Colorado University Republicans

"Join us now or work for us later". The same phrase has apparently been used in Ohio. Those poor, persecuted, plagiaristic idealists! It boggles the mind that the Republicans even try, on occasion, to portray themselves as the party of the working man. A poor or middle-income person who votes Republican is like a chicken who votes for Colonel Sanders.

Politics and Joy

Most often, political involvement is an arena of strife and stress. Emotionally, good moments come at someone else's expense, and carry with them the inevitability of turn-about. Often, political joy is an unsatisfactory alloy of enjoyment of your own success and pleasure at your opponent's failure. Such an alloy makes a bell that rings hollow.

Only rarely have I felt something different through politics. The first time was the night that Bill Clinton won the White House. I remember meeting a neighbor in the middle of our street and drinking a beer with him, toasting our country's suddenly brighter future. The feeling was not one of malicious pleasure at running Bush from the White House - it was purer than that. It was a feeling that the country was on the right path, and people were united behind a new voice.

Tonight, watching the New Hampshire returns, I felt a bit of that spirit. Yes, there is a negative note of "anybody but Bush", but there is something else going on, too. There is a feeling that we have a group of candidates all of whom have a better vision, and each of their victories is a good thing. I'm happy for Kerry. I'm happy for Dean. I'm happy for Clark and for Edwards. I'm happy with the Democratic party, and I can't help but swell with optimism that our country may well make a bold and bright choice in November.

(Except for Lieberman. Lieberman is Bush Light - and was just on TV trying to make the point that he is more like Bush than anyone else in the group. If Lieberman were to get the nomination - God forbid - I'm not sure who I'd vote for.)

Bush Doctrine

In an email discussion about whether Bush lied to the nation, Ron Byers produced an important insight about the use of preemptive war in a world of unreliable intelligence. With his permission, I post it here:

[Responding to a Bush defender's statement that "everyone" agreed that Iraq and WMDs before the war] The problem is not that everybody believed Bush and the administration before the war. The existence of WMDs was certainly plausible given what we knew and what we were told, but guys and gals, the President has announced a policy of "preemptive war." That policy presumes that when some country is about to do something bad to us or our friends, we have a right to beat them to the draw. Assuming that is a good policy, the only way it is a good policy is if our intelligence is capable of really identifying clear and present dangers with a high of accuracy. This time (the first time the Bush doctrine was employed) the best that can be said was that the intelligence community got it wrong. It might be ok for you or me or some member of Congress to get the WMD thing wrong. It isn't alright for the President (who presumably has access to all the really good information) to get it wrong. I will give Bush the benefit of the doubt, and concede that we don't have evidence he lied, but it is obvious that his intelligence assessment was so out of date, or so flawed, it was worthless. Under the circumstances, I haven't heard Bush say anything like, "you know that Bush doctrine of preemptive war, well since we can't trust our intelligence community to give us real good information, we are going to be very reluctant to use that doctrine in the future."

Trent Lott's Hypocrisy

Tipped off by an item at Bartcop, I did a little quotation-hunting this afternoon. Here, taken from the insanely right-wing TruthNews website is Trent Lott in 2000, after President Clinton had appointed an African-American judge to the bench during a congressional recess: "any appointment of a Federal judge during a recess should be opposed, regardless of who they are or whether it is Republican or Democrat." Now, in 2004, Lott claims that the appointment of an extremist judge with antiabortion and anti-voting rights views is okay: "a well-qualified and outstanding jurist. Judge Pickering's record deems this recess appointment fully appropriate."

The man obviously is incapable of even a pretense of intellectual honesty. People like Trent Lott - so quick to adopt and abandon principles for political expediency - are spots of cancer on the body politic.

Moore for Clark

I don't know who I'll vote for in the Missouri primary coming up, but I found Michael Moore's announcement of support for General Clark to be interesting and persuasive.

Bush AWOL

During the recent debate of democratic candidates, Peter Jennings was apparently unaware that Bush had gone AWOL during his National Guard "service". Frankly, what happened in 1973 doesn't motivate me to vote against him nearly as much as what he has done in the last couple years, but, for those who are interested, the story is true.

Republicans and Hummers

This is a truly incredible story of Republicans senselessly throwing tax breaks at their country club friends, while shutting out the average American.

"As part of a $350 billion economic stimulus package passed in May, Congress quadrupled to $100,000 the amount business owners can deduct in the first year when they purchase a qualifying vehicle.

The quirk is, the vehicle has to weigh at least 6,000 pounds GVWR.

But almost every pickup and most SUVs meet that threshold, said John Wendt, a sales manager at JC Billion in Bozeman.

Self-employed folks like real estate agents, consultants, doctors and lawyers all are finding advantage in the tax break."

In other words, business owners are being encouraged to buy massive, unsafe, gas-guzzling behemoths. If a business owner spends the same amount of money for fuel-efficient auto, s/he doesn't get the deduction.

Why? The next time you're stuck behind an Escalade or a Hummer with a Bush/Cheney sticker on the back, ask yourself that question.

Update: Not that anyone will be surprised, but Senators Bond, Talent, Brownback and Roberts all voted in favor of this idiocy.

Why Our Soldiers are Dying

Last year, our un-elected president told us we had to go to war because the Iraqis were poised to attack us with weapons of mass destruction. This year, he justifies thousands of deaths by pointing to the Kay report's "dozens of mass destruction-related program activities." How can he not choke on those words like he chokes on pretzels?

Can we impeach him for dozens of lie-related program activities?

Great Jazz on Leap Day

The Plaza Rotary Club is holding a fundraiser for the Bridge Home, a home for 8-18 year-old victims of abuse and neglect. Beyond supporting a great cause, though, the concert is going to be incredible. Tim Whitmer, Bobby Watson, and Angela Hagenbach are the headliners, and their guests include an fantastic array of Kansas City greats, including Kim Park, Stan Kessler, Steve Rigazzi and other greats. For $50 a ticket, you get hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar, great jazz, and a $35 tax deduction. The concert will be February 29 at the American Heartland Theatre at Crown Center. If you're interested in attending, email me using the address on the right. Even Republicans should enjoy this concert!!

Jamie Metzl

Saw 5th District Congressional candidate Jamie Metzl speak yesterday morning at my Rotary Club meeting. He seems like a pretty good guy, and knows his stuff on homeland security. Unfortunately for him, Emanuel Cleaver II is likely to announce his candidacy for the seat soon. It's tough to run successfully against a guy as well (and deservedly) loved as Cleaver.

No Self-Discipline

One would think that the Missouri General Assembly Republicans would chastise their Speaker Pro Tem for breaching decorum, good manners, and good judgment, but, instead, they joined him in interrupting the Governor and defended him afterward.

Do they not understand that their actions set precedent? Or are they so immature and short-sighted that they don't care?

Iowa Caucuses

Tonight is the first test of the various Democratic candidates. While I'm eager to hear the results, I'll confess that I have not done a good job of keeping track of the distinguishing features of each of them. I went and saw Dick Gephardt at a $1,000 (got in for free) fundraiser here in KC earlier this year, and I was impressed with his passion and intelligence. I had written him off as an inside-the-beltway also-ran, but he has the stuff to run rings around Bush in a debate. I also went to a Howard Dean meet-up, but he's lost points with me because of his equivocal position on tort reform. Tort reform is a masterful deceit of the insurance industry posing as a family physician - anyone who supports the sort of proposals being floated around is either stupid or a paid-for rep of the big insurance companies.

Truth of the matter is that I can excuse my lack of heavy investigation about the candidates because it doesn't really matter what opinion I form about their relative strengths right now. Tonight, the people in Iowa get to name a front-runner. When the Missouri primary comes around, I will have researched the choices, and I will vote for the one who most closely mirrors my own opinions, and who has he strongest chance of defeating Bush.

Pointless fun!

The Bill O'Reilly Iraq WMD Apology Countdown Clock counts the days, hours, minutes and seconds that have passed since O'Reilly promised to apologize to the nation if weapons of mass destruction are not found in Iraq. If you want to email O'Reilly and ask for your apology, here's his email address: oreilly@foxnews.com.

Why is this fun pointless? Because O'Reilly is not a thinker, he's an entertainer. He'll never apologize, or acknowledge that he owes an apology to the nation.

Commenting added!

I've never been technically adept, but I've added commenting, and I didn't even need to get my son's help!

$1.5 Billion for Healthy Marriages

Bush is pushing a plan to provide $1.5 billion of our tax dollars for supporting marriage. When I first saw this little item, I was opposed, since, after all, isn't one of the few charms of a Republican administration supposed to be that they don't let government take on tasks that are better left to individuals, churches or corporations? That's what they say when they argue in favor of shredding the safety net for poor people, anyhow.

Having taken the time for sober reflection, though, I realize that President Bush is doing the right thing here. I look back at the tough times in my own 21 year marriage, and I think about how much strife could have been avoided if we had a sizeable chunk of that $1.5 billion dollars available.

- "You're right, honey, I don't do my share around the house, and I'm sorry. Let's call a maid service in the morning. Now come on over here and kiss me, snookums."

- "Sweetheart, you seem a little grumpy at me for staying out all night drinking and playing poker. Let's fly to our ranch in Crawford, Texas for a month or so of R&R, okay? Now come on over here and kiss me, snookums."

- "Sugar-pie, you're right, I do spend way too much of my time and attention on my career, and not enough on our relationship. So tomorrow I'm going to retire and live off our savings. Now come on over here and kiss me, snookums."

This innovative plan of his also explains the gap between the "Compassionate Conservatism" he ran on and his opposition to allowing gay people to marry. That son of a gun is so compassionate that he doesn't want to expose all those gay people to the institution of marriage until after he spends a billiion and a half of our dollars making sure the institution is all that it can be.

Personally, I'm thrilled that when the Democrats recapture Congress and the White House, I can count on the right-wing to set aside little quibbles about the proper role of government and foolishly spending tax money on apparently ill-conceived plans. I'm excited by the prospect of every interest group under the broad umbrella of the Democratic Party getting a billion and a half dollars (or more! Why should we care about fiscal responsibility if the Republicans are going to run up a huge deficit anyhow?) to spend on their favorite plans.

The Reagan Dime

Conservative Republicans want to replace FDR's portrait on the dime with Ronald Reagan's. It takes a special kind of stupid to make such a proposal. According to reports, 80 congressional Republicans are just that kind of stupid, and have agreed to cosponsor this little gem.

Look. I hate to do this. He's a dying, confused old man. Even though his administration was a cesspool of corruption (30 members of his administration went to jail!), we all kind of believed him when he claimed not to know a thing about it. Even though he ran up deficits that would make even George W. Bush envious, he did so in a genial fashion. Even though he fought the war on drugs by cutting treatment programs and increasing jail sentences, we all knew he'd be a good guy to have a drink with. The man joked about starting WWIII into a live microphone, and we laughed along with him, for Christ's sake!!!

In fact, despite the failures of his administration, nobody really complained when his minions named an aircraft carrier after him, and a building in DC. But, perhaps inspired by the penis-enlargement spam they have failed to ban, the right-wingers have to take their couple inches and make it a mile.

I won't even discuss the horrible judgment of trying to divorce FDR, the father of the March of Dimes, from the dime. Perhaps if they were going after Sacajawea's dollar or some ridiculously high-denomination currency (the kind that only Republicans and drug dealers see on a regular basis), they could have pulled it off. But, in their blind arrogance, they blundered into the kind of money that even the commoners get to handle.

The main reason I should not have to carry Ronald Reagan in my pocket is that he, more than anyone else, is responsible for the dumbing down of the presidency. Whether people liked or disliked prior administrations, we had never before had a president whose IQ was a kind of national inside joke. We had never before accepted the model of government that the genial and blandly uninformed Reagan delivered to us - one where we trusted that the hard work of government would be done by professionals behind the scenes. When the Iran-Contra scandal blew up, we weren't mad at Reagan himself. We didn't attack the man for the misdeeds of his minions - we expressed mild disappointment that his loose management style had allowed people like Ollie North access to the full power of the United States of America. North, not Reagan was the bad guy.

That model has returned to the White House, and, once again, America is paying the price. In a few years, we all know that some of W's handlers will find themselves in the penitentiary for making themselves wealthier than they already were through insider contracts and back-room deals, but Bush himself will be throwing out first pitches in major-league stadiums and enjoying his return to life as a privileged idiot - Reagan's gift to the American populace.

Reagan never had a buck stop at his desk. Now they want to put him on a dime.

Amazing Service

I just added John Combest's Up-To-Speed site to my links. He compiles political news from all over the state of Missouri. While he's on the wrong side of the aisle, his site is a tremendous resource. Thanks, John!

Political Honesty

Here's my concern: am I honest with myself politically?

I think the "special prosecutor" assigned to investigate Whitewater was a political witch-hunt, and a shameful chapter of Congressional history. Now, if the Democrats, by some miracle, were able to sic some leftist Ken Starr on Bush, would I be repulsed by the stupidity and irrelevance of it, as I was when the Republicans did it to Clinton?

I don't like Bush's policies. I think his tax policies are class warfare. I think his international policies are short-sighted assertions of a new American empire that will blow up in the face of this and future generations. I think his war was a triumph of neo-conservatives and people who stood to profit.

I sincerely hope I don't accept a double-standard. I hope that people will call me on it if they sense that I am more interested in scoring political points than in pursuing the best policies. I hope that I will have the self-discipline to praise Bush if he were to come up with policies that shared my values.

Free Speech Zones

People who don't support Bush are shunted off into fenced off areas where their voices cannot be heard. No, this is does not come from some leftist rag - this comes from The American Conservative. Quite seriously, folks, this is something that ought to frighten all of us who share a desire to engage in political dissent. Even if you think the people with "No blood for oil" signs are misguided, you ought to be concerned about what might happen if the Democrats regain power.

Kansas City Jazz

On Thursday, I went and listened to Will Matthews on Thursday night at the Blue Room, which is part of the American Jazz Museum in the 18th and Vine Historical District. It was a great time. Now, the question is, why is that the first time I've been there in such a long time?

Why is it that I would normally sit at home and watch TV instead of getting off my lazy butt and experiencing something wonderful? Less than 15 minutes away from my home is a place I can sit and listen to world-class music, and there was NO COVER CHARGE! Many of the people there were drinking water or coffee, though I treated myself to a couple pale ales from the local brewery. Why were there only 25 or so people there, in a city with more than a million?

Free Beauty and Inspiration

Dropped in to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art on my way home from an errand today. Free, close-to-the-door parking, and galleries full of a wide variety of art. Some is challenging, some brings a smile, and some is simply breathtaking. Amazing art sits right in the middle of town, a couple blocks away from the also-impressive, and also-free, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Between the two is the lovely Southmoreland Park, home of the also-free Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, which will be producing Julius Caesar this year. My point? It's a new year - resolve to bring make the arts a more central part of your life this year.

Home of the Free?

Hotels and airlines serving Las Vegas are being required to turn over customer names and personal information to the FBI, as part of "normal investigative procedure." Is it alarmist of me to think of Orwell?
(via This Modern World)

Sustainability

I have been doing some course-related reading in the field of leadership and management, and I have found the readings troubling. Can people sustain our current system while remaining human?

One of the readings pointed out that the constant need in our capitalistic system is to produce more with less. Indeed, most of the literature of management is focused on that very point. Teams are not important because people like working in teams, or because they create social outlets that we, as human organisms, require for mental health. They are important solely because they are a way that employers can gain more productivity from their workers. If the next study to get published in the Harvard Business Review demonstrates that employees are more able to concentrate on their tasks by locking them in solitary confinement, we may count on dungeons replacing cubicles in many American companies.

I do not pretend to be a social historian, but my understanding is that two short centuries ago, the Industrial Revolution was just beginning to spread through the world. Agricultural communities produced pretty much the same amounts of the same things year after year. Towns had their silversmiths and their markets, but competition does not play a major role in the literature of the day. The constant push to expand, and to produce higher profits for shareholders, and to constantly compete, does not seem to have been as omnipresent in an agrarian society as it is in today’s society.

In voicing my concerns, I am not overlooking that unimaginable wealth and comfort we have today that our predecessors did not have. We have abolished slavery in most of the world, infant mortality is down in most of the world, and I will not give up my microwave oven without a fight. I am not saying that I would rather be a peasant in 17th century Ireland than a development officer in 2003 Kansas City.

But what are the costs in terms of humanity? I spent 12 years practicing law before leaving the field. Law is a wonderful profession. You get to help people. You wear nice clothes, and there isn’t much heavy lifting. Your colleagues are intelligent, well-spoken people. People at cocktail parties might tell you a lawyer joke or two, but you know they respect your intelligence. The pay for most lawyers ranges from generous to lavish.

Why would I turn my back on such a success of modern capitalism?

Because the grind of ever-increasing demands on my time, coupled with the increasing hostility of opposing counsel, was affecting my human spirit. As my wife told me over an anniversary dinner, “You’re not as much fun as you used to be.” The pressure to outperform the lawyer across town, or even in my own firm, consistently ratcheted up, but showed no signs of ratcheting down. Suicide and depression in the legal field are common enough that the Missouri Bar now has a professional counselor on staff. He carries an emergency pager.

Older attorneys talked about how, when they were my age, they went to the movies in the afternoons a couple times a week. Golf courses were for recreation, not business development. People got home at 5, and had time to mow their own yards. Vacations were an annual event, not a questionable first step toward career suicide.

I fear that my experience in the legal field is a canary in a coal mine. How long can a system sustain a constant demand for doing more with less?

I know I sound like a naïve Trotskyite in questioning the capitalist system, and I certainly do not have any solutions to propose. But the most troubling aspect is that nobody else seems to be raising these questions. The Industrial Revolution, and its attendant brand of constantly-increasing competition, is a relatively new phenomenon in the course of human history, and its effects on the human spirit need to be thought of, and, where possible, measured. A leading textbook on organizational behavior bears the words “past present and future” on the back cover, but none of the articles it reprints talks about sustainability, or how it is possible to continue forever doing more with less, without damaging the humans who are part of the system.

I will seek a deeper understanding of the impact of competition on the human spirit, and seek out literature addressing the issue. I intend to voice my concerns where appropriate, and examine proposals to ameliorate or avoid some of the negative effects of our current system.