what if?

The MSM and the Scales of Justice

This is how the mainstream media treats Republicans on social and personal matters.

Like so much about the Bush presidency, the wedding of daughter Jenna brings out a strange strain of media bias and bitterness. Take as an example this Associated Press report, which recounts the history of First Family weddings over the course of the last 200+ years, from John Adams’ adninistration to present day. According to Leanne Italie, George Bush would have had a hard time explaining a White House wedding:

Bush’s wedding in tiny Crawford, Texas, on the other hand, is expected to be low-key — out of the view of prying media eyes.

“This is going to be such a different kind of situation,” said Katherine Jellison, an associate professor of history at Ohio University who chronicles the American obsession with marital pomp in her recent book, It’s Our Day.

“Jenna’s father is not running for re-election,” she said. “The frivolity of a big White House wedding in the middle of an unpopular war would have used up what little political capital he has.”

Gee, did it do that for Lyndon Johnson? In 1966, the Vietnam War hadn’t hit the peak of its unpopularity, but political pressure in opposition had certainly hit the mainstream. That didn’t stop Luci Baines Johnson from having her wedding at the White House in an elaborate ceremony, complete with television coverage.

The idea that it takes “political capital” to stage a wedding for a child of the President is patently absurd. Who besides the most extreme lunatics would demand an end to someone’s wedding because their parent didn’t have political capital? Better yet, what credibility would Bush lose on policy after hosting a wedding reception for his daughter at the White House?

With this sort of reporting about a wedding - does anyone for a moment think that a Republican administration has a whisker of a chance to get a fair hearing on issues of policy?

Yeah; right.

Long Time, No See?

If you wonder where I have been - then wonder no more.

I Shall Return!

Twenty four hours of typepad difficulties; 2 days in Las Vegas to shoot photography for one of the world's most famous bridge tournaments.  (Yes, I know I should be playing - but - that's another story!)

When I get an opportunity, I definitely will be posting.  Until then....

Baa Baa Green Bird

You gotta watch to get it.  So; go watch.

Fear of Flying

Once upon a time, I, like virtually anyone else who read a newspaper, thought that the New York Times was the finest daily in the United States - and, perhaps, in the world.  Splurging, I subscribed to the Times and relished its handsome Sunday Magazine, its lengthy, in depth reporting, its thoughtful editorials.  But, that was then.  This is now.

Like so many daily newspapers, the Times is beset with a model that appears to be dying.  Once upon a time, what you received on the doorstep in early morning hours really was "news."  Most of what you read was fresh and informative.  Today, however, the hunk of newsprint I open to peruse with my morning coffee has little that I haven't read at least eight to ten hours ago on the Internet.  The newspaper tells me someone was injured in a horrific automobile accident - but at 10:48PM the night prior, my computer told me that 2 passengers died and a third is in critical condition.  I mostly skim the paper for local tales of "human interest" - and to find out what's on sale at Macy's and Target.

A few years ago, I predicted the death of delivered papers.  It seems that this prediction may well come true.  Nevertheless, I have never anticipated that news delivery and the news organizations themselves would die.  And - although I still do not expect this at all, I am saddened at how quality has dropped significantly, both for my local paper, the Star Tribune, and for that gleaming icon, the New York Times.

Was It Good For You?

I think I dated a guy like this when I was freshman at college.

Dr De Bruyn and a colleague were on Trypot beach at Marion Island to study elephant seals when they noticed a young, adult male Antarctic fur seal, in good condition, attempting to copulate with an adult king penguin of unknown sex.

The 16 stone seal first subdued the two-and-a-half stone penguin by lying on it. The penguin flapped its flippers and attempted to stand and escape - but to no avail.

The seal then alternated between resting on the penguin, and thrusting its pelvis, trying to insert itself, unsuccessfully.

After 45 minutes the seal gave up, swam into the water and then completely ignored the bird it had just assaulted, the scientists reported.

Hot Tip

Go long on camels.

The Dignity of Plants

Folks, you just can't make this stuff up.

A few years ago the Swiss added to their national constitution a provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms." No one knew exactly what it meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology to figure it out. The resulting report, "The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants," is enough to short circuit the brain.

A "clear majority" of the panel adopted what it called a "biocentric" moral view, meaning that "living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive." Thus, the panel determined that we cannot claim "absolute ownership" over plants and, moreover, that "individual plants have an inherent worth." This means that "we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily."

My liberal buddies constantly tell me how Europe is so much more enlightened, more civilized, more compassionate than we in these United States.  After reading about "plants rights", however, I can only wonder ... between the plants' rights and the animal rights groups, what are we supposed to eat - rocks?

Exercise Your Brain!

If you want to keep your brain fit, you can purchase expensive brain software and attend workshops.

Or - you can play the greatest mind game there is and give your brain a healthy workout:  bridge!

I opt for door #2, myself.

An American Tragedy

Billions of words have been written about Barack Obama and Reverend Wright.  Some of what has been said is ridiculous; some sublime.  Much is worth saying.

The Economist has a column that highlights the tragedy of what has happened with these two men and our nation over the past couple of months. 

And On This Topic -

John McCain gets my vote.

What exactly is the problem with the American health-care system?

The problem is not that Americans don’t have fine doctors, medical technology, and treatments. American medicine is the envy of the world. The problem is not that most Americans lack adequate health insurance. The vast majority of Americans have private insurance, and our government spends many billions each year to provide even more.

The biggest problem with the American health-care system is one of cost and access, and as a result tens of millions of individuals have no insurance. For example, we currently spend for about 2.4 trillion dollars a year on health care. A decade from now that number, under current projections, will double to over four trillion dollars.

The Obama and Clinton response to these problems is to promise universal coverage, whatever its cost, and the massive tax increases, mandates, and government regulation that it imposes. But in the end this will accomplish one thing only. We will replace the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of the current system with the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of a government monopoly. We’ll have all the problems, and more, of private health care — rigid rules, long waits, and lack of choices, and risk degrading its great strengths and advantages including the innovation and life-saving technology that make American medicine the most advanced in the world.

I have a different approach. I believe the key to real reform is to restore control over our health-care system to the patients themselves. To that end, my reforms are built on the pursuit of three goals: paying only for quality medical care, having insurance choices that are diverse and responsive to individual needs, and restoring our sense of personal responsibility.

Obama's Right

For those who think I never criticize Republicans and always castigate Democrats - please read and remember:

Obama is right.  HRC and McCain?  Well.  As Professor Mankiw reports:

Yesterday I was on the NewsHour to talk about the gas tax holiday. I asked if there was another guest and the producer said, "We tried, but we couldn't find anyone to argue the other side (that the gas tax holiday made sense)."

 

Holocaust Remembrance Day

You don't have to be Jewish to remember.

But there are those who can never forget.

The Company We Keep

Do I wish to be held responsible for all that my friends and associates do and say? 

Absolutely not.

Others in my life have made a wide variety of choices and statements that clearly are at odds with what I believe and what I choose to do.  I want to be judged for my own actions and my own assertions.

Nevertheless, as the saying goes - the devil is in the details.

#1

Be you conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, male, female . . . . No matter your race, religion or sexual preferences - you should applaud this.

One of the greatest blessings of living in America is our First Amendment, which protects the right of all of us to speak out without facing government persecution. People in other countries, even strong Western democracies, are not as fortunate.

Be vigilant; no matter how offensive, better to have concepts open and discussed than hidden.

In America, there are efforts, particularly on college campuses, to silence voices of dissent through the imposition of punishments for stirring bad feelings. But most citizens still seem to understand the Founders’ wisdom in crafting the First Amendment: A vigorous exchange of ideas helps us solve problems, and protects other freedoms. Without a First Amendment, government officials would move quickly to silence the spread of information they found inconvenient or threatening to their power.

My Affliction

Blogging will be light.  Very light.

Until this is gone....

Code Words

When Obama uttered his fateful words about "bitter" people in Pennsylvania - Mary Grabar knew about whom he was speaking.

Stop the Madness

Sooner rather than later.

And this:

Perhaps turning food into transportation fuel would make sense if massive amounts of grain spoiled every year from a lack of demand, but that certainly isn’t the case. Farmers love the higher prices that come from the new demand to fill gas tanks, but higher prices have consequences for poorer nations that have just begun to be felt. Morally speaking, shouldn’t we feed people before we feed cars?

What makes this even more absurd is ethanol itself. It burns cleaner, but has significant problems as a transportation fuel. It has only two-thirds the potential energy of gasoline, which means more of it has to be used to get the same mileage. Ethanol has to be shipped by truck as it cannot be pumped through a pipeline, so much more energy has to get expended just to bring it to market. In order to use more than just a small amount in a mixture, car engines have to be designed differently to use it, which means more energy and resources have to go into producing the vehicles.

Every fill of the tank with ethanol uses the same amount of corn a child would eat in a year, and let’s not even talk about the amount of potable water used to grow the corn in the first place. Given the above, which is the better use of the corn?

Hoist by His Own Petard

John McCain was one politician I admired greatly.  While I still believe that the man is a true hero, and while I still do applaud some of what he does, the veil has been lifted from my eyes for one major reason:  McCain-Feingold. 

Although I, like so many others, wish that we lived in some la-la land where candidates never had to solicit campaign funds from anyone, and that we could miraculously learn about the candidates' beliefs, abilities, character, experience, etc. for free, such is not the case.  We live in the real world, and in the real world, we need money to accomplish this. 

McCain-Feingold restricts our speech and the ability of candidates to communicate with the public.  I have always found it to be straight out unconstitutional; perhaps one day the Supreme Court will strike it down.

Until that happens, however, all of us will have to labor under its inequities and burdens.  Right now, McCain is finding himself ensnared in a web of his own making. 

The McCain camp is teaming up with the Republican National Committee to tap into big, big donations from big, big donors – hoping to close the big, big money gap with Democrats.

Their effort to do so will involve some creative abuse of the campaign finance restrictions Mr. McCain authored a few years back. Whatever. The Arizonan may not yet fully understand that money is speech. At least he has come around to the view that more of the stuff is better when it comes to winning the presidency.

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Whether this will ease Mr. McCain's financial woes is yet unclear, but it's arguably his smartest move, given the hand he's dealt himself. Just imagine what might have happened if Mr. McCain had fought instead for simple transparency – and trusted Americans to decide how much to give and to whom. Free speech, via money, can be a liberating thing.

Part of me feels like saying, "Serves you right!" to Senator McCain.  But, as I believe he would be a better choice for president than Obama or Clinton, I'll simply hope that he and others learn from this ironic lesson.

Hear, Hear

One of my girlfriends is smart as a whip and a talented artist to boot.  Cathy is also hard of hearing.

While Cathy can read lips and she also has a device that allows her to converse in very small groups, she is unable to hear in most other settings.  Last year, the two of us attended a fundraiser for Rudy Giuliani.  As we watched Rudy live on TV, I quietly "translated" what he was saying for Cathy.  Many of the other people in attendance thus realized how unfortunate it was that there weren't closed captions for Cathy and people like her.

Elise Knopf, of the Minnesota Commission Serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing People wants the state of Minnesota to pass a law making it mandatory to have closed captions in political ads.  As you all know, my philosophy is to urge small government, and I'm not quite certain that people should be forced to include closed captions.  Nevertheless, I am very sure that the captions should be included in these ads - not to mention most everything else on TV!  Cathy has explained to me that the cost to do so is minimal - and that the captions can be invisible to those who do not need them.

Including those among us who cannot hear well or at all has a simple solution.  Let's apply it.