Fight's Not Done: Yes, people are still getting killed in Iraq. That's a shame, but that's also a war. Bush-haters point to the "Mission Accomplished" sign and our declaration of victory and call them premature. Perhaps, but we have accomplished a lot in a short time. Saddam Hussein is no longer in power. Terrorists are no longer receiving government protection in Iraq. Now we are building a democracy in the Middle East.
The terrorist attacks within the country are a problem and must be stopped. That's phase two of the battle in Iraq. That doesn't mean the victory of the first part is meaningless. It means we have more work to do. Demanding that we run away scared will only make our country appear weaker, and thereby making it more vulnerable to terrorist attack.
It will be a "long, hard slog". But we are making progress, even though the work is not done yet.
Good riddance: The Alabama Chief Justice who didn't believe judges had to obey the law is now the ex-Alabama Chief Justice. A nine-member state judiciary panel unanimously voted to remove Roy Moore from office after he defied a federal court order to remove a 5,000-pound granite monument of the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the state Supreme Court building. He had argued that he was not beholden to federal laws -- and this guy went to law school.
Although he hasn't said he will run for governor -- yet -- he has promised to continue annoying people, according to the Associated Press. "I will announce something in a few weeks that will alter the course of the country," he said. God help us.
Dumb Bold Words: Here's a humorous criticism about how newspapers tend to put subheads in all their stories, especially online.
The pressure's on: Some men are taking their wives' last names when getting married. When my girlfriend discovers this, I may not be able to talk my way out of it ...
Those silly communists: A Berkeley student provides a hilarious transcript of his encounter with the campus communist group. From what I can read in the exchange, nothing has changed since I graduated from college. The name of the blog is Ne Quid Nimis, which is Latin for "Moderation in All Things" -- ah, someone I can relate to.
'ta hell? United Airlines is starting a discount airline service. The name of the service is -- Ted. Yes, Ted, just like Bill's friend in that Excellent Adventure. Thanks, but I'll stick with ValuJet.
Disappointing: The worth of the United Nations is falling further and further in decline. After adopting a resolution last year calling for the protection of Palestinian children, the U.N. is balking at supporting a similarly worded resolution calling for the protection of Israeli children. European countries are refusing to vote for the measure.
Israel uses its military to defend against aggressors. Palestinians use terrorism attack Israeli civilians. Yet, the United Nations sides with the Palestinians.
Striking a Chord: Bush's speech outlining his vision for a free and democratic Middle East is being hailed around the world as the right course of action to take. Now that his goals are front and center, they can't be pushed off to the side.
The one criticism I hear is that Bush hasn't said how he's going to accomplish his goals. I say he doesn't need to explain how, because he's already showing us. The liberation of Iraq is the first step toward realizing that vision. It won't be the last.
While the U.S. won't invade and liberate all countries in the region, pressure should be applied nonetheless for Middle Eastern nations to stop supporting terrorism and to adopt democratic reforms. And Iraq is an example of what happens if a country doesn't cooperate. Nobody can say the U.S. isn't to be taken seriously.
We aren't attacking the Middle Eastern people or the religion of Islam. But we need to do much more than arrest some individuals who plan terrorist attacks. The Middle Eastern culture needs to change so it does not act as a haven for terrorists. We need to make sure the wealth of the region is shared so its people don't look to suicide attacks and militant jihad as promising endeavors.
The only way to do that is to get rid of the dictatorships, install democracy, and promote prosperity in the region. Terrorism lurks in all the dark corners of the Middle East. It's that terrorism with which we are at war.
War is hell, but war is not, in and of itself, the worst of all evils. It was used to win the U.S. its freedom. It was used to end slavery. It was used to defeat the Nazis. War is a tool. You can use it for good or for evil. But aggression can only be defeated with force.
Critics may try to attack the way Bush executes his plan. But none of Bush's opponents are offering an alternative plan that's viable. None of them have expressed their own vision. That's why they appear weak.
While they don't come up with any coherent plan for making this country safer, critics are constantly sounding the alarm that not enough is being done to protect the homeland. They criticize the Patriot Act, but then they call for more police protection to stop terrorists even though it is impossible to guard against every conceivable attack here at home. That's why the U.S. is taking the fight to the terrorists in the Middle East.
Critics object to everything that is being done while saying we're not doing enough. This doesn't contribute to the debate, but instead it allows Bush's opponents to benefit politically when the next terrorist strike inevitably occurs. Such political manipulation is despicable.
The idea of freedom and democracy in the Middle East and surrounding regions is spreading. Iraq's dictator has been expunged, and a constitution will be formed. Afghanistan has shaken off the Taliban and has liberated its people, especially the women, from oppressive rule. Now some Iranians have been calling for the U.S. Marine Corps to topple their theocratic regime and install democracy.
It seems many critics are concerned that Bush is going on a trigger-happy spree and will invade Syria and Iran (these same people often ask why we aren't invading Saudi Arabia and North Korea). But Bush isn't being reckless. Liberating Iraq is akin to tipping that first domino. Granted, the rest won't topple overnight. But it's possible we could eventually see profound change in the Middle East.
I remember on the day of September 11, 2001, many of my liberal friends were saying that they were happy someone like Bush is in office while this is happening. They were confident that he would be strong and decisive and would fight our enemy head on.
Now that Bush is doing what they wanted him to do, they are getting scared and having second thoughts. I think we should tell Bush to keep fighting the good fight.
Even if Bush is re-elected, he won't be in office long enough to see his vision come to fruition. But that's not important. He's planting the seed, he's providing the leadership, and he's taking the initiative. And we'll all be safer in the long run.
Nobody Asked, Nobody Told: A group of 32 former midshipmen came out of the closet on Veterans Day in an effort to get the Naval Academy to establish a gay and lesbian chapter of the alumni association. The group is showing that being gay didn't interfere with their service to their country, and now they deserve to be recognized. I suspect that the Navy will find a reason to deny the group's request. But this is yet another step toward equal rights for gays and lesbians in this country.
Oh, Really? The BBC reports that spending some time at work playing video games increases productivity and job satisfaction. I wonder if the same is true for running a blog at work ...
Private Acts: The "allegations" raised in British "news stories" about "Prince Charles" has caused a bit of a "ruckus" -- even though people still aren't sure what the hubbub is about. British libel laws prevent newspapers from reporting on the unsubstantiated accusations about Prince Charles. But from what I could gather from The Daily Show on Comedy Central last night, somebody caught his Royal Highness in some homosexual act with a servant.
The titillating yet suppressed story has peaked the public's curiosity. But it bothers me that people pay so much attention to these things.
In America, too, we ravenously consume media reports that scour through politicians' sex lives. Yet, we also claim that we hold personal privacy in the highest regard.
We get upset if our government thumbs through the list of library books we checked out. We surely wouldn't want them peeking into our sex lives. But we beckon our media to routinely expose the sexual acts of government officials.
So here's a question: How can we expect politicians to respect our privacy when we never respect theirs?
Gonna find me a good book: Reality TV is now going all the way. A pay-per-view event will feature young women vying to get into the adult-film industry in a contest called "Can You Be A Pornstar?". Former California gubernatorial candidate Marey Carrey (who has done a few porn films herself) will be one of the hosts. A group of 28 women will compete for a yearlong contract with a porn producer and $100,000 cash. People who choose to watch will see "Real people having real sex."
Rolling Back Wages: Some of the illegal immigrants who were arrested while working at Wal-Mart are suing the company for discrimination. They say the company offered them lower wages and fewer benefits because they were nonresidents.
This suit will involve some tricky legal play considering that the immigrants unlawfully entered this country and weren't legally allowed to work for Wal-Mart. But I support them on their lawsuit. Many companies, organizations, farms, etc. actively discriminate against illegal immigrants because the workers usually cannot publicly complain, or risk being deported.
Now, I know that many immigrants follow the rules and come into this country legally, but that doesn't excuse mistreatment of any workers here. Most of the people risking their lives to cross the border don't want to live on welfare or engage in terrorist plots. Whenever I ask an immigrant why he or she came to the U.S., I always get the same answer: "work".
Those immigrants are the hardest workers, living in the poorest conditions, taking the most menial jobs -- and they usually send most of their wages to their families at home. These people aren't taking jobs away from anybody. They fill the jobs nobody else wants -- working as migrant farmers and the like.
Now if Wal-Mart exploited these people and then watched them get arrested, the company should be held legally responsible.
My McBlog says: McDonald's restaurant has got its McNuggets in a bundle after Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary added the word "McJob" to its listings, defining it as, "low-paying and dead-end work". According to BBC, McDonald's CEO Jim Cantalupo wrote a letter to Merriam-Webster arguing that the definition is "a slap in the face" to the fast-food restaurant's 12-million workers, many of whom go on to run their very own McDonald's franchises.
Vision: I'll just leave Bush's words up here without further comment:
Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe, because in the long run stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty. As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment and violence ready for export. And with the spread of weapons that can bring catastrophic harm to our country and to our friends, it would be reckless to accept the status quo.Have a good weekend.
Political Uprise: At last, people are paying attention to the important problems our nation faces. Apparently Americans are having "below-average quantity of sex". Thanks to Outside the Beltway for finding this.
Depressing Politics: With strong economic gains at his back, President Bush is going to North Carolina for a fundraiser and to talk about the economy. Of course, wherever he goes, Bush will be followed by protesters.
That in itself is no problem. But the creative kids plan to mock Bush's handling of the economy by staging a Depression-era bread-and-soup line. This is to show that unemployment has increased since Bush took office.
Nevermind that unemployment is now falling and that Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has predicted that more jobs will be created as the economy grows. The truth is, economic conditions under Bush haven't even come close to anything similar to the Great Depression (over 20 percent unemployment, massive under-employment).
These protesters have a right to say whatever they want. But they can't expect to be taken seriously when they compare cyclical fluctuations in the economy to the worst economic disaster in American history.
Unfortunately, the Democratic presidential candidates say the same things. I just received a press release from Sen. John Edwards, a North Carolina Democrat, that piddles on the news of job growth. "Today’s news cannot change the fact that, under this president, we will lose jobs for the first time since Herbert Hoover," the release says.
What? This is hardly the first time unemployment has gone up since Herbert Hoover, who was president at the start of the Great Depression. Many smaller recessions and job losses have taken place since then.
Democrats and protesters should find something intelligent to say in this campaign, or expect to be ignored.
The only thing really left to worry about are the budget deficits. While I believe we should cut government spending, we do have a war to fight. And the rising economy will help generate more tax revenue for the government to help get rid of the red ink. Overall, it looks like things are going to be all right.
Drawing a Blank: I'm used to politicians playing games when it comes to, well, politics. But I never understand why they play around with serious matters.
Stem cell research is continuing to get caught up in the game. Bush and other conservatives had indicated that they were laying off their hard-line stance against stem cell research, but it appears that they're allowing little of the actual research to take place. Researchers are complaining that they don't have access to the number of stem cells Bush had promised them.
The conservative position on stem cell research is that all life is precious and people shouldn't be playing God. This is a growth from the pro-life stance.
I'm strongly pro-choice, but I can grasp the argument against abortion. A pregnancy that is not terminated will eventually bear a newborn child. Stem cells, on the other hand, aren't going to grow into anything else. There's no logic of "preserving life" if there is no life there at all.
However, researching stem cells can eventually lead to discoveries that may help people who are alive and suffering from a number of diseases (here and here for example). Right now the potential benefits are mostly speculation. But we'll never know what we can get until the research is allowed to continue. Conservatives need to stop politicizing medicine.
Bring on the hate mail: Howard Dean has been getting hammered for his comment that he wants to "be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." Rival Democrats wondered how Dean could be so insensitive that he would pander to racists.
I guess I missed the day that being a Southerner became a hate crime. Truth is, people who fly Confederate flags aren't necessarily racists.
Now, I don't fly or display the Confederate flag. But to me, the Confederate flag is a symbol of Southern pride. It conjures up images of the "Dukes of Hazzard", with the General Lee racing away from Rosco P. Coltrane, and of Lynyrd Skynyrd singing "Sweet Home Alabama" (even though the band was from Florida).
Having grown up in Texas, I would see the Confederate Battle flag from time to time. Some people, including African Americans and other minorities, would wear the flag as headbands and the like. It conveyed a message of "Whoo Hoo! I'm a Southerner, and I'm a rebel."
Then, one day, the Confederate flag suddenly was perceived to mean that the person displaying it deeply wanted to own slaves.
Unfortunately, some racists and white supremacists do use the Confederate flag as a symbol of their hatred. But they also use Christian crosses and say the Bible condones slavery.
People need to understand that the people who do fly the Confederate flag aren't automatically racist. There are many Southerners who see the Confederate flag as a way of expressing a separate identity -- similar to hippies. It's a "To Hell with the Establishment" attitude.
If the Confederate flag is evil because it comes from an era when slavery was legal, then you could say the same about the Texas flag, any other Southern or Eastern U.S. state flag, or even the American flag.
Before you dismiss such conjecture, some people already hate the American flag. In Tennessee, a state legislator refused to join her colleagues for the daily Pledge of Allegiance because she felt the American flag represented slavery and racism.
You have to remember the history of the United States. At one point, states in both the North and South allowed slavery, including Massachusetts and New York. When our nation was formed under the Constitution, state governments were given the most power, except for certain restrictions that were expressly forbidden to them under Article I Section 10. The national Congress was supposed to have limited power, being able to do only what was expressly granted to it under Article I Section 8. The 10th Amendment was meant to further ensure that states retained most of the power. But as the nation matured, the federal government ended up with the most power, leaving the states with less. This proved more beneficial to the North, whose industry benefited from a strong national government, than the South, whose agrarian economy depended on local control.
The Civil War was a fight for states' rights. Now, slavery was a huge part of the issue. States wanted the right to, for one, allow its citizens to own other human beings. But Southern states also wanted the right to set its own tariffs and to nullify federal law. In fact, the Southern states originally tried to secede in 1832 after the federal government enacted tariffs to protect Northern industry. South Carolina tried to nullify that law and threatened to leave the Union. Congress passed the Force Act, which allowed the use of federal troops to stop South Carolina. Andrew Jackson finally approved a compromise that prevented a civil war from breaking out -- a civil war that had nothing to do with slavery.
Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860 under a platform to stop slavery from spreading to other territories in the United States. Although he would have liked to stamp out all slavery, he had no plans to do so. But the South saw its power declining in the national arena, so it decided to secede and retain its power as a unit. Lincoln waged war in an effort to save the Union, not to free slaves. He reluctantly decided to pass the Emancipation Proclamation as a public relations move to make sure foreign nations, who already banned slavery, wouldn't come to the South's aid. And the Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in areas that the Northern armies were set to invade. Slavery continued in Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri -- states that allowed slavery but fought for the North.
The people fighting the war didn't care about slavery. Most Southerners were poor, and slaves were expensive. Very, very few Southerners owned slaves. And the Northerners weren't about to risk their lives to free people that were a different skin color from them. Yes, racism lived in the North, too.
After the war, Radical Republicans sought to punish the South, so Congress passed the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. Congress also passed the 14th Amendment, which weakened states' ability to oppress their own people by ensuring that the Bill of Rights applied state governments as well as the federal government.
Thankfully the North won the war. Besides ending the sick practice of slavery, the North's victory also ensured that the nation acted as one. Had the South won, the states would have retained power to dismiss anything the federal government did. The United States would have ended up like Europe is today. Instead, America has grown to become a super power instead of a weak, squabbling collection of states.
Racial problems persisted in the United States after the Civil War. While racism was prevalent in the North, too, the South was especially harsh on minorities, especially blacks. Fortunately, the Supreme Court, John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts, and Lyndon B. Johnson from Texas pushed for sweeping changes to end the Jim Crow laws and dragged the South into the enlightened era.
The Confederacy has influenced many parts of our culture. In fact, nobody seems to notice, but Texas still flies the another version of the Confederate flag, the Stars and Bars, on the University of Texas at Austin campus, along with the French flag, Spanish flag, Mexican flag, United States flag, and Republic of Texas flag. These are the Six Flags of Texas, which represent the six sovereign nations that at one time or another controlled at least a part of the state of Texas.
The concept of the Six Flags of Texas was later turned into a theme park in Arlington (near Dallas). Different sections of the park were meant to represent the different cultures of the six nations, including the Confederacy. The park did very well, and the company opened more parks around the country. So should all the Six Flags parks change their names to avoid some concocted connection to slavery?
That's not to say that the Confederate Battle flag is not divisive. The Nazi Swastika was originally an old German-pride symbol that Hitler borrowed. Germans who were alive before Hitler came to power have argued that Hitler shouldn't be allowed to tarnish a symbol of German nationalism. Truth is, he did. And you can't separate the hate from the Swastika.
But on the other hand, Native Americans and other cultures have been displaying the Swastika for thousands of years. Take a look at old Native American art, and you'll find the simple symbol prominently displayed.
Obviously, the Native American use of that symbol predates Hitler and in no way condones the Nazi atrocities. But it also shows that some of these issues are not black and white.
The Confederate flag offends many, many people. Out of respect to those people who see the Confederate flag as a racist, divisive symbol, I will never display it. But I think we should remain open minded enough to realize that displaying the Confederate flag is not intended for hate. Sometimes people are just trying to express themselves. We shouldn't rush to judge them -- because that's just a form of prejudice and racism.
What! One of the new designs for the nickel includes a handshake -- one hand representing the U.S. government and the other hand representing Native Americans -- under the year 1803. It's supposed to symbolize the peace and friendship fostered between the American government and the Native Americans back in the 19th Century.
Now, from what I remember from my history courses, the 1800s were not particularly good times in terms of the relationship between the U.S. government and Native Americans. I seem to remember learning about broken treaties, domination, and eventual genocide.
If the designers of the new nickel wanted to honor Native Americans, that would be fine. But to imply that things were all swell between them and the U.S. is historically inaccurate and is just going to offend people today.
2004: It's not just an election year, it's going to be an adventure. Although it may seem like a lot of bickering is going back and forth between Republicans and Democrats now, the real show isn't going to start for several months, when the parties bring out the real ammunition.
There has already been talk of Bush saving Iraq/terrorism information for the re-election year. Some people suspect that he's saving WMD evidence so the good news won't peter out before next November. While that's unsubstantiated, the administration has already announced that it will work to reduce the number of troops in Iraq in 2004, just in time for the election.
And it looks like Democrats are implementing the same strategy. A leaked memo from the minority party's staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence shows Democrats may be planning to hold off on calls for a Bush investigation until Election Day draws nearer.
We can pull the trigger on an independent investigation at any time-- but we can only do so once. The best time to do so will probably be next year either:Ah, politics. Say what you want about it, but it's always entertaining.
A) After we have already released our additional views on an interim report - thereby providing as many as three opportunities to make our case to the public: 1) additional views on the interim report; 2) announcement of our independent investigation; and 3) additional views on the final investigation; or
B) Once we identify solid leads the majority does not want to pursue. We could attract more coverage and have greater credibility in that context than one in which we simply launch an independent investigation based on principled but vague notions regarding the "use" of intelligence.
Heat: An 80-year-old man was mugged, beaten, and robbed of his social security money. To add insult to injury, he has been arrested for using an unlicensed gun to protect his life and his property, according to a New York television station. The mugger got away.
This is just another episode of how overly stringent gun laws don't do anything to stop crime but inhibit a person's right to protect him or herself.
I'm back from a short trip: Was CBS censored? Were they forced to can the Reagan movie? Conspiracy theorists say so. Republicans apparently gave CBS the evil eye for its plans to show a controversial film about the conservative icon. And Republicans are deciding what to do about rules concerning media ownership. Hmmmmmm.
But let's look at the larger picture. I've never seen the movie. I've never even read the script. But the portions that got leaked seemed preposterous.
My favorite part is when a dejected Ronald Reagan declares himself to be the anti-Christ. According to Drudge, Reagan crumbles from the pressure and realizes what evil things he has done.
I'm all for skewering politicians. But this movie was supposed to be a documentary. It appears to be some left-wing wet dream.
People are free to show such movies. But I have no desire to watch. I hear enough lies and distortions about politicians on the news to want to see such trash in a made-for-TV movie. I guess I won't bother ordering Showtime.
In the top 33 percent! When surfing, watch for deadwood. According to the Associated Press, most blogs are being neglected, languishing in cyberspace without updates.
One study of 3,634 blogs found that two-thirds had not been updated for at least two months and a quarter not since Day One.I don't know if I should feel better or worse about my dedication to this blog ...
Sweaty: Actress Minnie Driver is about to switch careers. She plans to work in a Cambodian sweatshop to bring attention to the low-wages and poor conditions those workers are subjected to. Then, who knows, she'll probably make a movie about it.