This is Un-American

Dear Iowans, please sense what has now begun. I realize that I have no business in your affairs but your decisions will effect me and the rest of the country to such a degree that I can't resist. Senator Bob Kerry for all intents and purposes is a New Yorker. He has pledged his allegiance to Senator Clinton and his soul was sold before your eyes as he began to carry out his orders to win at all cost.
Here is how the good soldier Senator began his mission. After stepping off the stage where he just announced his support for Senator Clinton, speaking about Clintons chief rival he said, "The fact that he's African American is a big deal. I do expect and hope that Hillary is the nominee of the party. But I hope he's used in some way. If he happens to be the nominee of the party and ends up being President, I think his capacity to influence in a positive way without spending a penny, the behavior of a lot of under performing black youth today is very important, and he's the only one that can reach them" He continued, "It's probably not something that appeals to him, but I like the fact that his name is Barrack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim. There's a billion people on the planet that are Muslims and I think that experience is a big deal." He added, He's got a whale of a lot more intellectual talent than I've got as well."
Then when responding to question from CNN's John King about his point he said these things are attributes that he was highlighting. He also said that Sen. Obama and his family had chosen Christianity giving the impression that they had converted.
Of course this is all political deceit. It could not be more obvious and it begs the question, do they really believe we are that stupid? I believe many of them do and it insults me to no end.
Folks, this is how dirty the Clinton camp plays the game and if you believe that two weeks before the Iowa Caucus, on the day he gives his endorsement to Sen.Clinton, that Sen.Kerrey is using this basket of words to praise Sen.Obama then you are simply not going to receive better leaders or a better Government.
Since Monday he has continued this assault using his praise cover to mention Islamist schools, Secular Madrassas, Muslim Manchurian candidates and Sen. Obama's middle name, Hussein repeatedly. All I can say is how does a man sleep at night who does such deeds by day?

If this doesn't convince you consider the following. This is what our leadership has been and will look like if the Clinton's get their way.
1988 Bush
1992 Clinton
1996 Clinton
2000 Bush
2004 Bush
2008 Clinton
2012 Clinton (highly probable)
28 years of two families. That's anything but American.

What else could happen

What a bad time to take a break. There has been so darn much stuff in the news. This must be excruciatingly painful for the striking writers. Especially the ones who do comedy. Little pearls lost forever, the falling trees that were never heard. Boo-hoo!
Anyway, allow me to catch up with some bullets.The Chavez dictatorship bid was gloriously rebuked. Don Imus slithered back, but to buy in he sells out. Senator Clinton's brilliant political machine throws a rod. Their bag of slime tactics against Obama implodes, exposing for good what they're really made of. Obama's kindergarten presidential aspirations and drug use may end up being Clinton's "screaming Dean" moment. Two Clinton workers quit over phony e-mails saying Obama is Muslim (still beating that dead horse) and another high level operative resigns over the Obama drug use flap. Sen. Clinton apologizes to Sen. Obama on a tarmac no less. The horror of it all! Poor Hillary.
Former President Clinton seems to keep lapsing into the belief that it's he that's running, but sadly, any way you cut it, he seems to have lost the magic.
On the positive side Sen. Obama may have had his Reagan, "I will not make age an issue..." debating Mondale moment, when saying to Sen. Clinton, "Hillary, I'm looking forward to having you advise me as well," cooling her laugh track sounding jets over a question about having ex-President Clinton operatives working on his campaign. She knows now that not only can he think on his feet but she's likely to get burned anytime she tries that tactic again.
Now to our lamest of duck presidents. National intelligence estimates don't matter to him. Damn the torpedoes! How about his press secretary who admits she didn't know what the Cuban missile crisis was. Beyond comprehension! And under court order not to discard evidence of detainee torture, the Bush administration's CIA destroyed video tapes of it's harshest interrogation tactics. It almost makes you wonder had they not told them not to destroy the tapes whether they would have. Maybe it's that old youthful, rules are meant to be broken thing they're motivated by! Then you have talk of Paul Wolfowitz being brought back. I'm speechless.
Now we find out that 2 years ago operation "brain drain" was ordered by the White House and was launched by the CIA against Iran to get high level Iranian scientists to defect in an effort to curtail work on their nuclear programs. This is cold war type stuff and It's as old as the hills but they only managed to recruit seven people. They can't even get this stuff right and it's probably a sign of how laughable Bush has made us. Were like a bunch of Neanderthals the world is speeding by. By hanging onto old defunct policies we are ever becoming less significant on the world stage and all we can do is wait for it to end. Can you imagine not having term limits, even Venezuela has now been enlightened.
Why is the notion of a shrinking world or call it a global community so utterly distasteful that they resist it it all costs? Why is a perpetual locked-horns-with the-world plan seem viable to them? One can only guess as they continue to sell their personal pathology to us by quickly translating everything as a threat to national security. Drop the national and the statement becomes pretty much true and guess what? That's how it feels to be alive and human. A few words that do work well together that they might consider are firm-but-fair.

CNN/You Tube Republican Debate

Well it didn't last long now did it. CNN managed to turn a novel and fresh approach into a sketchy affair of limited value, and all faster than you can say,"entertainment"or"waste of time."
Since this spectacle, CNN has been on the ropes about accusations of planted questioners from the other side but this thing made you think that maybe they had to go there just to find something pithy. After all, what we heard from the faithful included in-character cable-guy type questions about the 2nd amendment, guns guns and more guns, the confederate flag and the bible. I'm not talking about substantive questions either. These were Blue collar T.V. routines that showed people things that would, at the very least, make the out-of-character cable-guy cringe.
Instead of the suspected planted questions, Republicans should be furious about CNN's portrayal of them as a bunch of 6-toed inbreds. There were over 4000 questions to choose from; was this the best they could do? I don't think so, I think this is further evidence that CNN has lost it's way. Call me way too serious but I don't view the election process of the leader of my country as simply entertainment.

CNN Dem Debate Eight

There will be a time when the democratic nominee is picked-but it shouldn't be now-even if the news media is beginning to act that way. The CNN democratic debate we just witnessed was as weak as it gets. They rolled out Wolf Blitzer again to lead what should have been a charge like we saw last week from Tim Russert but instead he seemed over his head and let Senator Clintons platitudes rule the day. To make matters worse, after the debate, Anderson Cooper let three Cinton friendlies praise her for a come-back-kid performance. James Carville, being practically on her team and David Gergen, a former advisor to President Clinton and Trojan Horse type friendly J.C. Watts decided for the rest of us who's foot work most resembled what it takes to win our affection. I ain't buying it folks, this is not unbiased news coverage and it is why we keep electing the wrong leaders.
Frankly, if you were to gauge performance in this debate based on real substance, Senator Clinton would not be in the top five.
Remember it's not forbidden to be outright critical or suspicious of news organizations or their journalists and just accepting them as credible because they've been around a long time is to be remiss.
Let's face it Wolf Blitzer was lax in his duties. One glaring example was letting Senator Clinton give a one word answer to the question about drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. This was something that given her previous answers on this issue, should have been ceased upon. It's omission let Senator Clinton off the hook and instantly created suspicion as to whether all candidates were being treated equally.
There was more of the same in the leading question about what is more important, human rights or national security. He was so hell bent on setting up his one word answer wishes that the context of the issue was left behind, confusing everyone. When he finally got to Senator Clinton, having sized up the situation, complied looking decisive, even if the question was like asking which is your favorite child. I never said she wasn't good at politics.
This is the dangerous time in a campaign when the pundits depart from paying attention to a candidates words in favor of less difficult tasks like sizing up "how they come across." You know, their poise, or toughness or the "fire in their belly" and so on. This serves two primary purposes, they get themselves off the hook from doing the tedious job of objectively determining who's best for the country and it allows their personal preferences to seep in more convincingly.
In other words it"s hard for smart people to to align themselves with vague policy such as Senator Clintons "fiscal responsibility" cure for Social Security or her "aggressive negotiation" approach with Iran. So they talk about how she "got back in the game" or "she seems to want it more than the other candidates." Remember, it's supposed to be about how much we want her not the other way around.

Iran; The Beat Goes On

One of the news services I like is Reuters. Today I checked their web page and found an interesting story titled "Military finding more Iranian arms in Iraq." That stuck me as a little peculiar because recently the news has been a bit more encouraging on that count as well as on U.S. Soldier and civilian casualties. In fact I thought I had read recently that fewer Iranian made munitions had been found. I couldn't remember where and after thinking on it I even wondered if I had.
Just keeping track of what you think you know about this war is difficult. It would be hard enough if you could believe most of what you read or hear but you can't and it makes it nearly impossible. It requires vigilance and a personal conviction that few people can find time for.
The article cited Major-General Rick Lynch whose command includes southern Baghdad to Kerbala and Najaf. He made his case and since he's a high level U.S military man who would seem to be well informed-what's not to believe-right? Maybe, but it really is just a piece of a puzzle. There was a lot to the story that perplexed me. I stared at the page and wondered as my eyes wandered. When I refocused I was on "related stories" where I saw another story titled "U.S sees decline in Iran-linked bombs found in Iraq." I thought what the #@^%!
So I thanked the age of technology for this little mishap and quickly clicked on it and sure enough, there was a story that was polar opposite, all on the same Reuters page.
This story was about 10 days old (dated November 1, 2007) and cited Army Lt. General Ray Odiemo. I knew he was the top commander in Iraq for day to day operations. Again a well placed high ranking official who should be believable.
Like the other article there were plenty of qualifiers and once again it didn't leave me feeling any closer to the truth .
My point is that watching these day to day reports has no real value and in fact is just plain misleading.
I had a sense that the prior page wouldn't last so I went back and shot a copy and sure enough when I was done the "related stories" article was gone. I guess some Reuters web master staffer realized it looked a little silly and scrubbed it. But I got my copy and I can look at it any time I want to remind myself just how far we are from the truth.

Dem 7

For someone like myself who desperately wants change in our government, this debate was a winner. Senator Clinton bared all. If you saw this debate you peaked into a future with her as President and I didn't like what I saw. I was left wondering if this candidate really owns a soul. This was a sort of desert mirage performance, fading in and out of existence. Not exactly the makings of a future leader of the free world.
Some of the issues went like this. She kinda-sorta likes Gov. Spitzers plan to issue drivers licenses to undocumented workers, formerly known as illegal immigrants, who were formerly known as illegal aliens and why not three different licenses for three different categories of, well, them. But she doesn't want to burden the states because it's a national failure so lets let her do it from Washington, you know, like she did with health care!
Recently she said that President Bush couldn't pass his immigration reform because he had no more political capital. Trust me, these two share the same bank accounts.
Then there is her brilliantly simple fix for Social Security. That's it, fiscal responsibility. I wonder why no one ever thought of that before?
On the subject of releasing Presidential material from the national archives, she tried to attribute the delay to the bureaucracy at the archives. Maybe, but it's a big Government that she is trying to be in charge of and if as Senator she can't make something happen with the National Archive how can she run the government. Unless just maybe she's not quite telling the whole truth!
Then there was the so called Kyl-Lieberman amendment that she voted for that above all gives Iran's leaders more power to rally the support of the Iranian people. Oops. I think we all remember how fear spawns patriotism don't we. Also do you really believe that she cares if the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is a designated terrorist group or not? No, she's just pandering to the power brokers she believes are important to her election and acting tough again for political reasons, pure and simple. Btw why is Liebermans name last on this one? Just a few more guys who never served in the military beating the war drums.
Also did you notice that the fire that Senator Obama drew from Senator Clinton for his naivety and lack of experience in suggesting that we negotiate with Iran is all but forgotten. He just didn't use the right words. It's vigorous diplomacy silly, you were so close.
As Senator Dodd pointed out, polls have showed that 50% of voters say they would never vote for her. I bet that number wasn't trimmed much by this performance.

Beyond A Lost Boot

I have an 86 year old neighbor who is about as good as they come. Just seeing him lifts my spirits. My first impression was like something out of boy scout law. You know, friendly, kind, cheerful and so on. He's not a big man, he's slightly built and hunched over. It took a while to get to know him but I'm lucky I do, he truly is a great man.
To start with I've never known anyone his age who was in better mental or physical condition. He rides a bike 60 miles per week and walks every place else. He does most of his shopping using a back pack and he walks to a local high school twice a week to an exercise class. On top of this he cares for his wife who has a serious illness. When asked about her health he replies, "oh her health is fine, she just can't walk all that well." He simply has an unshakable positive attitude.
But if it hadn't been for my neighbors, who have lived here much longer than me, I wouldn't know much about his life because he rarely talks about himself. He is understated in every way.
What the neighbors did tell me was that he was a prisoner of war in Germany in WWll.
Over the years I've managed to fill in some of the details of his experience. In April, 1944 his B24 was shot down with 10 crew members aboard on a bombing run to a ball bearing manufacturing plant in Aschaffenburg. He was the only survivor of the crash. "We were unescorted by fighter aircraft, we were sitting ducks," he said.
He was lucky to have had his parachute on as many of his crew mates did not. After the crash he was rounded up by what he said were farmers carrying shot guns, taken back to a farm house and then turned over to the authorities then taken to Frankfurt. He was finally taken to a prison camp called Stalag Luft 1 where he spent one year before being liberated by Russian troops.
This is about as much as he had told me until last week. I told him that I had seen an episode of Ken Burns new series on WWll. He said he had watched some of it to and it seemed to loosen him up a little bit on the subject. We talked about a few more details when he became slightly more enthusiastic. For the first time I felt that I was hearing something that he felt like telling me.
He said that when he jumped from the aircraft he had lost one boot. He said his suit was heated and his boots were fleece lined which had kept him relatively comfortable. But when he landed he had just one boot on and with the mud and cold it made it even more miserable than it already was.
He said that back at the farmhouse after some time had passed, a young girl came to him. His eyes lit up and he became quite animated. He said that she was carrying his lost boot and she could speak some English and said, "is yours?" which he replied,"yes thank you." This obviously was a pleasant and lasting memory for him.
It's difficult to narrow this down to the single most important thought here so I'll let you come up with your own. I do know that it's timeless and timely to.

A Story About Terrorism

A quick story. I was working on a job recently and had hired two young plumbers named Jimmy and Sean to re-pipe a building. Jimmy was breaking open a wall when he found an old newspaper stuffed inside. It was used as backing for an old plaster patch. He unfolded it and said in a soft voice "March fourth nineteen-seventy-six", then said loudly, "Sean, check it out, they had terrorists back in 1976." They huddled around the paper for a bit reading headlines in disbelief. Sean said,"that was before we were even born, they'll never get rid of those guys." I said, "these were different guys, the IRA," but I could tell it meant nothing to them. I said, "the Irish Republican Army," still nothing. Looking at these kids and by their names I suspected there was a very good chance that one or both had a distant relative that called Ireland home. I felt like tinkering with their perception of terrorists but I realized that making this connection maybe possible in my mind but probably not in theirs.
We talked a bit about the terrorists of today and it was clear that they had strong feelings about it. I'd call it a heart felt hatred for terrorists actually. They told me about where they were and what they felt on 9/11. Being in their teens and early 20's at that time, it was obvious that it was truly pivotal for them.
I remember the Cuban missile crisis and the fear I felt as my neighbor built a bomb shelter especially because my dad didn't. And I did hate the Viet Nam war but it was hard to know exactly who to hate.
My feelings about the 9/11 attack do not include hatred and it's not because hatred doesn't suit me anymore like some wasted energy or something. It's because I have always thought that efficiency was particularly important. Nothing complex, just a strong belief that the most important measure of success is how quickly something gets properly completed. Now, I know that this means different things to different people but since nothing has really been accomplished with a unified hatred approached to terrorism I think thoughtful people would agree it's time to try something new. But instead our Government acts like a couple of 20 year olds feeding off each others hormone induced one upsmanship and dragon slayer fantasies.
P.S The incident was a bombing in a London train station. It was the fifth since IRA hunger striker, Frank Stagg died after beginning his strike 62 days earlier.

Merger Activity

Where did the summer go? Not that there is some big seasonal change here but because I like growing plants of all kinds I see changes underway, pointing to the end of a growing season and cooler weather ahead. Fortunately years ago I became interested in native plants. Interestingly these plants march to a different drummer. With a little rain they perk up-it's almost spring for them now. This helps to mitigate some of the negative effects of winter. Anyone who is into this sort of thing knows how remarkable it is to be able to have plants from around the world in your garden. For me it's just one of the real bonuses of being alive today.
Understandably though, like many personal interests, most others couldn't care less.
Of course I have no bone to pick with someone who doesn't give a hoot about gardening just as long as they give a hoot about something and that something isn't becoming famous or making vast sums of money.
Capitalism has been in overdrive and unrestrained for many years now and our inextricable obsession with it has seemingly created legions of people who are using every ounce of brain power and desire for that pursuit and it's leaving little for anything else.
To be clear, I believe in capitalism as much as anybody because the alternatives are proven losers. But it's become harder than ever to find people who don't define themselves by what they do for a living as opposed to who the are. What's worse is that they are often unaware of it. It's sort of like not missing air conditioning when you never had it.
I think that most thoughtful people anticipated such an outcome but the speed at which it has arrived is a little surprising.
I noticed a television commercial recently where there was a man who relished his good fortune that his business defined who he was and he felt good that he could pass the business on to his daughter so she could define who she was.
Now for a guy who rued the day Eric Clapton did his first beer commercial, this is awfully hard to take. I cut my philosophical teeth in the sixties, so for me each time I hear a formerly iconic song or image being used to sell something it's a little bit painful. I know this is the price of doing business because after all how many communes are still in operation. But completely merging what we are with how we earn is in some ways like what monoculture is to agriculture. Too many eggs in one basket.
There is a huge discussion due here but to keep it simple I'll just say that I consider it proven that there are certain susceptibilities, individually and collectively, that come about as a result of a narrowing of interests for any reason. In agriculture it is the lack of biodiversity that can potentially lead to crop failures. In human beings it sets up basic structures of thought pointing too many people in the same direction. A sort of malignant groupthink can emerge. In either case the outcome is not the optimum and is potentially catastrophic. Let history be our guide.

Lighthearted

Ok, In my last post I promised that in my next post I would take a break from the cynicism and do something lighthearted. So here goes. I once had an friend who was a genuine dust bowl Okie. Ivan was his name and I say was because he died several years ago. He was one of the happiest people I ever knew. He was quite a bit older than me but was full of life and I admired him because he treated everyone the same, with respect. He was half Cherokee Indian and said he was from the "lapland." I asked him where that was and he said, "that's where Oklahoma laps over into Arkansas."
When he came to California he picked fruit for a living. He told me this story about how one summer he ran into a friend from back home who asked him where he had been working? He replied, "over in San Jose," but he pronounced it like it read to him. His friend, who had been out west a few years before Ivan said, "no Ivan, out here the J is silent, use an H instead, otherwise the people won't know what your talking about. Ivan sincerely thanked his friend for that helpful bit of advice and wished him well. Ivan said the next time he ran into his friend it was winter. His friend was glad to see him again and said, " good to see you Ivan, it's been a while, when was that anyway?" Ivan replied, " oh that was back in the early summer, maybe hune or huly!"
Now Ivan didn't hear all that well and one of my favorite stories came up while he explained how he had lost his hearing as a child from an illness. He said it didn't bother him too much but it had been a little embarrassing at times. He said, one time back in Oklahoma when he was a kid, working in a service station, a beautiful woman drove up in a new Cadillac. He never saw her before and figured she was from a big city. She pulled up slowly and said to Ivan, "young man, do you have a rest room? The service station had just been equipped with compressed air and Ivan, hearing whisk broom instead of rest room, and wanting to impress her, grabbed the air hose and said, "no Mam, but if you pull it up a few feet I'll blow it out for ya!"

AFL/CIO Dem Debate

MSNBC went with their entertainment newsman Kieth Oberman to referee this event. His day job is being MSNBC'S counter-weight to Fox News where he slings mud and generally takes the low road in challenging the competition. Luckily we were spared the insufferable sermonized drivel he has become famous for. In fact in last nights role and in others, to be fair, he's done a decent enough job. I guess that was the Kieth Oberman who was influenced by Hal Fishman who he duly thanked at the end of the debate. Fishman, a 46 year TV news veteran from Los Angeles, died yesterday. He was an old school, quality newsman who will be missed.
Anyway, may I go backwards because I'm forgetting this thing so fast that soon I'll have nothing to say. Probably not a good sign.
Question? What exactly is the point in interviewing candidates campaign managers, media strategists and the like as we are routinely subjected to with last night being no exception? Chris Mathews did the honors this time. What a ridiculous way to try to learn anything. Chris, bring their mothers on next time. At least there would be a slight chance to hear something less than glowing.
Then there are the experts that size up what just happened. Now tell me something-how do you feel when someone says they know what you want? A little irritated maybe? Let's face it, people don't tell other people this unless they want an argument or worse. So why do the so called political experts do it all the time. This time it was Pat Buchanan and Willie Brown who said over and over, "what the American people want..." I understand that they each were candidates in campaigns and have insight but that is the extent of it. To claim they know what people want is flagrantly false and when they say it I find it insulting and stop listening.
Now to the debate. I think that one objective and informative way to judge this debate is to look at how they handled the pandering. The event host was the AFL/CIO so let's look at who pulled the blue collar stuff off the shelf with the greatest of ease. With potentially millions watching it is interesting to see what balance they strike between the spirited live audience and the inanimate yet important home viewers. I'm after a shamelessness quotient here and there were five winners. The shared award goes to Rep. Kucinich, Gov. Richardson, Sen. Edwards, Sen. Dodd and Sen. Clinton, more or less in that order.
From opening sympathies expressed for the Utah Mine Workers through bad toys and human rights violations in China it seemed that these candidates decided to go for the bird in the hand. I am not saying that these issues or NAFTA, outsourcing, trade, corporate aid, health care, medicaid, lobbyist, or exporting jobs etc. are not important and my heart sincerely does go out to the Utah mine workers and their families but you can't be or promise everything to everyone without looking somewhat disingenuous and they did. Rep. Kucinich, the self proclaimed card carrying member of the AFL/CIO promised so much I was left to wonder if there was going to be anything left for me when he was done. He said he would withdraw from NAFTA in his first week in office and asked, "why do you need an infrastructure?" Then said, "so you can create a base for new jobs." In one way or another he seemed to try to make the AFL/CIO the center of the universe and he made me want to grab my wallet thinking about how he will pay for it all. Sen. Dodd said such things as he would ban outsourcing of jobs and China is our adversary. Gov. Richardson repeated many of the same promises along with Sen.Edwards blaming lobbyists for everything including NAFTA and even telling of a time when, "no scab can cross a picket line." Mr. Oberman had to settle him down by reminding Sen. Edwards that he came from a right to work state. Sen. Edwards conceded that North Carolina does have a very small organized labor movement. What I heard from most of these candidates was the usher to protectionism and I wonder if anyone remembered the pitfalls of the past.
Sen. Clinton was far more clever but chimed in with a broad study of NAFTA and said it needed broad reform and smart trade, trade prosecutors, renewable energy for jobs to lift the American worker and criticized China by agreeing with Sen. Bidens comments.
So how did Sen. Obama and Sen. Biden do on the pandering test? Better, I believe. Sen. Obama said there are some winners and some losers in matters of trade and he thought NAFTA needed to be amended. He said no one wants to lose their job but globalization is here and we have to address special interests and a tax code that favors corporations. In regards to China he said we have to recognize arguments on both sides. He said it is hard to negotiate when they are our bankers.
Sen. Biden spoke of his attempts to deal with the infrastructure problem with a proposed 20 billion dollar bill. He said we don't need anymore studies. The subways in New York along with 27% of the bridges are unsafe. He said that it's a presidents job to create jobs not export jobs and there is a lack of presidential leadership. He also repeated Sen. Obama's statement about China in a slightly different way saying that China holds the mortgage on our house.
You can see here that these candidates are thoughtful when answering questions of this nature. Where the other candidates showed little restraint and tried to please everyone, Sen. Obama and Sen. Biden met self imposed resistance to such temptations. This to me is a sign of integrity and general good character and I found this to be the case through the whole debate.That's what I'll be looking for come election time.
On the other hand the craft of politics has begun in earnest. Sen.Clinton is now trying every trick in the book to bury Sen.Obama but so far not succeeding. Her position on Pakistan and actionable intelligence that she criticized Sen. Obama for is shrewed but deceitful. She previously was on the record with a position identical to Sen. Obama's and as Sen. Biden pointed out, when it comes to actionable intelligence, this is the policy of this Government if not the law. The statement about not being able to say what you think does seem as Sen. Obama points out, an insider approach. And check out her odd man out game. "Chris Dodd and I were on a panel..." or "amen to Joe Biden," and this was for a point Sen. Biden took from Sen. Obama's about China being our bankers and changed it to holding the mortgage on our house. And she thinks it unwise to telegraph your game plan. Hers is as clear as it gets. How about her "3 point plan.'' The back door here is Al Qaeda. To be used conveniently should you get in a jamb. Wonder where she learned that one? In the mean time Sen. Obama nails a question about immigration reform and clarifies to Mr.Oberman that he does not have federal lobbyists bundling for him nor does he accept PAC money. He also defended a two pronged attack from Sen. Clinton and Sen. Dodd on the Pakistan issue. He did try to change what he said previously about Pakistan's President Musharraf and I've duly taken note of this.
Finally, from her fathers dream baseball stadium fable to "if you want to fight the right wing machine, I'm your girl," comment, this is one high gloss politician. What kind of arrogance would make her want to utter the words right wing anything. Recall who started the whole right wing conspiracy counter attack strategy while obstructing justice over the Monica Lewinsky investigation. Does Tammy Wynette and stand (or not) by your man ring a bell. Anyway you cut it, it shows poor judgement.
Because this was so damn cynical my promise to you is that my next post will be light hearted. How's that, a promise I can keep.

Bridge Wake UP Call

I have not heard it yet from the countless hours of news coverage dedicated to the Minneapolis bridge collapse but I'm sure many people are wondering to what degree budget shortfalls played a role in decisions about this bridge. I realize it maybe early for this discussion but with 70-80 thousand bridges with structurally deficient designations in this country you have to be a little concerned.
Last evening there was mention of the high cost of replacement in one report read by Anderson Cooper of CNN. I couldn't locate this information on the Minnesota DOT website but I know from experience that the level of available funding has a way of creeping into the objectivity of inspection reports.
Since we have been hearing about a crumbling infrastructure in this country for several years now, it seems an automatic question to ask how much has the 440 billion that has been spent on the Iraq war, taken away from tending to such critical matters as these. I suspect the truth is frightening. Make no mistake about it. This was another Government failure. Now there will be a big expensive scramble to catch up to where they were already paid to be, only this time we'll pay the same people doing the same job at premium pay because it's an emergency. And get ready to ante up. It's like a late Sunday evening with six house guest then the sewer backs up and your on hold for Roto-Rooter. Hold on to your wallet.
I thought that it was interesting that Governor Pawlenty announced that they would hire their own outside consulting firm to get to the bottom of what went wrong. He said that they had faith in the NTSB but thought they should add some "redundancy" to the process. Interesting choice of words but beyond that why do we even have an NTSB and the cost associated with it if we can't trust their abilities. Drop another item off the list of things the Government does well.

Hurry Up and Wait

Knowing how to bring about change in the beliefs of a society a little quicker would certainly come in handy in today's world. But if I've learned anything in life it is that this process is a slow one. It seems a natural tendency in people, even after admittedly convinced of something new, to revert to a previous position without explanation, even to themselves. For most of my life I thought of this as an impediment to progress but then I'd run into an incessant mind changer or two and realize that there is value to this kind of friction. These are hard pills to swallow when your young. I surely would not have accepted this when I was twenty. But under normal circumstances this resistance probably takes much of the volatility out of the course of change. It can give good change a second chance and bad change further examination.
These thoughts all started on a walk while observing the architecture of the homes in the neighborhood. The trend has notably changed toward a modern style of late. In fact it's rare to see new homes being built in the Spanish/Mediterranean style that had been predominant for so many years. This hasn't happened overnight, in fact some of the earliest examples were so bad that it nearly brought the whole movement to a halt. Unlike the previous styles, there was not much possibility of hybridizing to make these homes less distinct. So to make this step was a gamble on many levels. More time passed as people got used to even the possibility of change. A lot of work and slow and steady improvement over time helped make these homes more appealing. Finally, only after younger customers began to be able to afford to build, the change began in earnest. These homes are now popping up everywhere and most of the people I speak with and virtually all young people prefer this style.
What in a hundred years, will look like one day everybody just up and changed their mind, actually took a long drawn out process that finally took hold, albeit more for generational reasons than anything else.
This is the reality of change in society and it tends to look easier than it really is. In fact it's much more like the-steering the oil tanker with the tugboat-analogy.
On a larger scale, in the vast mix of people around the world, there are countless beliefs that at any given time are in dire need of change, but none comes. Much of the time the desire to keep things the same is a powerful force wielded by more senior members of a society for a variety of selfish and unselfish reasons. In democracies the selfish reasons may be isolated and examined for suitability for junior members, by junior members. Without a democracy this gets more complicated depending upon the extent of force the senior members are willing to exert to limit change. An aversion to reason often makes accepting the notion of selfish motivation an impossibility, making matters worse. I think we all know how far societies may be willing to go to not relinquish power. Until ways of getting around these obstacles are discovered, societies usually struggle to advance.
Now I think I've made it clear that I was never for the Iraq war but I do hope for the best possible outcome and I look for any signs of meaningful progress on that front. No doubt good news is sparse but I was heartened by Iraq's soccer championship victory over the weekend. This seemingly insignificant event was encouraging. The AP story I read said Iraqi men flooded into the streets removing their shirts to reveal the Iraqi flag painted on their chests, chanting long live Iraq. The reports gave the impression of some sense of unity among sects which if even temporary is a good sign. But what I found the most inspiring was a 24 year old Shiite who said, "The politicians have divided us and these athletes united us." Now I'm not naive enough to call this the beginning of anything but I like two things about it. One, he was a young man and two, he was highlighting the fact that this event was more meaningful than a mere athletic victory. Every movement starts somewhere. Let's hope something has gotten underway in Iraq.

Down 311

It wasn't the biggest news story of the day for me but I'll take nearly every news programs word for it and say a few words about the drop in the Dow. The world of money and what to do with it after you get enough to make a separate little money making machine is a mind numbing, highly distorted reality that I luckily deciphered long ago. It didn't come easy though. I studied the field as intensely as anyone does when they get it in their mind that they just might be able to pull off early retirement. (Of course that never came true.) There was a time when a 311 point drop in the Dow would have made me weak in the knees. Then there was a time when it would of made me salivate for bargains. I've complained that it is nothing but legalized gambling and then marveled at it as an example of the value of free markets.
But all along the way I've noticed one constant and that is that the average person gives up way to much of their hard earned money to a middleman. The cost of doing business is usually way to high, not to mention that ones principle is often put at considerable risk to. There are few situations that are so clear-cut to me, and when people leave so much money on the table and at the same time there exists a remedy that anyone can take advantage of at a relatively low price, I simply have got to pass this on.
First understand that I get nothing out of this. But when you come to believe that something has such great value it becomes hard to hold back. I am perhaps one of the most skeptical people you will ever run across and I have followed this man for 20 years of which the first 10 I resisted taking his advice. But after 10 years of him being dead on and me all over the board, I was sold and have prospered ever since.
So here goes. It was never really the intent of this blog but I'm compelled. Bob Brinker. Yep the guy on the radio on weekends. But go for the newsletter, the radio show still requires you listen and that can be work. I see the incredulous look but check the record, he is the man.
Again I get zip, nada, nothing out of this but you can save yourself all the anxiety that the markets dish out and forget about it knowing that 10 years down the road you'll have kept more and earned more than you could have in most other places.

CNN/Youtube Dem debate

My hat is off to CNN. For the time being they have exonerated themselves by taking the right steps to correct a string of poorly planned and executed debate performances. How did they do it? By replacing Wolf Blitzer with Anderson Cooper, telling Larry King to stay home and engaging regular people via YouTube. Brilliant? It goes without saying that I'm a little more interested in this stuff than the average person but I've got to tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed this debate.
What I found to be so unexpected and refreshing was that most of the candidates excelled in this format. Those who knew the difference showed how much easier and natural it is to answer a real question rather than some dreamed up, insincere, over-thought concoction that we've come to mistake for reality. It's like the difference between exercise and actually running the marathon.
It most definitely has changed the debate process but these clever candidates proved that adaptation will be quick. In fact it may have lasted only through last night. There were a few insights that I found particularly interesting that were made possible in part by the YouTube format. For example, the question that has really made the rounds in the press is the one about making contacts in the first year in office, with the Leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea. Sen. Obama got the question and said, "I would, the notion that not talking to countries is punishment to them, which has been the guiding light of this administration is ridiculous." For my taste this was a superb answer and in general this format seemed to build passion and intensity in Sen. Obama. Now on the other hand Sen. Clinton got the same question but answered in a much different way. She was measured and cautious, saying she did not want to be used by other countries for propaganda purposes. Frankly she sounded very similar to the current administrations policy.
So where this format seemed to help Sen. Obama differentiate himself from business-as-usual and the current administration, it did the opposite for Sen. Clinton.
Incidentally this seems to be a change of heart for Sen. Clinton who earlier in the year said, " you don't refuse to talk to bad people. I think life is filled with uncomfortable situations where you have to deal with people you might not like. I'm sort of an expert on that. I have consistently urged the President to talk to Iran and talk to Syria. I think it's a sign of strength not weakness."
I believe that this format was exactly one of those uncomfortable situation Sen. Clinton was talking about. Where Sen. Obama seemed young and vibrant and invigorated by the YouTube format and answered from the heart, Sen. Clinton seemed old and mechanical and defaulted to the game plan. Her whole campaign is machine like as can be seen by their instant attempts to discredit Sen Obama calling him irresponsible and naive for an answer I suspect they now wish they had given. When a campaign reacts this quick you know you got to them and Obama did and they had no choice but to attack. The Clinton camp proved again to be too smart for their own good, looking too far out and not in the moment where they belong.

To Big John

I did some work for a 76 year old man named John last week. John's a tough old guy, thin and in decent shape but he says if it was all over tomorrow it would be fine by him. He says he's had a good life and he wouldn't change much but getting old is no damn fun. His only concern is for his wife who's a good deal younger than he. He said he just wants everything to be in good working order so she doesn't have to worry.
He liked to talk and I didn't mind listening so we got on quite well.
Listening to the stories of his life, it was easy to see why he felt the way he did. He used to get around and do a lot of things but he can't anymore and he misses it.
He was born dirt poor and one line summed it all up. He said, "if it cost a nickel to go round the world, we didn't have enough to get out of sight." About his parents he said poverty was the best thing they could have ever given him. His mother was a saint but about his father he said" he could snatch failure right out of the mouth of success better than anyone I ever knew." He said things like, "You know, back when ships were made of wood and men were made of steel." He went on and on like this and the more I listened and laughed the more he remembered.
He told me that when he was eight years old he found some wood and built a shoe shine box and shined shoes, charging a nickel for servicemen and a dime for everyone else. He had to give the money to his mother so he felt it only right that since he did all that work that he keep a little back and treat himself to a hamburger on Fridays. He says to this day he looks forward to Fridays because of those hamburgers. He also said because of those early scrounging days, he'll never throw anything away that he thinks he could make something out of some day . His back yard is proof of that.
He spent a good deal of time at sea in the Korean war and then did two tours of duty in Viet Nam and after that was a merchant seaman. He wouldn't say much about his time in the service but did say he lost a good deal of his hearing in Viet Nam and considered that war to be a big waste of time and added about the war in Iraq that he never thought he'd see the day we'd make the same mistake twice.
John told lots of drunken bar stories. He claimed to be a "west side champion drinker." His friend Dick owned the Malibu cottage where the "Maliboozers" hung out. According to John they were mostly movie people. Lee Marvin, Keenan Wynn, Dewey Martin, Peter Lawford and somebody Hunter are the names he rattled off. He said they were good guys who loved to have lots of fun.
John worked at the studios and on location building sets for many years but didn't like movies much. He said, "back then when you saw how damn make-believe it all was it just didn't appeal to me, I wanted to do and see the real thing,"
Later in life he spent a lot of time battling with his local city council over this and that, "keeping them honest," as he says. Once he told them they're all overpaid and that the people in the city are not here for the benefit of the city council. It's supposed to be the other way around. He said the words that finally wore out his welcome were, "You know, I respect a man who walks into a bank with a gun in his hand because I know what he's up to."
There was a lot more that he told me but I think you get the general idea about John. It would be easy to start talking about how people are shaped in society. How they acquire their values and all that but that wasn't my intent. I just wanted to record something about his life because I doubt he's talked about this stuff to many people in a long time. It seems that most of his friends have died. So here's to you John, for leading a productive life, never accepting a dime of help from anybody, serving your country and still having a few good lines. There is a lot to be proud of there.

Summer doldrums

With everything that's going on you would think that I could find something that would hold my interest long enough to write about it. I mean look at President Bush. He seems to think that you can grow hair and shine shoes with executive privilege these days. He at least believes he can hide under that warm and fuzzy blanket up to and including his final trip back to Crawford.
Now Harriet Miers is using the same blanket along with former deputy assistant to the President Sara Taylor and a gaggle of e-mails between staffers and the Attorney Generals office about the U.S. Attorney dismissals.
From Plamegate to this debacle the list of those living a lie grows by the day? What possible motivation do they use to go on? How do they even get up in the morning. I don't believe I will ever understand.
But the real problem now is that the story has gone cold. As a matter of fact the whole administration is such a mess that nothing is surprising anymore. God bless the reporters that day in and day out cover this stuff because I don't think anybody listens to it anymore. It's summer and that's what matters to the people I talk to.
There was this one thing that caught my eye on a financial news show today. A lady named Mary Sue Williams won the big Million Dollar stock pickers challenge put on by MSNBC. It has been going on now for some time and it included ordinary folks like Mary Sue right through big name professionals. What was striking was how the big condescending financial news show dealt with the fact that this novice, salt of the earth waitress from Ohio kicked the butts of the ordained so called experts. Instead of showing an ounce of humility for an industry that is so bloated with self serving opportunists it's ridiculous, they treated it like one of those financial make over segments. They had the nerve to bring on two more experts who said things like "you got lucky, now it's time to invest wisely", blah blah blah.
A few years back (quite a few) the top dog in investing was Peter Lynch and this woman whether she knew it or not was following his advice and did quite well at it. After all she picked WD-40 because she used to be a welder and said it is a great product. My kinda people. So now with success under her belt the experts find it necessary to bring her in to the herd of the mediocre or less. What a way to screw up a good story.
Then the host, looking to spice up the story asks her for a second time, in a different way, "what kind of personal things do you want to do?" Mary Sue, after answering the first time, "education for my kid's and maybe buy a car,"she adds, "payoff my mortgage." I thought way to go girl, just because they're on television doesn't mean they're any smarter than you and you just proved it.

Folk's, we just took a real big hit

It's times like these that explaining life as a predestined path seems an appealing concept. It places things in the "beyond our control" realm where I find myself visiting now and then to cope with truly detestable events.
I expressed my fear in my last post of a Libby pardon. Guess what I find detestable today? Of course it's the Presidents decision to remove Libby's jail time. And I don't think the little political stutter-step is fooling anyone. At some point a full pardon is sure to follow.
How else than in a mindless stupor, accepting of all that is thrown your way could an ethical person accept this.
If you don't know the particulars then you probably don't care but, understand that of the people who do care, good and bad, many just confirmed their hunch that this is a rigged game. People around the world, from virtuous to scoundrel, just notched down their faith and trust in the U.S. Government.
Everyone looks to their leaders for proper conduct and because of the success of this country the world is interested in how that success was achieved. From an economic standpoint it's clear that an ethical society supports a good economy. If for no other reason countries know they must deal with corruption before a society can prosper at levels where all people can participate. Unfortunately most people now see the executive right to pardon as nothing more than legalized corruption.
So once again I find myself curious about those who don't care about such things. Maybe they're right. Maybe they have just written this government off and therefore are unaffected so the impact is so limited it really doesn't matter. But that sure seems like a strange place to be looking for a little hope now doesn't it.

It's about more than Scooter Libby

I fear that the next great tragedy for justice in this country will be that I. Scooter Libby will get a reduced sentence or a presidential pardon. In his usual thorough and concise way Bill Moyers has presented a clear eyed look into this matter which can be viewed at pbs.org/moyers/journal. Please take the time to read or view the story. Unfortunately, I'll bet the protest we just heard over Paris Hilton and the two justice systems in this country was louder than we'll hear if Libby gets off easy.
The potential damage could not have been assessed better than by former Virginia Governor, James Gilmore who said,"If the public believes there is one law for a certain group of people in high places and another law for regular people, then you will destroy the law and destroy the system." It's my belief that more than anything else, this perception is at the root of non law abiding behavior in a society. I still clearly recall the deleterious effect the pardon of Richard Nixon had on this country. I hope I'm not alone on this.

Democrats Round Two

A better Democratic debate this time to be sure. But not because of CNN as they would have you believe. Can you imagine Walter Cronkite on the air, basking in adulation from colleagues just for doing his job. Wolf Blitzer did it, and for me whether or not he did his job is questionable. Take his show of hands approach when questioning on such critical issues as firing missiles at a suspected Osama Bin Laden target or the use of force in Sudan. It was thoughtless at best and perhaps purposefully contrived. To her credit, Senator Clinton refused to take the bait.
Then there was the thinly veiled question about how the candidates would use President Clinton in their administration. Why be phony? Why not just ask the question of the person it was intended for, Senator Clinton, and get on with it. Like I've said before, President Clinton is not revered nearly as much as some would have you think and CNN knows that candidates will answer this type of question affirmatively even if it hurts their campaign. I guess this is their idea of cutting edge reporting. Don't hold your breath waiting for a similar question about President Bush asked of the Republican candidates by CNN.
Some of his follow-up questions sounded like Blitzer hadn't been listening to the answers. At one point Rep. Kucinich gave an appropriate answer, right or wrong, to a question about restoring the military, Blitzer says "but the question was..." and repeats it. Kucinich, looking stunned rephrased his answer. Maybe Blitzer preferred another answer but he clearly didn't listen to what Kucinich had just said.
I'm sure they would argue as journalists that these questions were designed to find "the best obtainable version of the truth" but they missed the mark. The whole event seemed out of balance. CNN will have to start getting up a lot earlier if they think they're going to out smart these candidates, Democrat or Republican.
The bottom line is that CNN is chasing Fox news. Hopefully they're only envious of their ratings. They appear to be willing to try anything including heaping kudos on themselves to catch up, maybe thinking that a certain number of people watching will mindlessly agree. It's sad to watch the process of a formerly respected news source go the way of an entertainment show. Particularly when their competition never had to go through such humiliation. Yep and let me just take a moment to say goodbye to any Fox news fans who should ever stumble on this site.
After the debate there was a lot of comparing the candidates to their last performance which is alarming because therein lies some of the negative value of these early parades through the paddocks. I can't tell you how many times over the years I've seen people promoted or bestowed with bonuses, honors or other rewards for being "most improved" and they still didn't meet the necessary standard that those who were overlooked routinely met. The media gets sucked into this all the time. A reference point makes their job easier I suspect but it has no place in evaluating someones performance or abilities.
As usual the most substantive answers seemed to come from what they call the second tier candidates. But the style masters or front runners did well enough to hold their leads. For reasons I'll never understand, we like to play what we think is the safest bet and that's just the way it is. So even if Governor Richardson is a proven diplomat and we badly need one, or Rep. Kucinich is the least war mongering when that might come in handy, all we can hope for is that one of the front runners will remember their names when it comes time to fill positions requiring those skills.
A few other things stuck with me about this debate. First the negatives. I know it occurred on both sides to be fair but I'll never understand how someone could vote on the authorization to attack Iraq without reading the ninety page National Intelligence Estimate. And one of them was Senator Clinton who keeps repeating her famous line "if I knew then what I know now" statement. Go figure. Then there is John Edwards trying to differentiate himself from himself, I guess. He's the one guy who would keep me up at night if his numbers started improving.
And finally the positives. I was glad to see Senator Dodd repeatedly emphasize how grateful Democrats are to our troops. The opposition loves to say otherwise and saying this over and over is the only way to dispel this insinuation. I also liked Senator Bidens perspective on Iran and his attempt to moth ball "regime change" as a policy toward that country.
Then there was Senator Obama, perhaps the best orator of the group who said things like "it erodes our moral claims to act on broader universal principles" or " The strength of our military has to be matched with the power of our diplomacy to build alliances around the world." These are from memory so excuse me if they're not just right but I eat that stuff up and he is still holding my attention.
Finally, it's reassuring that the candidates, both Republican and Democrat are about the smartest bunch I've ever seen run. Most of them, quite likely could do a good job for America. So we have an interesting race with little downside and plenty of upside. It should be fun to watch. Goodnight.

I'll Take Free Speech Any Day

In 1971 I was in college and George McGovern made a whistle stop in town while campaigning for President. I was a McGovern fan for many reasons but most importantly he opposed the war in Viet Nam and I did to.
I attended a small rally on campus. I say small because it barely spilled out of one room. I helped to set up some tables with a few of McGovern's entourage.
One of them was Jon Voight, the actor. I knew he was in movies then but that's about it. He was young and lanky, long haired and interesting looking like an artist or musician. Looking back I suppose he was there in part for his image and in fact it worked because I didn't remember anything anyone said but him.
He was not a dynamic speaker by any means, in fact he was almost timid but listening to him was easy and unavoidable. You sensed that his belief in his own words allowed him to overcome some early discomfort and finish quite eloquently. He was smart but it was his passion and intensity that came through loud and clear. He was one of those people who made you believe you were hearing the truth.
I'm not one to think that people who have gained some stage or film celebrity have opinions any more insightful or valid than anyone else. It's actually quite the contrary. It seems illogical to me, given all the cuts they've made to get where they are, that many of them would be also intellectually endowed. Although, as much as it seems to bend the rules of probability, odds are such that some people, and I believe Jon Voight to be one of them, would be so blessed.
Over the years, even after his Republican conversion, when he speaks I'm still compelled to listen. So in his recent movie promoting appearances, sounding exceedingly conservative, he got me lets say, exceedingly curious.
I know that most people go through an aging process that delivers them more conservative than when they started. Remember the old saying, "Show me a man at twenty who isn't liberal and I'll show you a man with no heart, show me a man at forty who isn't conservative and I'll show you a man with no brains." So sure he has been influenced by experience and age, pushing 70 I believe, even so, this is not the same man I listened to in 1971.
What he said was that he is very concerned with the way in which people speak of the President these days and this dissension gives the enemy the "nutrients" they need to destroy this country. In one interview he said his heart is heavy, and he's really terrified by what is happening to this great nation and that our country is being divided by extremists who really believe all the propaganda that they are being fed on a daily basis by very cunning professionals.
He further said that the President in effect is America and that tearing him down was tearing down America. He spoke of discussions with injured soldiers that seemed to lead him to believe that the Iraq war was winnable. He said that he feels this situation is no Viet Nam so I take this to mean that he still feels OK with his position back in the 70's. He also claimed that the kids that come out of college today think that America is an imperialistic nation.
These are just a few of the things he said. Please check out his interviews with Joe Scarborough and Bill O'Rielly to get the complete picture.
To be honest I'm not exactly sure what to make of it. He was plugging a movie of course but I desperately want to believe that he wouldn't stage a controversy to promote a movie.
The Movie deals with the "Mountain Meadows" killings perpetrated by people of the Mormon faith exactly 150 years ago on September 11th. Voight implies this is somehow ironic and also says that some of his new concerns hit him while making this movie. In my opinion the date coincidence points much more to what movie producers will do to get people into theaters. For the revelation or whatever it was that he experienced making this movie, it looks more like an idea looking for a home than anything else. To compare Mormons to Muslims is ridiculous and I'm disappointed that he would even try. Mormons, who deplore this shameful part of their history will have to be the whipping boys this time around at the masterfully exploitative hands of Hollywood.
For me it is hard to comprehend why Voight is 180 degrees from where he once was. The current situation is different but not 180 degrees different. There doesn't seem to be a sliver of the man left and it forces me to be suspicious of his motives and saddened by the loss of a voice for good in this world.
Mr. Voight, free speech is the nutrient that this nation needs to remain great. Yes, the freedom that you have so enjoyed and it could be destroyed much faster by its denial than by any of your scary scenarios. I just pray that this is not you just reinforcing your belief that this movie was worth making by some redeeming value ratio approach. In the end the movie will be what it is and nothing more.
And finally, we would be well served if you would re-examine your current views to see if your heart is still in it like it once was.

Peas in a pod

Hubris has claimed another victim. And in this case irony abounds. I'm speaking of Al Sharpton of course and no longer Reverend to me. Fresh off his Don Imus victory tour he now decides to choose off Mit Romney by questioning his belief in God. Sharpton said,"As For the one Mormon running for office, those that really believe in God will defeat him anyway."
Decency doesn't work in degrees. Relativism is a rhetorical tool used to wiggle out of trouble. There is simply a threshold between decency and non-decency and Don Imus and now Al Sharpton have each crossed that threshold. Neither should be viewed the same again.
What do we get out of such a stance? We give a loud and clear message that the shock approach has it's dangers and that participants do risk peril.
Until now I'm not sure I would have found the following statement by John Ridley, the Commentator and screenwriter, to be true but Al Sharpton has now convinced me it is. Mr. Ridley said, " Mr. Sharpton is hanging on by his fingernails to a position that never existed." If the media must persue "black thought" lets hope they start looking to the real African American leaders and not the likes of Al Sharpton.

Check your rudders at the door

Now to the first Republican debate. These candidates are going to have a much harder go of it than the Democrats. It's as if the Democrats were issued shotguns and the Republicans .22 caliber pistols. You'll need serious marksman on the Republican side to win.
It reminds me of Edward James Olmos in the movie "Selena" explaining how hard it is to be Mexican/American. He said, "We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans, both at the same time! It's exhausting!"
On some issues the tolerances on the Republican side are measured in microns.
Take abortion, Republican candidates have to nail it and so far Giuliani and Romney still look tentative. Not only have they disenchanted conservatives, they have opened themselves up to criticism for disingenuous flip-flopping.
Romney was particularly foolish in seeking cover from other abortion mind changers like Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Henry Hide. Instead of bringing himself up he brought them down.
This and John McCain beating up George W. Bush for mismanaging the war seemed to seriously violate Ronald Reagan's famous and critical republican rule; never speak ill of a fellow Republican. And I'd add, certainly not in his library in front of his wife.
The Republicans always look like they're looking for someone to marry their daughter instead of a person that may actually exist. Setting the bar so high makes their candidates have to be something their not and look like they checked their rudders at the door.

When Whimps think they're Warriors

I can't seem to get the commentary that followed the first Democratic Debates out of my mind. The media who gas bagged about what a great job they did making a three ring circus out of the Virginia Tech tragedy felt we couldn't live without them and gave us another double dose of blather about a relatively meaningless so called debate. This stuff went on for hours.
Chris Mathews had a round table discussion and one of the very first comments was from Howard Fineman who was complementary to Hillary Clinton for her decisiveness in answering a question that went something like, what would you do if a forceful new terrorist attack occurred on U.S. soil? How quickly she used the word retaliate was his measure for praising her. He went on to say that the others were hesitant or indecisive. He also said that being a women makes it particularly important for her to show her toughness. This answer seemed to give her the edge in the debate according to Fineman although a day later a pole of North Carolinans, where the debate was held, showed Obama coming out on top.
Now, the question was obviously hypothetical and the answers were about winning votes. I'm not saying that what the candidates said doesn't reflect who they are to some extent but you have to keep the context in mind and you must sift through the performance to find the closest thing to the truth as possible. Something like the mantra that good journalist use when putting a story together.
Fineman's response was actually far more interesting to me than most of the candidates answers. He seemed eager to make this point like it was most certainly the opinion of the country and the rest of the panel seemed to agree. Andrea Mitchell only seemed less enthused about Hillary having to prove her toughness but let that slide.
What I gathered from this is that the air is still thick with the might-makes-right, shoot first, ask questions later approach to our security in this country. The standard justification for this is that 9/11 changed us as a nation. It is indisputable that 9/11 changed us and you can't hide under a blanket but what we're doing is not working. I believe 9/11 also gave the green light to a lot of people, mostly men, who for one reason or another were insecure to start with.
Granted, power is part and parcel to our system. If you think not then try to move up the ladder in a corporate environment or any organization for that matter. Capitalism, by it's very nature is no place for the faint of heart. We survive by it and it pervades our every thought.
But power, when used improperly is dangerous, particularly on the world stage and it can allow wimps to play the role of warriors even though real warriors are far better suited to deal with matters of strength.
I grew up in southern California where there was a small Samoan population. If you were lucky enough to have a Samoan friend you could go anywhere and no one would mess with you. Remember this is before hand guns became so prevalent. The Samoan guys I knew were big and tough. It seemed odd at the time that they were also nice guys, very gentle, kind and very sincere. They never started the fights even though their presence sometimes made wise guys want to. They were different than the tough white guy's I knew who were a little crazy. They all seemed to come from hard luck backgrounds, weren't very trustworthy and, they liked to start fights. Not Samoans, they had good families and were loyal to their friends and enjoyed peace.
Later in my life I spent some time working in American Samoa. It's a very interesting place with lots of unique traditions in a beautiful setting.
We were mostly on the outer Islands, actually where Margaret Mead, the anthropologist, did a lot of her work. I was assisted by a local fellow named Puna. He took us to all the villages and a translated for us.
Puna was a big tough guy. He could climb a coconut tree with bare hands. He started fires with a stick and was good with a machete and could run up a mountain in bare feet. Once he and another guy had to pull two big dogs apart that looked to be fighting till death. They were vicious and had their jaws clamped around each others throat. They got them apart somehow with the dogs snapping and biting them the whole time. Puna was fearless and well respected but he was gracious and kind just like the guys back in California.
We got friendly and talked a lot about this and that. He told me stories of the old days when Samoans were warriors navigating the Pacific with stick charts.
One day I was watching how Puna greeted the people in each village. When you spend day after day among people who speak a different language you start to notice non verbal things more. Samoa has a Chieftain system and respect shows up in body language and I'd try to figure out who the chief was but I was usually wrong. Chieftain status wasn't based on clothes, size or strength or appearance at all. When they were pointed out it usually made sense though. They always seemed calm and wise and very gracious and commanded respect. Powerful in their own right.
Another thing I noticed in Puna's greetings was the word Malo. He used it a lot and sometimes with other words and sometimes not. I knew the greeting "talofa," so I asked him once what he meant by "Malo" in greetings. He said, the best in English would be," you win, you know in case there was any problem, then you can get on with business," Well needless to say that has stuck with me my whole life.
My point is not about Howard Fineman because I don't know much about the man. But the impression he gives is typical these days and I think completely backwards. They use the tough act, the selfish arrogance, ignoring the rest of the world, picking fights and even suppressing female sensibilities where one might expect some help with perspective at a time like this.
I see it like this, truly wise self confident strong men who are unafraid, the kind that know what man is capable of, good and bad, can figure out ways to clear the air and get down to business. And the other, filled with uncertainty, knowing they're weak, use others to fight for them and try to make up for their shortcomings with a lot of bluff and bluster in the name of strength.

An old story about a new Iran

In the winter of 1978/79 I was in my twenties and an offer came my way to move a friend of a friend back to Los Angeles from New York city. I accepted as I did any offer in those days that got me anywhere. All expenses paid plus a few bucks-all we had to do was fly there, pack up his belongings and drive a truck back. It was the dead of winter but it sounded like great fun.
The fellow we moved was a successful magazine publisher who was closing his office in New York. It turned out for me to be a peek at how the "other half " lived. His office was maybe 20 stories up in a huge building in Manhattan. Moving some of the things in his office was part of the deal and I remember thinking, what did I get myself into? As it turned out it wasn't a problem. We just pulled the whole damn truck into the "truck elevator," took it right up to his floor and packed up. At the time I didn't know such things existed.
That memory lasted along with being surprised at how nice and friendly everyone was. I'd been warned about New Yorkers so many times I expected they all had horns. It couldn't have been further from the truth. There was one guy on the street we asked for directions, he patiently did his best, then opted to ride on the running board of the truck for what must have been 3 miles to get us to the highway. It was about 30 degrees outside. I'd never heard of that happening in Los Angeles even on a warm day.
It was my first experience in New York city and it had a feel to it that was very different than any other city I'd been to. There were little things I recall like pulling out of the truck elevator onto a street with traffic so tight I thought we would never get out. For me, the Californian, it was hectic and I was out of my element and getting nowhere fast. We had befriended a few of the girls in the office who came along with us. They kept telling me to just move into the lane which I finally did nervously until I put a crease right down the side of a car with the trucks bumper. I thought now I'd really done it, but one of the girls, Holly was here name said, "Go, the next guy will take you a little more seriously now." Well, the guy I hit never even stopped and we laughed and I soaked it all up like a sponge.
We stayed in the apartment of the guy we were moving which was on Beekman Place in a nice part of the city overlooking the East River. His place was wild, it had polished metal ceiling panels with slabs of glass sticking out of the walls for shelves that were backlit making the edges aqua blue.
We would pack up stuff during the day and go to night clubs at night. The place was Disneyland for adults. Everything was new and different. There was more than we could ever see and I finally got to find out what food was supposed to taste like. It was heaven but, sorry, this is going to have to wait for another post. I have a little more serious thought in mind.
The reason I bring this story up in the first place is 2 doors down from the apartment was a townhouse that was obviously of some importance to someone because there was always 2 New York city police officers standing nearby watching. There was also a large security camera above the door. Being young wise guys we would ham it up when we passed by. We would joke about who might live there as we came and went at all hours of the day and night. After about 3 days of this the officers had had enough and approached us and inquired about what we were doing. We explained and got to talking about California and the weather which they loved to hear about. We got pretty friendly and I guess they passed the word on to the next shift because nobody ever bothered us again.
One night we came in late and I remember asking the officers who they were guarding, they said "The Shah of Iran's wife." It sounded important but it didn't mean much to us at the time. We talked a little bit and said goodnight but I'll never forget as we walked away one of them said, "if you guys are gonna blow the place up, let us know first so we can get the hell outta here," we all laughed. I remember thinking New York cops are a lot cooler than L.A. cops.
I barely knew who the Shah of Iran was then but that little kernel of an experience created an interest. As I later found out this was right at the time he was thrown out of Iran. They left as a result of a revolution and I remember thinking that definitely seemed cool.
So fast forward to now and guess who's in the news. A little history and perspective seems in order. 27 years ago Iran has a revolution that succeeded in ousting their western backed leader. I don't know about you but I clearly remember Watergate. A little earlier perhaps but the only recent mildly comparable turbulent time for Americans. I also remember the effect it had on this country.
Now imagine a Nixon Monarchy including his father before him ruling America since WWI. Around WWII the father is removed and the son is installed by outsiders so they can help themselves to your natural resources, pay an unfair price and attempt to change the culture in the process. There are steady reminders along the way who the real boss is. There is political trickery, unfair programs, corruption, violent coups and no real democratic representation. Your autocratic leader slowly becomes known as a puppet for outside interests. Having no more of it you rise up and revolt. Then starting your country over and weakened from revolution your attacked by your outsider backed neighbor and suffer casualties of up to 1 million of which 100,000 are killed by chemical weapons.
The fact that this was an Islamic Revolution should have been a strong message to the world how sick and tired Iran was of the interventions in it's affairs and that western ways were not a good fit. A little generalization could have convinced smart people that it wasn't a good fit for much of the region but that's another topic.
I'm not going any deeper into the history of Iran and to say they haven't contributed to their own problems would be wrong but, if your not inclined to study the subject, know that the west, without question, played a huge role in the affairs of Iran and being fair had little to do with that involvement. You have heard it before and it's true, it was primarily about oil.
Unfortunately the actions against Iran in pursuit of this goal has hardened Iranians dislike for Americans to the extent that dealing with them today is nearly impossible. Add clever politicians exploiting these hatreds and fears and you have modern day Iran.
The sad thing is the damage is done and in light of possible new discoveries about Iran's uranium enrichment efforts there will at some point likely be a response from the west. My only hope is that whoever ultimately negotiates with the Iranians will be fair minded and able to know and embrace their troubled history.

Pretty good week

What a week this was. Bad behavior caught up with more than just Don Imus. Moral and ethics proponents around the country have a lot to rejoice. Paul Wolfowitz, the hawkish so called brains behind the Iraq war took the apology route under cover of the Imus melt down about his involvement in his girl friends job transfer and raise to $193k(tax free) at a U.S. funded foundation. Hopefully his luck has run out. An association of employees at the World Bank has asked him to resign. It sounds like he didn't take Casey Stengel's advice and keep the guy's who hated him away from the guy's who were undecided!
Wolfowitz is a might-makes-right gun boat diplomat who's stuck in the past and would do us all a favor by just fading away. He got us into this war and has been wrong in nearly every aspect of it and now makes $300k a year at a cushy job and can't stay out of trouble and how's this for irony, his emphasis while there has been to reduce corruption and require accountability of recipients of World Bank aid.
And then you have the Justice Department caught in a lie saying that 7 of 8 prosecutors were removed without replacements in mind. I bet someones hating computers about now. I noticed the Vice President was washing his hands of the matter or "distancing the administration" as the euphemism goes. The crazy thing here is that the best I can tell there wasn't much wrongdoing until they decided to start lying about it. Hopefully we will get a little closer to the truth now.
But as a father of a young daughter what made my week was the deeper legal hole Joe Francis, the head pimp of the "girls gone wild" farce empire, got himself into. What I wouldn't give to see this degenerate disappear. He doesn't deserve further discussion.
So it's been a good week and by the way please don't listen to what you'll surely start hearing about the loss of Don Imus as a blow to freedom and the American way. Instead, fill a bucket of water, place your hand in the water and remove it and wait 10 seconds. The impression your hand made is about the extent of the impression Don Imus's work on the radio will have made on the world in a year from now. Trust me.

Don Imus in a nut shell

The Don Imus spectacle brings to mind Victor Frankl, the Austrian Psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor who said there are only two races of men, decent and non-decent. Harsh? Absolutely but, I can't imagine any of the truly decent people I've met in my life ever uttering such words.

Wrestling with Religion

I know that I mentioned Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday but Easter is a perfectly reasonable holiday to. Colorfully dye and hide some hard boiled eggs, put out some baskets filled with a lot of egg and bunny shaped chocolates, watch the joy in children's faces and your good to go. Go where? If your me Church, and that would be Catholic Church and again, for me, a quandary. Why? Because believe me, I've tried to accept my religion without a fight and I sincerely envy those people who do and especially the ones who attribute their seeming bliss to it but, I just wasn't made that way. In fact you could call the questioning part of my life my religion. Without it my world doesn't make sense. For me, the quest for knowledge gives meaning to life and hope is as close to God as I know. What feels like blind acceptance of something this important is no more in my nature than attempting to fly without some form of airplane.
I do think organized religions around the world are important. They provide lots of hope and far be it from me to decide the role of spirituality in someone else's life, especially someone who wasn't as fortunate as I to have been born in a place like the U.S.
Religion is here to stay and although often criticized and rightly so as a continuing source of conflict, I believe that civilization would have evolved in a far less desirable way without it. I do wish moderation could receive a more important role, perhaps as an important pillar in their teachings but religion fills a void left by the enormous complexity of our lives which leaves most people unfulfilled.
In fact accepting certain truths without question frequently seems very appealing to me and at some point when I believe I've begun to chase my tail perhaps I'll reconsider. How does that square with now? Well I no longer feel the burden of guilt I once did about being askew with the Catholic religion and in fact we co-exist quite nicely. I've just learned like so many areas of my life to take it all far less seriously than I once did. And even in the convoluted world of religion I don't think anyone can argue that in the end it isn't all about hope.

Bong hits 4 Jesus rules

Well, well, the Supreme Court gets to decide if an Alaska high school students "Bong hits 4 Jesus" duct tape banner from back in 2002 can be proudly re-waved in the face of the school principal who originally curtailed his activity with a suspension.
The courts first ruled in the school districts favor. The 9th circuit court of appeals reversed that decision. The principal may now have significant financial liability and none other than Ken Starr is representing the school district free of charge. Other supporters of the school and principal include the Bush administration, school boards and of course drug Czar William Bennett. My guess is they'll need him to explain what a bong is.
Then you have the father who lost his job, due in some way to his fatherly and financial support of his son, apparently in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union. He later won a lawsuit and $200,000 from his former employer.
There's more. The bad deed happened across the street from the school on a day when students were excused to watch the Olympic Torch parade. The boy said the banner meant nothing. He just saw it on a snowboard and thought it was right for what he wanted to accomplish, assert his right to free speech.
There is mention of some prior friction with school Administrators and in 2004 a guilty plea to selling marijuana in Texas. So the kid is no saint.
At a glance what struck me first was a specific difference between this case and the Viet Nam era high school case when the Supreme Court did rule in favor of a students right to free speech. The principle behind this case was admitted to be experimental as opposed to an actual substantive timely expression. There of course is principle involved here to, but limitations may apply a little sooner than in the original precedent. The court said that these limits or balance as sometimes referred to are that students can't be disruptive, lewd or interfere with a schools basic educational mission.
At this point I was leaning in favor of the school district until you realize that the two cases may really have nearly nothing in common. In fact we need to call the kid Mr. Frederick because student is just plain misleading. He was not on school grounds when the incident happened and had not come to school that day so the principal had no right to suspend him. I'm sure she felt pressured to do something but she did the wrong thing and now she should suffer the consequences. Am I heartless? I don't think so. It shouldn't matter but if in doubt look into what a high school principal gets paid these days in your area. I think you'll agree that it's enough that she should have know the rules before she subjected the school district and herself to this kind of expense and criticism. You might call these folks lucky that the outcome of their case was important enough to someones agenda to warrant a free lawyer.
Let me make it clear that I'm no ACLU guy nor do I want to sound unconcerned about this. I realize that schools are up against allot and it may have seemed the sensible thing to do in this case but, there are limits to authority and jurisdiction and when there is a rule it must be followed. Sometimes it also pays to ask oneself in a situation like this, "is this really bothering anyone else as much as it may be bothering me?"

Teflon Vulcans

I've been scurrying around trying to make a living and the like, you know, all busied up with the things that make it far too easy and maybe even sensible to slack off on the writing. What forced me back to it is my utter disbelief at the battering the Bush Administration is taking without a noticeable effect. Let me remind you that I tend to blame the President for blunders made in any department that has representation at or near cabinet level. Unreasonable? Maybe, but they're usually quick to take credit for anything that's done well and especially at this level, so here goes.
Iraq? Disaster. Brits leaving, Cheney calls it a positive sign. His right hand man "Scooter," guilty as sin. Cheney? No comment. I digress, my faith in our jury system is revitalized.
Moving on. Inquiry into Ouster of U.S. Attorneys. The named players are already hiring lawyers. Duke Cunningham's lawyer no less. Is it me or does that seem like a bad move?
Now, the men and women who should be the most revered, the returning wounded soldiers from war are found out to be receiving poor care under deplorable conditions. At Walter Reed, it turns out, they showcase patients for Washington muckamucks and celebrities in the good part of the hospital. Just plain sinful.
Next, wouldn't you think that if nothing else, a sense of shame would make you see to it that F.E.M.A. was on it's best behavior. Not these guys. Thousands of mobile homes built for Katrina victims and never used sit in a field in Arkansas and for unexplained reasons are not available to recent tornado victims. The report alluded to Arkansas Democratic Governor as a possibility. Two nearby States did receive mobile homes and have Republican Governors. We'll never know the truth but it sure looks rotten.
Breaking news: the Justice department concludes the FBI improperly and in some cases, illegally used the Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the U.S. and under reported forcing businesses to turn over customer data. I wish we could take John Ashcroft's pension away.
How about the image around the world? "Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate bad spirits after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties with the group said Thursday." Why would he even make such a trip? Chavez 1 Bush 0. Brilliant. I caught a few pieces of his speeches on the air that he made down there and couldn't believe how much he sounded like a "Saturday Night Live" impersonator. That's supposed to work the other way around isn't it?
It really is a different world now. All the Democrats can do is appear to be taking the high road when in fact without the power of the independent council law any efforts to take on the Bush administration will go the way of the Scooter Libby trial and nothing more. No more fishing expeditions like the one that brought down President Clinton. No juicy reports back to congress to chart a course. There's just no way to get after the lower level shenanigans.
What makes it even harder is that bad behavior keeps getting redefined. You realize that the independent council law was used on Hamilton Jordan for doing a little cocaine at studio 54 back during the Carter administration. He was acquitted but it shows how far we have come.
On the media side the so inclined have become entertainment businesses who package product to target audiences. Advertisers identify who uses what they make then place the dollars where it does the most good. It's efficient but it's backwards and it's in no way conducive to good reporting. And lets face it, the straight and narrow, the ethical road, values, all of it is getting real squishy these days. Remember the discussions about relativism a few years back. That's all gone because trend setters don't have to explain themselves. They just have to get away with it. No more friction from irritants like ethics. In an article by Herb Greenberg, the financial guy, who interviewed the two convicted felon turned consultants from ZZZZ Best and Crazy Eddies, asked if there was ever any remorse, "never...we simply did not care about our victims . We simply committed crime because we could." These guys conned billions out of the pockets of very smart people so never think you can't be had.
As I've mentioned before, I think President Clinton's indiscretions and cover up were deplorable. For me it was even worse because I thought he was a capable president. That said, I do think that there are some parallels between his case and Scooter Libby's. Chris Mathews had a right wing Pundit on who said that Libby's case wasn't as bad as Clinton's because Clinton admitted that he lied and Libby didn't, even though he was convicted of it. How do you counter that way of thinking? I remember when "that's my story and I'm sticking to it" was kinda used as a joke. I guess those days are long gone.

Why Barack Obama?

It's very early in the game but Barack Obama is an interesting candidate. Maybe at this point it's more because the rest of the field is so damn predictable than anything else but, I have to say that not since Bill Clinton have I been compelled to watch a candidate as closely as I have Senator Obama. Yesterday he stepped right in it with his "wasted lives" comment about soldiers who have been killed in Iraq. Without missing a beat he made all the right steps to rectify the situation. It was really just a misstatement and resolved quickly, to my satisfaction anyway. This is an insight into the man, not something huge but something a little more raw than the usual stuff and should be considered. It's a rookie error and it's good to come clean and learn this lesson early. After all look at what happened to Senator Kerry on a similar issue or Senator Biden the day after his announcement. Both anything but rookies and it finished off one and it remains to be seen with the other.
Obviously the big question is can a African American be elected? Incidentally, I'm not particularly moved by the African American argument that Obama has not had the proper experience to represent true African Americans. He no doubt has experienced discrimination and is well aware of it's history in this country. Empathy can go along way to fill the gap if there is one. I'm not African American so I suspect I may be missing the point but two years from now I think that Senator Obama will have swayed a lot of people in this country regardless of their backgrounds.
Furthermore, I think that every person who voted for Vice President Gore, who did win the popular vote in the last election, could theoretically vote for Senator Obama. I'm not saying the country has suddenly gone color blind but the disgust factor with the current administration is so strong that Senator Obama may just provide the best alternative at the right time.
A long shot? Absolutely but, with Hillary Clinton and John Edwards as his chief Democratic rivals it's not that unlikely he could get the Democratic nomination. Unfortunately for them they each represent too much of the past . More than at any time I can remember, people want something new and different in Washington. Senator Clinton is well known enough for people to recognize that she is currently having to stretch beyond what she really is to measure up to the bar recently raised by Senator Obama. And people don't even want to think about what her predicament in her husbands indiscretions and cover up tells them. This still haunts conservatives as well as liberals, and everyone in between for that matter.
Senator Edwards is just plainly an average politician living in a 28000 square foot house worried about the poor Hurricane Katrina victims. His best chances are at a V.P slot but highly improbable.
On the Republican side Senator McCain will likely get the nod unless Mayor Giuliani becomes even more Republican than he seems to be trying to be lately. Just how good is he anyway? I don't believe he would be in contention had he been the mayor of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. No doubt he did a lot of good for New York but in a New York minute the rest of the country could pick him apart for lack of experience. And if your a pro Iraq War guy and you have a choice between Giuliani and McCain, who are you going to vote for? So if it's McCain and Obama, I think Obama has a chance.
There is of course that other outcome which personally I don't care for, being a Clinton/Obama ticket. As time rolls on it will become more apparent how difficult Senator Obama's goal really is. Unfortunately his ultra liberal voting record is sure to get in the way. I also believe that Senator Clinton will realize that Senator Obama nicely counteracts her weaknesses. But I do think that it would be a hard pill to swallow for Obama.
A whole lot can happen between now and the election but for now, why have I like so many others, near irrationally taken to Barack Obama? That's simple, he's believable. It's worth your time to watch him because you think what he says is truthful. You keep listening and it just keeps sounding better and better and before you know it your even feeling hopeful again and that's a good feeling. So for the sake of hope I'm watching him very closely. I know he has a very non traditional background to say the least but traditional backgrounds sure didn't get us much with the current administration. (to say the least)