECISIONS WERE WRONG.
Meanwhile, Obama, who is trying to prevent panic among the populace by being calm and trying not to overreact to every news cycle, is somehow considered "unemotional" or "too cool."
Imagine if JFK had reacted to the Cuban Missile Crises the way McCain has reacted to the Russia/Georgia situaton or the economic crises?
I am hoping and praying that Americans are finally beginning to wise up--even if the media isn't--and realize that we NEED calm, quiet leadership in a crises.
We don't need our own leaders to panic, for godsake.
And we don't need panicky leaders making "bold" and "decisive" moves to deploy troops during one of their panic attacks.
Posted at September 25, 2008 1:32 PM in response to From a Marine Mom: THE ONE QUESTION THEY NEVER ASK THE WAR-MONGERS
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God bless you Zemer, and your family for its sacrifices.
Whenever I hear deployments discussed in the family context, it's always a discussion along the lines of, you know, your spouse is just away on a long business trip, and so you're left to cope with kids and bills and so on. And yeah, that's a big part of it, but nobody ever seems to make the point that it is sheer HELL having a loved one deployed to war.
They're not just AWAY, they are RISKING THEIR LIVES, and you live with that abject terror every single day, along WITH the bills and the kids and whatever. You're worried about how they're doing emtionally as well as worried they'll get hurt or worse.
And you just don't have any recovery time, either, in personal emotional terms, or as a family or marriage, before they're shipped off again, and it feels as if they're playing Russian Roulette with every deployment.
Another thing people don't seem to realize is that when they're "home," they're not really home. Usually they are away, TRAINING to RETURN. Even if they've deployed before, they have to train with the new guys who have not. And not only that, but you're living with the dread of their going back.
The toll on families is the main reason given, along with, you know, sick of fighting the same war over and over again--for people refusing to re-enlist, sometimes even after half a career in service.
Two movies which deal powerfully with all this are STOP-LOSS, with Ryan Phillipe, and GRACE IS GONE, with John Cusack. Powerful, important films that bombed at the box office because 99.9% of the American people just don't have to think about it, and so don't.
(But Zemer, YOU don't watch them--not right now. It's too hard, when your guy's deployed.)
Posted at September 25, 2008 8:24 AM in response to From a Marine Mom: THE ONE QUESTION THEY NEVER ASK THE WAR-MONGERS
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Thank you for your service, JasonEverettMiller, and yours too, I suspect, Nedley. And thanks so much for the "semper fi." I'm not just the mom and aunt of Marines, I'm the daughter of a retired Master Gunnery Sgt jarhead, so those words mean something to me.
A Marine is "always faithful," indeed.
UrbanCowboy, I'm with ya man. I think the same things, often.
Just last summer, I was joking with my husband, who as you all know, is a moderate Repubulican-turned Obama supporter, and I said something like, "How is this country going to LAST until January of 09? My God, what ELSE can they screw up?"
That's what I get for joking.
Posted at September 24, 2008 7:46 PM in response to From a Marine Mom: THE ONE QUESTION THEY NEVER ASK THE WAR-MONGERS
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That link might not go through the way it's highlighted.
Let's try that again:
Posted at September 24, 2008 6:25 PM in response to From a Marine Mom: THE ONE QUESTION THEY NEVER ASK THE WAR-MONGERS
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JaneEyrez, if you can't get hold of me through http://deaniemills.com--and you should--let me know and I'll put it right here. I have before, especially when an exhausted military mom is at the end of her rope. I'm here to help.
Posted at September 24, 2008 6:24 PM in response to From a Marine Mom: THE ONE QUESTION THEY NEVER ASK THE WAR-MONGERS
