Missing Another Chance With African-Americans

Like the Palestinians, Republicans never seem to miss a chance to miss a chance when it comes to African-American voters.

Democrats take "the black vote" for granted. There is a ton of evidence of that fact.

And I think that on a great number of issues, conservative ideas (like vouchers) offer more hope to black Americans than do the tried-and-failed liberal ones.

But our conservative ideas aren't being heard, because I think it's fair to say that white Republicans simply aren't trusted by African-Americans. For every Jack Kemp we have, talking about opportunity and breaking the shackles of the welfare-state mentality, and the benefits Civil Rights has brought to all of us as Americans, we have a Trent Lott.

Here on Long Island an African-American Republican is running against a Democratic incumbent in a Republican-majority District. James Garner is the mayor of Hempstead, a predominantly black village, and the former President of the US Congress of Mayors. He is a man of substance. He is a good man. And he is an African-American Republican who has shown again and again (19 years as mayor & Trustee) that he can get elected in a Democratic village.

Republicans should be pouring HUGE dollars and effort into his campaign-- yet except for a brief visit by Speaker Hastert last week, little has been done to help this man, either locally or nationally. He is being outspent by over 5-1. His opponent got more money from PACs alone than Garner has received from all sources.

I've written previously about how the Bush people wrote off NY, and the unfortunate consequence of that action. The President should have been here. The President should have helped Mayor Garner. And who knows? Maybe that would have translated into more African-American votes for W across the nation; James Garner in Congress surely would have given Republicans a voice in that community for years to come, which would have to benefit the party. But, little has been done.

No wonder Republicans have difficulty attracting conservative and moderate African-Americans to the party, and why our ideas, which offer the best hope for disadvantaged Americans of all races, fall on too many deaf ears.

Here was a great chance. We'll likely find out Tuesday that we missed it, again.

Halloween Costumes & Cheerleaders

Just read Michelle Malkin's post about the most disgusting Halloween "costumes" you could imagine (actually, if you go to the site, the first one made me smile--but scroll down the site further to see how despicably un-funny some people can be. Sick.)

Of course, that made me think of costumes in general, and my daughters' in particular. At some point my kids wanted to be cheerleaders. I nixed the idea, perhaps a bit more brusquely than I should have.

I have said, since my 18 year old was born, that I'd rather my girls be lesbian nuns than cheerleaders. I detest that whole Barbie doll, cheerleader, debutante woman-as-object, role-playing nonsense. I lost on the Barbies, and we don't run in debutante circles, but I won on the cheerleading-thing.

I have always told my daughters that I'd prefer to see them playing the sport, not giggling on the sideline rooting on the boys.

I know, I know-- cheerleaders are supposedly "athletes" and it's a competitive endeavor, etc. etc. I haven't used foul language on this site yet, but here goes: Bullshit.

If cheerleading is about the cheerleaders and not about being subservient to the boy athletes, tell me this: when was the last time you saw cheerleaders at a girl's high school basketball or soccer game? I suppose it happens (and I'm willing to listen) but I haven't seen it.

In high schools the cheerleaders are girls and they cheer on the boys.

And that's why I never allowed cheerleader costumes in our house. Not even for Halloween. (Yet another thing for my girls to tell their therapists some day!)

That's a long way from Michelle Malkin's post, but that's how my mind works, sorry!

After the Election--Needed Reform #1

After the dust settles (hopefully by Wednesday morning) there are two reforms that are desperately needed.

First: Can we get voting machines that work, and rules that help prevent fraud? Why is this so hard?

In NY we've used lever machines for decades. Simple to understand, virtually foolproof, and gray-metal ugly. But they work.

We don't show ID, but in a day and age where I am regularly required to show ID to enter bulidings, I don't see why we all aren't required to prove who we are at the voting booth.

Our registration rules seem purposefully designed to guarantee both voter fraud and voter confusion. There has to be a simpler way.

I don't care what's used, but right now we are embarrassing ourselves with a system, and with machines, that don't work, that confuse the simple-minded and which encourage fraud.

Register. Provide ID. Vote. Count the votes. Complain about who won.

It's a simple pattern-- why can't we do it?

Friday Quickies

....Both Chuck Schumer in NY and Barbara Boxer in CA got passes this election. How did that happen? How did Republicans not mount credible campaigns against these two?

Here in NY, I blame Bush & his people-- he's never here (except once or twice to raise money), he has not supported our local candidates, and he hasn't appointed NYers to high profile positions so they could come back & give it a run (although it didn't ultimately work, that's what the Democrats did with Mario Cuomo's kid).

W has always assumed NY wasn't going his way, so he abandoned us. But since NY & CA Democrats didn't have to spend money on contests in their own backyard, guess where they spent it? Those "independent" 527's are chock full of money that might otherwise have gone to Senate campaigns in NY & CA. Instead, they fed the Kerry campaign.

Ten of the top 19 donors to 527's live in NY or CA.

Total donations by these 10 as of October 25th-- $71,850,000.

$10 million went to Republican-leaning groups.

$61,850,000 went to the Democrats!

Maybe the national party would have to support a "moderate" (read not Christian-conservative) candidate-- maybe the candidate would ultimately lose. But we should be grooming candidates in areas like NY and CA, not just for the potential seats, but to make the Democrats work here, to make them spend their money here. Instead of in Ohio, and Florida, and Pennsylvania, thank you very much.

What is the point of having a national party? Are we ever going to see some coordinated thinking, or, heaven forfend, a plan?

...I'm a Met fan, so this whole Yankee-Bosox thing really doesn't affect me, except that I liked the idea of the curse. It kept the Babe's name alive each Fall, and it was fun--even for Sox fans. Yankee fans will survive this. I have had to watch teams I hate win championships (see Rangers & New Jersey Giants) and see Hillary get elected. It's tough, but you learn to skip those pages in the newspaper, and pass on ESPN for a while.

.... I'm waiting for the day somebody builds an American Music Theatre, a company which would produce musicals like opera companies perform operas-- that is, a revolving group of repertory standards, with a few new shows thrown in, within the context of a season. We don't have to wait years for Don Giovanni or La Boheme-- yet we have to wait, sometimes decades, for revivals. Someday?

....The Moderate Voice points to an article which "outs" Abe Lincoln. Of course, if every celebrity or historical figure who has been "outed" really were gay, I don't think there'd have been enough heterosexuals left to populate the planet!

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

....Money magazine just came out with its list of the top ten most expensive colleges, and my question is: How did my daughter miss these?

Time For Something Completely Different

What if we genetically engineered ourselves to 2 feet tall?

I know, I’m being silly, and I don’t mean to waste your time. But they just found 18,000 year old remains of "...a new species of hobbit-sized humans...” in Indonesia.

Now, I won’t claim this as my own idea– I’m certain I read it somewhere, at least 20 years ago (in fact, it may have been one of the stories in a men’s magazine that I actually read!).

But what if, instead of continuing to slowly increase our size, we make it an international priority to dramatically shrink?

• We would significantly reduce our need for water, fuel, medicines, food-- indeed all our consumables;
  

• Our housing and stores and offices could be half the size they are now–or the floors could be split in half;
  

• Highways that are now 3 lanes could be made into 8 lanes, as our cars are reduced in size relative to our bodies.
  

What do we have to lose? Our need for massive human strength is rapidly diminshing as we become more mechanized. We don't need these large bodies, except for sports.

Our ancestors survived in smaller bodies, without the aid of computers and robots. C’mon, we could do it again! Let’s make the Shaq of 2150 3'4" tall!

Jimmy "From Peanuts to Just Nuts" Carter

Has Jimmy Carter totally lost it?

He left office in January, 1981 generally acknowledged by both Republicans and Democrats as a good man who was overwhelmed by the job. His tenure marked a low point in modern American history. His ineptness ushered in the Reagan Revolution and now 20+ years of Republican ascendency.

He went on to build houses. Good for him. America came to think of him as the uncle who was a disaster in the family business, but who was likeable and helpful at community functions.

Then Clinton sent him to North Korea (where he negotiated a disaster of an agreement on nukes.) And now he has again and again and again launched partisan attacks that are just...silly. (His latest is the claim--to a British newspaper-- that Bush is exploiting 9/11 and that the media is cowed by him-- has he watched or read American news?--see Chrenkoff for an excellent review.)

Why is anyone reporting what he says? Why is anyone listening to this man?

Somebody please take away his microphone, and give him back his hammer.

Hunger Here & Abroad

E.R. Shipp, a columnist for the New York Daily News, wrote a column yesterday reminding us how many people suffer from hunger, and urging both local & international action.

I recently attended the annual dinner of our local community service organization, and I am running a function for my local Kiwanis tomorrow night. Both events raise money for people in need. I firmly believe in the duty of those who "have" to lend a hand to those who don't. And I can't think of a single religion or code of ethics that doesn't impose the same moral obligation.

Still....

Shipp makes two points that always make the word "But..." come to my lips.

First, she states that:

More than 800 million people in the world go hungry. That includes millions in North Korea for whom the World Food Program is trying to come up with yet another short-term solution to famine.

In developing countries, 6 million children die each year, mostly from hunger-related causes. That includes children in the Darfur region of Sudan, where a genocidal campaign is underway.

I don't know if those numbers are accurate, but I think she found the problem. About 10 years ago I read a funny, insightful book by P.J. O'Rourke "All the Trouble in the World: The Lighter Side of Overpopulation, Famine, Ecological Disaster, Ethnic Hatred, Plague, and Poverty". I cannot more strongly recommend it.

O'Rourke makes the point in the chapter entitled "Famine: All Guns, No Butter" that the cause of starvation in this century hasn't been lack of food, or drought, or crop failure, or the "exploitive-profit-hungry" capitalist system. It's been war or political strategy-- the purposeful starving of a people.

Shipp's citations are perfect examples. Does N. Korea have the money and ability to feed its people? Absolutely. They just have a lunatic dictator who is putting all their resources, as O'Rourke states, into guns, not butter. Ditto the Sudan.

So while Shipp and the world hunger activists imply Americans should send more bread, what would really be needed to end world hunger would be more troops. I wonder if they would support that?

As for here at home, Shipp states: "In the United States, 13 million children live in households where people have to skip meals or eat less to make ends meet. That means one in 10 U.S. households is living with hunger or are at risk of hunger."

I seriously question the numbers and the methodology. "At risk of hunger"? What is that? From what I have seen, the only people who are hungry in this nation are people who do not take advantage of the multitude of governmental & private programs available, including food stamps, school lunch, etc. And the reason for this is that the people are either ill or dysfunctional (drugs, mental illness, etc), or their parents are.

Will Shipp and others support the removal of children from those who can't feed their children because they are addicted to drugs or alcohol? Can we pull people off the streets and put them, and keep them, in mental facilities where they are fed and housed?

Want to end world hunger? Send troops (and foods genetically-altered for areas without resources).

Want to end hunger at home? Then deal with the dysfunctions.

But, in the meantime, donate to your local food harvest program. Donate a coat before the winter starts. Give a toy to the Marine's Toys for Tots program. The American Red Cross. Whatever. Give a little more.

Maybe we can't solve all those larger problems, maybe it's not in our power to cure the causes for these problems, but we can help some of our neighbors now. It's the right thing to do.

Stolen Honor

Please take some time out of your day to watch the film "Stolen Honor". Just go to this site-- it's been posted with permission of the filmmaker.

I wasn't "vested" in this election before I watched it. Now I am.

Especially if you saw "Fahrenheit 9/11" I urge you to watch this.

Even if it doesn't change your opinion about Kerry, it certainly will make you understand why the Swift Boat guys are so passionate.

The Wing & the Wheel

I have come to realize that most of my favorite singer/songwriters are hard-core liberals. One of my favorites is Nanci Griffith.

I put my eldest on the plane back to college on Tuesday. And two of the closest friends I've had in my life had birthdays this week-- one I talk to 5 times a week, or more (and trade blog-barbs with!) The other has drifted away, or maybe I have.

Regardless, it made me think of this Nanci Griffith song:

The Wing & the Wheel

The wing and the wheel... they carry things away
whether it's me that does the leavin' or the love that flies away
The moon outside my window looks so lonely tonight
oh, there's a chunk out of it's middle... big enough for an old fool to hide

Where are all the dreamers... that I used know?
We used to linger beneath street lamps in the halos and the smoke
The wing and the wheel... came to carry them away
now they all live out in the suburbs where their dreams
are in their children at play

There's a pale sky in the east... all the stars are in the west
Oh, here's to all the dreamers... may our open hearts find rest
The wing and the wheel are gonna carry us along
And we'll have memories for company... long after the songs are gone

Friday Quickies

....Hockey owners locked out their players on September 16. Anybody notice yet? Hockey may very well be the next.....roller derby.

....John Edwards' statement that if he & John Kerry are elected "people like Chris Reeve will get out of their wheelchairs and walk again" has gotten lots of play, and criticism. Upon reflection, I believe the criticism was unfair.

I ask that you think back to 1992-1994, when the Democrats held the White House and both Houses of Congress. Remember? Blind people saw, deaf people heard, all venereal disease was eradicated, and not one new case of cancer was reported. And then the damn Republicans took over the House in '94 and it all fell apart.

....When I start to take all of this stuff too seriously, I turn for some perspective to liquor (if it's a weekend) or astronomy (if it's a weekday). Astronomers at the Free University of Brussels released a report stating that of the, get this, trillion stars that make up the Milky Way galaxy, about one-fifth have been determined to be "rebel" stars which "...are blazing new trails to and from our galaxy's centre instead of traveling in circles around it..."

A trillion stars. Just in our galaxy. How big it all is; how small we all are; how wondrous it all is; how lucky we all are to be here.

....Of course, it is George Bush's fault that those 200 million stars are not traveling in proper order. He mishandled the whole thing from day one. We had the stars surrounded, but W outsourced the job to the Klingons. When John Kerry is President, he will form a coalition with the Federation, and the stars will all orbit in line, with no deviation.

....The National Education Association's web site's "Cover Story" is entitled Respect. It starts out:

Educators have endured budget cuts, attacks on their qualifications, and a law that shortchanges kids and schools. Now as Election Day approaches, they want to know: Will they ever get the respect they deserve?

Maybe I live in a bubble, but here in New York we haven't seen a budget cut since about 14 years ago when Mario Cuomo was governor. The only "attack" on teachers' qualifications has been an effort to raise them. And the "law" that supposedly shortchanges kids was accompanied by massive increases in federal spending(federal spending on education is up 49% since W took office).

What galaxy is the NEA living in?

Fidel & George

I see Fidel Castro fell down and broke his arm & knee.

Hmmmm.
He's old. He's Cuban. He's physically suspect.
Call George Steinbrenner.
We've just found him another starting pitcher!

Jimmy Carter- Naive Revisionist Historian

Jimmy Carter is as bad an historian as he was a President.

On Hardball with Chris Mathews, Carter was asked to compare Iraq with our Revolutionary War. (Thanks to Michael King for pointing this one out.)

Mr. "The Koreans Have Agreed to Stop Building Nukes" said:

"...the Revolutionary War could have been avoided. It was an unnecessary war. Had the British Parliament been a little more sensitive to the colonial‘s really legitimate complaints and requests the war could have been avoided completely, and of course now we would have been a free country ... having gotten our independence in a nonviolent way. "

He's right. Our Revolution might have been avoided with a compromise. Perhaps the British would have granted the 13 original colonies some limited form of independence. But the price for avoiding bloodshed would have been enormous.

Here's what North America would have looked like without the Revolution:

1) The Original colonies probably would have divided into three countries--North, MidAtlantic & South-- any deal with Britain would undoubtedly have precluded expansion to the Midwest--the British would have kept that for themselves. Without expansion, the slavery issue & economics would have torn the colonies apart. Certainly without the pressure of an unsafe world, there would have been little imperative for the colonies to band together, especially across regional and cultural divides;

2) The "midwest" of Ohio, Illinois, etc. probably would be its own separate country, if not part of Canada;

3) Napoleon never would have relinquished the Lousiana Territory to Britain--so there's another country or two;

4) Florida? Its own country.

5) Texas & the the Southwest-- either on its own, or part of an expanded Mexico, especially if "English" settlers couldn't cross "French" Louisiana

6) Washington & Oregon would probably have stayed with England for a while longer, ending as part of western Canada-- or as their own independent state; and

7) Alaska? Russian or independent;

So, a "compromise" with Britain probably would have led to 11 or 12 (or more) countries on North America (including Canada & Mexico) instead of 3. There would have been no open borders. There would have been many different currencies. Trade would have been difficult. Petty dictators could have easily arisen. Wars of conquest and ego, and over resources, would likely have erupted.

North America would have looked a lot like....Europe.

A Europe which was the focal point for how many millions of deaths in the wars of the 19th & 20th Centuries?

Jimmy Carter. I can't believe anyone talks to him about foreign policy.

Jimmy Carter. I think the name is Latin for naive fool. Or Neville Chamberlain.

Third Rail Time-- School Prayer &The Ten Commandments

My new friend at Dogwood Dreams gives an interesting analysis about why she believes the Ten Commandments statue, and school prayer, should be allowed. Obviously, with the Supreme Court agreeing to hear the Ten Commandments cases, this is going to be a hot topic, yet again.

I hate to be the skunk at the picnic, but here's what I think is the problem. By saying there cannot be an organized prayer in a public school (key words--organized & public) we are guaranteeing freedom of religion. You can pray anytime-- your kids can pray anytime. What you can't do is force my kid to pray at the same time, in the same way, as you want your kid to.

A moment of silence, a chance to silently pray, or meditate, or get your thoughts together? Fine. But an organized prayer? Yes, I have a problem with that.

Here in NY, in my daughters' suburban elementary school, in a class of 25 there would regularly be 10 or so religions represented. Roman Catholic, Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews, Reformed Jews, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, (I don't recall a Baptist, but there may have been one or two floating around), Muslim & Hindu. That's assuming there weren't other denominations, or atheists, or Buddhists in the class. In our village of 35,000 people there are 12 houses of worship.

How are you going to develop a prayer for all of that?

Why would you want to?

Let your kid say a prayer, with his or her family, at the start of the day. This way, everyone gets the benefit (and, by the way, why don't I hear the clamoring for prayer at work? Work Prayer would deal with adults who, presumably, would be more able to withstand peer pressure, etc. Or, in fact, is that not the case? Do we not ask for an organized Work Prayer because we are afraid to offend the boss, or our fellow workers? If it's not OK for adults, why is it OK for a little kid?)

Put aside questions of kids feeling pressured and uncomfortable, etc. Put aside that public school=government as far as the Constitution is concerned. Put aside all of that.

My question is: why do we want to mix the two, religion & education? Don't the schools have enough to do, what with reading and all-- do the teachers also need to be preachers?

I can understand people's concerns about morality & ethics. I certainly have expressed my opinion about the crassness and immorality flooded upon us.

I realize that the conservative/liberal divide on this issue would make it appear that I am taking the liberal point of view here. I dispute that, As a conservative, I ask this-- why are we involving the government in something so personal as religious belief? What's wrong with having the family, or the church, temple, congregation, etc, carry the ball on this one? Why do the schools have to be the point-person on every issue? Where is the call for "personal responsibility" my fellow conservatives often enunciate?

I'm sorry, but I'll support starting each class with a prayer when we agree to start each church service with a trilateral equation.

And, as for the Ten Commandments statue (and postings), I have two quick points.

Which version of the Ten Commandments is going to be used? (Yes, there are different versions!)

Isn't the argument that the statue is "art" or an historical marker disingenuous? Why can't its supporters tell the truth and admit that they want the statue placed prominently on public grounds as a symbol of their belief and faith, and that the "art" and "history" arguments are a clumsy way of attempting to back door a religious icon onto public property?

Shouldn't an argument encompassing a person's personal faith be grounded in, I don't know, the truth?

Jon Stewart v. Crossfire

The Jon Stewart v. Crossfire controversy is hot and everywhere. (See a transcript; see the video).

Stewart was dead-on right. What once was "talking-heads" has deteriorated into unwatchable TV, with no intellectual or other socially redeeming quality.

This yelling-at-each-other, lack of respect nonsense started with the McLaughlin Group and spread like a disease. It's coarsened our political life into a game-- no wonder we can't get anything done.

Stewart was talking about Crossfire, but he could have been talking about any of those shows:

STEWART: I made a special effort to come on the show today, because I have privately, amongst my friends and also in occasional newspapers and television shows, mentioned this show as being bad.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: We have noticed.

STEWART: And I wanted to -- I felt that that wasn't fair and I should come here and tell you that I don't -- it's not so much that it's bad, as it's hurting America.

He went on to accuse them of being theatre, not debate, of being dishonest and partisan hacks. It was honest, it was funny, it was brutally frank, and it was accurate.

Begala shut up after a while, but Tucker Carlson took personal offense. In an absolutely inane attempt to match wits with Stewart, Carlson complained that when Stewart had Kerry on his Comedy Central show, Stewart didn't ask any hard questions. Carlson thought that trumped Stewart, until Stewart correctly observed:

STEWART: You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls

I am a conservative Republican in New York, so you know I have a sense of humor. Jon Stewart hit it right on the head. I wasn't going to buy his book, but now I am, as a symbol of support.

I think he should get the puppets to call into some of these so-called political shows. Let Chris Mathews yell at a stuffed dummy instead of...well, bad example.

A Fool's Race?

A fool is the person who, not knowing in which direction to run, runs faster. He will get to a destination more quickly, but will it be where he needs to go?

Education is in danger of becoming that fool. We are testing more, requiring more homework, raising standards-- but are we educating our students for the world into which they are entering?

Educators should be made to stop every once in awhile and look at where American adults are spending their own hard-earned money for training and skills. Courses in managing time, in public speaking, in leadership, in effective team management, in financial planning, on and on -- individuals and businesses are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on these each year

Companies such as Dale Carnegie, Franklin-Covey, indeed the whole "self-help" industry fill the needs in training earlier education has failed to provide. Google "employee training"-6,600,000 hits; "motivational speakers" -448,000 hits; "time management"- 15,700,000 hits!

We have to look at the needs of our adult population, to see what they believe they are missing, in order to reverse-engineer a portion of our college and high school curriculum.

Of course, times change, the economy and society move fast. I am not suggesting that this take over the entire thrust of our educational system. Still, if there are such gaping holes that people are willing to spend millions of dollars, shouldn't we be looking into filling them early?

While they are at it, we should be looking at the educational and training methods being used by adult Americans, especially businesses spending their own dollars. Gone are the days of "live" in person training. The Internet, distance learning, video, email-- all of these are being used to train America. Why? Because it is cheaper, but that is not the only answer. The real answer is because it is better.

Roslyn School Scandal Update

Another arrest today-- this time the billing clerk.

Amount stolen: over $1,000,000.

Who did she report to? Her aunt (who is under arrest for stealing millions herself.)

Where was the school board? How did they allow relatives to work for one another in the business office?

And, again I ask-- Why hasn't the Commissioner of Education, or the newly constituted Board, removed the three remaining Board members who allowed this travesty to occur?

See prior posts on this issue:
The New Roslyn Board's First Order of Business
Response From The Commissioner Of Education
Why Hasn't the Commissioner Done Anything in Roslyn?

The Power of Words

Words come cheap in our free society, (though our freedom certainly did not-- thanks to our military 1776 to present).

With cable news shows streaming screaming partisan hacks into our living rooms, three-year-long Presidential campaigns, never-ending Congressional campaigns, this blogosphere, etc., more people are spouting more words, more ideas, more theories-- all clamoring, clamoring to be heard, to rise above the din.

Want to be noticed? Be outrageous. Be forceful. Be certain.

But, as philosophers and historians have often noted, words matter.

People have changed their lives because of words.

People have left their homes and families, and sought new worlds because words have inspired them.

People have fought wars over words.

Though cheap here, they are not so everywhere. There are many places in the world where oppressed people look for signals, look for hidden meanings in speeches to guide them. Places where free speech and political campaigns are unheard of, so that they aren't understood.

So, when John Kerry spouts that he would have sent troops into Haiti to support Aristade, we understand that he is simply trying to create separation from President Bush and to court Haitian American voters.

But according to the commander of the UN forces in Haiti, as reported by the BBC , Michelle Malkin and others, there are people in Haiti who took it as a signal-- and now people are dead.

It is supposed to be unfair politics to criticize the Democrats criticism of the war in Iraq. Indeed, debate over whether to go to war is not only unavoidable, it is almost certainly beneficial for our society.

But once the choice has been made, the nature of the discussion must change. Can anyone doubt that the vulgarity of the "debate" here has emboldened Iraqi insurgents? Can anyone seriously question the historical truth that when a country's enemies believe the country is weakened by division is when the country is at its most vulnerable?

So, have more American soldiers died in Iraq than would have otherwise, because there are Iraqis who believe that if they keep up the pressure, if they blow up a few more Americans, we'll listen to the anti-Bush people and cut and run? I believe so.

There was a time we said that debate over foreign policy ends at the shoreline. I haven't heard that line used in a long time.

Words matter. There are only a few days left in this campaign, but wouldn't it be wonderful if all candidates on the national stage, and their vocal supporters, remembered that fact and weighed their words as often as they scrutinized polling data?

A New Philip Craig!!

I have a new Philip Craig!! I know what my Saturday will be! That is, after I finish speaking at a Health & Safety Fair-- I'm to be the expert on what happens to parents who let their kids throw beer parties, or leave them home with an unlocked liquor cabinet.

Can you say bail? Or bankruptcy?


But then I get to stretch out with J.W. Jackson, Martha Vineyard's beloved solver of mysteries, catcher of bluefish, and cooker of quahogs. In J.W.'s immortal word "Deelish!"

Friday Quickies

....I know everyone is on Kerry's case about using Cheney's daughter's sexual orientation for political purpose. It didn't really phase me until I read The Pure Investor's take on it. As the father of two daughters, I, too, would be outraged if someone was discussing my daughter's love life on national television. I guess my sensitivity meter was set too low during the debate.

.....From Harvard to your local community college, adjunct professors are used for a number of great reasons. They provide specialized expertise; they offer flexibility and cost savings to the institution; and they often bring real world experience to the classroom. On Long Island, for instance, an adjunct professor will earn around $50 per classroom hour, with no benefits, no staff, etc. It saves the colleges a fortune. Many professionals, however, covet those spots, not for the money, but for the ability to market themselves as a professor at Local U.

If they are good enough for Harvard, why aren't adjunct teachers good enough for local high schools? Most high schools in our area start classes well before 9 am-- adjuncts could certainly teach a class or two before heading back to their professions, businesses and shops.

....I think it is ironic that "green" liberals like Ted Kennedy are trying to stop windmill farms from being constructed off our coasts. According to Popular Science, in a very nice, simple article on wind power, there are already 19 such ocean farms off Europe, delivering renewable, non-polluting, non-emissive energy. Every environmentalist's dream-- well, except those who own beach front property and don't want their view spoiled. How about we build a nice, pretty coal-fired generating plant instead? Of course, those don't usually get built where the Kennedys can see them.

Anybody else see the further irony of Teddy complaining about something obscuring his view of the water?

Danziger Update--He Responds

This morning, upon learning from Michelle Malkin's site that Danziger took down his cartoon, but that the Times had replaced it with the photo of an African-American man, I wrote to Danziger:

Just heard you took down the Rice cartoon. I see the NY Times syndicate has replaced it with a photo.

I can understand removing the cartoon.

Any idea why that photo is now the placeholder? A joke? Social commentary?

Everybody makes mistakes. Some people also apologize. Any apology heading toward Dr. Rice any time soon?

<>From:
<>Tony Iovino

<>
<>
<>His complete, unaltered response:
<>

<>I didn't do that. Probably they got the address mixed up...

Got the address mixed up? What? Is that a serious response? I certainly hope the Times has a better explanation. Maybe they let some frat guys manage their web site?

And what about the apology, Mr. Danziger? Doesn't Dr. Rice deserve one?

Barry Goldwater's Son & a WTC Disgrace

This is a lousy story, and I hope there is another side to it.

A company endorsed by Barry Goldwater Jr., the National Collector's Mint, has just been stopped by Eliot Spitzer, the Attorney General of the State of New York from selling coins allegedly made from silver recovered from the World Trade Center.

Called the "2004 FREEDOM TOWER SILVER DOLLAR", Spitzer alleges that

"...the sale of the silver dollars emblazoned with the World Trade Center towers on one side and the planned Freedom Tower on the flip side is a fraud and he's investigating the claim the silver came from the ruins of the twin towers.

``It is a shameless attempt to profit from a national tragedy,'' Spitzer said. ``This product has been promoted with claims that are false, misleading or unsubstantiated.''

Spitzer said the National Collector's Mint, based in Port Chester, N.Y., claims the coins engraved with ``In God We Trust'' are legally authorized silver dollars, when they aren't.

He said the coin advertised as nearly pure silver is only silver plated, produced by a Wyoming company called SoftSky Inc." Michael Gormley, AP News.

Goldwater's endorsement is prominently displayed, right along with products that seem tacky at best, and shamelessly exploitive at worst.

It's a disgrace when kids trade their parent's good names in for cheap dollars.

And as for those who have exploited 9/11 for personal profit... I hope there's a ring in hell available especially for them.

Jeff Danziger: Half Racist

Got the heads up from Michelle Malkin about Jeff Danziger's latest cartooon-- a disgusting, morally indefensible piece of garbage, featuring Condoleeza Rice.

The cartoon would be racist under any other circumstance, but, of course, only Republicans can be racists in America. (We'll leave for another day the most insideous form of racism short of lynchings, that of lowered expectations.)

My email to Danziger was simple: "Disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself."

That's all.

Danziger promptly emailed me back what I am sure is his form letter for this cartoon:

Thanks for your letter.

In fact the idea for the cartoon was suggested to me by a friend who is African-American. It wasn't racist. Nor am I. I have been doing this for nearly thirty years, and any review of my work will prove that no racism attaches. Further, I am a decorated Vietnam veteran who voted for Nixon once, GHW Bush twice and even for Bob Dole. So keep your labels.

Ms. Rice had told America that she knew for certain that the nuclear and mass destruction weapons existed. For certain. Then once the war is on and over a thousand GI's get killed, she said last week that she didn't know anything for certain, and that she never said it was certain and it was all the CIA's fault and Clinton did the same thing and blah-blah. A litany of excuses. She reminded me of Prissy, a character in the film "Gone With the Wind", who knew all about birthin babies, until an actual baby was on the way, and then she didn't know nuthin about birthin babies.

Nothing racist about it at all. Just the standard lies told by a political operative, out of her depth, who happens to be African- American. Whenever this administration is in trouble they send out Condi Rice because the press, which is mostly white and male, gives her a far easier treatment than they would a white male.

Meanwhile, our troops are dying and being greviously wounded in a war that could have been avoided, or at least unsought. Ms. Rice's (and other's) statements about the aluminum tubes are the same kind of lie as the Gulf of Tonkin lie from Lyndon Johnson's people. 55000 GI's died for that lie.

Even so, I appreciate your comments and will bear your remarks in mind in the future. For the record I do not work for the NY Times.

Jeff Danziger1 212 262 5840

Now, I never mentioned racism in my 7 word email; I can only suppose Danziger heard from many others who did accuse him of it.

I think he's probably telling a half truth. I'm sure he has no prejudices against Democratic African-Americans. I mean, as he implies in the first line of his letter, some of his best friends are...well, you know how it goes.

Update: Danziger later took the cartoon down from his site--see more correspondence between us.

Sinclair Foes Gear Up

Just received this from a friendly Democrat. Obviously they are gearing up against Sinclair.

Jenn Martinez urges you to contact Sinclair with your support.

Do you suppose Michael Moore will take time from his college campus, paid, tour touting his vitriol long enough to watch real heroes express their beliefs?(See Michelle Malkin for a great piece on Moore.)

-----Original Message-----
From: Democratic Party [mailto:democraticparty@democrats.org]
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 12:43 PM
To: XXXXX
Subject: Stop Sinclair's anti-Kerry smear attacks

Dear XXX,

The Sinclair Broadcasting Group, a conservative broadcasting company that runs television stations in dozens of major television markets nationwide, has ordered its stations to preempt other programming and air an anti-Kerry program days before Election Day.

The so-called "documentary," called "Stolen Honor," was written, produced, and funded by extreme right-wing activists. Sinclair is using its reach to broadcast a blatantly political -- and false -- message while disguising it as "news."

And this isn't the first time the Sinclair corporate office has compromised the journalistic integrity of its stations. It ordered ABC affiliates not to air a nonpartisan tribute to our fallen U.S. soldiers, fearing the consequences for George W. Bush. It has refused to run a DNC ad that challenged Bush for citing faulty intelligence about Iraq. And Sinclair and its executives have contributed thousands of dollars to Republican causes -- and the CEO has given the maximum donation to Bush-Cheney 04.

Take Action

Sinclair Broadcasting is using its television stations to disguise right-wing smears against John Kerry as news. The Democratic Party has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission to protest this illegal corporate contribution to the Bush campaign.

But we need your help to stop this right-wing attack on John Kerry. An overwhelming outcry from the public may be the only way to stop Sinclair from forcing these smears onto the airwaves. There are two ways that we need to take action immediately:

1. Call Sinclair's affiliates. Click here for a list of phone numbers for Sinclair stations. Call them to let them know what you think about their decision to air untrue smears about John Kerry just before Election Day.
2. Sign our petition. Click here to sign our petition demanding that Sinclair take their negative smears off the air.

---

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In (Partial) Defense of John Kerry

John Kerry is being lambasted for his latest gaffe:

Kerry told the New York Times Sunday magazine: "We have to get back to the place where we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance."

Many of us will take this statement as further proof that, in the words of the defenders of Anita Hill, he just doesn't get it.

The problem I have is that I think he's right. Sort of.

The question that has been nagging me for the last couple of years is this:

What's next?

If Kerry really understood the problem he would have said something along the lines of:

"We need leadership that recognizes that fighting terrorism is Job #1, that hunting down and destroying terrorists wherever they are is our prime mission because it is essential for our continued freedom.

But our leadership must also reach beyond that fight, so that America continues to strive at home and abroad, continues to grow and to live, not merely survive.

This great people can do more than one thing at a time. After all, we played baseball during World War II; we started the interstate highway system during Korea; we put a man on the moon during Vietnam.

For if we only fight terror, if we forsake our commitment to the betterment of our society and the promise of even better days for our children, then the terrorists, by distracting us from all else, the terrorists will have succeeded."

Something like that.

But that begs the question: What's next?

I so desperately want to hear a national leader talk of tangible, great projects befitting a great nation. I want to hear of projects just beyond our grasp, but with definable goals and real effort. I don't know exactly what that mission should be:

A national water pipeline?

Mapping the ocean floors?

Defeating AIDS throughout the globe?

Providing clean water to all?

Significantly shifting our energy use from oil?

Ending starvation on this planet?

Putting an observatory on the moon?

I don't know-- but I'm open to suggestions. I just sense that if all we do is tread water, we will have wasted a unique opportunity on Earth: we are free, we are prosperous, we are intelligent, and we still have an ambitious spirit.

So I ask again.

Mr. President. Senator Kerry. Anybody.

What's next?

CNN Reports--The Whole Truth?

....CNN (which will rarely be cited here) has the electoral college count at Bush ahead 301-237. Does that sound like a close race? As I've said before, looking at the popular vote in a Presidential campaign is like looking at total yards gained in a football game, instead of the score. Interesting, but meaningless. Anybody understand why the media is playing it as a tight horserace?

....CNN also reports, breathlessly, that "Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of the largest chain of television stations in the nation, plans to air a documentary that accuses Sen. John Kerry of betraying American prisoners during the Vietnam War..." and that calls for investigations into possible election law violations are being made.

The Sinclair Group has the following posted on its website:

"We welcome your comments regarding the upcoming special news event featuring the topic of Americans held as prisoners of war in Vietnam. The program has not been videotaped and the exact format of this unscripted event has not been finalized. Characterizations regarding the content are premature and are based on ill-informed sources.

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry has been invited to participate. You can urge him to appear by calling his Washington, D.C. campaign headquarters at (202) 712-3000.

If you would like to make further comments on this matter, you may do so at: comments@sbgi.net"

I guess we can assume Michael Moore is not directing the Sinclair program.

A Drive to the Beach

First, a private message to the person or person(s) who stole my "Support Our Troops" car magnet today while my wife and I wandered the Farmingdale Street Fair.

That's low, man. I only hope you display it with...pride?

After the fair, we drove down to Jones Beach. What a beautiful afternoon. It was perfect. Angela and I have been coming here together since we were 14 or so, and it never loses its magic.

As we drove over the bridges which hop from island to island, winding our way across the Bay to the ocean beach, some thoughts crossed my obsessed little brain:

....Nature, while destructive and nasty at times, contains incredible beauty. For those of you who live in America, away from huge metropolis' like Long Island, that may be an everyday thought. But those of us who live within shouting range of 20,000,000 other people need to be reminded from time to time.

....If the lunatic "pure" environmentalists had existed in 1929 Jones Beach, and the access roads and bridges, would never have been built. Litigation, the affect on the piping plover, etc. would have halted construction. The sand bar would have been left untouched, and literally hundreds of millions of visitors over the last 75 years would have been denied this sanctuary of nature.

....The roads and bridges and tunnels which disrupted this natural spot have probably led to the raising of hundreds of millions of dollars for environmental causes, and the raising of the ecological awareness of millions of people, all to the environment's greater good.

....Government was necessary to keep this area non-commercial. That is, we as neighbors had to come together to keep this area available for everyone. Jones Beach is one of the few beach fronts with no million-dollar condos, no garish hotels, no commercial buildings for miles and miles and miles. Just sea and air and sand...with access roads and parking lots hidden by sand dunes.

Thomas Paine said "that government is best which governs least". Liberals forget that at their peril. But it's also true, as Thomas Hobbes said, that life without government is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." We conservatives forget that at our peril. As with so many things, the ideal lies in the balancing of these two truths. Jones Beach is an example of that delicate balance in its best form.

....Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican who lived on Long Island, was the first true conservationist. The first 10 letters of conservationist and conservative are identical. "The environment" should be a Republican issue. Instead, simply saying "no" to all development has been co-opted by the Democrats, and anything else is deemed anti-environment. True environmentalism means many things: balancing nature's needs with humans' desires; assessing costs to man's endeavors so that "polluters" pay for all of the costs of their product; conserving, recycling and renewing where appropriate and where beneficial; and remembering that attempting to keep everything the same as it currently exists is egotistical, futile and harmful. I'll write more on that another day.

....Finally, I was reminded why things like education and politics matter to me. I want my children's grandchildren to enjoy a day like I enjoyed today: in freedom, in beauty, in a prosperous land, and with just enough intelligence to realize how truly lucky they are to be able to enjoy it all.

Friday Quickies

....Michelle Malkin advises that John Kerry claims he ran a Boston Marathon, but doesn't remember the exact year or his time, and there is no record of him running. Oops. I know Democrats say it's OK to lie about sex (see Bill Clinton). Are they going to add sports accomplishments to the OK-to-lie-about list?

....Why is New York's state university system so...mediocre? Don't tell me about the supposedly great test scores at Binghamton (average SAT: 1235) or Geneseo (1255). Tell me this-- are there out-of-state students clamoring to get in? No. Both schools have over 90% in-state students (92% and 99%.) Compare that to the University of Virginia (1330, 70%) , William & Mary (1350, 60%) , University of Wisconsin (1275, 60%), University of Michigan (1305, 67%), University of North Carolina (1290, 83%), University of Maryland (1265, 70%) the California schools, etc. When the school is recognized nation-wide, it's better for job placement, it's better for graduate school placement, etc. And it's better for the schools and the taxpayers to have outside dollars helping to pay the freight (at the higher out-of-state tuition rates.) Why can't New York match up?

....When are we going to realize that we can't teach everything our kids need to know to compete in this world in 180 days, 6 hours per day? The school year has to be longer; the school day has to be more productive (instead of being broken into ADD-inducing 44 minute sprints), and the day has to be longer. Can we get there from here without vouchers? I don't think so.

....Exciting news (seriously, I mean it) in the world of desalination. Discover magazine reports on groundbreaking work with hydrates (think ice made up of water & gas under pressure-- a snowball that can burn!) There's millions of tons of this stuff on the ocean floor. Research is underway to find a commercially-feasible way to bring cheap, clean water where it is desperatly needed.

.....As a Mets fan, watching Alex Rodriguez play this season for the Yankees has made me weep. He has not only shown amazing talent on the field, he has been pure class off it. Please Mr. Wilpon and Jeffy-boy, please-- sell the team!

You're a What?

Moxie writes a funny piece about "coming out of the closet" as a conservative in L.A.

It's not much better in NY.

About ten years ago I was at a dinner meeting with some fairly influential people (I'll keep the identification vague to protect the guilty.)

In the course of the conversation, a respected member of the community, a gentleman then around 50 or so, laughingly told us he had been an-honest-to-God card-carrying communist in college.

The table chuckled. How cute.

A little later someone asked us to name a modern politician we admired. I mentioned Bill Bennett (pre-gambling).

The shock. The horror.

There would have been less revulsion if I had clubbed a baby seal right there amidst the free range chicken. Or ordered a domestic beer.

Welcome to the club. Being a Red mind in a Blue state sometimes makes you the turkey at the shoot.

Shark Tale's Huggable Rappers

Michele Malkin (one of my absolute favorite writers) has jumped into the controversy surrounding the use of hard-core rappers for the sound track of "Shark Tale". It's an excellent piece.

The concerns are two-fold:

First, kids are going to listen to the "clean" soundtrack, and clamor for the CDs of the individual artists, none of which should be listened to by children. (Being a middle-aged, suburban, white male, I reserve my opinion about whether it is music to be listened to by adults, either.)

The second concern is that by paying money to hear or see anti-social artists in a kid's project, we are financially rewarding people who shouldn't be rewarded.

Ambra at Nykola.com questioned where should we hold entertainers responsible? Here was my reply:

Where should we hold entertainers accountable? Where do we draw the line? How about, I don't know, reaching some kind of consensus that there should be a line? I haven't seen one in a long, long time.

I have raised two daughters, now ages 18 & 14, in a society filled with people making a profit peddling soft porn to kids.

I have no problem with language, nudity, "adult situations", etc in an adult venue. But oh my God, have you seen what passes for PG-13, let alone videos, kid's magazines, songs, etc. Or commercials for "adult" programs broadcast during sporting events, "family" shows, etc?

The old answer "turn it off" is a cop-out by people making money off titillating 11 year olds. You can't "turn it off." It is all-consuming.

So I understand why people want to seek retribution against the foulest of these purveyors, even if the current project isn't quite as foul.

[Christina Aguilera's latest project includes talking to kids about abstinence]. She's a perfect example.

Do I have a problem watching gyrating, three-quarters naked women. Ahem,...nooo.

Do I have a problem with an 8 year old watching the videos, listening to the songs, etc.?

Oh, yes.

Yes, I do.

Just try and stop it, though.

Rodney, R.I.P., With Our Respect




Rodney Dangerfield,
A native Long Islander
He made us laugh


Some great Rodney sites:

Rodney's Own Site
Rodney Quotations
Ye Olde Tap Room
And an excellent obit on FoxSports

Will Our Youth Vote?

Rock the Vote! MTV ads. P Diddy. On and on, the chorus exhorts Americans age 18-25 to vote.

But they haven't. Why not?

The Youth Vote Coalition has more data than any non-Statistics major could find readable. But the facts are simple: participation by youth voters has been on the decline since the voting age was lowered to 18, just prior to the 1972 election.

Indeed, the decline in voting percentage has become more rapid since the 1992 election.

Is it a coincidence that the "Motor Voter Law" was signed into law in 1993?

We've been successful at registering kids-- we just haven't been able to get them to actually vote. Could it be that we have made it so easy for new "voters" to register, whether in class, or at the DMV, or at the mall, or at concerts, or at other locations where they are attending for reasons other than the election process, that our youth have nothing invested in the act, leading them to forget or forgo their right to vote on election day?

Some propose making the process even easier. "States that allow Election Day registration, on average, have youth voter turnout rates that are 14 percentage points higher, and they are more likely to be contacted by a political candidate", according to The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

Some, like the speakers at a Brookings Institute symposium, tout voting through the Internet, in supplement to, or even in replacement of, polling places.

So, the questions are:

1. Will the downward trend continue, or will the war and the full-court press in the youth-targeting media bring more young voters out?

2. If the trend continues, do we resort to Election Day registration, or Internet voting, with all of their attendant fraud risks?

3. Or, do we look at requiring some effort in order to register, some sort of "no pain-no gain" regimen? Of course, I'm talking about visiting an election office, not some pre-Civil Rights Act test or poll tax.

In considering our options, we should keep the following in mind: Do we really want to promote the participation of people so uninspired that they can't register, or can't remember to vote on election day? Or are so lazy they'll only vote from the comfort of their couch?

As the great sage Jon Stewart once said about a poll being conducted which asked voters to choose man's greatest achievements:

"The seven marvels that best represent man's achievements over the last 2,000 years will be determined by Internet vote... so look for Howard Stern's Private Parts to come in No. 1"

Isn't an informed electorate part and parcel of the democratic process?

The New Roslyn Board's First Order of Business

The voters of the troubled Roslyn School District are going to the polls on Tuesday, October 5, to fill two seats vacated by member resignations. After the new members are sworn in, the Roslyn District will have four "new" members, and three "old" ones. That is, four of the members will have been elected after the multi-million dollar scandal was uncovered.

Since the Commissioner of Education refuses to do so, the new members should band together and expel the old ones. A school board may remove its own member for official misconduct. Education Law Section 1709(18).

There will undoubtedly be calls to "put this behind us" and to "focus on the future".

There is also the understandably human desire to get along with others.

There may even be a feeling by the new members that they need the old members "expertise", at least until they get their feet wet.

Hogwash.

As I have said before, the actions/inactions of the Roslyn board have hurt, and continue to hurt, many people, especially children.

For the sake of the children of Roslyn, and for the benefit of all of the children of Long Island, the new Roslyn Board should do what the Commissioner has failed to do. The members of the "old" Roslyn Board should become the "former" members of the Roslyn Board.