"His favorite vegetable was peas."
I really enjoyed Maira Kalman's pictoral story of visiting Monticello.Read the whole thing! A brief portrait of one of the greats.
Anybody want to recommend a biography?
June 26, 2009
February 2, 2009
He Deserves It
Sometimes I wish I could run into, say, Rush Limbaugh out on vacation in the Gorge. What if he was just down at the bar, having a brew with his buddies, off guard and relaxed?
I could walk up, shake his hand, introduce myself, and then sock him in the face. Repeatedly. Kick him in the nuts too.
I'm surprised no one's beaten me to it.
January 20, 2009
GOBAMA
YES!
I am so proud of and hopeful for my country.
November 11, 2008
More on Prop 8
From Shannon, this video/transcript on Prop 8 really nails it.
If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not… understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? In a time of impermanence and fly-by-night relationships, these people over here want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option. They don’t want to deny you yours. They don’t want to take anything away from you. They want what you want—a chance to be a little less alone in the world.
November 8, 2008
YES WE CAN
I am astoundingly proud and happy for my country right now, have been all week. Never in my life had I cried tears of joy over any political event.
Just think of what it means to have a president who says: "I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too."
And who invokes Lincoln:
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
I hope that we can work together and keep our eyes on the greater good.
It means so much to realize that the work I do every day may soon be with the current, with the wind at my back, instead of against it. I barely know how to imagine a government that will take seriously its responsibility to the people to help make our home a more perfect Union - that will fund and support everything from universal healthcare to civil liberties to my humble piece: sustainable, human, locally-focused food systems. So much of the work that must be done will take place on a local level, and will demand commitment and effort from all of us for the changes to happen.
I hope that we can keep these promises.
The dark spot on all of this was Prop 8's passing in California. To discriminate against someone because you don't like how they live their lives flies in the face of American ideals. Whatever happened to liberty and equality? But I trust that tolerance and equality are on the winning side of history. And Obama may not be the gay rights champion we'd like, but I know he'll carry the ball a little further down the field.
I hope that we can carry this momentum forward.
October 30, 2008
SOON
People, I am so excited.
October 3, 2008
'Debate'
February 4, 2008
Si Se Puede
My buddy Lance is on his way to Boise to campaign on Super Tuesday and I wanted to go so bad. But I have work and meetings scheduled and I couldn't go on 8 hours' notice.
But I am damn excited. How could you not be?
January 30, 2008
Obama has a Posse
Found this via my buddy Phil:
Shepard Fairey does Obama. That's some nice design work. Very, very nice.
January 29, 2008
Votin'
It really is shitty that Florida's Democrats don't get to have a voice in the primary.
Still curious to see who comes out on top in ol' DeSoto. Obama is, so far, rockin' Alachua (UF) and Leon (FSU) counties. Of course.
I made the questionable decision to register as an independent in Florida, and I'm still registered there, so I don't actually get to vote. Stupid closed primaries. If I stay in Oregon after this year I guess I'll need to go ahead and change my residency. Am oddly reluctant to do this.
May 2, 2007
Tight Budgetry
Since I'm, uh, pretty much livin' the Food Stamp Challenge every week out here in the poorest county in Oregon, I was glad to see some NYTimes coverage yesterday on Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski's participation in the Oregon Food Bank's Food Stamp Challenge - he and his wife ate for a week on $21 each, the average amount an individual receives in federal food stamp benefits. That's $3 a day.
Mr. Kulongoski has made hunger an issue since he was first elected in 2002. That fall, he said in an interview, he was surprised to learn that Oregon ranked high on the list of what the Department of Agriculture used to call hunger and now calls “food insecurity.” Oregon’s timber and agricultural industries had long been struggling, driving up unemployment, and the high-tech boom that had benefited places like Portland had started to unravel.
I've been very impressed with the Oregon Food Bank and the food security work that's being done on a state and local level, and there is indeed a real need for programs like food stamps and food pantries: in Ontario, a town of only 11,000 residents, one food pantry alone serves over 1,000 residents a month. That's not even counting several smaller pantries and partnerships for distribution through human services nonprofits.
Which reminds me - if any of y'all have any super-easy, super-cheap tofu recipes, drop me a line. I'm working with the local food bank to develop some easy, cheap, kid-friendly ways to use tofu that we can demo at the food pantries using products available there; the warehouse frequently gets donated tofu and many people are leery of eating it. (in development currently: tofu lasagna, tofu chocolate mousse, tofu smoothies, and a few others)
April 3, 2007
Voting Rights in FL
This is great news for Florida:
Gov. Charlie Crist said Monday that he hoped to persuade members of the Florida cabinet this week to end the practice of stripping convicted felons of their right to vote.Florida is the most populous of three states whose constitutions require withdrawal of voting rights from all convicted felons, and it has the nation’s largest number of disenfranchised former offenders.
There are nearly a million Florida residents who would be affected by this change.
“I believe in my heart that everybody deserves a second chance,” Mr. Crist said. “And I’m hopeful that maybe later this week we’ll have an opportunity to restore civil rights for Floridians and give them that right to vote.”
Now he just has to convince one more cabinet member to side with him - Alex Sink, the Democratic chief financial officer, supports lifting the ban. The two Republicans on the cabinet don't.
(via NYT)
January 18, 2007
SRI
I think I'm more optimistic about the role that Socially Responsible Investing can play in activism and corporate reform, but this is an interesting piece at TNR by Dartmouth '03 Bradford Plumer.
Here's the typical take:
For most corporations, after all, there's no real penalty for being shunned by the socially responsible community. Virtually all SRI mutual funds--and most public pension funds--now screen out tobacco companies, but Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco have no trouble raising capital elsewhere. SRI may be increasingly popular, but the $2.29 trillion in assets screened by the community is just chump change in the $136 trillion global capital market--most of whose investors worry only about making a profit. For every health-conscious fund that wants to dump tobacco stock, there are dozens of investors willing to buy.
Right. But, much more interestingly:
The other problem, as Aaron Chatterji and Siona Listokin recently argued in an article for Democracy, is that codes of conduct and voluntary initiatives often amount to nibbling at the edges rather than significant reform. [...]In the end, government action is often the only thing that can dramatically alter corporate behavior. Concerned investors are less likely to stop Ameriquest from preying on low-income neighborhoods than well-designed legislation and tough law-enforcement. The Times chastised the Gates Foundation for investing in pharmaceutical companies that often price retroviral drugs too high for the AIDS patients the organization is trying to help. But persuading drug companies to be altruistic won't work as well as reforming an intellectual property regime--supported by Big Pharma--that makes it harder to sell cheap generic drugs in Africa. Of course, Bill Gates's company (itself no angel) relies on those very trade laws to maintain its monopoly in operating systems--yet another reminder that things are never so simple.
[...] Both SRI and shareholder activism can still do a world of good, by pushing for modest changes and raising awareness about corporate wrongdoing. But it has real limits. One final anecdote: Last week, Exxon announced that it would stop funding attacks on the science of climate change, but it seems to have done so not because of pressure from activists but rather out of fear that Democrats in Congress are going to shift the global warming debate--and the company doesn't want to be left behind. In all things, the messy business of politics still matters.
Well, yes.
$2.29 out of $136 trillion might be chump change, but one out of every 8 dollars in the US is SRI, and as SRI firms continue to grow, so will their influence.
(Read the whole piece here.
January 11, 2007
Minimum Wage on the Idaho Border
There's a great piece in today's Times about the minimum wage - anecdotal, of course, but an interesting case study about two towns on the ID - WA border. Idaho has the federal minimum wage, $5.15, and Washington has the highest in the country - just under $8.
Nearly a decade ago, when voters in Washington approved a measure that would give the state’s lowest-paid workers a raise nearly every year, many business leaders predicted that small towns on this side of the state line would suffer.But instead of shriveling up, small-business owners in Washington say they have prospered far beyond their expectations. In fact, as a significant increase in the national minimum wage heads toward law, businesses here at the dividing line between two economies — a real-life laboratory for the debate — have found that raising prices to compensate for higher wages does not necessarily lead to losses in jobs and profits.
Idaho teenagers cross the state line to work in fast-food restaurants in Washington, where the minimum wage is 54 percent higher. That has forced businesses in Idaho to raise their wages to compete.
(Read the whole thing!)
You see something similar here on the Oregon border, where the minimum wage is also higher than it is in Idaho.
November 21, 2006
Worst President Ever?
Somehow I missed this essay when it came out in May. I'm linking it here 'cause I want to keep it for future reference (and to send to people who persist in supporting Bush).
It's not wildly partisan or angry - it's just methodically damning across the board, especially when it comes to the things that count - honesty and leadership.
November 17, 2006
Gore x2
OK, so when I asked if people thought Al Gore could win the presidency in 08, I got 2 solid NOs and a question. (everyone else: I see the hits for this site and I know more of you read and did not respond, boooo)
First, the question: do you think Gore could defeat Rudy?
My response: probably. I guess a better response would be why the devil would anyone want Rudy Giuliani to be President? I don't know much about him, to be honest. Who are his supporters?
As for the two NOs: thanks for y'all's thoughts. I was kind of surprised, which means it was good for me to hear your responses. I know a lot of culturally astute and intelligent people who don't really like Gore or don't think he could ever win, and it's good to remember that before I run off and jump on the idealist train full-speed ahead. But... why don't you like him? Who would you support, and who could actually win?
[Really, I see it as Gore, Shillary, or Obama. No one else has the, uh, personality. Or vision.)
Also I just read this piece in SFGate about the case for Al Gore and it got me all excited again. He has the historical precedent on his side, among other things.
And as much as it pains me to say this, you can win the presidency without tons of support from the rural conservative white vote, which is certainly where Gore would have a tough time overcoming his image. Take Tester, in Montana - Burns (R) took 44 counties, Tester (D) took 15. Most of those were the more densely populated (and liberal) parts of the state, and he got just enough of the rural places to squeak by. Totally doable. Ditto for McCaskill (D) in Missouri and Kulongoski (D-Gov) in Oregon.
Here's an interesting piece in New West on how Tester was able to make Montana blue not by winning the rural counties but by simply cutting his losses there, losing the overall vote but by slim enough margins that the endcount put him ahead: Rural Montana Voters Carried Jon Tester’s Victory
Rednecks
That's our Adam Putnam:
Examining the 2006 midterms, Putnam blamed the GOP defeat on “the independent vote, the women vote, the suburban vote.” He said that “heck, even the white rednecks who go to church on Sunday didn't come out to vote for us.”
Putnam is a Republican representative for Florida's 12th, which is just north of where I live. He used to represent my county in the Florida House. He's the second-youngest member of Congress.
But he's a loser. I mean, he even tried to get MANATEES exempted from a marine mammal protections program. Manatees, people.
November 16, 2006
Free Trade
I've been reading along with some interesting economics discussions online. Most of it I don't really care to try to summarize because I would botch the specifics. I do, however, want to make note of this comment by a Tufts undergrad discussing his/her introductory microecon class:
He did have us chant "free trade is good for all people,"
Oh dear.
November 14, 2006
Gore
A couple of liberal blogs have been talking about the possibility of Al Gore running in 2008. I would drop anything and everything in 2008 to work full-time on that campaign.
Quick straw poll, y'all, please drop a note in the comments -
1) Should he run?
2) Could he win?
November 9, 2006
FL-13
Ah, Florida. Your voting problems never cease. This from my home district, home of one of the most expensive House races ever:
Democrat Christine Jennings lost to Republican Vern Buchanan by 368 votes, making it the second closest congressional race in the country.More than 18,000 voters who showed up at the polls voted in other races but not the Buchanan-Jennings race.
That means nearly 13 percent of voters did not vote for either candidate -- a massive undercount compared with other counties, including Manatee, which reported a 2 percent undervote.
If the missing votes had broken for Jennings by the same percentage as the counted votes in Sarasota County, the Democrat would have won the race by about 600 votes instead of losing by 368, according to a Herald-Tribune review. Even if the undervote had been 8 percent -- more than three times what it was in Manatee -- Jennings would have won by one vote.
While some have speculated that people simply chose not to vote in the District 13 race, many voters say the unusual undervote was caused by badly designed touch-screen ballots, which they say hid the race or made it hard to verify if they had cast their vote.
Hey, at least DeSoto did it right - they only had a 1% undervote.
November 8, 2006
Rumsfeld Quits
Holy cow. Rumsfeld is quitting.
Also, it's almost certain that VA and MT are going to go to the Dems.
If I'm dreaming, don't wake me up.
Waking Up to Good News
Ahh, victory. Woke up this morning to loads of good news. Dems got the House and quite possibly the Senate!
And they're doing a recount in FL-13, my district, because the margin was under 400 votes. Jennings is down now, but hey, I'll keep my fingers crossed. Even my dad, who usually doesn't get into political campaigns, put a sign out in our yard for her.
And Kulongoski (D, Gov) held Oregon! Handily! Whew! Go I-5 corridor! Go more-densely-populated liberal hippie Willamette Valley! My coworkers hate you all today, but I do not!
Worst news (for me): Crist taking Florida's governorship. My lord do I dislike that man.
Second-worst news: Otter and Sali won in ID (Gov and ID-1). Sali is a huge moron, but unfortunately, it seems that most of Western Idaho doesn't think so.
Unsurprising: Walden (R) took OR-2, the Big East, easily.
p.s. South Dakota, you rule.
November 7, 2006
Florida Sucks
Good news on the national scene, but Florida... well, Jim Davis is out, here comes 4 years of the got damn Super Tan Man. And it looks like Christine Jennings is out in my district, too. WTF? She was even way up in the polls. Damn.
Glued
So maybe I do kinda wish I had a TV right now. Watching elections results on your laptop is a little anticlimactic. Maybe it's time for some tunes or something.
By the Way,
If election day goes well and you are one of my more liberal friends, don't be surprised if I call you up to be all, YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! SWEEEEEEEEEEEET! I may or may not have a large bottle of beer on reserve for this evening.
Right now, just antsy for the results. Trying to get work done so that the time moves faster.
V O T E
Today's the day, y'all. You've probably been told to vote 2390274 times already this week. But I'll say it again - VOTE! Even if you're busy, even if you think it doesn't matter.
This counts double for Floridians - Jim Davis needs every vote he can get. I mailed in my ballot absentee last week. The stakes in this election are huge - there's the issues, from growth in DeSoto County to hurricane insurance in Florida to energy independence and Iraq across the country, and then there's the politics. If the Dems win today, it's a wedge against Bush & Co.'s policies and a way to wrest back some power. But I didn't need to tell you this, you already knew it. So what are you waiting for? Go vote!
November 6, 2006
Morning Afternoon LOLz: Excusing Rush
This chuckler was in last week's local paper (emphasis mine):
But a few years ago a curious scandal emerged. Rush [Limbaugh], it was muttered darkly, was an addict turned onto jolly-drugs - the implication being he was a hypocrite using prescription medications for recreational purposes. It was further accused he'd gone “doctor-shopping” for medicos to provide him with such closely-controlled substances. Allow me to educate you, friends.Rush explained at the time he was suffering from severe back pain. For anyone who has never experienced this, when your back hurts you hurt all over. I've been there myself, although luckily not very long at a time. I can't say how many of you may have experienced serious chronic pain, but I can speak from recent experience.
He then goes on to detail how badly HIS back has been hurting lately, which clearly excuses Limbaugh of any wrongdoing whatsoever.
I'm not wealthy like Rush and I can't buy doctors to prescribe pain-killing drugs, but believe me I would do it if I could. It wouldn't be for fun or “recreational purposes” either ... it'd just be to get by from one day to the next.
Ah, rural newspaper columnists.
October 20, 2006
Payback Time
The great thing about listening to NPR every morning is hearing of Republican scandal after Republican scandal - and the tight, Dem-leaning races coming up in November.
What I'm really wondering, though, is this - who's gonna be the Democratic candidate for President in 2008?
I swear to God if they think that JOHN FREAKING KERRY can win they're nuts. Come on people. Why do I keep reading this? He already tried. He lost. Did you ever talk to anyone in a red state about John Kerry? No no no no no. Same with Edwards, Bayh, etc etc. Mediocre old-school white male Democrats. Yawn. Every piece of opinionating I've read on this question puts it down to fundraising - who can outraise Hillary?
I dunno about Hillary Clinton. I'll take her over anyone mentioned above, but she doesn't inspire a lot of enthusiasm. She's not a visionary, she's a typical Dem who happens to be a woman and who happens to have some serious fundraising power. The most liberal activists find her disappointing - not liberal enough - and the more moderate or slightly conservative types find her shrilly liberal. Not like we've heard that problem before. I wonder if she has enough - well, any - crossover appeal. I wonder if a woman can be elected in wartime. I mean, ideologically I absolutely side with the idealistic radicals, but I know full well that that's not the majority, and I'm ok with taking the next best thing in the name of progress. Come visit Arcadia sometime (or Ontario, for that matter) and I'll show you why. But I'm getting off topic.
In a perfect world, Al Gore would be the next President. There are SO MANY REASONS why. But he'd have to do a lot to win over the millions of people who internalized the Gore caricature from 2000. I don't know if that could happen. Who else, then?
Barack Obama is my other dream candidate. He has so much going for him. I mean, sheesh, even my old pal David Brooks likes him (I used to loooove David Brooks in high school, mostly because I read him in the Atlantic and had not yet caught on to his tricks).
Mostly I'm just curious as to what others are thinking. I don't know if any of y'all are wasting as much time as I am thinking about this stuff (well, except you, Seal) but I'd love to know your thoughts.
Also, anybody else find the liberal politics blogosphere kind of ridiculous lately? I'm in the market for a source of good, thoughtful political commentary that's not coming from Camp Obnoxious (hi dkos).
ALSO. If you are from Florida I hope you are registered to vote. Jim Davis needs your help like whoa. More on that later.
September 19, 2006
The Latest Blogosphere Blowout
I don't know how many of y'all - if any - have been following the latest Big Blowout in the liberal blogosphere. I have an office job and sit at my computer for 8 hours a day. I have.
In short, so that what follows makes sense, this is what happened: one of Hillary Clinton's advisors invited some big dogs in liberal blogging to come up to Harlem and meet Bill Clinton. Post-event, when the photographs appeared, readers noticed something that had gone unmentioned by the attendees: there appeared to be no people of color at the meeting (there was female and non-hetero presence, but the picture is heavy on the white male). Debates, anger, questions, pontifications, condescensions, and high emotions flew across the community. Overall liberal blog perspective: yeah, that sucks, but it wasn't intentional, folks were invited but couldn't come, next time it ought to be better, don't make this a huge deal. Overall liberal POC (people of color) blog perspective: this is a huge deal, it's completely ridiculous and a slap in the face and illustrates a huge disconnect in progressive blogging AND progressive politics in how liberals think about race.
Ok, still with me? Continuing - as the furor continued, a frequent contributor to Firedoglake (huge liberal blog) decided that it would be a good idea to tell one of the most vocal critics of the meeting, an African-American woman, not to "assail her betters" by having the nerve to get angry about the meeting, starting a whole NEW world of trouble.
I don't want to get into personal commentary on this event - plenty has been said already, better than I could say it, and if you want to read some articulate and interesting discussion of the matter, check out this piece from The Republic of T and this from Pam's House Blend.
What this whole thing really made me think about - and want to mention - is how much I miss Casque & Gauntlet* - specifically as a safe discussion space for talking about difficult issues without fear of persecution. As I read the fiery blog posts this week, and as I daily read blogs written by people of varying races and opinions, the major theme I see in discussions is defensiveness. When POC allege racism, whites respond defensively, often condescendingly. When whites question the charges, POC respond defensively, often angrily. It's not just a racial or political thing, either - I see the same issue at some of the feminist and environmentalist blogs I read. It's as if people, when questioned or challenged, read that as an attack and proceed to bellow that they're doing their damndest to cling to some hard-won scrap of territory and can't BY GOD be bothered to set foot off of that solid ground lest they lose everything.
(A recent notable exception to this is the recent feminism 'open question day' that happened on Molly Saves the Day, Feministe, and Pandagon, among others, wherein the bloggers promised to answer all questions about feminism asked in good faith. I think they're still working on answering all of the questions that were asked. I know that I learned a lot from reading the comments, and it gave everyone a chance to feel safe asking a question that might ordinarily be deemed ignorant.)
The other day I was reading a blog post somewhere about whether or not it's ok to ask a person of color what their race or ethnicity is (I've lost the link, bother). The blogger stated that it is never under any circumstances acceptable, as it is racist, nosy, and Otherizes the person instantly. Having never heard this line of argument before, I had a few questions (namely, what about close friends? what if I, too, were a minority? what if I was having conversation with someone and was unsure if they were Korean or Chinese, or Cuban or Puerto Rican?). But when I looked at the comments on the post, someone had already asked such questions and been tersely shot down. So I didn't post any questions, because I didn't want to be attacked for my ignorance. (Even in writing this, I note that my tone has become defensive, yikes)
Thus I couldn't agree more with what Pam noted here in a comment on another of Terrance's entries:
From my vantage point as I’ve said many times at my blog, POC and whites need a safe space to really discuss race. Political correctness has forced people into defensive corners of silence, and blow ups like these occur and people wonder why it gets so vile.[...]
I understand where the Liza’s emotion comes from when it seems like, as it did with the big boys ignoring blogger women, you see the same “oversights” occur over and over. Her approach — and the reaction to it — will now likely result in silence in the corners again. Sigh. Hands will be wrung, nothing much will happen, and eventually another flame war will ensue.
I learned more about race, racism, injustice, power, and privilege in a few evenings' open conversation at C&G than I did in a lifetime of living in a very diverse Florida town and several years of expensive classes at Dartmouth - because at C&G, it was ok to ask questions and meet in the middle. I did not always agree with everyone in the room, nor did they always agree with me. I stayed silent more than I spoke, and I could have been even more open than I was. It was by no means perfect and we weren't always able to completely understand one another. But we always got somewhere, because those of us who hung out and talked on those long nights listened and contributed and tried our best to come at issues with the intent of finding common ground, not of defending our carefully-constructed territories, and sometimes we succeeded. We were a real mix of people: white, asian-american, black, latino, stereotypes checked at the door. I'm really hoping that I'll be able to find more communities like C&G, whether virtual or real, but in the meantime, I guess the best thing to do is to keep reading and keep thinking, and try to actually ask my questions and initiate positive dialogue.
Hope this is coherent. I've got more thoughts on the matter that perhaps I'll get to sometime soon.
* C&G is a (non-secret, obviously) senior society at Dartmouth College. The society owns a house next to campus that serves as living space and social space for members, most of whom don't know one another before being invited to join. This is where I met the people who I've referenced above and where we held our conversations.
September 18, 2006
Not Again...
Is there some rule somewhere that says that only Republicans can engender this kind of response in people?
"He has that warm, genuine friendship," said Peggy Farmer, a longtime GOP activist in Volusia County. "I really feel he thinks of me as his friend."
The woman above is referring to Charlie "Super Tan Man" Crist. I hate that entire news pieces can be written solely to place Davis and Crist at opposite ends of the personality spectrum. Come on. Why does this happen every time? I've watched Jim Davis and he is perfectly personable, if serious. Charlie seems smarmy and fake-friendly. But they're certainly not quoting anyone who says that, or bothering to look beyond a half-assed false dichotomy that doesn't exist. And this one hurts my soul:
Davis' serious demeanor better reflects the looming crisis of skyrocketing property taxes and insurance. But his stilted speaking style and strict adherence to talking points have supporters worried he can't connect with Floridians more interested in comfort food politics rather than orders to eat their veggies.
Good Lord. This story then goes on to describe the race as a "classic choice between style and substance."
Well, yes, if you insist on oversimplifying and relentlessly stereotyping the candidates.
If I weren't so angry about Florida politics all the time, I'd probably find it funny that even in terrible articles from conservative newspapers that oversimplify the governor's race, they do get one thing right: Charlie Crist isn't actually competent. He's not a details guy, or even a basic competency guy (how can you serve as the state's education commissioner and yet not know even the basics of the state test, the FCAT?). He's a self-described "happy warrior."
Unlike Jeb Bush, who was infatuated with "white papers" delineating each detail of reform, Crist offers warm-milk pledges to improve education and lower property taxes with little explanation. It may not matter.When Crist's speech ends with a clarion call for a bright future, passionately pleading for voter's hearts and their votes with a promise that he's "fighting for you," the crowd roars before they line up for a photo and hug.
No, no, no, no, no.
September 14, 2006
YESSSS
Effing awesome news on the Florida political front - Jim Davis, the Democratic candidate for governor, chose an excellent running-mate this morning: former Senator Daryl Jones of Miami. There's a lot of tactical reasons why this was a good choice, and you can read about them here in this good St. Pete Times piece. Personally, though, I'm just excited that Florida Dems are recognizing that a bunch of rich white male lawyers aren't the only people who have a stake in Florida's governance. This is hella diverse state and Jones would be the first black lieutenant governor in Florida's history.
On the Republican side, Charlie Crist, a lawyer, chose another middle-aged millionaire white lawyer (who works for that trashy Morgan & Morgan firm based here in Southwest FL). (Read about it here.)
As an aside, here's why I try to link only from the St. Pete Times as opposed to a more local Southwest Florida paper - check out this News-Press fishwrapper that came out just before Davis announced his choice, and compare it to the updated version here.
You should see the op-ed sections of the papers down here. I don't know why the Gulf side of Florida has to be where all the conservative old folks come to develop grotesque tans...
September 11, 2006
September 11.
ABC's Path to 9/11 docudrama has been a source of disagreement here at home. It's highlighted for me something that I find continually challenging and frustrating - my dad and I, while we tend to agree on most 'big' moral issues, just don't know how to negotiate the spaces where we disagree - especially when it comes to George W. Bush. Anything at all that I say implying Bush's faults is met with skepticism and disdain for my alarm, and anything that he says implying that maybe it's not as big a deal as I think it is is met with just as much skepticism (and anger). We aren't getting anywhere. We haven't gotten anywhere in a while. (This is, obviously, a problem that runs deeper than just this one example, it's the same issue that is bedeviling liberals everywhere, see also: story of my life so far) I don't really know what to do about it, but it's been on my mind a lot the past few days as this 9/11 film controversy raged.
As regards the 9/11 film, Dad (and a lot of other people, really) doesn't have a problem with fictionalized scenes or insinuations made without factual basis. He thinks that as long as it's mostly right, it's fine, that people need to know the history behind 9/11. To which I say: of course we need to know the history. But a whole bunch of prominent historians have come out in opposition to the film.
In response to lots of criticism, ABC made some last-minute big (but not big enough) edits.
If there is one thing that's on my mind today, this fifth anniversary of 9/11, it is this: no one is served by falsehoods and distortions in the name of promoting an agenda. If we cannot even be honest with ourselves about what happened, how can we begin to know what we have to do from here?
August 28, 2006
Jim Wooten: Fair and Balanced?
The thing that's surreal about the South is that you can actually use 'fair and balanced' in a non-ironic way and get away with it.
Two questions arise as this anniversary approaches. One is how fair and balanced the news media is in telling the Katrina anniversary story. And the other question may reveal the differences in how liberals and conservatives see problems and solutions. Suppose you rule New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina and are empowered to rebuild it as an experiment in liberal or conservative governance. What are the elements?In mine, public education is radically overhauled and reconfigured. Parents are held responsible for the financial support and conduct of their children. No more public housing projects are built. Easy loans are available for home ownership and for start-up businesses, but to prepare purchasers faith-based organizations are invited in droves to provide counseling, training and support. Homes are built above Katrina waters or not at all; those below would be required to have unsubsidized flood insurance for the full replacement value of the home or business. The state and New Orleans take responsibility for the levees. The dependent are encouraged to find jobs and stay where they fled. New Orleans is a responsible, working city composed of people who recognize a hurricane’s danger, prepare for it, and leave when their lives are at risk.
Not to mention his, uh, recovery plan. All you have to do is take a stroll through his August archives, however, to realize that he's kind of a yahoo. You know, censoring criticism of the President but not censoring hate speech, lovin' on nuclear power, hatin' on the government, and so on.
August 4, 2006
Federally Funded Misinformation
Everyone knows that Bush & Co. are very pro-life, abstinence-only types. So you might expect that some of the nation's federally funded pregnancy resource centers might be similarly inclined.
However, I had no idea that it was this bad (WashPost):
The report said that 20 of 23 federally funded centers contacted by staff investigators requesting information about an unintended pregnancy were told false or misleading information about the potential risks of an abortion.
20 out of 23? Lying to pregnant women? And being funded to do so?
I bet they're the same centers that put up those giant highway billboards being all, "Pregnant? We can help." Except that "We can help" apparently means "We're going to terrify you with false statistics about cancer, infertility, and trauma."