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Here We Go
Okay, this is it. I'm off to see some new parts of this great land and wrangle up some votes if possible. I have in past election years sent out a reminder to friends and family on why, if we do nothing else, we just must must vote. This time, I think if we're ever gonna know it, we know it. See you Wednesday!
A Year and a Half in the Life
The President's apparent support for civil unions goes beyond Howard Dean's signing of a civil unions bill that supposedly made him not viable as a national candidate not long ago.
Update: Also, Andrew Sullivan has a good point -- the President support for civil unions has him now supporting something that's banned under the marriage ammendment (which prohibits for same-sex couples marriage or "the legal incidents thereof") he also supports.
Not So Much
Posting has been sparse, but will pick up again tonight.
Nobody Ever Never
I once started a sloppy college essay on the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas with a line suggesting something like "no reader has ever questioned" the effectiveness of Douglass' voice or something or other. My professor strongly suggested that I consider starting the essay with something other than a point that couldn't be proven, was likely false, and wasn't that meaningful even if true. That's what came into my head today when I saw the archbishop of Denver, in an op-ed on the role of faith in politics, asserting that "no one in mainstream American politics wants a theocracy." While, to be fair, it can be somewhat hard to really nail down the specifics of a theocracy, I think it can be said that some people, even some "mainstream" people, do want something along the general lines. If you think of it as a situation where the leaders of the dominant religion and the government are one and the same, the no, that's not what we have here nor want anyone seems to really want. But if you think of it as where politicians see themselves as recipients of divine guidance, or where others see them as such, then I think not only do a lot of people want that but that's what we've got going on right now. And if you look at it as where the beliefs of the dominant religion function as the law of the land, it's hard to see what else the Republican party of Texas had in mind when they recently inserted "the United States of America is a Christian nation" as a plank in their party platform.
I’ll Make a Picnic and Watch
Bruce Bartlett and Frank Rich have both now predicted "civil war" in the Republican party – Bartlett because of, as Suskind puts it, the conflict between "modernists and fundamentalists" that will come to a head should Bush win, and Rich because of the party's current "untenable level of hypocrisy." I think Bartlett might be right, given the way reasonable folks have been deserting Bush in recent days. But I have to laugh a little bit at Rich's idea that saying one thing and doing another is somehow the sort of thing that a political party couldn't keep doing for a very long time.
A Step in the Right, and Left, Direction
I’m intrigued by the Schwarzenegger-backed Prop 62 that would introduce a new primary system in which every voter votes for any candidate and the top two vote-getters move on to the finals. Wouldn’t apply to the presidential, would encourage moderation, so I ask, why not?
This is Why We’re Angry at You
I didn’t address this in my last post on Bush as Christian, but the bigger and more important thing here is how the press – newspapers, magazines, television, and all that – regularly does things like this like calling Bush “deeply religious” and “a really super Christian” without stopping to ask what the heck that means. Considering that it’s pretty arguable whether he abides by the principles of Christianity and it’s fact that doesn’t hardly ever go to church, it’s a fair question.
Ergo, I’m a Duck
Ayelish McGarvey questions Bush’s Christianity. As a general rule, I’m reluctant to doubt someone else’s faith, but it’s a fair point to say that his actions make a strong case that he doesn’t have a well thought-out sense of how even the most basic Christian principles – like taking care of the earth as a source of life, distributing resources so that no one goes without, pursuing war only as a last resort, loving everybody and especially those who hate you, and, as Ayelish notes, not saying things that aren’t true about other people, just to name a handful -- apply to him and his job.
Reality-Based Snacking
In a effort to slim down a bit for the Kerry presidency, I bought Reduced Fat SmartFood from the vending machines today. I should have known I was in trouble when I saw on the back of the bag a nutritional chart listing regular yummy SmartFood at 100% Taste and well I’ll be, the reduced fat SmartFood at 100% Taste too. If both products actually delivered 100% Taste, would there be any possible need for a fully-fatted variety? Besides, the reduced fat stuff tasted awful, maybe 40% Taste at best.
Not Your Damn Business
John Kerry was wrong to invoke Mary Cheney's name in last weeks debate and the Republican response has been absurd. Both are possible.
I gasped when Kerry answered a question on whether gayness is a choice by saying "If you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as." It was an attack because it felt like an attack. No matter Kerry's stance on homosexuality (though it should be noted that he finished off his answer by reaffirming, yet again, that marriage is just for a man and a woman), he knew full well that for many Americans calling someone a lesbian raises questions about that person's decency and morality and worth as a person. He hung her out as a target, and it really matters little if he thinks the shots sure to follow are justified. And Mary being "out", whatever that means, doesn't provide much coverage. A failure to be ashamed of who I am doesn't mean that the public discussion of it is fair game. It's personal and sensitive, and if a legitimate point of it may be made in public arena, it should treated as such, as Edwards did in his debate with Cheney.
The long and the short of it is that Kerry used Mary Cheney as a pawn to make a political point. He used a daughter to score points against her father. That just isn't right. And no amount of laughably hypocritical reaction on the part of the political opposition is gonna make it so.
On Reality
I had distilled thinking about what’s wrong with this President (and his men) into thinking of them as bunglers fully comfortable with the cover-up. That didn’t quite seem to get at, so I’m happy now to have Suskind's "reality-based." I think a limited sense of being a destiny-maker is healthy for an American president. But I don't think it's too much to much to ask to have one capable of both seeing a better future out in the distance and at the very same time looking down at the rocks strewn in the path ahead. Some rocks you move, some you go around, other you get people to move for you. Understanding that this White House "rocks? What rocks?" approach to the obstacles in our path really does help explain why we keeping running smack into them.
He's Not Your Monkey!
I finally got a chance to watch the video of Jon Stewart on Crossfire telling Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson, with no real humor, that what they do is bad for the country. In brief, it's fantastic. I have to imagine that something like this wouldn't have happened in the not too distant past -- maybe a year or even six months ago. The media's failing as a 'fourth estate' is remarkably quickly becoming conventional wisdom -- to the point that Stewart was pretty safe to assume that folks watching wouldn't think "now just what in the heck is that young man talking about?" I for one find that yummy.
In the End, Not Much
Turns out that I don't have anything to say on "integrity, integrity, integrity" after all.
Weenie Story on Deck
I'm still working out the kinks in my Washington weenie story.
As Promised, I am a Washington Weenie
So here's the story. Back in August I was in Cincinnati for the wedding of some friends I decided I'd see if I could be of any help at Kerry campaigns local office there. Their volunteer coordinator told me that what they needed most was warm bodies to walk in the Black Family Reunion parade going on that weekend. I show up early Saturday morning as directed at the Cincinnati Museum Center parking lot where the parade is assembling. I find the folks organizing the Kerry group, put on a Kerry/Edwards t-shirt, stand on the periphery of the group of thirty or so, trying hard to blend. As I'm staring down at my shoes, I feel a tug on my sleeve. "Excuse me, miss," a kindly older woman said to me quietly, "do you know where I can get a sign for my front yard?"
"Sure," I say, "just go to the website, double-you double-you double-you dot john kerry dot com, there’s a form you can fill in to request one and then they’ll..." One of the local Kerry organizers had overheard and jumped in. "Ma’am," he said, "just come up the office on 12th Street after the parade. I'll give you a yard sign."
It was then, I realized that I had fully a Washington jack-ass I have become. Instead of doing everything I can to get a voter to her local campaign office, get her involved in the campaign, I point her to a website.
Update Alert
I'm back now from a fantastic weekend at home where I didn't do a damn thing around here. But, but! Coming up soon, I'm going to finally tell a little story I like to call "Washington Weenie" starring me and the Cincinnati Black Family Weekend parade. I'm hoping to get it up tonight.
If I Can Incent You to Join Me on the Internets
I shut the TV off right after the debate finished and haven't read a single thing yet, so this is a completely untainted assessment: Kerry did very well.
Not Tonight
No liveblogging tonight. I'm gonna eat pizza and drink beer and enjoy it. But I leave you with a question I'd really like answered: what is a typical American?
Ex Cathedra
This is just the sort of thoughtfulness we've come to expect from the House majority leader: "It's real simple. The House bill -- every single word of it -- will make the American people safer." So don't even spell-check it, you America-hating...
As It Happens
9:03 Here we go.
9:04 Cheney: Iraq was the most likely nexus between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Doesn't seem to be kidding.
9:06 Edwards to Cheney: We all know you're lying!
9:07 Cheney: Why is my soothing tone not reassuring you? Stop questioning me.
9:08 Edwards: Dude, you are so totally lying. Say it with me, Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with September 11th. People, watch Cheney's lips move -- l-y-i-n-g. Next time he opens his mouth, he's going to be lying. All you gotta do is watch.
9:09 Cheney: Remember when Kerry said "global test"?
9:11 Edwards clearly hates Cheney. He looks like he wants to turn to his right and rip his head off.
9:13 Cheney: Afghanistan is going well.
9:16 Edwards: You're lying!
9:20 Cheney: Your facts are wrong, Senator. If you really are a senator.
9:21 Edwards: Even the American people have figured out that you're a liar.
9:24 Cheney: Kerry voted against defense programs. Then again, so did I, and I'm lying about Kerry, so it's all very confusing.
9:26 Edwards: We voted against the $87 billion because it was obvious that you didn't know what the hell you were doing.
9:29 Edwards: The U.N. has only 35 people on the ground to hold elections in Iraq. Um, that true?
9:30 Cheney takes deep breath. Exasperated by this young punk who keeps asking questions.
9:31 Edwards: Look me in the eye, Mr. Vice President -- admit it, you are a very lying liar.
9:33 Edwards: Folks, the President and Vice President live in a parallel universe where what happens really doesn't happen if you just pretend it so.
9:33 Objective assessment: Edwards is kicking Cheney's ass. Hard.
9:36 Cheney: CIA still not sure about Iraq-Al Qaeda connection. Except, of course, I'm lying.
9:38 Cheney: Okay, this guy's onto me. Better talk slooowly.
9:39 Edwards: Dude, are we going to invade every country where Al Qaeda live? Cause there are like 60 of those. Oh, and by the way, Halliburton.
9:41 Cheney smirks. Fantastic.
9:41 Cheney: Go to factcheck.org on Halliburton. Please do.
9:42 Ifill asks Edwards about Israel. He forgets to talk about Bush or Cheney.
9:45 Cheney: You never show up to work. Then again, neither does the President.
9:46 Edwards: Dude, you voted against Head Start, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela. So back it.
9:47 Edwards: Cheney never answered about Israel! That wasn't pretty.
9:50 Edwards: Cheney talked about education and I didn't get to! Look away from the screen.
9:52 Cheney: We passed Medicare reform. Yeah, good job on that. That one's all yours.
9:55 Cheney: I think the right to marry should be left to the states. So does the President. But Karl doesn't.
10:01 Edwards: Dude, you totally have a gay daughter and I'm not gonna let anyone forget it. Unfortunately, here comes the pandering! Marriage -- man, woman. Okay, done. But the federal marriage amendment, that thing sucked. How'd your daughter like that one?
10:04 Cheney: He's a trial lawyer. Karl says that's bad.
10:06 Edwards needs to quit moving his arms so much. It's unsettling.
10:06 Edwards: Medicare premiums are up 17%. Remember that bill you were just crowing about?
10:06 Cheney: That's your fault. I think because you're a trial lawyer.
10:13 Edwards is talking about Africa -- AIDS and Sudan. I wonder what could be.
10:13 Note to Edwards: Get back to talking about how they lie.
10:14 Ifill: You're like 12. How can you be Vice President?
10:15 Edwards: I'm old enough to know not to lie.
10:17 Cheney smirks really creepily. Excellent.
10:19 Note to Edwards: Tell him that you find his monotonaity sexy, but he has nonetheless bungled running the country.
10:22 Edwards has broken Ifill's rule -- don't mention Kerry's name -- twice in two minutes.
10:24 I could go for a little 'two Americas' right about now. This is a little dull.
10:27 Cheney: Massachusetts equals high taxes. Thought of that one myself.
10:28 Ifill bungles the clock.
10:29 Cheney: We haven't been able to bring people together so much as we thought we might. I think it might be because most people hate us and because we keep lying. Oh, and because sometimes I tell people off on the Senate floor.
10:40 Winner? If you know Cheney is lying, Edwards. If you don't, it was close.
Changed Me Mind
Okay, I've come back from my voting for Dean flight of fancy. Though I know our hunger for what Dean was serving didn't just evaporate in Iowa, and we'll need to address it sooner or later, I'm figuring out that right now we need nothing less than a unified rejection of this Administration.
Experiment
I'm going to try liveblogging the vice presidential debate tomorrow night.
Undecided
Would it ever be permissible to vote for anyone other than Kerry, and I'm talking about Howard Dean here, if, like I do, you live in a place that went 85% for Gore in 2000? I mean, I'm a good Democrat, so I'm trying to figure out if it would be just inexcusably disloyal or okay as a statement of continuing support for a change in the way we do politics, something Dean talked about well. So which is it – traitorous or maybe silly but harmless and okay to do?
On Rejiggering
Here we are again. I've struggled for a long time to make my site, Scolaworks,
what I want it to be. You see, I go around thinking that I know a little something
about politics and technology and so the crappiness of this site has long been
an embarrassment. But the thing was was that I've never really been able to
understand why I was unable to make it something less totally crappy. So about
a week ago, I just took it down completely and put up a splash page that read
"being totally rejiggered."
And I took some time to really think about it. Think about why I've never done
anything really successful here. And I think all that thinking may have worked
some
Most of the reasons I came up with have to do with my job, which is working
in the House of Representatives on a committee for a great public servant. Most
prosaically, and no, this one didn't take me long to figure out, there's no
way in heck I can do anything here while I'm on the government clock. Just not
going to do it. So that limits the time in the day when I can to the early morning,
some nights, weekends, the occasional off day. And I don't work on stuff like
this that well at night.
I figured out two less obvious things this week. First, one of the effects
of having the sort of job that I have is that you start thinking in a certain
sort of way. I don't meant to say that that's inevitable, but it's happened
to me, especially in the last year. It's thinking of things in short bursts.
Having to have an immediate response, figure out a quick next step. I've been
rewired and it's left me not all that reflective and contemplative. (I don't
like admitting that. Like a lot of late twenty-something, I think, I still see
myself as something like the grad schooler I once was. And I was in a field
where taking nine years to finish up your Phd was normal, so quick sounds dirty
to me
The second is that I'm unable to pronounce judgments, and I'd been going around
thinking that I had to. I'm still just starting to really get how vast the system
of our public world really is, how it's made up of an enormous number of interconnected
parts and people and ideas, some large and imposing and others that fill in
the pieces. I can't get myself to talk like are easy choices and obvious answers
because I've found them to be few and far between. And where they exist, they
already have everybody scrambling to get their names on them. The whole system
needs a rejiggering and that takes a lot of hard work and making it up as you
go along. That's not giving up. It's not Washington defeatism. It's just the
way things are in a messy, complicated world. I can't act like it's otherwise
All right, enough of the blathering. So here's what I've done. I'm working
on the reflectivity thing but in the meantime I've created an outlet for my
more quick-burst thoughts. The site you're looking at now is not one blog but
two. The first, marked by big dates like the 'October 2' above, is for pieces
that I've put at least a drop or two of contemplation into. I've decided that
with those that I don't need to have my mind made up all the time and I can
just talk. The second is for the one-off, the quickie, the things I come across
and send right back out, like the quote about Robert Kennedy below. (Stole
the 'one site two blogs' idea from Jason Kottke
and built it using this
tutorial by Lynda at So Very Posh.)
So I'm hoping with this rejiggering of Scolaworks I've started the ball going
on something where I can easily share the stuff I just think is neat, where
I have some space to start to think things over a bit, and where nobody can
tell me how I'm supposed to do things. I've this doesn't work, well,
then it's a lost cause. I'll just start going around that saying there's nothing
to that Internet thing anyway.
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