Amazing: In Washington, DC, the city council may be on the verge of making a good decision. Instead of enacting an all-out smoking ban, elected officials are leaning towards providing tax incentives for businesses to voluntarily become smoke free.
What would likely happen in such a situation is some bars and restaurants would ban smoking -- attracting those who can't stand smoke -- while others could let their patrons smoke tobacco in peace.
As I've mentioned before, a neighboring county in Maryland enacted an all-out smoking ban, which has nearly emptied its bars and restaurants as the smokers drove a few miles to visit the bars in DC. City Council officials worry that if DC bans all smoking in the city, smokers will simply travel a few more miles to Virginia.
P.S. South Park did a great job attacking the anti-smoking lobby in last night's episode.
Deanism: Howard Dean is venturing into the foreign affairs arena. Here's what he said on Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC:
Iran is a more complex problem because the problem support as clearly verifiable as it is in North Korea. Also, we have less-fewer levers much the key, I believe, to Iran is pressure through the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is supplying much of the equipment that Iran, I believe, most likely is using to set itself along the path of developing nuclear weapons. We need to use that leverage with the Soviet Union and it may require us to buying the equipment the Soviet Union was ultimately going to sell to Iran to prevent Iran from them developing nuclear weapons. [emphasis added]Howard Dean's mistake of referring to Russia as the "Soviet Union" has gotten some attention among bloggers. Now, I'm sure the good doctor knows that the Soviet Union disbanded in 1991. So his goof isn't that big of a deal. But some people have wondered, "What would happen if Bush had said that?"
We know that Bush would be raked over the coals and called a moron. Honestly, I've been perplexed by the standard of linguistic expertise we require from our current president.
As a journalist, I hear people misspeak all the time. When I quote them, I tend to fix any grammatical faux pas. If someone mispronounces a word, I quote him as if he said it correctly to convey the intent of the message.
Suddenly journalists couldn't do that with President Bush. I covered Bush a good deal when he was governor, but I've moved onto other topics since he's become president. I don't know if his tongue became clumsier once he stepped onto the national stage, but I suspect that he's getting unfair treatment.
True, Bush has made some pretty notable gaffes. I've read the Bushisms of Slate, and some of them are pretty funny:
"There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again."—Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002Others are understandable mispronunciations we all make every day:
"I'm plowed of the leadership of Chuck Grassley and Greg Ganske and Jim Leach."—Davenport, Iowa, Sept. 16, 2002And others, I can't figure out why they're considered incorrect:
"Let me tell you my thoughts about tax relief. When your economy is kind of ooching along, it's important to let people have more of their own money."—Boston, Oct. 4, 2002Perhaps "ooching" isn't in the dictionary, but people make up their own words all the time to make a point. And the conservative argument about taxes is that the government is taking your money. Bush believes tax relief will let people keep more of the money that was theirs to begin with. So then Slate started doctoring the quotes just to make Bush sound stupid:
"[A]s you know, these are open forums, you're able to come and listen to what I have to say."—Washington, D.C., Oct. 28, 2003Volokh found the whole quote and discovered the Bush was talking about fundraising events and was commenting on how the forums are open to the media so they can report everything he says. Bush even explicitly says afterwards that "there's a difference between that and actually engaging potential opponents in a public discourse in a debate." Yet Slate took the quote out of context to change its meaning.
Whether you agree his policies or not, Bush is a smart guy. If you misunderestimate him, you're just falling for his strategery.
Keeps Getting Better: So now economic productivity increased 9.4 percent in the third quarter this year. That's great, but how many times are they going to readjust that number? Just a little while ago it was 7 percent. Then, oops, it was really 8.1 percent. Then -- dang, wrong again -- now it's 9.4 percent. You almost get the feeling that the Bush administration has a hand in the under-calculation so they can keep reminding everyone over and over again: "Look, the recession is over."
Another Enhancement: I believe I've added an RSS feed to my blog, via Blog Matrix. The little doodad is at the bottom of the sidebar. Truth is, I know diddly squat about HTML, RSS, and technology in general. So I hope this will do whatever it's supposed to do.
Flip Flop: When Republicans push for a Constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage across the nation, and Democrats argue that Massachusetts should set its own standards of marriage, you might think that the political parties have reversed roles in the states-rights debate.
You'd be wrong.
Nothing has changed. Neither party has ever been the champion of states rights. They use it only when it fits their issue. Republicans may argue for states rights when it comes to allowing prayer in school and prohibiting abortion. But they conveniently ignore it when states support liberal issues.
The Department of Justice under President Bush has fought against the use of medicinal marijuana in California, even though voters legalized it in the state. The Drug Enforcement Agency has been told to prosecute doctors who recommend marijuana to treat ailments. And Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered the DEA to suspend or revoke the licenses of doctors who prescribe drugs to assist with suicides in Oregon, even though the state's population voted to make physician-assisted suicide legal.
On other issues, from education standards to the Patience Bill of Rights to food safety, Republicans have passed federal laws that pre-empt state laws, even ones that offer tougher standards. Getting government "off your back" only means cutting taxes and reducing business regulations -- which is nice, but that's not enough.
Democrats have earned the big-government label for good reason. They created Social Security and Medicare, and now they want to nationalize health care (unless health-care benefits are extended under a Republican administration). But they'll play lip service to states rights when the states are fighting for issues that serve their needs. Just take a look at their arguments on the Florida recount in 2000.
Is having a strong national government inherently bad? I don't think so. A lot of good has come from federal supremacy.
The Constitution was designed to limit the national government, giving it just enough power to make sure the states don't kill each other. But as this country matured, the national government filled the power vacuum, making that the U.S. stronger on the international stage.
States tended to abuse rights, such as by allowing slavery. Eventually the states-rights issue was decided in the Civil War and the subsequent passage of the 14th Amendment, forbidding states from trampling on individual rights.
Issues come up from time to time, including segregation and voting rights. And we usually depend on the national government to come up with a solution. Having uniform laws and standards among the states helps this country. That's not to say the federal government should decide all issues. States are best equipped to handle local issues like education, transportation, crime, etc.
But overall, the national government has done a good job of making sure local authorities don't infringe our rights. They protect 2 Live Crew. They protect the right to protest by burning the flag. They protect abortion rights.
If you ever argue for states rights on an issue, ask yourself this: Would you feel the same about states rights if the situation were reversed and the states were trying to do something you oppose? If you wouldn't, then pick a different argument.
No Picture Available: Zhang Di, a 26-year-old woman, is the winner of the Miss Ugly competition held in China. She was considered the most worthy among the 50 contestants, and she won $16,500 (Australian dollars) in plastic surgery. The pageant was held a week ahead of the Miss World competition, also in China.
Simply Irrelevant: The United Nations slaps Iran on the wrist with a censure for trying to build nuclear weapons. I guess now we know how the esteemed body of nations would have reacted if we had irrefutable evidence that Iraq had WMD.
Drug Bust: Liberals and conservatives have finally agreed on something -- this Medicare bill stinks. And you can add the moderate view to that consensus.
I've argued that budget deficits are not entirely a bad thing. They tend to boost the economy, which in turn adds tax revenue to the government coffers.
But this Medicare bill is ridiculous. It's a $400-billion payoff for Bush's re-election. In fact the only people who tend to like this bill are Republican partisans. For a party that used to preach small government, the GOP is becoming reckless with its overspending.
Democrats are sounding alarms that this will lead the way to privatization of Medicare. That's more of a scare tactic than a criticism. The bill only will test some aspects of privatization, and nobody should oppose testing an idea. But Democrats are so desperate now that even the AARP has endorsed the bill that they have to play the line that Bush is evil and wants to kill seniors by buying them prescription drugs.
Democrats can't be taken seriously if they cry wolf like that. If they want a solid argument, here's one: We're fighting a war, and we're pulling out of a recession. We need fiscal responsibility.
oops: During a KKK initiation ceremony, a member of the group was firing a 9mm pistol into the air. One of the bullets came down and struck the new guy in the head, almost killing him, according to the Associated Press. The recruit was blindfolded with his neck in a noose as other members fired paintballs at him. The 9mm was just for dramatic effect.
Growing Popularity: Legislators in Massachusetts who want to keep gays from getting married may have hit another stumbling block -- the state's voters.
Two polls conducted by The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald have found that half of the state population believes gays should be able to get married.
The polls were conducted after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples should get the same legal benefits that heterosexual couples receive. The court is giving the legislature six months to legalize same-sex marriage.
Some conservatives have proposed passing an amendment to the state constitution to nullify the court's ruling. But the polls found that 53 to 54 percent of the state's population would oppose that.
Hopefully Massachusetts legislators will come to terms with legal and political reality and will fix the discrimination that's now in the law.
This blog message contains 3.5 posts: The FDA may start requiring companies to include the nutritional content for an entire package of food instead of just for the bite-size servings they get away with now, according to The Wall Street Journal. We've all seen this problem on a 20-ounce bottle of Coke with its label saying it contains 100 calories per serving, only to find out one bottle equals 2.5 servings. Of course, we just chug the entire bottle and its 250 calories.
The most ridiculous example I've heard is the Pam cooking spray, which flashes a label "Fat Free Cooking" even though it's pretty much an entire can of fat. Checking the back on the nutrition label shows no fat, no calories, no nothing. That's because one serving is equal to spraying the can for one-third of a second, or 0.266 grams. Federal rules allow any food product with less than half a gram of fat per serving to be advertised as "fat free". Most of us, however, coat a skillet for several seconds.
At the same time, it's sad that we're relying on the federal government to compute elementary-school math for us. The nutrition labels are helpful for those people who need to watch their diet, for health or medical reasons. But the government can only do so much to cure the obesity problem in this country. Eat what you like, but get some exercise, too.
Drugs are Deadly: Looks like I was wrong about marijuana. Apparently it can kill you (Man Chokes to Death on Pot). Maybe we can still decriminalize marijuana, but we'll have to include government warnings to "Remove from bag before consuming."
Sad: It's inevitable that the U.S. will fall victim to another terrorist attack. As tragic as that will be, it breaks my heart to realize that so many people will blame Bush.
Say what you want about him, but he did not cause any of this mess. Yet some Democrats are blaming him for the latest bombing in Turkey. Both Republicans and Democrats are full of mindless sheep who utter complete nonsense. But it amazes me how liberals can be so hateful.
They're supposed to be the ones full of compassion. However, they blindly ignore the multiple terrorist attacks against the U.S. (WTC-bombing in 1993, USS Cole), and unleash their anger against our president instead of our enemy.
If you don't believe me, check out the comment section of Calpundit about the latest Al Qaeda bombings in Turkey. Kevin Drum provides many thoughtful, intelligent posts -- many with which I agree, others with which I don't. But his online entourage is embarrassing:
We wanted a war, so we got one, actually two. Who are we to dictate how the enemies will fight back?And another:
Starting an incredibly stupid, inflammatory, illegal war in Iraq for no good reason that we had to lie to convince others had nothing to do with it!Somebody named Al posted this response:
This is good news, Kevin. We even asked for it.
Judging by the glee of the anti-war people here, I'd say that they already had a bad name.So this is the retort:
Yep, "bring em on" were code words for "blow up innocent Turkish civilians"! It's Bush's fault!
And, hey, this is all obviously due to Iraq! After all, al Qaeda would NEVER hurt innocent civilians in an office building if it weren't for the war in Iraq!
Hey AL, you're a spineless dick.There were some other posts that included more thoughtful responses. But far too many were just angry blather and contradictions. People accused Bush of pulling out of Afghanistan too fast then said the war in Iraq is taking too long. They claimed that we're losing because of a few terrorist attacks.
Now take your cheap name calling and personal insults elsewhere. They are neither appropriate nor welcome here.
So Bush-haters reading this list, pay attention to this next guy's response:
Are these comments typical? If so, and if they represent mainstream Democratic feelings, then it doesn't really matter who gets the nomination because Bush is going to win in a landslide. If you don't have a credible response to the worldwide threat of Islamic fanaticism (and appeasement doesn't count as a credible response), and if you merely take delight in the murder of Americans and America's friends, then I don't think the American people are going to trust you with the keys to the White House.I would very much like to see constructive debate on how to win the war against terrorism. Unfortunately I only see one side fighting the war and the other side throwing insults.
God's Law: It's strange -- Europeans often criticize U.S. politicians for invoking the name of God in speeches and whatnot. They generally prefer their politicians to be more secular.
But now a number of countries want the European Union's Constitution to make a reference to God in the preamble. Many Europeans hope to acknowledge the continent's Christian roots in its new body of law.
Ireland has come out in support of mentioning a deity, joining Poland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Slovakia, and the Netherlands, according to The Scotsman. France is opposing the idea, and I imagine that others will as well.
The U.S. Constitution makes no reference to God, and its Bill of Rights specifically prohibits the government from establishing a religion. Considering Europe is filled with people from diverse religious backgrounds (Christians, Muslims, Jews, Atheists), I would hope that the EU would do the same.
On a completely irrelevant note, I know that I'm an ignorant American, but European newspapers need to explain the acronyms that they use in the stories. When looking for an online article about this subject, I ran across this story about the ratification of the EU Constitution. Although it is written in English, I could barely understand any of it. The paper should at least include a handy reference guide to explain what "NOS", "WD", and "PvdA" actually mean.
Match Made in Heaven: Andrew Sullivan links to a list that quotes present-day arguments against homosexual marriage and decades-old arguments against inter-racial marriage. They are essentially identical. Hopefully homosexual marriage will come to be accepted down the road as well.
Just Say No: The Democratic presidential candidates are angry -- with the AARP. The senior-citizens group has endorsed a Republican legislative package that would add prescription-drug coverage to Medicare. The group will also spend $7-million over three days in advertisements to persuade others to support the bill.
The Democrats, who normally can count on the AARP's support, are feeling a bit betrayed. According to the Associated Press, the candidates criticized certain aspects of the bill, but saved most of their criticism for the AARP supporting a Republican proposal a year before the election. "I wish AARP had chosen to oppose this bill," said Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. "I wish AARP was spending its $7 million telling Americans what is wrong with this bill."
Marriage and Mass: The Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that the state must allow same-sex marriages. Similar to what happened in Vermont, the court has given the state legislature 180 days to make a new law.
I've argued before that preventing gays from getting married is unconstitutional because it violates the "equal protection" clause of the 14th Amendment. And it's inherently unfair to deny couples the legal protections that come from marriage just because they are the same sex.
The tradition of a marriage being between a man and a woman is irrelevant. Tradition used to dictate that a married couple had to be the same race and the same religion. Now such discrimination sounds archaic.
I know conservatives are going to try to fight this. There's even talk about a constitutional amendment. This homophobia actually weakens the institution of marriage instead of protecting it.
Heads or Tails: In case you didn't know what the state of Texas looks like, you're about to find out. The Texas quarter is set to roll out of banks, and the 25-cent piece looks pathetic.
As you can see in the link here, it's basically the outline of the state, a big star, and the phrase "The Lone Star State".
I grew up in Texas, and I saw the other proposed designs. This one was the worst of them. Others included images of the state's rich history and culture: the Alamo, the Old West, cowboys, etc. There was even a joke going around that the Texas quarter would be bigger than the rest. But we ended up with a map and a star.
It's disappointing to see that so many of the states have wasted their attempt to liven up the tails-side of the quarter. I guess we'll all enjoy the return of the U.S. eagle when the states are done.
Let me know when it's safe: Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to be sworn in as governor of California today. While his election has prompted much controversy and parody, some people are opening up to the idea of his running the state. Unexpectedly, some environmental groups say they are pleasantly surprised by the movie star's commitment to the greenery, according to The Boston Globe.
Now, this may be some simple sucking up that usually occurs when a new political power takes office. The trick is to say you're open to working with the new officeholder -- whether it's true or not -- then within a couple months complain that he or she is practicing politics and refusing to play nice. It's fun when two sides pull that trick on each other.
But for now it looks like Californians are getting used to having the bodybuilder as their new governor. In the mean time, I'm glad I live on the opposite coast.
Light 'em Up: City and countywide smoking bans are hurting businesses. In Bethesda, Maryland, bars are losing customers to neighboring Washington, DC -- where you can't vote for a member of Congress, but at least you have the freedom to light up.
I'm not a smoker (save for the occasional cigar at barbecues), but the trend of trampling on people's rights to smoke in public is getting out of hand. Hell, Montgomery County, Maryland -- which includes Bethesda -- tried to ban smoking in your own home if a neighbor objected.
If people don't like smoke, they should not patronize the bars and restaurants that allow smoking. Let the marketplace sort it out. If a business wants to attract nonsmokers, then it should decide to outlaw smoking at its location. But the drop in customers at the bars means that these nonsmokers aren't going out any more often when lawmakers forbid smoking.
For help on this issue, the last place I'd consider a bastion of freedom is the United Nations. But sure enough, New York lawmakers are in a tizzy because they can't stop U.N. diplomats from smoking at the organization's coffee shops and the like. I wonder if we can count on them to liberate us from such oppression.
Tireless: As the Senate extends its marathon filibuster of filibusters, a clear winner is emerging: the Democrats.
Before the pointless talkathon started, Republicans seemed to have a legitimate gripe that the Democrats were using stall tactics to block Bush's judicial nominees. But now that the Republicans have staged this media event, the news spotlight is shining and revealing the details.
Now everyone knows that the Democrats have helped confirm 168 of Bush's nominees, blocking only four. Had the Republicans stuck with the vague notion that the Democrats were cheating, they could have easily used this to their advantage in the next election. But since the public knows what's really going on, the Republicans just look like whiners who are wasting the government's time by bottling up the Senate with pointless yakking.
Here we go again: I was wondering when this was going to come up. The Ten Commandments are posted at courthouses in Texas and many other states. Many of these monuments have been in place for decades -- not snuck in at midnight like in Alabama. But it's still inappropriate. Now a federal circuit court has ruled that Texas can keep its monument in place. Maybe the Supreme Court will take a gander at this issue after all.