...and it has nothing to do with ideology. I turn MSNBC on, and there is their political analyst speaking to congressmen and other analysts about voting in their precincts, and how the results are looking. I see footage of voting in various places. I get information.
I turn to Fox and what do I get? An interview with that dishonest idiot John Fund on a book he wrote about that oft-asserted but rarely demonstrated voter fraud. I turn to CNN and they are talking about which businesses are giving away ice cream on election day.
This has been a consistent pattern over the course of this election. I don't give a rip about the ideology of my newsmen and commentators: two of my favorites are Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan. I care about getting information, and some networks just supply a lot more than others.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Revolutionary America
It is good in these times when we speak of things American and constitutional that we remind ourselves just how different America is now from what it was upon its birth. America in the late 1700's was a continent with civilization at its edge, and an endless wilderness that allowed any European man the ability to get as far away from other men as his means of movement and survival allowed. The population was less than 4 million people. The main thoroughfares from colony to colony might have been called roads, but were only dirt trails by modern standards. Most people died within 30 miles of where they were born. Only white men had full citizenship. A letter took 2 weeks to travel from Charleston to Boston. Soldiers in war were far more likely to die from disease and infection than in battle. Smallpox killed thousands. Weapons were slow firing muskets and knives. There were no electric lights.
It is important when thinking about the constitution and what the intent of the founders was to do so in the context of the world in which they lived. It is also worth considering Jefferson's suggestion that we have a constitutional convention every generation. Brilliant as the founders were, it is unreasonable to think they could conceive fully of a society such as our modern one. We need a new constitution. Don't believe me? Quick, what is the third amendment to the Constitution? Don't know? No doubt most Americans don't, even those who know amendments one, two and four. Yet it was the third thing the founders thought important enough to specifically enunciate.
It is important when thinking about the constitution and what the intent of the founders was to do so in the context of the world in which they lived. It is also worth considering Jefferson's suggestion that we have a constitutional convention every generation. Brilliant as the founders were, it is unreasonable to think they could conceive fully of a society such as our modern one. We need a new constitution. Don't believe me? Quick, what is the third amendment to the Constitution? Don't know? No doubt most Americans don't, even those who know amendments one, two and four. Yet it was the third thing the founders thought important enough to specifically enunciate.
McCain's Wife: Out of the Mouth of Babes
Children say the darndest things. While watching the political news with our teenager, he up and asks why we never see John McCain's wife. I tell him we see her all the time, and after getting a quizzical look in response, rewound the DV-R of that night's appearance by John's blond beauty, and identified her for him: "That's his wife there, the blond in front. The blond behind him is his daughter."
There is nothing like a child's look that innocently, respectfully, says "Don't put me on, you're full of shit". "No really, that's his wife." His doubting face turned into a half embarrassed smile as he admitted "I thought that was his daughter, and the other one was his granddaughter."
It makes one wonder what other honest assessments we'd get from children announcers we'd never get from the pros.
There is nothing like a child's look that innocently, respectfully, says "Don't put me on, you're full of shit". "No really, that's his wife." His doubting face turned into a half embarrassed smile as he admitted "I thought that was his daughter, and the other one was his granddaughter."
It makes one wonder what other honest assessments we'd get from children announcers we'd never get from the pros.
McCain's Must Win States
According to Nate at 538 99% of the winning scenarios for McCain have him winning the following states:
Florida
Georgia
Missouri
Indiana
Montana
Ohio
North Carolina
This means that if you are looking for an excuse to go to bed early, Obama winning any of these states would give you one. I also note with interest the states that don't appear on the list: Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico.
Florida
Georgia
Missouri
Indiana
Montana
Ohio
North Carolina
This means that if you are looking for an excuse to go to bed early, Obama winning any of these states would give you one. I also note with interest the states that don't appear on the list: Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Chuck Hagel on the Dangerous Nature of Know Nothing Populism
Chuck Hagel, Viet Nam veteran, and conservative Republican, decries the anti-intellectual trends in his party that have driven so many of us from its ranks:
"...Hagel said, he’s been “very disappointed” by McCain’s campaign. “He gave one unifying speech and then has spent fifty million dollars to destroy his opponent.” Hagel may be the only senior Republican elected official who has publicly criticized McCain’s choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. “I don’t believe she’s qualified to be President of the United States,” Hagel told me. “The first judgment a potential President makes is who their running mate is—and I don’t think John made a very good selection.” He scoffed at McCain’s attempts to portray her as an experienced politician. “To try to make the excuse that she looks out her window and sees Russia—and that she’s commander of the Alaska National Guard.” He added, “There is no question that this candidate is arguably the thinnest-résumé candidate for Vice-President in the history of America.”
For Hagel, almost as disturbing as Palin’s lack of experience is her willingness—in disparaging remarks about Joe Biden’s long Senate career, for example—to belittle the notion that experience is important. “There’s no question, she knows her market,” Hagel said. “She knows her audience, and she’s going right after them. And I’ll tell you why that’s dangerous. It’s dangerous because you don’t want to define down the standards in any institution, ever, in life. You want to always strive to define standards up. If you start defining standards down—‘Well, I don’t have a big education, I don’t have experience’—yes, there’s a point to be made that not all the smartest people come out of Yale or Harvard. But to intentionally define down in some kind of wild populism, that those things don’t count in a complicated, dangerous world—that’s dangerous in itself.
“There was a political party in this country called the Know-Nothings,” he continued. “And we’re getting on the fringe of that, with these one-issue voters—pro-choice or pro-life. Important issue, I know that. But, my goodness. The world is blowing up everywhere, and I just don’t think that is a responsible way to see the world, on that one issue. "
Indeed. There is a lot of space between the kind of populism that scorns the elitism that thinks no one without the right family, breeding, and school can be an intellectual, and the know-nothing populism Palin pushes, which considers a Harvard Law graduate the equivalent of a plumber in all things intellectual. America has always been about the average person being able to achieve high intellectual status. Palin would have us believe everyone has that status without the achievement, with her at the head of the line.
"...Hagel said, he’s been “very disappointed” by McCain’s campaign. “He gave one unifying speech and then has spent fifty million dollars to destroy his opponent.” Hagel may be the only senior Republican elected official who has publicly criticized McCain’s choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. “I don’t believe she’s qualified to be President of the United States,” Hagel told me. “The first judgment a potential President makes is who their running mate is—and I don’t think John made a very good selection.” He scoffed at McCain’s attempts to portray her as an experienced politician. “To try to make the excuse that she looks out her window and sees Russia—and that she’s commander of the Alaska National Guard.” He added, “There is no question that this candidate is arguably the thinnest-résumé candidate for Vice-President in the history of America.”
For Hagel, almost as disturbing as Palin’s lack of experience is her willingness—in disparaging remarks about Joe Biden’s long Senate career, for example—to belittle the notion that experience is important. “There’s no question, she knows her market,” Hagel said. “She knows her audience, and she’s going right after them. And I’ll tell you why that’s dangerous. It’s dangerous because you don’t want to define down the standards in any institution, ever, in life. You want to always strive to define standards up. If you start defining standards down—‘Well, I don’t have a big education, I don’t have experience’—yes, there’s a point to be made that not all the smartest people come out of Yale or Harvard. But to intentionally define down in some kind of wild populism, that those things don’t count in a complicated, dangerous world—that’s dangerous in itself.
“There was a political party in this country called the Know-Nothings,” he continued. “And we’re getting on the fringe of that, with these one-issue voters—pro-choice or pro-life. Important issue, I know that. But, my goodness. The world is blowing up everywhere, and I just don’t think that is a responsible way to see the world, on that one issue. "
Indeed. There is a lot of space between the kind of populism that scorns the elitism that thinks no one without the right family, breeding, and school can be an intellectual, and the know-nothing populism Palin pushes, which considers a Harvard Law graduate the equivalent of a plumber in all things intellectual. America has always been about the average person being able to achieve high intellectual status. Palin would have us believe everyone has that status without the achievement, with her at the head of the line.
Sarah Palin Needs a First Amendment Lesson
News Flash: Add the first amendment to the Constitution to the list of things Sarah Palin knows nothing about:
"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of first amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."
For everyone else who paid as little attention to their teacher in high school government class as Palin apparently did, the right to free speech that comes with the first amendment does not come with an exemption from criticism. Indeed, the right to criticize other's opinions, especially those of our politicians, is crucial to our government system, and is precisely what the first amendment was written for.
That Palin could misunderstand such a fundamental aspect of our government proves yet again that she is fundamentally and objectively unqualified for the position she seeks. It has nothing to do with her political positions. She simply has no idea what she is doing.
"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of first amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."
For everyone else who paid as little attention to their teacher in high school government class as Palin apparently did, the right to free speech that comes with the first amendment does not come with an exemption from criticism. Indeed, the right to criticize other's opinions, especially those of our politicians, is crucial to our government system, and is precisely what the first amendment was written for.
That Palin could misunderstand such a fundamental aspect of our government proves yet again that she is fundamentally and objectively unqualified for the position she seeks. It has nothing to do with her political positions. She simply has no idea what she is doing.
Gee, Obama Would be the First Northern Democratic President Since...Oops
If Barack Obama wins the presidency, he will become the first Democratic president from a northern state since JFK. While Clinton, Carter, and LBJ had their share of haters on the other side of the aisle, they were still "one of us" to southerners, merely prodigal sons who had gone astray. Obama is a completely different animal, half black, from the north, and having no connection at all with the bitter, gun-and-religion-clinging yahoos. That does not bode well, and we've already had one case of plans to settle those differences with violence. That is, after all, how the JFK presidency ended, and of course in the south, here in Dallas.
My money says a President Obama makes no outdoor public appearances south of the Mason Dixie line.
My money says a President Obama makes no outdoor public appearances south of the Mason Dixie line.
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