Father of the Year

As I've mentioned before, when my daughters were born my parenting goal was to see them off to college, not pregnant.

I thought that would encompass a few positive attributes rolled into one sentence.

As they grew older, and my confidence in my parenting skills waned, my goal shifted to the hope that they wouldn't need significant psychotherapy until they were on their own health plans.

But as unsteady as I feel sometimes as a parent, I can always take comfort that there is some idiot less equipped than me:

LI man jumps from Jeep during police chase,

leaving kids inside

A Riverhead man left his two children in a moving car when he jumped out of a 1993 Jeep during a high-speed police chase Saturday and ran away, authorities said.

Keith Griffin, 41, of 40B Wood Road Trail, was arrested after a short foot chase, police said. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, resisting arrest and endangering the welfare of a child, and will be arraigned Sunday in Central Islip, police said.

Around 2:45 a.m. Saturday, Griffin was driving on Wavecrest Drive at Mastic Road in Mastic Beach when a Suffolk County police officer attempted to pull him over for an unknown traffic violation, police said.

Griffin refused to stop and led the officer on a short high-speed chase, and at one point he slowed his Jeep drastically and jumped out while the car was still moving, fleeing the police, said Sgt. Jeffrey Maggio.

"A male passenger managed to slide over to the driver's seat and stop the car," Maggio said.

Police found Griffin's 12-year-old and 6-year-old children in the backseat, along with his girlfriend, whom authorities declined to identify.

No one was hurt. Attempts to contact Griffin Saturday were unsuccessful.

Friday Quickies

.....I see that there is a growing controversy over a Vogue magazine cover featuring Lebron James and Gisele Bundchen.

Supposedly the shot is racist because it evokes the image of King Kong clutching Fay Wray.

Maybe it's me.

It took me several tries looking at the photo to realize LeBron was even it.

....Here in New York we are keeping our fingers crossed. It has been four whole days since a Governor of our State has confessed to soliciting, misuse of public funds, fraudulent use of campaign funds, adultery, drug use or any other felony or misdemeanor.

If we make it to next Wednesday State offices will close for a day in celebration!!

....If you haven't watched any of the "John Adams" series on HBO, you are missing out on something truly special. Adams is an altogether interesting man, and an underrated Founding Father. Maybe this series will help propel him into the Nation's conscience. I don't recall there being any significant monument to the man, other than our democracy, of course.

....New York's law requiring the callous idiots who run the airlines to provide water and bathrooms to people stuck in a plane, on a tarmac, for hours, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal Court.

Which means airline passengers continue to have less rights than a prisoner at Guantanamo.

Maybe it's time, Mr. Adams, for a little revolution.

....Don't know what you watch in the morning, but I enjoy Joe Scarborough's "Mornin' Joe". He took over the old Imus time slot on MSNBC, and the show attracts many of the same political characters who used to come on Imus. Scarborough is a former GOP Congressman from Florida.

While he certainly leans right, he comes across as a nice guy, very smart, with an ability to call it as he sees it. For instance, he has been highly critical of all three members of the Presidential Mod Squad--and has praised them all in turn.

Unfortuntely, I'm finding "Mornin' Joe" unwatchable because of Joe's sidekick, Mika Brzezinski, the daughter of Carter's National Security Advisor. She mugs for the camera; she incessantly interrupts; she's nasty and quite frankly–she's not too smart.

I find Joe fascinating–not because we both agree on a lot of issues, but because he, of any personality on TV, has been willing to call it fair–and has been legitimately impressed with those who don't necessarily agree with him.

But she's making it impossible for me to enjoy the show.

...And now a quote from the great Theodore Roosevelt:

"We demand that big business give the people a square deal; in return we must insist that when anyone engaged in big business honestly endeavors to do right he shall himself be given a square deal."

Letter to Sir Edward Gray, November 15, 1913

Break's Over -- Chelsea Clinton

Chelsea Clinton is 28 years old. She's not the gawky 12 year old kid she was back when the Lewinsky scandal first broke.

She has degrees from Stanford and Oxford. She is actively campaigning for her mother--indeed, the Clinton campaign has called her their secret weapon with young people.

So why was the question, asked at a campaign stop at Butler University, about her mother's credibility involving the Lewinsky affair so out of bounds?

You know what? The question may have been rude, but so was Hillary's attitude and conduct during that time--as a member of the vast right-wing conspiracy I still await my apology. She has questions to answer about her role back then--especially the attempts to stonewall the truth. Did she play any part in her disbarred husband's perjury?

Why isn't that a fair question?

The Clinton campaign has a total hands-off policy regarding Chelsea-- no interviews, no questions from the press.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. If she is out campaigning for her mother, she is subject to the same rules that apply to any surrogate of the candidate.

Still, it's nice to see the Clintons so protective of their 28 year old daughter.

If you can't ask Chelsea a question without the Clintons going ballistic, just think what they would have done if, when she was, say, a 22 year old student, some 49 year old college President used her as a sexual toy!!

Too bad they forgot that Monica was somebody else's 22 year old daughter when Bill took advantage and the whole Clinton team geared up to destroy her--until the blue dress evidence made that smear campaign pointless.

A Break From Hillary

As much as I love beating up on Hillary, there are a great many other things that I find interesting, and that capture my attention.

Movies, for one. My daughter-the-elder has me close to convinced to join Netflix, their recent computer problems aside.

I came across a blogger's opinion of the Top 10 Greatest Film Speeches of All Time. Some I agreed with, some I didn't.

I think my Top 10 speeches or monologues (as opposed to best line) would include, not necessarily in this order:

1) Groucho Marx' "why a duck" sales pitch in "The Cocoanuts"

2) Jack Nicholson's "you can't handle the truth/you need me on that wall" in "A Few Good Men"

3) Clint Eastwood's "We all have it comin'" from "Unforgiven"

4) Michael Douglas' "greed" speech in "Wall Street"

5) Mel Gibson's "freedom" speech in "Braveheart"

6) Humphrey Bogart-- just about any part of "Casablanca"

7) Albert Brook's "devil" speech from "Broadcast News", the one I have always thought fit a certain unnamed-in-this-non-political-post former President -- except the last line:

(What do you think the Devil is going to look like if he's around? Nobody is going to be taken in if he has a long, red, pointy tail. No. I'm semi-serious here. He will look attractive and he will be nice and helpful and he will get a job where he influences a great God-fearing nation and he will never do an evil thing... he will just bit by little bit lower standards where they are important. Just coax along flash over substance... Just a tiny bit. And he will talk about all of us really being salesmen. And he'll get all the great women. )

8) Wilford Brimley's movie-stealing scene in "Absence of Malice"

9) John Belushi, rallying the troops in "Animal House" (Was it over when the Germans attacked Pearl Harbor?)

10) Gregory Peck's closing in "To Kill A Mockingbird".

I am ashamed I couldn't think of a great speech by a woman--though Katherine Hepburn's porch scene with Henry Fonda in "On Golden Pond", and her scolding of Jane Fonda in the same movie come close.

Others that should be on there are Gene Hackman's "Hoosier"'s speech, just about anything from "The Godfather", Anthony Hopkin's "chianti" scene in "The Silence of the Lambs", Robert Shaw's "Indianapolis" speech from "Jaws", and Bill Murray's "Dalai Lama" ramble in "Caddyshack"

And, of course, breaking my own "rule" about choosing speeches or monologues, not single lines, the greatest speech ever uttered on any movie screen, ever, though it be short:

“Yippy-Kay-Yay-Motherf#@!#r”

Hill-ary's a Liii-aarrr!!!!

Back during the Iowa caucuses I read that Hillary had been going around with a BS story about going to Bosnia and landing "under sniper fire".

Sinbad, the comedian-actor, came out with a mocking account of that trip--one he took with Hillary (and Chelsea and Sheryl Crow) to Bosnia back when she was Bill's Sunday morning, going-to-church girl.

Sinbad said:

"I never felt that I was in a dangerous position. I never felt being in a sense of peril, or 'Oh, God, I hope I'm going to be OK when I get out of this helicopter or when I get out of his tank.'"

In her Iowa stump speech, Clinton also said, "We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady."

Say what? As Sinbad put it: "What kind of president would say, 'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.'"

I assumed that Hillary would figure, hey, let me drop this BS from the stump speech before someone calls me on it.

But, noooo, not Hillary. She can't apologize and she can't stop telling a lie that sounds good. So she's still telling this whopper--now adding that they were under enemy fire, so the welcoming events were canceled. She repeated it, in detail, as late as St. Patrick's Day.

Now finally, the main stream media is picking up on this story.

Ooops: they have video!

Ooooooh, that must have so scary!

The Clinton campaign's response, via the despicable Howard Wolfson? "Senator Clinton misspoke."

She misspoke? She's been telling this lie for months now--it wasn't a one time slip, or a momentary memory lapse. It was a detailed, dressed up lie.

She lied. Poorly.

To my grave disappointment, she and her disbarred hubby have been lieing with less and less style as their campaign slips into panic.

I once wrote :

In my lifetime I've had the privilege of watching Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and Michael Jordan play basketball, Wayne Gretzky play hockey, Muhammed Ali box, Tom Seaver pitch, Tiger Woods golf.

And I've heard the Clintons lie.

Greatness comes in many forms.

I guess, like aging boxers who stay in the ring after their skills are gone, the Clintons are sliding into pugsville.

It's so sad.

He Has a License To Kill

New York State's new governor, David Paterson, is our new James Bond.

He has a license to kill, steal, drive drunk down Broadway, embezzle-- whatever he wants to do.

He has already admitted to not one, but a series of affairs, some with State employees.

No problem.

He has admitted illegally using campaign funds for personal expenses, including furniture, suits, hotel rooms for his affairs, dinners, etc.

No problem.

He has admitted paying his former girlfriend $500 from campaign funds-- and his explanation has changed twice. His first explanation is an admission of a crime (that he reimbursed her for a campaign contribution she gave another candidate). The second explanation is patently ridiculous.

No problem.

Why? Why are there no calls for investigations, no inquiry into the clearly illegal activities of this formerly unknown politician?

Because our New York Constitution couldn't provide Gov. Paterson with more protection if it was made out of Kevlar.

When he was elevated to Governor, it left the position of Lt. Governor vacant--and my understanding is that there is no provision for filling it. The next in line is the head of the Senate, who happens to be an aging Republican warhorse, currently under investigation himself, Joseph Bruno.

New York State provides the heads of its two legislative bodies, the Assembly and the Senate with extraordinary powers. Effectively, we have a three-headed government--the governor, the head of the Senate and the Speaker of the Assembly. Nobody else has any power in NY. These three men control it all.

In order to bring impeachment hearings against the Governor, the Assembly, controlled by the Democrats, would have to bring charges. If impeached, Republican Bruno would rise to Governor.

So that's never gonna happen.

Add to that the current situation In the Senate-- the Republicans majority is down to two-- so if Bruno gives up his seat, and a Democrat takes it-- the Senate would be lost by the GOP.

So no Republican is calling for action against the Governor.

We could find pictures of David Paterson shooting steroids with Roger Clemens, sharing a bed with former Governor Spitzer and $25,000 worth of hookers, and beating dogs with Michael Vick, and all of New York will shrug and go, "Ah, that David--he's so sociable!"

He's got a ticket to ride, and all of New York don't care.

Friday Quickies

....So I see that the Hannah Montana dolls, made in China, of course, are chock full of lead, a metal which causes harm to intellectual development.

Hannah Montana fans (and especially their mothers).

Diminished intellectual development.

It's a chicken and egg thing, I think.

...I can't win. They tell me to switch my light bulbs to CFLs (compact fluorescent light) to help save energy and thus prevent global warming. Which I did-- and even posted on it.

Now I hear the damn things are chock full of mercury, and the instructions for dealing with a broken bulb are :

1. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
2. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
3. Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
4. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
5. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
6. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
7. Immediately place all cleanup materials outside the building in a trash container or outdoor protected area for the next normal trash.
8. Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing cleanup materials.
9. Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken lamps be taken to a recycling center.
10. For at least the next few times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.
11. Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.

Um, hey guys, nobody told me I was trading in my admittedly energy-wasting bulb for something that has more disposal instructions than a nuclear reactor.

I should have known something was up when Walmart started pushing them-- they're probably made with the toxins left over after the Chinese finish making our kids' toys.

....Joann Jacobs, who writes a great education blog, posted about a school which was forcing kids to take the AP test, even though they weren't really ready. I posted this comment:

Here in NY we have a unique issue involving the AP. NY students take a Regents exam at the end of the year, a state-wide competency test in each subject. Traditionally, you needed to take all of your major subjects in a “regents” class and pass the test to get a Regents HS diploma. If you didn’t take all of the tests, or didn’t pass them all, you could still graduate, but with a lesser “General diploma”.

The problem was that since no other state knew what a Regents diploma was anyway, a lot of college-bound kids opted out of the Regents programs, and cherry-picked their courses. To raise the level of competency, NY State did away with non-regents diplomas. Everybody has to take the regent’s classes.

And the problem with that is most schools had a three-tier system in each course (tracking if you will)– AP for the most advanced student; Regents, for the regular-to-good student; and non-regents for the weakest students and the disciplinary problems.

When the non-regents classes were terminated, the Regents classes became more remedial–and the better students started to flock to the AP classes, in the hopes they would actually learn something.

Our AP classes swelled, including with students who have no business taking AP, and who, in fact, weren’t taking the AP test–just the course. Since they knew they weren’t going to take the test, their approach was different than kids taking the course “for real”.

Then came Newsweek with that stupid high school ratings system based on the number of AP tests taken–not passed.

And so, predictably, school districts in NY are now requiring the kids who escaped the Regent’s classes into the AP classes to take the test. They don’t need to pass the test–in fact, since the results come after the school year ends, the results are not included in the kid’s grades. But if they don’t sit, they don’t get credit for the course.

So now will come a flood of unprepared kids taking the AP–and a host of 1’s and 2’s.

Which helps the kids how, exactly?

.....I wrote yesterday about Donald Trump's assault on Jones Beach. The need to balance commerce and keeping some nature around us is a powerful one. One of the shames of the former Republican majority was that it failed to institute conservative ideas and policies in areas where those ideas could have been helpful.

A wonderful organization, PERC (Property & Environment Research Center) regularly puts forth thoughtful studies on how to achieve that delicate balance, using market and free enterprise forces. For instance, they recently wrote about a Nature Conservancy program in Komodo National Park, that is using a multi-faceted approach of creative financial incentives and education to help local inhabitants earn a living without destroying the local ecology.

To merely outlaw all development is a fool's errand. The problem with the Trump project is that this development will ruin the very thing that draws millions of people, and millions of dollars in parking fees, to this beach.

Using common sense, and looking at the economics of an action as well as its overall impact on an environment, is the intelligent, adult thing to do.

...And now a quote from the great Theodore Roosevelt:

"Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying the 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people.
The 'greatest good for the greatest number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction.
Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations.
The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method."

A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open, 1916

Trumped (For Now)

Long Islanders are justifiably proud of our signature State park, Jones Beach. Donald Trump is invading, though for now he seems to be stalled. Unfortunately, he's still coming.

Jones Beach, part of a string of ocean beaches on the South Shore of Long Island, is virtually undeveloped. About 6 miles long, it has no hotels; no casinos; no condos.

It's just miles of sand and shore, with minimal facilities.

And we love it that way.

There has for years been a small restaurant tucked next to a small stretch of nondescript boardwalk. It hasn't been successful, mostly because the food was mediocre and people simply don't go to Jones Beach for food. We go to the beach for, well, the beach.

But in the waning days of the Pataki Administration some idiot decided hey, let's lease the restaurant concession to the man most unlike the rest of the facility--let's give a piece of this low-key, nature-sensitive, quiet, reserved oasis to....Donald Trump.

When I first heard this, I thought for sure it was a gag. When I realized it wasn't a joke, I did in fact have a gag reflex.

Trump's first plan was, typically, huge, glitz-filled and classless. Thankfully, he wanted a basement, which isn't allowed in the flood plain. Undaunted he now wants to raise the restaurant higher, over 43 feet high, making it more of an eyesore, a blinking electronic rhinestone zoot-suit in the cathedral pew.

This isn't over, but even if we have to buy back the lease, I hope the new Paterson Administration will do whatever it takes to stop this atrocity.

One of my first posts was on Jones Beach, its beauty and its importance to Long Islanders. To allow Trump, or any other developer, to ruin this gem is a sin.

Obama's Race Speech

I find Obama fascinating. I get excited when I hear him speak of the possibilities of America, and I find his reaction to the few hurdles his campaign has hit to be impressive. Of the three, he is the only one who has managed his campaign well, with discipline and order.

I find his call to put aside the Clinton-Bush, Carville-Rove, McLaughlin Report screaming heads, poisonous political atmosphere enticing.

I read his speech on race before I saw any clips of it, and before I heard any of the talking heads.

I thought his speech was courageous; I thought he hit home with some pitch-perfect references to the real-world America. While he didn't fully flesh out all of the resentments held by each side, I think he deftly touched on some real key issues, on both sides of the equation. He left me thinking that at least he has an understanding of where white America sits. I didn't find the speech to be a sell-out, nor was it pandering.

That he didn't throw his pastor under the bus, while still convincingly repudiating his words, showed class and a maturity not often displayed in recent American politics. It was a well-executed high wire act. It is something that has to be a part of the new politics-- we simply have to break out of this pattern of playing gotcha with the other side, of Bork-anizing each other. As a nation, as a media, as a bodypolitic, we have to ...grow up.

I think Obama's speech was a clarion call for maturity.

My problem?

I follow him until I hear his solutions to America's problems, and then he loses me. Because although I'm "only" 49, I am old enough to know that the liberal plans he is pushing are doomed to fail because of two undeniable facts: they go against human nature and they always have.

Of course, McCain isn't offering me that much different. With any of these three, my fear is that a year from now my taxes will be higher and there will be 20 million illegal aliens made citizens--meaning that 10 years from now there will be a new batch of illegals calling for amnesty.

I'm not convinced Obama is the real thing just yet. And from all appearances, even if Barak doesn't buy into this old fool pastor's anti-America rhetoric, I think it's safe to assume that Michelle Obama does.

Still... I'm intrigued.

Damn, that was a good speech.

Fill Out These Brackets!

Funny take on "bracketology", Democrat style:

Daily Takes

Thanks to Betsy's Page for the heads up!

John Gorka & My Birthday

My wife and I saw the great John Gorka play last night at the Highland Ballroom in Manhattan. A warm, funny, touching, engaging show--as always. Gorka and I are the same age, both born, as he's written, "under Eisenhower skies." I've been a fan for over 20 years, I guess, and I've written about him a few times.

I've seen him in person now several times--including last Fall at the small, non-profit storefront theatre in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania called Godfrey Daniels, where he started his career. That show, and the overnight stay off of Route 22, was my birthday present from my wife last year.

It was wonderful.

After last night's show, Gorka was sitting at the edge of the stage, talking with his fans. I went up to him, shook his hand and said:

"Great show! We saw you last year at Godfrey Daniels-it was my 49th birthday present."

"Thanks. That was last September-- that was nice--hey, I'm turning 50 this year, too"

"I know. Listen, I hope you don't mind but this year for my 50th I told my wife instead of seeing you, I'd rather see what a $5,100 hooker is like."

He laughed. It was nice to give a few seconds of pleasure to a performer who has provided me with hundreds of hours of thoughtful entertainment.

Here's the lyrics to a song he wrote for his mother--a song that I think hits home for those of us with aging parents:

One Of Your Own
by John Gorka

I wish that you could live forever
And that I could be there too
And that there'd be generations
To look after me and you

But I know that isn't likely
So I guess I'll say it now
That I'll love you past the boundaries
That time and breath allow

You were my first memory
We were playing in the grass
Like the colors of your apron
Love was colored in to last

Chorus

And I'm glad the light still hits your face
And I'm glad every time you answer the phone
For you life and home have never been an easy place
And I'm glad to be part of your own

You were the foundation
That we built my life upon
First with Dad and Cass and Mary
Then one was sick and one was gone

People only get one family
And a lot of them are rough
I'm glad the one I got was one
That wasn't hard to love

I hope I have your toughness
Along with your will to be kind
And know as I am one of yours
That you are one of mine

Chorus

A Message From the Clinton Campaign

Friday Quickies

....So I hear that when told that Eliot Spitzer had paid thousands of dollars for sex with a 22 year old prostitute Bill Clinton said: "What?!? Doesn't New York State have an intern program?"

....Vox Baby wrote an interesting piece on the winners and losers were prostitution to be legalized:

What does the economist in me say? Despite the rather high price paid by Governor Spitzer ($4300 per hour), prostitution--particularly if legalized--lowers the cost to the man of obtaining more and more varied sexual activity from women. Who is made better off by this change in price?

• Men who partake of prostitutes (buyers).
• Women who engage voluntarily in prostitution but not other types of sex (sellers).
• Men who do not partake of prostitutes but who face less competition in finding sexual partners from the men who are now content with prostitutes (buyers of substitutes).

Who is made worse off?

• Women who do not engage in prostitution (sellers of substitutes)

• 
  

I commented: I actually wrote a paper, in Richmond, Virginia, in 1977 calling for the legalization of prostitution-- the other economic benefits being the reallocation of criminal justice resources, taxation opportunities and public health. That said, while the life might even be glamorous on some $4300-per-tryst-level, the rest of the scene is degrading to buyers and sellers alike. I think, though, on balance, legalizing it may remove some of the nastier elements of it--including violence, intimidation and lack of police protection-- and actually make the women's lives a bit better.

....I have commented a few times that I think--perhaps naively--that a McCain-Obama contest might be the most civil one we've had in decades. I think Reagan-Mondale, as I recall, was about the most civil I remember.

That McCain scolded the conservative radio show host who opened for him by using Obama's middle name about 87 times, and that Obama dealt swiftly with his adviser who crossed the line I think bodes well. It even made Hillary step up on Geraldine Ferraro, though the loathsome Howard Wolfson, he of the idiotic "Ken Starr" comment, remains in her camp.

McCain and Obama have legitimate policy differences, and they should hammer away on those. How great would it be if they could do it in a way that doesn't make you embarrassed to support either one?

....Much is being made of the idiot pastor at Obama's church, the one who says African-Americans should sing "God Damn America", not "God Bless America" and other lunacy. When asked about his pastor, Obama said that Rev. Wright "is like an old uncle who says things I don't always agree with," telling a Jewish group that everyone has someone like that in their family.

Wright isn't on Obama's staff and neither is the ex-Weatherman who Obama sits on a non-profit board with, so quite frankly, I don't have a problem with either connection.

And Obama is correct--we all have friends and relatives who say outrageous things from time to time. I won't throw any of my friends under the bus and I don't expect Obama or any other politician to do so, either. If they aren't on your staff, then just tell me you don't agree with their position or statements and show me that you don't agree by your actions, and as far as I'm concerned the issue is over.

If I disassociated myself from every friend and relative who is a bit crazy, I'd be a lonely, lonely, man.

....New kid on the block, Rant and a Half, lets loose on a host of topics, ranging from Spitzer to a local school board's decision to ban a guide dog from its school to another school's decision to suspend kids who tried to pay for their lunch in pennies. Take a look.

....And now a quote from the great Theodore Roosevelt:

"No man can lead a public career really worth leading, no man can act with rugged independence in serious crises, nor strike at great abuses, nor afford to make powerful and unscrupulous foes, if he is himself vulnerable in his private character."

An Autobiography, 1913

Earth: Cleanup Your Room!

The latest Air & Space magazine has an interesting article on one of those problems that will only appear in niche magazines--until tragedy occurs.

There are currently almost 25,000 human-made objects orbiting Earth, but only a third are operating--the other two-thirds are decaying. Most of those objects will hit the atmosphere and burn up. However, if these objects are hit by other debris, they'll splay out into many more potentially dangerous pieces.

Most experts on space debris say that in terms of both the frequency of these events and their severity, our luck will soon run out. Collisions among pieces of debris in space beget more debris, and certain orbits—particularly the polar orbits favored for weather satellites and other Earth observers—will eventually become hazard zones. It’s not an emergency yet, says Nicholas Johnson, the chief scientist at NASA’s orbital debris program office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. But it’s time to act.

Space debris not only threatens human life during space trips (admittedly a very, very small risk), it also threatens our satellites, which could mean disruption in communications and security-- with potentially dire economic consequences.

A study is due out later this year on our options for cleaning up this mess. As with so many other problems facing this country, we have the resources and the technology to solve it: do we have the will and the leadership foresight?

Stand By Your Man

Apparently Silda Spitzer is urging her husband not to resign--which I guess is both a reflection on her and a window into the arrangement they call a marriage.

I think my wife--no, I know my wife would handle something like this more like the story in today's Newsday:

A woman set her ex-boyfriend's Roosevelt apartment on fire Tuesday afternoon, then went outside and saw him sitting in his parked car -- so she smashed his windshield and side windows with a hammer, police said.

Latira Jackson, 29, went into the man's Pennywood Avenue apartment at 1:25 p.m. while he was out and set his belongings on fire, the police said. The fire spread to the entire building, where two other tenants were at home at the time. Neither was injured.

There's A Party On Wall Street

Elliot Spitzer: One of the problems with being a Governor, as opposed to a Senator, is that because you are tasked with enforcing the law, there is little tolerance when you break it. Less so when you have made your bones, so to speak, as a New Age Vigilante.

If he thought prostitution should be legal-- and many people do--he should have said so. He's going to lose his job not because of the money shifting and the soliciting, but because of his hypocrisy.

Maybe his last act as Governor should be to pardon and commute anyone convicted or presently facing charges for prostitution or solicitation.

On a personal note, this is what I get for voting Democratic-- Carter and Spitzer--boy, can I pick 'em or what?

Governing

There's an issue not being addressed by any of the candidates--one that I think Obama could use to a great advantage.

Governing.

We usually don't elect Senators President, and one of the reasons is that the job of President is an executive one--and Senators, including all 3 in the race right now, usually don't have much experience actually running anything.

Theodore Roosevelt said: "The bulk of government is not legislation but administration."

And we have had, for at least 16 years, a dearth of administration.

I'm waiting for one of the candidates to step up and say-- hey, I not only have a vision of where we need to go, of the people we can be, but I also recognize that many of our current problems exist because we haven't enforced our own laws-- bread and butter, keep the lights on rules.

The failure of our federal government to actually enforce the law is the termite colony in the beams, slowly undermining the structure of our society.

I'm waiting for a candidate to say:

We have gun laws on the books that no one--the Clinton or the Bush administration--enforced. I will.

We have laws requiring that products imported into this country are free of lead and other hazardous material. No one is inspecting those imports-- I will.

We have laws protecting our trademarks and patents and trade names-- "knockoffs" and illegal copying costs American business billions of dolars and thousands of jobs. No one has enforced those laws-- I will.

I will increase the number of auditors and accountants and inspectors. I'll make sure the environmental laws are enforced, and that our meat and poultry and drugs are safe.

I will make sure our border guards are increased, and trained and equipped.

I'll make sure we have enough civil engineers inspecting our bridges and tunnels, to help prevent collapses like the one in Minnesota.

How about a plan to make FEMA work? I have one. There will be no Katrina's on my watch--in part because I'm going to increase the number of inspectors and make sure that everyone has their emergency plans, which are federally mandated, in order.

I'll have auditors review pension funds, and I'll crack down on the "off-the-books" economy, so that everyone is sharing the load.

I'll increase the SEC's budget, to help stave off the next Enron.

I'll increase the number of TSA's at airports to make the lines go faster, and I'll increase the number of reviewers at the FDA so that prospective drugs can hit the market faster and at less expense.

I'll increase the number of inspections at federal facilities, to prevent future Walter Reed disgraces, and to make sure the U. S. government isn't polluting the lands and water.

I'll enforce the laws that already exist, so that we're all on the same playing field. So that everyone has a Square Deal, or a Fair Deal. So we're all playing by the same rules.

Only Obama can do this.

Hillary can't call for the enforcement of laws without everyone in America laughing.

McCain can't call for the enforcement of laws without everyone in America thinking he's the uncool old scold.

But Obama can.

He can point to Southwest, with its uninspected cracked planes, and say, where was the FAA?

He can point to the China imports and the agricultural concerns and the "rich" people using illegal housekeepers and landscapers-- he can rail against regulatory capture (a term I learned this week from Vox Baby, meaning the taking over of a regulatory agency by the people the agency is supposed to be governing).

He can call for the investigation of community agencies and outside contractors, for real audits, to make sure that the money being spent in our inner cities and poor rural areas is not being siphoned and stolen.

All of the past non-enforcement can be laid at the feet of his opponents-- the errors of the Clinton Administration belong to the former First Lady-- Bush's incompetence he can tie to McCain.

He can do this without going negative, but by making it part of his national call to arms. Who can object to the enforcement of laws? A law and order pitch usually plays well with us Red Minders. He just has to make sure it is an across-the-board attack-- and to the extent it means enforcing laws his supporters may not be crazy about, well, that could be his "Sister Souljah" moment.

And he can turn the VP issue against Hillary by saying he's going to make sure his VP selection is someone who knows how to run things--a VP who will be in charge of the very non-sexy job of making sure the laws of the land are enforced, day to day.

Someone like Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, a Hillary supporter.

Or Mike Bloomberg.

Or Rudy Giuliani. (hee-hee)

But putting aside the fun VP speculation-- one of the things we need from the next Administration is the will and the competence to actually run the damn country.

That's something that's been missing for a long, long time.

It may not happen--but somebody should at least be talking about it.

Welcome Home

ABC does it's Person of the Week each Friday. Take a look at this one--if it doesn't choke you up, I don't know what will:

I wonder if there are other groups like this around the country.

Friday Quickies

....Jon Stewart noted that the phone in Hillary's "3 am" commercial rang 7 times, which seemed a long time. He wondered why the phone wasn't picked up a bit quicker.

Well, you got to get up, go to the next room, shoo out the floozy, wake up the guy with the experience and get him to answer the phone.

That takes time.

....Saw that 107 year old, the last WW I veteran honored at the White House yesterday, and all I could think was: thank goodness he still wasn't in the Reserves, cause he would now be on his third tour in Iraq.

That, and, if selected as the GOP Vice-Presidential candidate, he could make McCain look spry!

....The rattling of sabers down in Colombia again highlights two of our addictions: drugs and oil.

That we still don't have a plan--indeed, an emergency plan, to convert our economy away from oil is the single biggest failure of our government--both Republicans and Democrats. Whether because of global warming, or because we can't deal with enemies such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela without worrying about devastating our economy, the issue of oil dependency is a national security issue.

And it's not being addressed.

We don't need to socialize our economy to correct this-- we simply need to acknowledge that there are costs of oil which the market isn't calculating into the price of oil-- and take steps to correct it. We need to use our technology and our brains. We have both.

We just don't have the political will.

As for our addiction to drugs, it's past time marijuana was legalized--and we should be taking a hard look at other drugs as well. Our "war" on drugs has failed worse than Iraq, and the costs to countries like Colombia have been great as well.

....Short "Quickies" this week-- work presses. If you are interested in participating in the Theodore Roosevelt Carnival, send in your link!

...And, finally, a quote from the great Theodore Roosevelt:

"The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others."

-Address to the Deep Waterway Convention, Memphis, TN, October 4, 1907

Hillary the Hidden

“Sen. Clinton is the most secretive politician in America today. This has been a pattern throughout her career of the lack of disclosure.” So says Obama's campaign manager yesterday.

And all of us Red Minds say: well, duh!

In response to Clinton's attacks, Obama is finally starting to ask questions: Hillary, where did you get that $5,000,000? You claim you two left the White House broke & in debt-- let's see the tax returns.

And, you claim experience: tell us, what did you do, exactly?

Good questions.

I have a ton more, but I'll limit them to three for now-- issues that relate directly to governmental actions (as opposed to the cattle futures money she made under very suspicious circumstances):

Your husband made controversial pardons at the end of his term. Did you have anything to do with those pardons--especially Marc Rich and the Hasidim in upstate New York? If so, will you release any documents, etc. on them? If not, do you denounce and reject those pardons?

You and your husband have refused to release the donor list from his Presidential library, leading many to think that payoffs for political favors, including the pardons, were funneled through the Library. Will you release those records, and will you pledge that, if elected, your Library's books will be open and transparent? and

Will you finally release your White House papers that the Clinton Library has refused to release? (See an excellent article about the Library, the troubling donations, and why the Library is called "Little Rock's Fort Knox) by Frank Rich)

Fair questions, I think-- all of which relate to her supposed governmental experience and honesty.

By the way, best line of the week goes to David Axelrod, Obama's adviser:

Axelrod said Clinton’s argument that it will take time to release the tax forms is senseless. “They’ve talked about change you can Xerox, you can Xerox your tax returns there’s not a whole lot of preparation for that.”

The Modern Mod Squad?

Who Won?

The problem for Obama is that the easy way to report these primaries is to report the gross number of votes and declare a "winner". That's why, although he won more delegates in Nevada than Hillary the media continues to mark Nevada as a "win" for her.

Last night she won the popular vote in Texas--but initial reports have him coming out of the Lone Star state with more delegates. Regardless, for the rest of the campaign Texas will be in her column.

After the dust settles, probably by tomorrow, we'll find out that they pretty much split last night's delegates. In sports, if I start the 3rd quarter ahead 9 points, and I end the quarter still ahead 7 points, that usually means I did pretty well.

But not in the media, not in this horse race.

So although Hillary didn't close the gap, the common thought about her campaign will be, in the immortal words of Gene Wilder, that:

It's Alive!!!!

Theodore Roosevelt--A Carnival

As the readers of this space know, I'm a huge fan of Theodore Roosevelt. The more I learn about him, the more I admire him--and the more I think he would be a great President even today.

So here is what I propose: I'm going to post a quote from Theodore Roosevelt. I ask that anyone interested either write a post on their own site relating to the quote and send me the link (see below), or send me, via email, a comment on the quote.

You can agree, disagree, use the quote as a comment on his time--or ours. Have fun!

On Tuesday, March 11th I will provide links to your posts, and publish the comments. (The posts can be as long or short as you like-- let's try to keep the comments to around 250 words or less.)

Submissions must be sent to tonyiovino@gmail.com before 6 pm Monday, March 10th. Please put "TR Carnival" in the subject line. Submissions should include your site's name, the title of the post, and the post's URL if possible.

A TR Carnival. Let's see what happens!

Here's the quote:

Envy is as evil a thing as arrogance.

- Letter written in Oyster Bay, New York
September 1, 1903

3 Thoughts

1-- I assume I am not the only person who, at the end of Hillary's "3 a.m. Phone Call" ad, answered the question "Who do you want answering the phone?"-- John McCain.

2--As a Republican, I can only hope that Hillary edges Obama tomorrow, thus throwing the whole thing into a months-long chaos. As an American, I hope he crushes her and drives a stake into the heart of the Clinton machine.

3--Tomorrow is the 103rd anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt's full-term inauguration. I have a special project I am going to propose-- stay tuned!