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December 30, 2005
2005 All-Star - Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon took a courageous step, moving Israelis out of the Gaza Strip and turning the territory over to the Palestinians. He turned against his right wing roots and did something that most every rational person believes is necessary if Israel and the Palestinians are ever to co-exist in any meaningful way. He has made many controversial decisions over the years, most of which were from a hard-line base, but this year he realized that if Israel was ever going to truly live in peace and maintain its identity as a Jewish state, he had to make some extremely hard decisions, one's that he knew would anger many of his supporters. He left the Likud party, which he helped found, to create Kadima, a new centrist party. We salute you and recognize you as one of our 2005 All-Stars
Posted by Chip Spear at 3:24 PM | Comments (2)
It's Back, It's Back, Hooray It's Back
Hip, Hip Hooray, Roller Derby is back, actually Rollergirls, which is way better. Oh, and how I missed it, such sleeze, such tackiness, such trash, the lowest of the low, except for Professional Wrestling of course. Monday night, 10PM, A&E, read the article here. How does that quote go, "Never underestimate the intelligence of the public...."?
Posted by Chip Spear at 12:15 PM | Comments (1)
December 29, 2005
Today's Quote - 12/29
The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected.
~ attributed to Will Rogers
Posted by Chip Spear at 5:04 PM | Comments (1)
Patrick Fitzgerald, 2005 All Star
Calm, focused, hard-hitting, Patrick Fitzgerald changed the Presidency, at least this year. His investigation has never succumbed to media pressure to release more information. Nor has it bowed to political pressure from the White House to stop the investigations. Fitzgerald has gone about his very serious business in a most professional manner, never letting anything get in the way of his investigation. In a political world of celebrity grandstanding, outrageous political statements and policies, incredible paranoia and secrecy and amazing disasters, his demeanor and actions are truly admirable.
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:25 AM | Comments (1)
Patriotism and the Right
Yesterday afternoon I was driving home, listening to my Sirius radio. I was a bit bored by the music so decided that I would check out some of the talk shows, which I had never spent much time doing. I turned to Talk Left and found myself listening to an interview with a "well-known" right wing blogger I did not know. He was in the middle of a harangue about the left, how un-American they were, unpatriotic and really traitors for not supporting the President, the war, and everything else he could think of. This attitude is not new, others supporters of the right have said the same thing, so I don't mention it to bring you news, however I do think it is interesting from a couple of perspectives.
First, it is an interesting political strategy to accuse anyone who doesn't support you of being a traitor, using a "you are with us or against us" philosophy. It immediately puts the opposition on the defensive, which is a good thing. People on the political fence would be reluctant to support a group, or policies, which might be labeled un-American. It also rallies ones supporters and strengthens their resolve and righteousness. "We are right, you are wrong, we are good, you are bad." A traitor is not only bad, but horrible, alien, and cancerous. A traitor is represented as a threat to American history, its culture, its freedoms, and its values. From a political standpoint it makes sense to depict your opponent as evil, somehow sub-human. I know when I was playing team sports in high school and college, I always thought of our opponents as somehow different and it was always in a bad way. They were thugs, or dumber, or something. I was never sure what it was but I did know that no matter how I rationalized it I still carried around a sense of superiority. However if I happened to meet someone from that school during the summers, I was always amazed that they were normal. I knew it was stupid, even at the time, but I did feel that way. Republicans are doing the same thing here, fanning the flames of those same prejudiced tendencies, painting opponents as evil, cancerous, destructive elements threatening the very values that make our country great. Of course, they don't want to mention that the very thing that has made our country as great as it is has been its open, free, contentious discussion. It is the very thing they are railing against.
Second, those of the right who accuse the liberals of being traitors seem to advocate that we all conform to whatever the President deems appropriate. We should trust him completely. We should accept the fact that he can operate outside the law, lie or mislead us about wars, threats, finances, budgets, wiretaps, credit checks, whatever, all in the name of fighting an ambigous enemy for as long as he deems necessary, for this is not a war that has a traditional enemy and just ends. This struggle could last for decades. We are to drop our system of checks and balances, congressional and judicial oversight and just believe the "Dear Leader" indefinitely. Whatever he says goes, everyone who questions or doubts him is a traitor. Is this not acting in a manner which is opposed to the values that made America what it is? No open discussion, no questioning leaders. Do what they say or else?
So I wonder, who is it that is really supporting American values and who are the traitors? It is just something I was pondering on a cold, rainy, end of the year day.
Posted by Chip Spear at 10:09 AM | Comments (2)
December 28, 2005
Today's Quote - 12/28
You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.
~ Yogi Berra
Posted by Chip Spear at 7:49 PM | Comments (3)
The Biggest Errors of the Year
For the rest of the week I shall be listing some of the biggest errors of the 2005. We start with the National Pastime.
Rafael Palmiero, Mark McGuire and Major League Baseball sure dropped the ball in the Congressional Steroid hearing. McGuire had a chance to do the right thing, admit steriod use, apologize and get on with his life, instead he clearly lied, damaged his reputation and hurt baseball. Palmiero is a joke. Does anyone really believe that he had no idea how those steroids got into his system? Not me. The guy should be behind bars, period. I know it is impossible to prove without doubt in a court that he lied, but my grandpappy always told me that if it walks like a duck, quacks like and duck and looks like a duck, it is a duck.
And then there is Major League Baseball. Thank goodness they acquiesed to some sort of testing, but it is way too little. No steriods, ever, end of story. Cheating is cheating. Anyone caught should be tossed. One chance, two chances, three chances is a bunch of crap. Gone man, they should be gone first time. That would end the nonsense mighty fast.
Posted by Chip Spear at 2:41 PM | Comments (1)
More 2005 All Stars
Hate them for what they represent, but no denying that those two leaders of the "Evil Empires", Kim Jong Il, the North Korean dictator and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were major players throughout the year.
Kim Jong Il played the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and South Korea to perfection. Never wavering from his goal of sitting with the big boys, he refused to accept any agreement which might diminish his self-appointed status as a major regional, if not international player. He faked, shimmeyed, and slide his way to gains any way he could. The coalition partners thought he had agreed at one point to start dismantling his nuclear program only to find that Kim interpretations of their so-called agreements were very different than theirs. Just this week a South Korean official insisted that North Korea was more interested in establishing normal relations with the U.S. than continuing their nuclear program. I ask, where is the proof? I believe this is just conjecture on the S. Korean's part. Up to now Kim Jong Il has been exceedingly successful at getting the coalition partners to play his game. Why should he change strategy?
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become a lightening rod for criticism from the West for his statements concerning Israel and the Holocaust. First, he comes out of nowhere to win the Presidency. Well, that is not exactly true, since he had major help from the ruling mullahs. Then he advocates wiping Israel off the map of the Middle East and moving it to Europe and recently he denies the existence of the Holocaust. That is certainly no way to score with the international community, however that was and is not his goal. He wants to lead the disaffected in a way that Al Qaeda can't. He has a state and resources that Al Qaeda can only dream of. He wants the entire Muslim world following him against the West. He devises a new game plan, distinctly different than the one presented by the West. He offers an even more defined target for the failed politics and poverty of milllions of religious poor in the region. He is not the first to attack Israel and the West, but he is the first leader to elevate attacks to such a fever pitch.
Posted by Chip Spear at 2:24 PM | Comments (2)
December 27, 2005
Today's Quote - 12/27
Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts.
~ Steve Prefontaine, U.S. Track Star
Posted by Chip Spear at 4:39 PM | Comments (2)
Fabulous Fumble of the Week, Dec. 26 - Jeanine Pirro
I don't think there was anyone else who screwed up their career more than Jeanine F. Pirro, the longtime Westchester County district attorney. A rising star in the NY Republican Party, many thought she had an almost unlimited future. However her actions over the past couple of months and last week specifically, left that promising future in doubt. Jeanine Pirro was intent on challenging Sen. Clinton in next year's election. Republicans in the state wanted her to run for Attorney General, a seat they felt she could win. They did not think she could beat Senator Clinton. The Party leadership was not anxious to spend political capital and large amounts of cash on an unwinnable seat. They also wanted to position Pirro for a better position in the future. I believe they reasoned that a losing Senate campaign would hurt her and them more than help. I also believe that Ms. Pirro's ambitions were getting the better of her, in that she was determined to go after the higher profile position now rather than wait for a more opportune moment.
Her actions antagonized many within the Republican Party. They didn't like her blatant ambition at the expense of party plans. Many now see her as being disingenuous and an opportunist now that she acceded to leadership demands. What position does she really want? Why vote for her as AG if it was something she wants only because of outside pressure? Her waffling and questionable actions earns her this weeks Fabulous Fumble Award.
Posted by Chip Spear at 3:06 PM | Comments (5)
Political Sports All Stars for 2005
I have a problem with all sorts of year end lists that come out in early December, like the last month of the year doesn't count, or nothing ever happens that might change ones ideas of what matters and what doesn't. Time does their person(s) of the year, and numerous magazines and critics make their lists of movies, songs, books, photos and anything else they figure will sell. Well, not me. I am waiting until the end of the year to select my MVP and Biggest Fumble. However, I am taking all this week to name members of our 2005 Poltical Sports All Star Team.
Today I want to recognize three people in the movie business, Paul Haggis, the director of Crash, and George Clooney, the director and actor who produced Good Night and Good Luck and served as Executive Producer and actor in Syriana, and Steve Gahgan, the director of Syriana. Through their work, we looked at the world a little differently. Each attempted to present a world that would not fit into simple categories. People are not just good or bad, problems are not easily solved with cliches.
Paul Haggis depicted a world of complicated individuals all inflicted with fear, hate, loathing and love. His characters were racists, often caught in mind-sets that chained them to simplistic reactions to stress and difficulties. During the course of his movie the same characters exhibited wonderful touches of humanity, saving others or working to help those previously attacked. I realize that I am being a little simplistic here myself, but Haggis made me see once again, that people are complicated and hold contradictory tendencies that they live with every day. At one moment they are terrible, hateful, and racist. Yet in other circumstances they are wonderful, giving people, sometimes toward the same individual, who might be black or Muslim, or oriental. I believe Haggis wants us to realize that we have traveled far in our fight to eradicate racism, but still have a long way to go.
George Clooney, former ER doc and hearthrob, wrote and directed Good Night and Good Luck, the story about Ed Murrow and his attempt to stop Senator Joe McCarthy. Clooney paints a complex scenario, with Murrow and Fred Friendly, played by Clooney, confronting corporate, financial reality and political power. Nothing is simple, their jobs and reputations were on the line. We see a world where people lived in fear of their future.Lives were destroyed by the whims of hate and power. A marriage between co-workers is hidden, people won't say what is obviously true. Clooney shows how difficult it was for a small group of honest men and women to do the right thing, to use their power and positions to challenge a Senate despot.
Steve Gaghan and George Clooney made a great movie, Syriana, that shows the complicated world of oil. Corruption, power, murder, business and politics all melt together in one big bowl. Gaghan and Clooney don't provide any easy answers in solving our oil dependence. Our social, cultural, political, and financial interests are all interdependent. They suggest that it is not so easy to blame one piece of the mess without addressing every part of the problem. Once again the depiction of complexity pushes us away from our never ending desire for simple solutions.
Like many other filmmakers, Clooney, Gaghan and Haggis opened our eyes to a complex, political reality. Their work stood out more for me than any others. For that reason we consider them three members of our Political All-Star Team of 2005.
Posted by Chip Spear at 1:01 PM | Comments (0)
December 26, 2005
Today's Quote - 12/26
The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy; the best weapon of a democracy is openness.
~ Edvard Teller
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:01 PM | Comments (2)
December 23, 2005
Big Bro Is Coming, Oh Yes, Big Bro Is Coming
And I suppose this is perfectly fine with the right?
The National Security Agency has traced and analyzed large volumes of telephone and Internet communications flowing into and out of the United States as part of the eavesdropping program that President Bush approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to hunt for evidence of terrorist activity, according to current and former government officials.
The volume of information harvested from telecommunication data and voice networks, without court-approved warrants, is much larger than the White House has acknowledged, the officials said. It was collected by tapping directly into some of the American telecommunication system's main arteries, they said.
As part of the program approved by President Bush for domestic surveillance without warrants, the N.S.A. has gained the cooperation of American telecommunications companies to obtain backdoor access to streams of domestic and international communications, the officials said.
Trust us, it is okay. Trust us, we know what is best. No warrants, no oversight, no courts, no civil rights. Trust us, it is okay, we know what is best.
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:47 PM | Comments (0)
Today's Quote - 12/23
Join in the new game that's sweeping the country. It's called "Bureaucracy" Everybody stands in a circle. The first person to do anything loses.
~ Anonymous
Posted by Chip Spear at 4:49 PM | Comments (3)
Nothing Like an Activist Judge
From the AP here
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito defended the right of government officials to order domestic wiretaps when he worked for the Reagan Justice Department, documents released Friday show.
He advocated a step by step approach to strengthening the hand of officials in a 1984 memo to the solicitor general. The strategy is similar to the one that Alito espoused for rolling back abortion rights at the margins.
The release of the memo by the National Archives comes when
President Bush is under fire for secretly ordering domestic spying of suspected terrorists without a warrant. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has promised to question Alito about the administration's program.
Tactics, tactics. The right can scream about activist judges, but if it is one of their own they seem remarkably quiet. Why is that?
Posted by Chip Spear at 4:40 PM | Comments (2)
Bush Continues With Same Strategy
President Bush responded to wiretap critics with an all out offensive attack, stating he was not sorry, did not think it was wrong, thought it essential for the war on terror and would continue the practice. It is perhaps the only option he had. He was not going to admit wrong-doing. Since he was caught he admitted the practice and reiterated his justification for most everything with his administration which is national security. I think that he must feel that the law is fuzzy enough on this issue that he will maintain support with Republicans in Congress. They might initially express indignation, but in the end, after the requisite hearings, decide that the President was doing the right thing to protect the country.
The Dems will obviously disagree. They will continue attacking the Imperial Presidency. With a degree of justification and recent history as a weapon, they will cite the administration untrustworthiness, their arrogant secrecy, their lack of candor, and continual deception, whether it be about the war, WMD, secret prisons, torture, etc. They will use these as plays on the field, scoring in the polls with millions who already doubt this administration's motives.
Does anyone really think that Bush was going to say, "Oh gee, sorry, even though we thought about it, now that you guys mention it, it must be wrong, so we won't do it anymore"?
Posted by Chip Spear at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2005
Today's Quote - 12/22
If you're in a crowded situation that could turn into a riot (after the Red Sox have won the World Series, for example) and women aren't flashing their breasts, get out of there. I don't know if exposed breasts reflect a crowd's collective feeling or if the presence of breasts assuages a crowd's temper, but I do know this: No tits is trouble.
~ Dan McAllister
Posted by Chip Spear at 10:26 AM | Comments (1)
December 21, 2005
Eeney, Meeney, Miney Moe......
This is what I love about politics. I have listed articles from Real Clear Politics below. Notice the divide on the Wiretap issue.:
The President Is Not the Enemy - Ed Koch, RealClearPolitics
President Had Legal Authority to OK Taps - John Schmidt, Chicago Tribune
Bush's Abuse of Power Deserves Impeachment - Joe Conason, New York Observer
The Liberal Bubble - Thomas Lifson, The American Thinker
Is NSA Program a Threat to Our Liberty? YES: Geoffrey Stone | NO: Richard Posner
Fitzmas Crowd is AWOL on New Security Leaks - Max Boot, Los Angeles Times
The Year We Questioned Authority - Andrew Sullivan, Time
Bush Ending 2005 in Upturn, Helped by Events, Enemies - Mort Kondracke, Roll Call
How Bush Turned It Around - Patrick Buchanan, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Vigilance and Responsibility: Mackubin Thomas Owens | Marshall Wittmann
Booming Economy Not All Because of Bush - Robert Samuelson, Newsweek
Can the Democrats "Nationalize" 2006? - Jay Cost, RealClearPolitics
Instead of Drilling for Oil, Tap Our Minds - Senator Maria Cantwell, USA Today
The Left's Privacy Hypocrites - Michelle Malkin, Creators
The Christmas He Dreamed for All of Us - Harold Meyerson, Washington Post
Options With Iran Are Running Out - John Hughes, Christian Science Monitor
Iraqis Recognize What War Has Sown - Jonathan Gurwitz, San Antonio Express-News
The RCP Blog: The NSA Story: Bombshell or Dud?
On the one hand you have the right, who will say that the left is absurd, ridiculous and hypocritical about the wiretapping issue. On the left are the advocates of "This is terrible, impeachable, blah, blah, blah." It is really fun to read each side of the issue. The right has its points, as does the left. I would just ask, "If the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court was controlled by the left, and rather extreme at that, would you trust it? Would you be supporting an extreme liberal who was doing the same thing? Would you trust this guy if he threw you in prison with no access for an attorney? Put you in a secret prison, under the guise of national security? Search your library records and credit history at will without notifying you? Tap your phone lines and e-mail without court warrants? Override any law he, the Pres, feels necessary to investigate you? That the Legislature and Judiciary have absolutely no oversight on any of this? And that I have no right to question any of it? Honest answer now? An extreme liberal, remember. Would you be saying the same thing?"
Posted by Chip Spear at 7:02 PM | Comments (1)
Bush Thrown So Far Back He May Be Out of the Stadium
I will have more on this later, but The Independent paints a very disturbing picture of the emerging outcome of the Iraq elections. I hope things are not as bad as described. Time will tell on this one.
Iraq is disintegrating. The first results from the parliamentary election last week show the country is dividing between Shia, Sunni and Kurdish regions.
Religious fundamentalists now have the upper hand. The secular and nationalist candidate backed by the US and Britain was humiliatingly defeated.
The Shia religious coalition has won a total victory in Baghdad and the south of Iraq. The Sunni Arab parties who openly or covertly support armed resistance to the US are likely to win large majorities in Sunni provinces. The Kurds have already achieved quasi-independence and their voting reflected that.
The election marks the final shipwreck of American and British hopes of establishing a pro-Western secular democracy in a united Iraq.
Posted by Chip Spear at 1:31 PM | Comments (0)
December 20, 2005
Today's Quote - 12/20
Nobody believes the official spokesman... but everybody trusts an unidentified source.
~ Ron Nesen
Posted by Chip Spear at 10:53 PM | Comments (5)
Sometimes You Just Have to Laugh
The Rude Pundit has a couple of very funny, and of course, slanted views of the current scene. Check it out here. An acquired taste for sure, but well worth it.
Posted by Chip Spear at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)
Another Thought on The Wiretap Flap
I had another thought about the wiretaps. We all are aware of the potentially dangerous implications of the President's actions. One can also understand the desire to act quickly in the face of extreme threats. We also need the ability to adapt our surveillance methods to new technologies, which might make the court order thing problematic, see Kevin Drum's article in the Washington Monthly.
The bottom line though is the intent. What was the White House intent? Were they trying to be bullies? Were they willing to compromise with Congress? Did they think Congress did not also want to protect the country? Were they intent on maintaining secrecy? And if so, why? Did they have respect for Congress? The courts? The democratic process? Did they know they were walking on shaky ground?
I usually feel that one should "Do the right thing." If we think about something, especially a difficult decision, weigh all the options and think about the implications to ourselves and others, including in this case, democracy and the ideals of our country, we should know what that right thing is and act on it. They could have done the right thing but they decided to ignore it for personal and professional gain. Their game is power, not necessarily governing a democracy. They can't seem to have enough.
Posted by Chip Spear at 9:40 AM | Comments (0)
Wiretaps, Security and Excuses
The current wiretap flap is disturbing on many levels. The President is acting in a manner more befitting a dictator than the leader of a democracy, Congress is grandstanding and many right wing pundits are doing their usual partisan cheerleading instead of questioning the validity of the White House's actions.
I don't think there is any doubt that the White House is treading on very thin ice. They were well aware of the fact that their actions were legally dubious. I say this because they made a concious decision to not discuss this with Congress. They knew they would never get approval for their surveillance initiatives. They were warned about expanding their powers from numerous people, including Sen. Rockefeller, yet they went ahead anyway. The arrogance of power strikes.
Harry Reid mentioned that he knew about this a few months ago. If he knew, then others in Congress knew as well. Why did they not say something earlier? Why only after the NY Times broke the story did he and others call for an investigation and denounce the practice. Perhaps I am missing something, but it seems rather hypocritical to me.
And then there are the pundits. I listened to Laura Ingraham this morning on Good Morning America, or Today. She claimed that the White House needed these powers in the interest of speed, not mentioning the ability of the White House to get a court order 72 hours after the fact if needed. She knows that White House is treading on tenuous legal grounds, yet she refuses to admit it. That is reprehensible. She is not alone in siding with Bush. What will it take for her and others on the right to seriously question the administration? How far can they go in ignoring the law, deceiving the country or acting incompetently before she will say they are wrong? Or is she really just a intelligent, well-spoken cheerleader. A partisan debater, willing to take any position and argue before the public to further a political agenda despite its true validity. Never question, always accept seems her motto. My team, do or die.
No one is above the law in this country. Our government institutions are based on accountability and the concept of checks and balances. The President cannot act in a manner that ignores Congress or the courts. He is doing that now. The Imperial Presidency creeps closer.
Posted by Chip Spear at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2005
Today's Quote - 12/19
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
~ P.J. O'Rourke, in Parliament of Whores
Posted by Chip Spear at 4:03 PM | Comments (4)
Fabulous Fumble of the Week, Dec. 18 - The U.S. Military
Determining this week's Fabulous Fumble Award proved extremely difficult. How do you decide between the Iraqi security forces having Zarqawi in their possession then letting him go, and the revelation that the U.S. Military was shipping dead soldiers home from Iraq as freight on domestic airlines. Both are very sizeable screw-ups, but I decided after incredibly insightful, thought that the shipment of corpses on domestic flights was the winner. The Iraqi security forces are new, undisciplined, and prone to mistakes due in large part to inexperience and/or corruption. In this case we don't know which played a bigger role. Obviously the U.S. would love to have Zarqawi in one of our prisions instead of running around causing all sorts of trouble. Mistakes happen and this was probably one of those.
Shipping dead soldiers on domestic flights was no mistake. It was a conscious decision to save some money. Unfortunately it treats the dead servicemen and women with extreme disrespect. It is bad enough that our soldiers are fighting a war on false pretenses. The administration has made a point of hiding the dead from any press, fearing media attention. The President never goes to funerals. It makes one think that the government is ashamed of its war and the price we pay. This serves as one more example of an administration who will not live up to its responsibilities through honest, respectful actions.
Posted by Chip Spear at 3:31 PM | Comments (0)
Where Were the Dems a Few Months ago
I found this very interesting and disturbing.
Bush acknowledged Saturday that since October 2001 he has authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on international phone calls and e-mails of people within the United States without seeking warrants from courts.
The New York Times disclosed the existence of the program last week. Bush and other administration officials initially refused to discuss the surveillance or their legal authority, citing security concerns.
"It's been briefed to the Congress over a dozen times, and, in fact, it is a program that is, by every effort we've been able to make, consistent with the statutes and with the law," Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday in an interview with ABC News "Nightline" to be broadcast Monday evening: "It's the kind of capability if we'd had before 9/11 might have led us to be able to prevent 9/11."
President Bush and other administration officials also have said congressional leaders had been briefed regularly on the program. Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., said there were no objections raised by lawmakers who were told about it.
"That's a legitimate part of the equation," McCain said on ABC's "This Week." But he said Bush still needs to explain why he chose to ignore the law that requires approval of a special court for domestic wiretaps.
Reid acknowledged he had been briefed on the four-year-old domestic spy program "a couple months ago" but insisted the administration bears full responsibility. Reid became Democratic leader in January.
Why didn't Reid mention this to the press before the NY Times broke the story? Why no stink then? Political opportunism? It wasn't important until the press made it a big deal? The Democrats will score with this because the fact that Congress knew about the program will probably not override public indignation with domestic spying. I would really like to know why he, or others, never brought this issue before the public.
Posted by Chip Spear at 2:42 PM | Comments (4)
Player of the Week for Dec. 18, 2005 - John McCain
Senator John McCain is this week's Political Sports Player of the Week. The senator has achieved a rare success against the White House by getting the "Torture Admendment" passed without compromising to White House pressure. The man deserves one's respect, whatever your political leanings. He is strong-willed, principled and sincerely trying to improve our country. He truly feels that torture is wrong and that there are more effective ways to elicit information from prisoners. He, like many others, feel the U.S. should always hold itself to a higher standard. To engage in torture diminishes our standing in the world as a beacon of hope and justice. His success this past week serves as inspiration to all of us to do better, try harder and not to give in on what is right.
Posted by Chip Spear at 2:04 PM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2005
Dictionary Definition
Arrogant, self-absorbed, athlete. Bad role model. Everything you would not want your child to be = Terrell Owens.
See Article.
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:30 PM | Comments (1)
Today's Quote - 12/16
Business is a combination of war and sport.
~ Andre Maurois
1885-1967, French Writer
Posted by Chip Spear at 5:25 PM | Comments (2)
And You Would Do What, Exactly?
Charles Krauthammer complains that no one is taking the threat of the Iranian madman Presidente seriously enough.
Negotiations to deny this certifiable lunatic genocidal weapons have been going nowhere. Everyone knows they will go nowhere. And no one will do anything about it.
Pretend the buck stops with him, or you. What would you do? What is your short and long term strategy? Be realistic.
Posted by Chip Spear at 3:35 PM | Comments (0)
fumble, Fumble, FUMBLE
I suppose the only bigger fumble would have been to have captured Osama and let him go. From CNN:
Iraqi security forces caught the most wanted man in the country last year, but released him because they didn't know who he was, the Iraqi deputy minister of interior said Thursday.
Hussain Kamal confirmed that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- the al Qaeda in Iraq leader who has a $25 million bounty on his head -- was in custody at some point last year, but he wouldn't provide further details.
I smell payoff, what do you smell? Sometimes my nose doesn't always work so well though, but I am willing to bet that some cold, hard cash changed hands.
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:24 AM | Comments (2)
All Journeys (To Hell) Start With A Single Step
You think this is no big deal? You think it is not important? If so, don't bother reading my column because you are an idiot. How is that for a strong opinion? I am not sorry to say such things, but this is something that every American should be very worried about. This is just the sort of thing that leads us into extremely dangerous territory. It is "cheating" at its dirtiest. The NY Times reports,
Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.
Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications.
That last sentence is supposed to reassure us that the government can be trusted to do the right thing. I think there has been too much deception of late to give them the benefit of the doubt. As the movie says, "Be afraid, be very afraid."
Posted by Chip Spear at 9:30 AM | Comments (1)
December 15, 2005
Morgan Freeman Attacks Our Concept of Racism
Morgan Freeman criticized Black History Month saying the whole idea is ridiculous.
"You're going to relegate my history to a month?" the 68-year-old actor says in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" to air Sunday (7 p.m. EST). "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history."....
Freeman notes there is no "white history month," and says the only way to get rid of racism is to "stop talking about it."
The actor says he believes the labels "black" and "white" are an obstacle to beating racism.
The whole idea is very strange. Halle Barry has one parent who is white and another who is black, so does Alicia Keys, yet we consider both of them black. Many people in our country are one-quarter black, yet we still consider them black. Why is that? Why aren't Halle Barry and Alicia Keys white? Why does it matter? There are many more examples, I bring them up because they are the first two that came to my mind. We need to reconsider our classifications.
Posted by Chip Spear at 10:21 PM | Comments (1)
Here It Is, The Truth
If you ever had any question about what is wrong with the Arab world, you don't have to look any further than this article. I shouldn't put down the thoughts that are going through my head, but the leadership of the Arab world are truly scumbags if they don't condemn the statements by the Iranian President.
Arab governments appeared reluctant Thursday to condemn Iran's president for calling the Holocaust a "myth" used by Europeans to create a Jewish state in the heart of the Islamic world.
Posted by Chip Spear at 5:42 PM | Comments (0)
Today's Quote - 12/15
The minute you start talking about what you're going to do if you lose, you have lost.
~ George Shultz
Posted by Chip Spear at 5:34 PM | Comments (6)
Well, This is Shocking, Absolutely Shocking
So, four members of the Minnesota Vikings were charged with misdemeanors (article here) for their partying on a boat in October. I know that this is "wrong" and everything, but I can hardly think of a red blooded guy who didn't think something like, "Damn, that would have been one fun party. I wish I would have been there." Guys are guys. One doesn't want to be destructive, or dangerous, but guys like to look at naked women, it is a fact of life. They also like sex, and they dream of lots of naked women running around parties. I know it might be bad in the politically correct sort of way, but there is no denying reality.
Posted by Chip Spear at 4:09 PM | Comments (0)
Iraq Elections - The President Scores
Love him or hate him, you have to admit that the President scored big with today's election in Iraq. You also must look at it as potentially the most significant event for the transformation of the Middle East in many, many years. Yes it is not perfect, and it is far from realizing what we would like Iraq to be, but it is a step, a big one. Has there been another democratic election with as much participation in the Arab world, one as open, with as many candidates, parties, and voters? Just think if somehow it actually does work? What would that mean to Saudi's, Iranians, Jordanians, Egyptians, Libyans, etc. I know that Bush has made many, many mistakes, but this is a big deal. Let us all hope that it leads to the real deal, for all our sakes.
Posted by Chip Spear at 3:30 PM | Comments (1)
GM Flattens Workers
General Motors announced today that it was no longer going to contribute to worker 401K plans. This is another in a list of decisions by large corporations to withdraw benefits to their employees. Workers won benefits in many companies year's ago during a conttentious period with management. I know I have read accounts and watched movies, both fictional and documentaries, like North Country, of terrible work conditions, wages and living conditions. Workers earned a better life by fighting for what they believed they deserved, which was a share of the profits from their work.
The tide has turned. The economy, according to the Bush Administration is growing well, yet the desparity between rich and poor, or rich and middle class, is growing faster. Big business finds an administration that is clearly on its side. It is making more and more decisions which leave its employees struggling to meet their financial obligations. Power is now on their side and they are using it to gain more and more of what they want, money. They are scoring so much these days that workers are basically playing in another league, the minor leagues.
I have written about GM before. It has to be one of the worst run businesses in the country. I can only think of a couple of their cars which I would even consider buying. They fight innovation at almost every opportunity. They drag their feet on any safety regulations, eternally complaining about costs to consumers whenever they testify before Congress. They do the same thing about environmental regulations. Most of their designs stink too. And now they have financial problems. What a surprise. I can easily run that company better than those yo-yos.
Posted by Chip Spear at 3:14 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2005
Today's Quote - 12/14
Today you have an unique opportunity to reach further than ever before.......to be a better breadwinner, husband/wife, lover, artist, comic, father, mother, son, daughter, athlete, friend, whatever. The only thing stopping you is yourself.
~ The Block of Granite
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Fumble or Big Gain?
Iran's President yesterday questioned whether the Holocaust really happened. You say, "What the fuck is this guy thinking?" Either he isn't or he very clearly is. What are his motivations here? Who is he talking to? He isn't speaking to the U.S. audience that is for sure. And he isn't talking to anyone in the West either. He is talking not only to people within Iran, but to the large disaffected youth throughout the Middle East, who are looking for some structure to their anger other than the violent acts of Al Qaeda. Ahmadinejad provides them with some focus and a goal. He not only sees Israel as a rallying point, but ties them even closer with the West in a big conspiracy against the Muslims and the Middle East. He contends that the Holocaust was a made up excuse that the Jews and the West used to solve two issues, give the Jews a homeland they wanted and an unstated problem that carried over from the Nazis, which was to get the Jews out of Europe.
Ahmadinejad is appealing to the same type of Middle Easterners that Bush appeals to with his calls for Intelligent Design, the Idiot-Americans, the people that will use any excuse to deny facts if it doesn't fit their frustrations, anger or dreams.
"My earliest memory," Hodges recalls, "is watching John Glenn go up. It was a time that, if you were involved in science or engineering -- particularly science, at that time -- people greatly respected you if you said you were going into those fields. And nowadays, it's like there's no value placed by society on a lot of the observations that are made by people in science.
"It's more than a general dumbing down of America -- the lack of self-motivated thinking: clear, creative thinking. It's like you're happy for other people to think for you. If you should be worried about, say, global warming, well, somebody in Washington will tell me whether or not I should be worried about global warming. So it's like this abdication of intellectual responsibility -- that America now is getting to the point that more and more people would just love to let somebody else think for them."
The country was founded by people who were fundamentally curious; Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, to name only the most obvious examples, were inveterate tinkerers. (Before dispatching Lewis and Clark into the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson insisted that the pair categorize as many new plant and animal species as they found. Considering they were also mapping everything from Missouri to Oregon, this must have been a considerable pain in the canoe.) Further, they assumed that their posterity would feel much the same as they did; in 1815, appealing to Congress to fund the building of a national university, James Madison called for the development of "a nursery of enlightened preceptors."
It is a long way from that to the moment on February18, 2004, when sixty-two scientists, including a clutch of Nobel laureates, released a report accusing the incumbent Administration of manipulating science for political ends. It is a long way from Jefferson's observatory and Franklin's kite to George W. Bush, in an interview in 2005, suggesting that intelligent design be taught alongside the theory of evolution in the nation's science classes. "Both sides ought to be properly taught," said the president, "so people can understand what the debate is about."
The "debate," of course, is nothing of the sort, because two sides are required for a debate. Nevertheless, the very notion of it is a measure of how scientific discourse, and the way the country educates itself, has slipped through lassitude and inattention across the border into Idiot America -- where fact is merely that which enough people believe, and truth is measured only by how fervently they believe it.
It is a perfect way to discover a justification for their actions. The Iranian President wants to provide them with a real alternative to the West, an entirely different way of looking at the past and by extension, the future. He refuses to accept a past defined by the West. He is an ambitious man, dangerous to us, and perhaps his country, but ambitious nonetheless.
Posted by Chip Spear at 10:41 AM | Comments (4)
Military Fumbles
This has certainly been on the news, so no great revelation here, but shipping our war dead home as freight only serves to reinforce a terrible image that the administration has with regard to the war. They don't honor the dead. The President doesn't want to recognize them. The press can't photograph them. They are shipped home in secret and now transported in cargo holds of commercial airlines without military honor.
One can certainly find all sorts of ways to be against the war, but I don't think anyone is against the job that our soldiers are doing. They deserve the highest possible honors, especially considering their commitment to the country, despite its clearly flawed policies and management. This is truly sad.
Posted by Chip Spear at 10:17 AM | Comments (4)
December 13, 2005
A Little Warmth on a Cold Day
Posted by Chip Spear at 3:51 PM | Comments (4)
Today's Quote - 12/13
To succeed...You need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.
~ Tony Dorsett
Posted by Chip Spear at 3:44 PM | Comments (1)
And The Point Is?
The execution of Tookie Williams made me think about our fixation in this country with the death penalty. I specifically ask myself, "What is the point?" I can recognize the desire to eliminate evil people from the face of the earth. There is a part of me that thinks it is fine to get rid of people who are destructive to civilized society. Kill a person and be killed in return, an eye for an eye type of thing. However there is the other side of me that thinks about forgiveness and compassion. Some people do evil and do learn. There are numerous examples of a person who learns from their mistakes and really changes who they are. On the flip side there are certainly people who don't too. I don't want to pretend otherwise.
Then there is the massive gray area of life. Evidence is not always conclusive. People are often convicted of crimes they did not commit. Once dead, those individuals have no options. Can we be absolutely sure that someone is guilty? Forget the courts and juries. Are we always absolutely sure? We, as a society, make these mistakes all too often. What is guilt in one culture is not necessarily guilt in another. We apply certain standards which are not always universal to determine guilt. Political situations like war come to mind. We certainly do not execute people to save money. Numerous studies indicate it costs more to try, incarcerate and execute an individual than it does to keep them in prison for life.
Did you know that the U.S., China, Iran and Vietnam account for over 97% of the executions in the world? From Amnesty International here:
During 2004, at least 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries and at least 7,395 people were sentenced to death in 64 countries. These were only minimum figures; the true figures were certainly higher.
In 2004, 97 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Viet Nam and the USA.
Based on public reports available, Amnesty International estimated that at least 3,400 people were executed in China during the year, although the true figures were believed to be much higher. In March 2004 a delegate at the National People's Congress said that "nearly 10,000" people are executed per year in China.
Iran executed at least 159 people, and Viet Nam at least 64. There were 59 executions in the USA, down from 65 in 2003.
Eight countries since 1990 are known to have executed prisoners who were under 18 years old at the time of the crime – China, Congo (Democratic Republic), Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, USA and Yemen. China, Pakistan and Yemen have raised the minimum age to 18 in law, and Iran is reportedly in the process of doing so. The USA executed more child offenders than any other country (19 between 1990 and 2003).
In the U.S.
* 59 prisoners were executed in the USA in 2004, bringing the year-end total to 944 executed since the use of the death penalty was resumed in 1977.
* Over 3,400 prisoners were under sentence of death as of 1 January 2005.
* 38 of the 50 US states provide for the death penalty in law. The death penalty is also provided under US federal military and civilian law.
I think it is important to ask, "What are we doing? What is the point of all this?" I don't really know.
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)
Fabulous Fumble of the Week, Dec. 13 - Condi Rice
This weeks Fabulous Fumble award goes to Secretary of State Condi Rice for her comments in Europe regarding U.S. torture policy. Given all the factual evidence of U.S. torture tactics, she tried to deny that the U.S. uses torture, she said that the government might have made some mistakes in the past, but that it was no longer grabbing terrorist suspects and flying them to undisclosed locations for the purposes of torture.
Rice has refused to answer directly whether the United States keeps terrorist suspects in detention centers that violate European legal and human rights guarantees. She assured German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday that the United States would work to rectify any mistakes it has made in its war on terror.
Reports of secret prisons have roiled Europe for a month. Rice has asserted that the United States acts within the law and tried to argue that the Europeans are safer because of tough U.S. tactics.
The BBC reports:
Ms Rice's first stop is Germany, where parliament has demanded to know the purpose of more than 400 flights, run by the US military, that landed or passed through German airspace.
She will also visit Romania - where human rights groups allege a detention centre may have been located - and Brussels.
On Monday, human rights group Amnesty International said that six planes used by the CIA for renditions had made 800 flights in EU airspace, including 50 landings at Shannon airport in the Republic of Ireland.
Ms Rice told Ireland last week that Shannon airport had not been used for "anything untoward".
In some ways she is in a no win situation. She can't admit that the U.S. tortures prisoners, and she doesn't want to admit that the U.S. has secret detention facilities spread throughout the world. Flat denials only create added problems for an administration that has lost almost all credibility. The White House has to find a new strategy if it is to regain any support from the American public, otherwise it is doomed to more embarrassing losses.
Posted by Chip Spear at 8:40 AM | Comments (1)
December 12, 2005
Today's Quote - 12/12
Every game is an opportunity to measure yourself against your own potential.
~ Bud Wilkinson
Posted by Chip Spear at 5:01 PM | Comments (2)
Player of the Week for Dec. 12, 2005 - Harold Pinter
This year's Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter might seem an odd choice for our Player of the Week, especially given is rather harse criticism of U.S. policy. That said, I think that it is important for any entity to undergo a certain degree of reflection on occasion. The problem is knowing when that proper occasion should be, because constant reflection or analysis is counterproductive. Plus there is always the case that many, many people are all too willing to criticize the government every minute of every day. However there are certainly people who are also all too willing to accept anything the government says, no matter what. How is Mr. Pinter different? Well, though not a "politician" his literature is very political. He is very cognizant of our political reality. He is exceptionally perceptive and quite eloquent, which makes him enjoyable to read. He has an interesting perspective that should make us all think for a few minutes before we plunge ahead on our quixotic adventures in Oilland. The following is from his Nobel acceptance speech last week.
Political language, as used by politicians, does not venture into any of this territory since the majority of politicians, on the evidence available to us, are interested not in truth but in power and in the maintenance of that power. To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth, even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed.
As every single person here knows, the justification for the invasion of Iraq was that Saddam Hussein possessed a highly dangerous body of weapons of mass destruction, some of which could be fired in 45 minutes, bringing about appalling devastation. We were assured that was true. It was not true. We were told that Iraq had a relationship with Al Quaeda and shared responsibility for the atrocity in New York of September 11th 2001. We were assured that this was true. It was not true. We were told that Iraq threatened the security of the world. We were assured it was true. It was not true.
The truth is something entirely different. The truth is to do with how the United States understands its role in the world and how it chooses to embody it.
But before I come back to the present I would like to look at the recent past, by which I mean United States foreign policy since the end of the Second World War. I believe it is obligatory upon us to subject this period to at least some kind of even limited scrutiny, which is all that time will allow here.
Everyone knows what happened in the Soviet Union and throughout Eastern Europe during the post-war period: the systematic brutality, the widespread atrocities, the ruthless suppression of independent thought. All this has been fully documented and verified.
But my contention here is that the US crimes in the same period have only been superficially recorded, let alone documented, let alone acknowledged, let alone recognised as crimes at all. I believe this must be addressed and that the truth has considerable bearing on where the world stands now. Although constrained, to a certain extent, by the existence of the Soviet Union, the United States' actions throughout the world made it clear that it had concluded it had carte blanche to do what it liked.
Direct invasion of a sovereign state has never in fact been America's favoured method. In the main, it has preferred what it has described as 'low intensity conflict'. Low intensity conflict means that thousands of people die but slower than if you dropped a bomb on them in one fell swoop. It means that you infect the heart of the country, that you establish a malignant growth and watch the gangrene bloom. When the populace has been subdued - or beaten to death - the same thing - and your own friends, the military and the great corporations, sit comfortably in power, you go before the camera and say that democracy has prevailed. This was a commonplace in US foreign policy in the years to which I refer.
It is more than worth reading and digesting.
Posted by Chip Spear at 2:11 PM | Comments (0)
December 9, 2005
CT Passes Campaign Finance Bill
I should have posted this before, it is too important to ignore.
The state legislature approved what advocates billed as the most sweeping reforms of campaign finance laws in the country early Thursday, including restrictions on campaign contributions and a new publicly funded election system.
It is a good start. The Legislature definitely hit a home run on this one.
Posted by Chip Spear at 3:50 PM | Comments (0)
Israel, Iran, History and Tactics
Iran's leader, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, doubted the Holocaust and suggested that Israel be moved to Europe, according to the Washington Post here. An Israel spokesman responded by saying that they were there first and thus had a right to stay.
Ahmadinejad was quoted by Iran's official IRNA news agency as saying in a news conference in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca: "Some European countries insist on saying that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces, and they insist on it to the extent that if anyone proves something contrary to that, they condemn that person and throw them in jail.
"Although we don't accept this claim, if we suppose it is true, our question for the Europeans is: Is the killing of innocent Jewish people by Hitler the reason for their support to the occupiers of Jerusalem?"If the Europeans are honest they should give some of their provinces in Europe...
Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said in Tel Aviv: "Just to remind Mr. Ahmadinejad, we've been here long before his ancestors were here. Therefore, we have a birthright to be here in the land of our forefathers and to live here. Thank God we have the capability to deter and to prevent such a statement from becoming a reality."
I love that line, "we've been here long before his....". So, if I remember my Middle East history, there were many tribes and groups who lived in that area, dominating and not at various times. Many were nomadic and either moved or were pushed out by stronger forces. Somebody was always somewhere before someone else (How is that for some "somes"?). For him to take a "we were here first ploy" is rather disingenuous. I suppose that he isn't doing anything that Ahmadinejad isn't doing, because as a Persian, he probably has less historical claim than the Jews. More cliches, but I seem to remember, possession is 90% of the law, history is written by the victors. I guess it works if you can get away with it. And hey, if it scores some points with your supporters, what the hell.
Posted by Chip Spear at 3:19 PM | Comments (3)
Today's Quote - 12/9
Until you've been in politics you've never really been alive; it's rough and sometimes it's dirty and it's always hard work and tedious details. But, it's the only sport for grown-ups, all other games are for kids.
~ Unknown
Posted by Chip Spear at 1:20 PM | Comments (1)
December 8, 2005
Ready or Not, Here I Come!
Posted by Chip Spear at 5:07 PM | Comments (2)
Today's Quote - 12/8
Politics is a blood sport.
~ Aneurin Bevan
1897-1960, British Labor Politician
Posted by Chip Spear at 10:23 AM | Comments (2)
What is the White House Doing?
I am completely perplexed by the current White House "truth" strategy. The President's approval ratings are hovering around 38-40%. The major cause is Iraq and the administrations inability to be honest with the public. Many people think the White House mislead them about the Iraq war. The administration trumpets the booming economy, but the middle and lower classes find nothing in their pockets. Scandals erupt, the White House denies. People lose faith in their leaders and what does the White House do, continues to evade the truth, refusing to provide straightforward answers to questions about torture and secret prisons. Condi Rice travels to Europe and one is left with the feeling that every word she spoke spent considerable time in the diamond district, seeking just the right cut to provide the most sparkle.
I wonder if this contining strategy to not be straightforward with the American public will pay off in next year's elections. I sense that the White House assumes they can just continue on the same path, since it worked so well in the past, and it will eventually get them out of the hole they're in. Just think of the quote, "Never underestimate the stupidity of the American public." There is also the possibility that they are addicted to this behavior and have no idea how to change to "truth-telling".
At some point one would think they would follow that other cliche my Mom would always repeat, "Honesty is the best policy." In the end truth leads to redemption and hope, while lying just destroys.
Posted by Chip Spear at 9:54 AM | Comments (2)
December 6, 2005
Player of the Week - Dec. 5th, 2005
There are some weeks when nobody deserves nuthin'.
Posted by Chip Spear at 7:06 PM | Comments (2)
Today's Quote - 12/6
Love is playing every game as if it's your last.
~ Michael Jordan
Posted by Chip Spear at 7:04 PM | Comments (2)
Terrorism Prep Thrown For Big Loss
It is no surprise that the 9/11 Commission threw the Administration for a big loss regarding preparing the U.S. against another terrorist attack. The Admin's play is systematic of a strategy that focuses on politics rather than pragmatic results. We have seen this occur over and over again, whether it be our strategy in Iraq, political appointments or FEMA relief efforts. Friends first, accountability and results second. The Administration has had serious problems recently furthering their political agenda with this tactic. Poll ratings have dropped, to a large degree because people no longer trust what the Bush Administration says and doubt their committment to competency. One can review all sorts of specifics but it ultimately comes down to a desire on their part to continue a strategy of political cronyism. I wonder if it will generate enough money to market themselves out of their problems before next year's elections. Obviously they think so.
Posted by Chip Spear at 4:10 PM | Comments (2)
Punt!
My intent with this site is to reach out to readers who might not normally read political blogs or political analysis of any sort. I want to provide a fun, interesting approach to political discussion and stress the importance of involvement in one's community, state and country. Today I find myself discouraged, not because of readership on my site or anything like that, but rather the state of the human mind, or maybe the American mind, but I doubt it is restricted to Americans. Nicholas Kristof writes in today's NY Times:
The best argument against "intelligent design" has always been humanity itself. At a time when only 40 percent of Americans believe in evolution, and only 13 percent know what a molecule is, we're an argument at best for "mediocre design."...
One-fifth of Americans still believe that the Sun goes around the Earth, instead of the other way around. And only about half know that humans did not live at the same time as dinosaurs.
His article speaks about our lack of knowledge regarding math and science. I am worried about the intelligence level in general. These sort of statistics make me wonder what is the point of trying to explain the intricacies of politics if so many people don't even know what a molecule is. Thirteen percent.....unbelieveable, and scary. It makes me think the worst of our country's citizens. And when you read such things you understand why our leaders treat us so contemptuously.
Posted by Chip Spear at 12:27 PM | Comments (1)
December 5, 2005
Today's Quote - 12/5
When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other in order that the people may require a leader.
~ Plato
Distracts a little from the message, but I couldn't resist.
Posted by Chip Spear at 4:10 PM | Comments (0)
Fall Leaves Us Too Soon
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:25 AM | Comments (3)
Fabulous Fumble of the Week, Dec. 5 - Ann Coulter
Ann Coulter wins this week's Fabulous Fumble Award for posting personal information on her web site of Actress/Activist Lydia Cornell, who was guest blogging on Brad's Blog here. I suppose one could say that Ann's indiscretion was minor, however she is a national figure and does carry a great deal of influence within some media outlets and her right wing base. Her actions, based on hate and anger, exemplify much that is wrong with American politics, where many Americans find it increasingly difficult to respect dissenting political opinions. It is most unfortunate that more people, especially those on the right, don't condemn her. In the long run, we all lose. It still amazes me how attractive hate is to so many, many people. That is a true shame. And to think that such a pretty package covers such bitter, angry, spiteful hate. Perhaps that is the bigger shame. I feel sorry for her.
Posted by Chip Spear at 10:22 AM | Comments (2)
December 4, 2005
John Kerry Slips and Slides His Way to a Couple of Yards
I watched John Kerry answer a few questions this morning on Face the Nation with Bob Schiefer. Bob asked John if American citizens were going to be safer if we withdrew our troops from Iraq soon. Mr. Kerry did not answer the question. He dodged, jumped, slid and basically evaded the intent of Mr. Schiefer's question, which was, what will happen when the insurgents, i.e. Al Qaeda sympathizers, control large areas of Iraq, which can then be turned into terrorist training camps? Shame on you, Mr. Kerry.
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:36 PM | Comments (0)
Today's Quote - 12/4
It was a busy Sunday that didn't allow me to do too much research, reading or writing, but I still dug up a good quote for the day.
Sports do not build character. They reveal it.
~ Haywood Hale Brown
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)
December 3, 2005
Today's Quote - 12/3
The man who tried his best and failed is superior to the man who never tried.
~ Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma football coach
Posted by Chip Spear at 5:13 PM | Comments (1)
Stop, Stop, Please Stop
The Washington Post reports in today's paper that the Bush administration is once again playing with information for political gain.
The Bush administration skewed its analysis of pending legislation on air pollution to favor its bill over two competing proposals, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service.
The Environmental Protection Agency's Oct. 27 analysis of its plan -- along with those of Sens. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) and James M. Jeffords (I-Vt.) -- exaggerated the costs and underestimated the benefits of imposing more stringent pollution curbs, the independent, nonpartisan congressional researchers wrote in a Nov. 23 report. The EPA issued its analysis -- which Carper had demanded this spring, threatening to hold up the nomination of EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson -- in part to revive its proposal, which is stalled in the Senate.
As an American I wish that I could trust the government. It is one thing to disagree with policies, which I do quite a bit, especially with this administration. But to be subjected to the non-stop barrage of deception and lying on such a grand scale, is soooooo disappointing. We all deserve much better from our government.
Posted by Chip Spear at 5:01 PM | Comments (4)
The Player vs. The Team
The NY Times has an excellent article on today's front page here about Jeanine F. Pirro, a rising star in NY and possibly national politics. It seems Jeanine is intent on challenging Sen. Hillary Clinton next year. The Republican party is not happy with the prospect, thinking she can't beat Sen. Clinton, and would rather she run for Attorney General, which they feel she can win. Ms. Pirro is obviously very ambitious, ready to take on one of the most well known Democrats, not only in NY, but the entire country. Sen. Clinton's approval ratings are very high, but Pirro doesn't seem to care. She wants the seat.
The Republicans are looking at the long term for Ms. Pirro. They don't want to support her and raise millions of dollars for an unsuccessful campaign. They feel they have nothing to gain, Ms. Pirro will suffer political damage, and it will cost them a lot of money. From a strategic standpoint, they think she will become a stronger candidate for the future if she wins the Attorney General's office rather than loses badly to Sen. Clinton then virtually disappears from sight for a few years. Cool heads are looking beyond 2006 for Pirro. She seems too focused on a short term gain that would probably become a big loss. I bet that the Republican leadership will change her mind,.... back room deals and all that.
Posted by Chip Spear at 4:49 PM | Comments (0)
December 2, 2005
Hey, If You Don't Get Caught, Then It Is Not Cheating
The Washington Post reports here that a politically appointed panel over-ruled Justice Department lawyers to allow a Texas re-districting scheme concocted by Tom DeLay.
Justice Department lawyers concluded that the landmark Texas congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Rep. Tom DeLay (R) violated the Voting Rights Act, according to a previously undisclosed memo obtained by The Washington Post. But senior officials overruled them and approved the plan.
The memo, unanimously endorsed by six lawyers and two analysts in the department's voting section, said the redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts. It also said the plan eliminated several other districts in which minorities had a substantial, though not necessarily decisive, influence in elections.....
Mark Posner, a longtime Justice Department lawyer who now teaches law at American University, said it was "highly unusual" for political appointees to overrule a unanimous finding such as the one in the Texas case.
"In this kind of situation, where everybody agrees at least on the staff level . . . that is a very, very strong case," Posner said. "The fact that everybody agreed that there were reductions in minority voting strength, and that they were significant, raises a lot of questions as to why it was" approved, he said.
In their analysis, the Justice Department lawyers emphasized that the last-minute changes -- made in a legislative conference committee, out of public view -- fundamentally altered legally acceptable redistricting proposals approved separately by the Texas House and Senate.
"It was not necessary" for these plans to be altered, except to advance partisan political goals, the department lawyers concluded.
This reminds me of the cliche "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Posted by Chip Spear at 12:40 PM | Comments (1)
GM Leadership Sucks, Fire the Bums
We are once again reminded in today's NY Times how bad GM management has been and the devastating affect its decisions have on workers. GM announced that it is planning to close one of two production lines at its Saturn facility in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
Opened when auto companies were closing plants and cutting hundreds of thousands of jobs, General Motors' Saturn plant here was a rare opportunity for the company and its workers to literally leave the industry's old ways behind and embrace some of the lessons that Japan was teaching, with an American twist.....
The Saturn plant, like other efforts at G.M. to battle foreign competition, became a victim of the company's short attention span. At a critical time when the plant needed to grow, G.M instead poured money into sport utility vehicles and pickups, hoping to outwit the Japanese - only to see them invade those markets, too. And workers here are paying the price....
The best foreign manufacturers can build a half dozen or more different kinds of cars and trucks at their assembly plants in the United States and Canada, and this allows them to quickly shift production when buyers' tastes change.
What was management thinking? Or maybe they weren't and still aren't. Their game plan was to not compete in the car market and use the SUV/truck game plan. Too bad that the Japanese went after that market too. What they needed to do was get their fucking act together and start making better cars. As Homer Simpson would say, "Doh!" Instead of laying off workers the Board of Directors should get rid of senior management. The coaches and GM of GM need to go.
Posted by Chip Spear at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)
Today's Quote - 12/2
Sports is like a war without the killing.
~ Ted Turner
Posted by Chip Spear at 9:31 AM | Comments (1)
December 1, 2005
A Most Interesting Perspective on "The Greatest"
Daniel Pipes provides this most interesting analysis of Muhammed Ali and his recent Medal Of Freedom Award from President Bush here. He says, among other things,
...his refusal to fight was not because he was "a man of peace" but rather because his allegiance was to the stridently anti-American, anti-white organization known as the Nation of Islam, headed by the malign Elijah Muhammad.
Forty years ago, Ali explained his draft evasion: "War is against the teachings of the Holy Koran. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger [i.e., Elijah Muhammad]. We don't take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers."....
The president also did not touch on Ali's religious side, but Mark Kram did in his 2001 book, Ghosts of Manila: The Fateful Blood Feud between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier: "Ali broke every tenet of real Muslim law, from whoring to being truant at Temple service; he was a religious fake who abdicated his personal worth to the Black Muslims for their expediency and draft evasion, [and was] therefore, counterfeit down to his socks."
As he aged, Ali did become more devout, but in unfortunate directions. He declared himself against "the entire power structure" in America, which he declared was run by Zionists who "are really against the Islam religion." He became so radical a Muslim that the notorious Council on American-Islamic Relations, North America's most powerful Islamist group, also honored him with an award in June 2004. As its press release stated: "Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, presented the first Malcolm X award to Muhammad Ali."
I am not familar with Mr. Pipes' work, but if the facts are correct, and I suspect they are, it certainly pops the idealistic bubble.
Posted by Chip Spear at 2:58 PM | Comments (2)
Pelosi likes Murtha's Strategy
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi indicated support of Rep. Murtha plan to bring troops home.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday embraced a call by a prominent member of her rank-and-file to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, two weeks after she declined to endorse it.
"We should follow the lead of Congressman John Murtha, who has put forth a plan to make American safer, to make our military stronger and to make Iraq more stable," Pelosi said. "That is what the American people and our troops deserve."
This was two weeks after not endorsing a withdrawal plan. Okay, I agree in an ideal world we should never have gone into Iraq, we should also get them all home as soon as possible. That said, what is the plan to deal with the new Al Qaeda training centers to be located all over the Sunni triangle? What happens if the country divides into three completely separate political units and one of them or maybe two become major terrorist training centers? Nancy, where is that plan of yours, or anybody elses?
Posted by Chip Spear at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)
Today's Quote - 12/1
Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
~ Vince Lombardi
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:29 AM | Comments (2)