The Russell Record

From Albany Street to Zuccotti Park: Why I'm Not Impressed with the Occupy Wall Street Mob

2011-10-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

I was walking around Zuccotti Park and the surrounding area today, to get a feel for what's happening with the Occupy Wall Street protest. It was educational, in a number of ways. I took several pictures along the way of various things that stuck out at me: The black flags of anarchists, the sign advertising a website titled “SocialistAlternative.org,” the guitar-playing Arab, the “We Shall Overcome” chorus, and the kid with a bandana who I overheard saying “Celebrating America is celebrating genocide and corporate exploitation.”

I left and visited the 9/11 Memorial, Having gotten a ticket up at the office on Vesey Street, and then walked down to the entrance on Albany Street. I walked through the garden, listened to the waterfalls of the reflecting pools, and found the name of a friend at the North Pool. His name was along the east side of the pool, and a strong wind from the west was blowing spray in my face as I tried to take a picture of it. I couldn’t help thinking my friend was messing with me.

Later, I walked around the protest site and north to catch the A train. It was then that I realized that the failing of the OWS protest, why it will really not matter in the long run, can be explained not by economics, or even politics, but by geography.

Non-New Yorkers may not be aware of this, but across Broadway from the park, and on the other side of the Brown Brothers Harriman building, is the NYC headquarters of JP MORGAN CHASE BANK.

I’m sorry; did I not type that clearly???? The headquarters of one of the largest banks in the world, Chase, is LESS THAN A HUNDRED FREAKING METERS from these protesters!!!! And yet, not a single protester is shouting within sight of the building, despite the fact that there's a large, spacious terrace-and-patio PARK surrounding it!!!! You know, the one with those ugly black and white "tree" sculptures??? You could probably fit more people in there than in Zuccotti!!!

Oh, and just for good measure, you want to know what’s across the street from Chase? THE GODDAMNED FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK!!!!! I wonder if that guy holding the “Audit the Fed” sign was aware of that, or if he just preferred to stay where the cameras are.

But then, perhaps the reason they're not picketing over by these places is because the park has been fenced off, barricaded, and is patrolled by a battalion's worth of cops. Walking past it this evening, I was impressed by the presence, when the "action" was actually a block away. Clearly, the city and/or Chase decided to keep anything from happening on their turf, and the protesters are either too dumb to realize who is on the other side of the building with the big orange cube in front of it, or they don't want to risk being arrested by walking across the street.

And that's kind of it in a nutshell: These people, despite the black anarchist flags and the socialist web site signs, are not revolutionaries. They want attention, not confrontation. Glenn Beck is as dumb as a fence post if he's comparing these people to the French Revolution. Revolutions happen when people are so pissed off at the status quo that to die trying to change it is preferable to continuing to live under it. If these people are going to let some cops eating in vans and portable fencing keep them away from one of the biggest of the 'big banks', they are clearly not at that point.

Memo to the Mayor: Leave them alone, Mike. It’s mid-October; in another month, when the frost comes, they’ll leave willingly, without the bad press of evicting them. They’re a minor nuisance, nothing more.

Senate Passes Gay Marriage Law Exemptions For Churches

2011-06-24T21:54:00.002-04:00

Vote is 36-26. Reconciliation and the signature by Cuomo, and then it is done.

Slainte.

2011-06-24T20:50:00.001-04:00

If you'd like to watch the vote from Albany live, you can watch it here:

http://www.nysenate.gov/event/2011/jun/24/senate-session

NY Gay Marriage Bill to Come to Senate Floor

2011-06-24T19:20:00.003-04:00

As I type, the procrastinating prigs who call themselves the Republicans in our state Senate have finally stopped stalling and are bringing the gay marriage bill to the floor. I say procrastinating, because that's all this hullaballoo about protecting religious institutions from being compelled to perform gay marriages ever was.

Consider: Suppose a Catholic priest on Staten Island is asked to perform a gay marriage, and refuses. Suppose the gay couple then brings suit in the New York Supreme Court for Richmond County, requesting that the priest be compelled to perform the ceremony. Want to know what happens then? The Archdiocese of New York offers a First Amendment defense, saying that the Church cannot be compelled by the state or the federal government to perform any ceremony.

The Church would win in a landslide. NO court in this state, or any other state of the union, is going to decide that a religious institution can be compelled to perform any rite or ceremony if the institution expressly refuses to do so. And I seriously doubt any lawyer in this state would even represent the gay couple in trying, because the argument that they COULD compel the Church to ratify their union fails to pass an intricate legal test which we lawyers call "the straight-face test." (For that matter, I have a really hard time believing that any gay couple could be so abysmally stupid as to even desire to try to compel the Church to accept them, especially when they can go to St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Richmondtown and be welcomed with open arms.)

With this analysis in mind, the state GOP's insistence that addition language protecting the clergy and Knights of Columbus halls and other nonsense is revealed as a bunch of useless hype which only served as a delaying tactic. Governor Cuomo called 'bullshit' on that by bringing the legislature back for an extra week, during which time they debated every trivial bill, including the naming of a state vegetable, to avoid actually tackling the one substantive issue that might actually cost people votes come the fall. And finally, sometime this evening, the vote will be taken.

Some time ago, I opined that civil unions constituted an equitable compromise between liberal and conservative viewpoints on this issue. I said that, in the final analysis, I favored gay marriage, but that I thought that CUs were more achievable in the short term while still granting all the substantive rights of marriage to homosexuals; we'd just use a different term to keep Pat Robertson from screaming so loud. I can't say I blame gay rights activists for refusing to settle, and I admit that I forgot Commodore Maury's old axiom:

When principle is involved, be deaf to expediency.

The Russell Record congratulates the gay community of New York in achieving equal rights in marital law, and the New York Legislature for finally doing its job.

Regenesis

2011-06-12T09:03:00.005-04:00

Greetings! Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but the recession took a toll on my employment status, and I've spent the last few months dealing with it. I've had to downsize a bit: Moved out of Manhattan to a less expensive suburb, stocking up on Dinty Moore instead of DelFrisco's, et al. But I've got a job, and it's a job within the legal profession, so I am a lot better off than a lot of attorneys who got purged in the bloodletting of the last few years.

I could say the experiences of the last few months were educational, but to be honest, most of the lessons were more refresher courses, reminding me of things that I learned at Canoe U, or in the Third Marines, or in my transfer to civilian life. Not having a job to get up for was very stressful for me, even at a time when I had a decent cushion in savings and was collecting a nice severance package. It took a month or so and several visits with a therapist to stop feeling sorry for myself and start eating again. My life devolved to working out, job hunting, and the local bars of Hell's Kitchen. In hindsight, I could have taken an art class at NYU, or had a doctor check out my shoulder and gotten rotator cuff surgery when I had no other obligations, as opposed to now. Oh well, water under the bridge.

I've dealt with this kind of thing in the past, and I guess that, after the previous experience, this pass wasn't as bad, and I was able to regain my wits faster. In terms of employment, I'd started looking at a bunch of different options quickly, not all of them in the legal world: I'd worked as a security guard in law school, and, before finding my current position, I contacted my old boss to see if I could get some hours. I also went to a hiring conference that had nothing to do with legal positions; I spoke with pharaceutical companies, fiberglass manufacturers, and construction contractors. A lot of people laugh at the whole "lawyer-working-at-Home-Depot" thing, and while I will admit it wasn't my first choice, it's what I was prepared to do to pay the bills. If I could crawl through mud and weed sidewalks, there's not a lot I think is beneath me. My dad worked two jobs to pay for my education; I can take a lower paying job to finance my own.

If there's anything I took from the experience, I guess I reminded myself that there is truth in the damned cliche: Tough times don't last; tough people do. We are in tough times, god knows; unemployment isn't going to suddenly nose dive between now and next November. But I was able to make my situation work by swallowing some ego and making some changes. I'm not saying it will work for everyone, but I'm going to make it work for me.

The Value of your Values

2011-04-14T14:42:00.005-04:00

Along life's road, we all run into rough patches, and we all make wrong turns. Sometimes we make decisions we will regret, and find that we've lost something of ourselves along the way. But when you come to those moment's remember: Whether it's your pride, your integrity, your self-respect, or any of your principles, these things are not like a ring that slips off your finger and is never found. They are like a house that you've always lived in, and now you've given someone else a mortgage on. Title may be clouded, but you still can redeem it. Whether or not you choose to is up to you. As these are values, they have value, and getting them back is never going to be easy. And there will always be those around you that will cluck their tongues and never let you live it down. Of course, most of those people, like Fox News consultant Newt Gingrich lording his virtue over Eliot Spitzer, either never had the values to begin with, or granted someone that lien a long time ago, but hell will freeze before they'll ever admit it. But if they matter enough to you to make the sacrifices necessary to regain clear title, nothing else will matter. Just don't give up.

Veterans Day

2010-11-11T23:10:00.003-05:00

"Some men go a lifetime not knowing if they ever made difference ...but the Marines don't have that problem."
Ronald Reagan 1985

For those who have died,

For those who shall die,

I am grateful.

"Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teaches my fingers to fight, and my hands to war."

Maddow v. Bayh

2010-11-03T15:57:00.002-04:00

Following up on my post from this morning, it's kind of weird to listen to Rachel Maddow rip Evan Bayh. According to the MSNBC host, Bayh was "probably the only Democrat who could've held that Senate seat right now," i.e., the moderate kind. (She apparently can't bring herself to say it.)

Yet it is those same moderate Dems that Maddow spends half of her air time taking to task for getting in the way of true progressives. She'll criticize Obama for not keeping his agenda far enough to the Left, and spit on the failed campaigns of the Blue Dogs because they ruined the health care bill, the jobs bill and a dozen other things, but then, without any sense of irony, fire a full broadside at a moderate Democrat for, of all things, not choosing to run again and hold his seat for Team Blue. A team which, according to Maddow, he never should have been on in the first place.

Thank god consistency isn't a necessity of being a pundit.

Decision 2K10

2010-11-03T09:22:00.005-04:00

After an evening learning about Brazilian ju jitsu, I returned home with my sore shoulder to watch the shills of MSNBC dealing with the midterm elections. By the time I tuned in, they had already called the House for Republicans. Kudos to Todd Young, my classmate at the Academy and TBS, on his win in Indiana's Ninth District. I took a Nyquil to prevent the onset of a cold (it's not working) and ended up falling asleep on the couch. By the time I woke up and went to bed, NBC had called the Senate for the Democrats, resulting in a split Congress.

How to look at these results, aside from my personal happiness for Todd (sorry you missed the reunion, but we all understood), is causes me some difficulty. To a certain level, I feel a bit of vindication. As Evan Bayh posits in today's New York Times, "[i]t is clear that Democrats over-interpreted our mandate. Talk of a 'political realignment' and a 'new progressive era' proved wishful thinking. Exit polls in 2008 showed that 22 percent of voters identified themselves as liberals, 32 percent as conservatives and 44 percent as moderates. An electorate that is 76 percent moderate to conservative was not crying out for a move to the left."

Not to be too snarky, but in 2008, I warned Democrats not to overstate their victory. In a post on November 21, 2008 regarding Obama's cabinet choices:

"...I think the picks Obama has made reflect a great deal of savvy on his part, and an understanding of just what mandate for change he has got: The mandate to be someone other than Bush. That's basically it."

As I said before, the 2008 election, while a humiliation for the GOP that should have inspired some true soul-searching (as opposed to tea partying), was not a radical realignment of political power in America towards a progressive majority. It was voters taking out the bad economy, the bailouts and the war in Iraq on the village idiot from Crawford, Texas and anybody associated with him. Obama even framed the election that way: Hope and Change, or a third term of Bush.

And I also said that if Democrats pushed a decidedly liberal agenda, they would pay for it now.

Have the Democrats pushed so liberal an agenda? That's up for debate. On the one hand, the health care bill didn't have a public option, Gitmo is still open for business, the war in Iraq is still winding down according to the schedule Bush set, and the Supreme Court still has a conservative slant to it, so there have been a lot of things which haven't really turned to the left. On the other hand, progressives have a lot to be pleased with over the last two years. As has been only recently reported, Democrats have passed more bills since Obama's election than any other Democratic-controlled Congress and president since the Great Society. The health care bill, while imperfect from liberal eyes, is a bigger step toward universal coverage than anything in this country's history (albeit something Democrats could have achieved decades ago if they could have stopped fighting among themselves). There are greater regulations on Wall Street than there were when Wall Street tanked our economy three years ago. Two new justices on the Supreme Court. New protections for the environment. All in all, a lot for Democrats to be proud of. So whenever I hear someone on the Left complaining about what a disappointment Obama has been or talking about running a primary challenge to him in 2012, I wonder what country they have been living in for the last two years.

The Huffington Post warns of "Gridlock in America" today. Maybe they're right. But as the liberal shills on MSNBC pointed out (and as I have alluded to in the past), these newly elected Tea Partiers, as well as the more established GOPers they caucus with, are going to be under immediate pressure to make their promises of fiscal restraint and smaller government a reality. None of them seem to want to identify programs or departments they will cut in order to balance the budget or how to increase revenue without raising taxes, but the grace period in which they could stonewall on these questions is now running out. When they take office, real choices are going to confront their campaign promises, and a lot of those angry voters who sent them to Washington are going to be expecting results.

Good luck, Todd. Semper Fi.

Navy Trounces Notre Dame

2010-10-25T14:17:00.004-04:00

What else is there to be said about Navy’s victory over the Fighting “Irish”?

Sometimes too many words can spoil a moment. So, without further ado:

From my position in Section 146 of the New Meadowlands, I witnessed one of the greatest football games of my life. That I lived to see us not only beat, but DOMINATE Notre Dame for four quarters, and leave no one with any doubt as to who was the better team when the alma mater was played, was the closest I‘ve ever come to witnessing athletic nirvana. I was a little late getting to the stadium, so I missed our goal-line stance and first touchdown. But from the ND field goal in the first quarter, to the interception by Navy with 1:59 left in the first half, to the exodus of green sweatshirts at the end of the third quarter, I was there, watching with joy.

For the most part, the ND fans I encountered were respectful and gracious. Of course, there wasn’t much reason for trash-talking on their part midway through the first quarter. The ride back to Manhattan was also pleasant, inasmuch as our train was packed with midshipmen and their families, enjoying the newly sounded liberty call: the Commandant of Midshipmen gave an uncharged weekend off to the Brigade in celebration of the team’s accomplishment. (Try explaining that concept to a junior at South Bend.)

However, once I got home and began reading some of the various ND support sites and the amount of trash talking they had done before the game, I started to get irritated. Or maybe contemptuous is a better description. Chief among the complaints were those discussing the Navy Defense. The South Bend Tribune’s article was typical … Navy blockers stay low, using their opponent’s natural size advantage against them. The Tribune, ND supporters, and even some members of ND’s coaching staff have voiced complaints about it, accusing us of chop-blocking, a personal foul under the rules of American Football.

It's true that there is a fine line between a legal block low and a personal foul, but consider: Back in the dawn of time, when the gods of sports first conceived of Yankee football, they created these smaller men with black-and-white jerseys and little yellow handkerchiefs to ensure that the game is played cleanly. As a result, these men, called "officials," watch carefully for infractions of the rules, particularly when one team has a reputation for a certain infraction, justified or not.

And do you want to know how many times the officials saw us make an illegal block in this game?

Not. Once.

Missing one or two calls might be understandable, if irritating. But ND has been whining about our blocking ever since we beat them in 2007; you'd think that, given their feelings on the subject, the refs would be watching for it, right? And yet not one flag???

How do ND fans explain this??? "Well, the refs must have just swallowed a bunch of whistles."

As if Navy’s blocking scheme and referee blindness caused your quarterback to throw two interceptions.

Or kept you from scoring on fourth-and-goal from the one yard line.

You outweigh us on the line of scrimmage by forty pounds, if not more, and you can’t score from the ONE F*CKING YARD LINE, but you want to whine about blocking that DID NOT ELICIT A SINGLE FLAG THE WHOLE GAME???

Part of me can understand the Domer Denial: It’s one thing to lose, and another thing to be dominated. Most Irish fans didn’t dispute, prior to Saturday, that Navy has a good team. But Notre Dame didn’t just lose on Saturday; they got stomped. The game was simply not a competitive one; we beat the Irish on Saturday the way the Irish used to beat us.

I know; I was there. Many, many times.

And if Notre Dame can’t produce a competitive effort against Navy, can they really expect to be competitive against Texas? or Ohio State, or, god help us, Boise State??? (I know, it feels weird just typing it...)

Reality can be a very painful thing to experience, and the Irish faithful are sampling that pain today. The hopes and dreams with which they greeted the Twilight of Weis and the Dawn of Kelly were clearly overly optimistic.

Notre Dame will field a national championship team again one day, but that day is still a lot farther off than most of Her Loyal Sons want to accept.

This is, of course, the kind of reality that Navy has known for a long time. We just don’t whine about it as much.

Russellings: Litmus Test 2010

2010-10-14T12:56:00.002-04:00

The Russell Record is proud to bring you ...

Litmus Test 2010: A Guide to Ideological Purity

Before you cast your vote for any Tea Party candidate, ask him/her the following ten questions to determine the purity of his/her devotion to Ayn Rand's vision of a capitalist utopia:

1. Will you introduce legislation to terminate ALL federal taxpayer funding for public schools?

2. Will you introduce legislation to end ALL federal taxpayer funding for the National Endowment for the Arts?

3. Will you introduce legislation to terminate socialist programs such as Medicare and Medicaid?

4. Will you introduce legislation to abolish the Social Security Administration?

5. Will you support legislation that will end ALL spending (including defense) in excess of the annual revenue collected by the government?

6. Will you vote to abolish ALL socialist education programs such as the federally-subsidized Stafford loans for college education?

7. Will you vote against ANY bill aimed at using federal taxpayer money for the so-called "bailout" of ANY bank or corporate entity, whether large or small, public or private?

8. Will you support rescinding ALL federal environmental regulations which currently prevent the dumping of industrial waste in bodies of water used by local communities for irrigation or fishing?

9. Do you believe that the Controlled Substances Act constitutes an encroachment on the police powers of the states, and will you support repeal of the Act so as to allow the states to decide what substances should be banned and what should be legal within their own borders?

10. Will you vote against ANY protectionist legislation aimed at forcing American businesses to keep jobs in America rather than having the freedom to take their jobs abroad to countries which will allow them to set their own wages?

...any candidate who answers ANY of these questions with anything other than an unqualified "YES" is NOT a true capitalist, and should be forced to admit that they harbor Marxist intentions for America.

WDGR

2010-10-12T16:17:00.007-04:00

In a dramatic conclusion to the case in the Southern District of California, the Honorable Judge Virginia Phillips has issued a nationwide injunction on the enforcement of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy within the Department of Defense. Barring a decision by a higher court vacating the injuction, the military can no longer discharge anyone because of sexual preference issues.

Our Editorial Statement on the decision ending DADT: WDGR.

Well Done and Good Riddance.

As readers know, I've written before that I wanted DADT stricken from the books. As much as I've never liked some of the opponents of the policy, whom I've regarded as more opponents of the military than anything else, I simply don't believe the readiness/discipline arguments. Too much of the evidence put forward by its proponents is anecdotal or conjecture, and I simply don't accept that such weak evidence can support the denial of an Equal Protection challenge, particularly in light of the experinces of our allies on this subject. As to deference to the Brass, well ... there was a time when I was willing to defer to those senior to me, but as I don't wear a tree suit anymore, I've decided I like deciding things for myself. (That's not to say, of course, that I'm not happy to find myself in agreement with some former Brass, like General Colin Powell and Admiral Charles Larson.)

As a riot breaks out at the Stonewall Inn, this time in joy and celebration, both sides of the culture war ask: What happens now? Well, that's not exactly clear. As the government has sixty days to appeal the ruling, one option is for Obama to heed the advice of Generalissimo Chang Kai-shek: When in doubt, do nothing. If the sixty days expire without a notice of appeal being filed by the Justice Department, the ruling becomes final. Of course, the soon-to-be-Republican-controlled Congress could pass a new DADT statute, but that would require either 2/3 of both chambers, or Obama's signature.

Perhaps Obama will stick to his guns. Or maybe, keep them in his holsters.

The Russell Record offers its congratulations to the Log Cabin Republicans for their well-fought fight.

Treehugging for Toddlers

2010-10-06T08:04:00.003-04:00

I don't claim that I'm the most environmentally conscious person around, but I do not litter, regardless of whether I'm in a national park or on 11th Avenue. I will walk to the end of the block so that I can put my Snapple bottle in the recycle bin or trash can at the corner. It's just me.

Like the commenter said, this video, which used to run on Sesame Street when I was little, is probably why. I don't know if it was the melody or the images of what the world would be like, but it always stuck in my mind.

Of course, it also popped into my head on my ConLaw final when I got to the question about Wickard v. Filburn...

Bump-BUM!!!!

2010-10-05T20:59:00.006-04:00

After what can only be described as a really crummy day, I get home and turn on the Tube. There's an episode of Law and Order: SVU on cable. As I get my bearings mid-episode, I see it's about a dead astronaut. A fellow starship trooper, a Marine colonel, is helping with the investigation, played by that jerk married to Mecha-Streisand. Apparently, he is an old friend of Detective Stabler (also a former Marine, a fact that get mentioned every time the writers want to make an unfavorable comparison to college hazing or serial killers).

After less than five mid-ep minutes, as soon as I see who's who, I turn it off. "Don't do this to yourself," the voice comes. "It's Law and Order. None of the L&O shows ever make the military a part of the plot unless it's to make us look bad: The professional officer, the service, the system... The Marine colonel is the killer; you know that's how they always write this stuff. Don't piss yourself off by letting them insult you, yet again."

Part of me wants to listen to the voice. But I turn it back on at 8:51. Sure enough, I get to see the last fistfight between the two "Marines", and the colonel led away in handcuffs, looking up at the moon he never got to walk on.

I. Hate. NBC.

Of Pledges and Pins

2010-09-29T14:31:00.008-04:00

A few days ago, I was listening to yet another up-and-coming Republican candidate talking about the GOP's new "pledge." I think the one thing that set me off more than anything else was that one of the central tenants, according to this woman, was "supporting the troops." As if the Democrats, when the Congress voted to approve the "funding" for both wars, wasn't supporting them.

Support for the troops seems to be one of those catch phrases like "family values" that means both everything and nothing in American Politics. It's something that bothers me, as a former officer, because that support is supposed to be for people like me: my friends, classmates, and colleagues who still wear the uniform. And to hear the idea of support for them bandied about like a high-five or a thumbs-up just makes my blood boil, especially when it comes from Republicans.

Do you want to know why? Too bad; I'm gonna tell you anyway.

It's because the Republican Party. Does. Not. Support. The. Troops.

Do you f*cking hear me???

THE GOP DOES NOT SUPPORT THE TROOPS!!!

IN FACT, IT IS A CENTRAL THEME OF THEIR ENTIRE CAMPAIGN NOT TO SUPPORT THE TROOPS!!! AND IT HAS BEEN FOR YEARS!!!

Now, I realize that's a pretty outrageous statement to a lot of people, but I will explain:

Supporting the troops is supposed to mean more than just wearing a flag pin. It should mean that the nation chooses to share in their fight, if not by sharing the danger, than at least by shouldering some of the burden.

Historically, the way this country has shown such support during wartime has been by raising taxes. Yes, I know; taxes are evil, yada yada. But let's be blunt: If you are not willing to pay taxes to support young Americans going off to war, what the hell are you willing to pay taxes for??? Bond drives are fun; without them, Marines with medals wouldn't get to marry movie stars (rest in peace, General Carl), but invariably, taxes have gone up in war. But not this time. During the Bush administration, the GOP cut taxes. Effectively, the so-called conservatives of the Baby Boomer generation, most of whom had "other priorities" than putting on boots during Viet Nam (i.e., Bush/Cheney/Boehner/Hannity/Limbaugh), said to all those GenX and GenY men and women going overseas:

"We think that the fight against terror is important enough for you to die, but its not important enough for us to pay higher taxes. In fact, we don't think its important enough for us to even pay the same level of taxation the country saw when Clinton was in charge. So we're cutting taxes. And as far as financing this war, well, we will borrow the money from China and engage in deficit spending, so that YOUR generation can worry about it, assuming you come home alive. We're going to let you figure it out; just don't even think about cutting our social security checks."

This is a bigger slap to the face of those veterans than anything some hippie did in an airport forty years ago. At least that only involved the veteran being stuck with a bill for dry cleaning; this is a bill for John Boehner's social security checks --which I doubt he's not going to cash on 'principle'-- that our generation gets stuck with.

And this is the party that puts in their pledge that they support the troops.

Hasta.

Of Tea Parties and Tabrett Bethell

2010-09-16T09:42:00.009-04:00

As I've been watching the slaughter of the primary season, I continually find myself thinking of a passage from a book series I first picked up about a year ago and reflecting on who's actually living it.

For those of you who have never read any of Terry Goodkind's work, think Lord of the Rings spliced with Atlas Shrugged/The Fountainhead. It was made into a recently cancelled series by Disney, which, despite majestic views of New Zealand and incredibly hot women in leather (there are some good scenes on YouTube), couldn't last to a third season. Anyway, the first book gives some of the back story, and how a great wizard helped the good guys, the Midlands, to defeat the great evil that threatened them. But then, after the great evil was dispatched, the council governing the Midlands ignored the wizard's advice on a bunch of issues, and took some of his authority away from him. Like most bureaucrats, the wizard was furious, and he came to believe that his efforts and sacrifices on the Midlands' behalf had been wasted. So he pronounced his terrible punishment: He was going to leave them to suffer the consequences of their own actions. If they were so smart, he said, they didn't need him anymore, and so he was checking out. He cast a spell so that no one could remember his name or what he looked like, and emigrated to a land without any magic to retire in peace and quiet.

Of course, it wouldn't be much of a novel if that was all that happened, but I won't spoil the ending for you. Regardless, if I were a moderate to conservative Republican, I'd feel a lot like the old wizard. People like Mike Castle, who has been a good and loyal Republican for decades, are suddenly being told that they're not good enough, not conservative enough, by a mob of people whose anger blinds them to any rational analysis of the issues facing this country. Instead, the Tea Party faithful choose a woman whose only claim to fame is having received the endorsement of the village idiot of Wasilla, Alaska. If I were Mike Castle, I'd say something like "Fine; if this is what the party faithful really want, and they're willing to eschew experienced leadership for populist rhetoric, then let 'em. Alpha Mike Foxtrot. Catch you on the flipside."

A lot of these Tea Partiers are going to lose in the general election, which will give people like Castle, Lazio and Specter the chance to sit back and say "see I told you so." For the paleoconservative forces driving the Tea Party, I think this would be the best possible outcome. What would probably be a lot worse, both for the Right and for the nation, would be if people like O'Donnell and Rand Paul actually do get elected: When they can't legislate a balanced budget by bringing back the gold standard or terminating the Department of Energy, their entire house of cards is going to collapse, and repairing the damage is going to be even worse than the 2008-09 fiscal crisis.

The ironic thing, of course, is that Democrats went through the abandonment issues I'm describing ten years ago, with Al Gore in the role of the wizard. Liberals couldn't make up their mind whether to support Gore or the village idiot of Detroit, Michigan, and so ended up giving the country over to the village idiot of Crawford, Texas. Gore, for the most part, said, "Meh. You didn't want my advice; no problem. Americans can just deal with the consequences of their own stupidity." And despite calls from various corners to run again in 2004 and 2008, Gore has largely stayed out of partisan hackery, while making a lot of money in between guest spots on Futurama.

And so, as we enter the final stretch of politicking in the 2010 midterms, I sit back with my coffee and reflect yet again on how often life imitates art.

If only it came with more Tabrett Bethells in MordSith costumes.

Of Books and Buggy Whips

2010-09-15T08:15:00.006-04:00

In between the wails of tea-party induced hysteria on today's New York Times website, I found this charming local piece about that guy who sell books on the street about twenty blocks from my apartment. The main point of the story is to tell you that the Barnes and Noble by Lincoln Center is closing down in January. The author and street-seller pontificate about the demise of literature and social awareness, while never mentioning the words "Kindle" or "iPad" (though there is a reference to "ecstacy" of the Apple Store across the street).

Twenty-five years ago, my dad took a second job working for a friend who owned a small, mom-and-pop VHS rental store on Staten Island. He'd drive a truck to construction sites around New York City in the evenings and rent out videos to the third-shift workers. Eventually, his friend's store went out of business, and my dad lost the extra income he was using to pay for four kids' Catholic-school education.

Why did the store fail? One word: Blockbuster.

So you will forgive me if Blockbuster's impending bankruptcy does not fill me with sadness about the state of the economy or the college-students who are going to lose their part-time jobs. And while I have no personal animus for the employees at B&N who are being shunted to obsolescence by Amazon.com, the simple fact is that the world has changed. I still enjoy browsing in bookstores, including the one on Columbus Ave., but I know I'm a freak. Normal people prefer to get their books online, for less money, and in an electronic format that won't end up taking up space in their tiny Manhattan apartments.

Sorry.

Victory and the Laurels Thereof

2010-09-13T16:49:00.007-04:00

The more I think about the "Victory Mosque at Ground Zero," the more I have to admit I'm starting to wonder. I mean, it is pretty tactless, isn't it? It's not as if a tolerant, pluralistic society would ever do something as thoughtless as these Muslims are trying to do, right? Americans have never insulted someone else's religious and cultural sensibilities by offering homage to our gods in a place they consider sacred, right.....?

Nah, we'd never take someone else's sacred ground and turn it into a monument of how we kicked the holy sh*t out of them.

Reflections on Making Hot Sauce

2010-08-30T07:56:00.001-04:00

1. Wear gloves.

2. Have some kind of bottles on hand.

3. Have a plan for putting the sauce into the aforementioned bottles.

4. Just because you've washed your hands a dozen times does NOT mean it is safe to touch your eyes. Therefore, see Rule 1.

Muppet Merchandising

2010-08-26T14:08:00.003-04:00

In honor of Jim Henson's earliest works being admitted into the Smithsonian, let's take a look at how Jim got his start:

By telling people to buy Wilkins Coffee ... OR DIE!!!!!

DO YOU HEAR ME??? DRINK WILKINS OR DIE!!!

DIE!!!!!!!

...I guess we all have to start somewhere...

Thought for the Day

2010-08-25T10:14:00.002-04:00

"Normal" is a word favored by people with limited imaginations.
-Chesty

An Open Question

2010-08-20T17:58:00.007-04:00

Governor Palin's Tweet on the NY Muslim community regarding the building of the "ground zero mosque" (actually a community center which will house a basketball court, a lunch room and, inter alia, a room where people can pray):

"We all know they have the right to do it, but should they?"

It is interesting to me that Governor Palin thinks this basketball court/prayer room is worth asking our fellow citizens to refrain from exercising their Constitutional rights. Because when it comes to that Christian cult that stalks soldiers' funerals with their "God Hates Fags"/"Thank God For IEDs" signs, Governor Palin's Twitter account has been silent.

I just went through Palin's entire Twitter record. On more than a dozen occasions since this controversy broke earlier this month, she has had some comment on it. Do you know how many times--in the entire history of her account--The Hockey Mom has tweeted to ask her fellow citizens from Westboro Baptist Church to allow the families of dead servicemen to grieve in peace, not nine years later, but at their loved one's funerals????

Not.

F*cking.

Once.

To what to be ascribe this silence from Mama Grizzly?

Bigotry?
Cowardice?
Homophobia?
Abject stupidity?
A combination of the above?

Or does she just not think that a few dead veterans are worth the trouble?

Interesting Quotations

2010-08-08T22:16:00.010-04:00

"The problem with the Tea Party, I think, is its just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out."
-Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), 7.1.2010

" 'It is only a passing phase. It is only a stage we are going through. It will be discarded, sooner or later. Hitler himself will be discarded, sooner or later.' ... And then, one day, we looked around, and found ourselves in an even more terrible danger. ... Because what was going to be 'a passing phase,' had become the way of life."
-Judge Ernst Yanning, Judgment at Nuremberg, 1961

What Part of "Freedom of Religion" Do We Not Understand?

2010-07-22T12:21:00.003-04:00

"Whilst we assert for ourselves a freedom to embrace, to profess and to observe the religion which we believe to be of divine origin, we cannot deny an equal freedom to those whose minds have not yet yielded to the evidence which has convinced us."

-James Madison

There is no part of this upon which honorable men can differ. We are either a country that respects the rights of all people to worship, to congregate to worship, and to build houses of worship where they find it convenient, or we are no different than those totalitarian states which criminalize the practice of Christianinty or Judiasm within their borders.

That's it.

The Death of a Titan

2010-07-14T10:38:00.009-04:00

People who love capitalism loved George Steinbrenner.

People who believe in socialism despised him.

The rest of us just wanted to win. Much like George himself.

This is not to say, of course, that George didn't give Yankee fans reasons to put his visage on a dartboard from time to time. As I was growing up, hating George was a sport in and of itself. Between his treatment of Yogi, his treatment of Billy, his treatment of Dave, his treatment of Don, and his rush to grab every high-priced, over-the-hill free agent at the expense of building talent through the minors, a lot of us thought that he was either insane or incompetent. There was even that piece you'd see on Saturday Night Live in the Eighties as a part of the News skit: the George Steinbrenner Health Watch, or whatever it was called, suggesting that all real Yankee fans (as well as the fans of lesser teams) wanted George to hurry up and ... well ... you know ... (George was good natured about it, and even appeared on one episode parodying himself.)

If things had stayed that way, if the teams he put together kept losing and the managers kept dropping like flies, George would have continued to be vilified much as NY Daily News cartoonist (and brother Marine) Bill Gallo often drew him: "Von Steinbooger," the pompous Prussian general strutting about bellowing out inane orders as his army faltered. But, of course, it didn't stay that way. For someone who saw the American League Pennant in 1976 as a fancy way of saying "World Series Losers", you had to know that, sooner or later, he'd get it back.

It didn't matter how much it cost to win; we'd spend it. This is, after all, New York, the greatest sports venue in the world. Sure, there were bad deals and lost opportunities. I always blamed George for Reggie leaving town; it was as much Mr. October's doing as the Boss', but that's not something I understood when I was eight. Kenny Rogers, Jason Giambi, Steve Howe, Hideki Irabu, Randy Johnson, Jack Clark ... Most of these big-ticket deals fizzled, if not backfired. Having two of the posterboys for the steroid era, Giambi and Roger Clemens, brought to town at your command would lead any other townsfolk to come after you with torches and pitchforks. But New Yorkers understood that whole omelet/eggshell analogy: You want to win, it's going to take some messes along the way. And damn, but we wanted to win. Screw those wusses who talk about parity and fairness; if they had an owner with half the balls that George had, they'd be happy with the system as it stands, too. In every aspect of New York life, there are only two options: Success, or the gutter.

Don't like it? Move to Alaska. Don't let the toll booth arm hit you in the head on your way out.

George understood. Not only understood, he believed it. Lived it. Breathed it. No half-measures. No silver medals or "moral victories." Win or die. When you've got the advantage, use it. Use what you've got to achieve even more. The essence of New York. Of America.

Of life.

In 1996, I watched from my apartment in Kailua, cheering silently so as not to wake my roommates, as the final out was caught. Suddenly, the last fifteen years seemed to disappear like a bad dream. God was in heaven, the Yankees were the champions, and finally, all was right with the world. I remember someone in a bar being asked by a reporter what he thought of George now, and quoting that old saying attributed to FDR about Somoza:

"He may be an S.O.B., but he's our S.O.B.!"

So long, Boss. Thanks for the memories.

Senator Robert Byrd

2010-06-28T17:17:00.005-04:00

Many will remember Senator Byrd as the master of pork-barrel legislation, a distinction given in disdain but worn with pride. Others will remember him as a champion of an impoverished region who worked hard to bring jobs and opportunities to communities hard hit by the closing of steel mills and failure of mines. Naturally, some will choose to remember his connection with the Ku Klux Klan, focusing on his short-lived membership in that gang and his inability to purge racial slurs from his nine-decade old vocabulary, rather than on his more recent years of support for civil rights.

All of these memories of Senator Robert Byrd are accurate, insofar as each goes. I do not seek to endorse or contradict any in this post (although I do wonder how he stacks up in each against those who now vilify him). But with regard to his record on "bringing home the bacon," consider this: West Virginia, for all his efforts, is still one of the poorest states in the union. And with Byrd gone, and with him, the source of all that Appropriations Committee power, West Virginians are right to worry about the continued flow of federal dollars; Congress is not an institution known for its loyalty.

So maybe the lesson to take away is that there is a limit to what can be achieved by politicians.

We at The Russell Record offer our deepest sympathies to the Senator's family.

Acts of Contrition

2010-04-02T15:17:00.005-04:00

I'm having trouble deciding which train wreck is more fascinating to watch: That of the Catholic Church, or the GOP.

I guess that, as a fallen Catholic, I am more stunned by the hypocrisy shown by the Church over the past few weeks than I am to find that senior RNC leaders like a little S&M.

Seriously, the crisis of faith for many Catholics has now reached critical mass, as the arrogance and secrecy which has accumulated in Rome over the past few decades (if not centuries) explodes forth in a scandal fit for "the eternal city." Since the release of the Irish report on child abuse last year, the European church has been knocked back on its heels, reeling from one explosive charge after another. It culminated in the last week with the revelation that Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, was cc'd on the memo calling for the defrocking of a pedophile in Wisconsin.

Yet, rather than show the appropriate level of remorse and contrition, as all Catholics are reminded to do at this time of year, one of the Pope's own staff today claimed that the rush to judgement and collective guilt being ascribed to the pontiff reminds him of the way the Jews were treated by the Nazis.

Oy.

You've got to wonder what kind of morons the Vatican has in its PR offices, especially considering that this particular pope was, in fact, a member of the Hitler Youth as a boy. Fine, so he was forced to pick up a rifle at the end of the war, but I would think that the less Nazi references made while this guy is in office, the better.

Half the Fun

2010-03-18T16:16:00.007-04:00

I took one of my frequent jaunts to visit friends in Ohio last weekend. In the process, I came yet again to marvel at the idiocy of the post-9/11 "security" that has been implemented at our airports.

Look, nobody wants to see another hijacking. Twenty of my high school's alumni died on 9/11, and 14 men from the Academy. Better security on air transportation was obviously necessary if nineteen men were able to smuggle box cutters aboard planes. But let's look rationally at the response to the attacks for a minute and ask whether it makes any sense.

First of all, if the security personnel had been doing their jobs properly, those "weapons" would never have gotten on the planes. When I flew home from Tokyo with the Marines a decade ago, I found in my carry-on luggage a pocket knife which I had inadvertently forgotten to stow properly. The metal detectors identified it, and the security officer politely informed me that I would have to surrender it to the flight crew, who would secure it until the end of the flight. Security breach prevented. Inasmuch as most of the box cutters I've ever used were made of metal, the only way someone should have been able to get them through a pre-9/11 checkpoint is if the metal detectors hadn't been plugged in.

Maybe I'm oversimplifying things, but let's look at the results of our new, Transportation Security Administration-controlled security:

-Longer wait times at security checkpoints, resulting in lost productivity for individuals and their employers and greater expense for airlines. All of which means reduced tax receipts for the government.
-Another layer of government bureaucracy to interfere with the efficiency of a transportation system which already sucked.
-Thousands of new federal employees, whose training, salaries and retirement plans are funded by tax dollars.
-The billions we've spent on the above were not able to prevent a lonely paramour from running right through the checkpoint at Newark to kiss his wife goodbye, resulting in a manhunt of several hours, locking down the airport and expending millions of dollars just to find this idiot.
-The "improvements" we've made were also unable to stop a real threat on Christmas day, in which disaster was only averted by the quick thinking of average American citizens, and the idiocy of the average terrorist. And the Director of Homeland Security had the nerve to actually suggest that the incident shows that "the system works."

At first, I thought this new agency would bring some sanity and security to the air travel system, but nine years later, are we any safer? Not really.

We are, however, poorer. And some terrorists in Pakistan are probably laughing their asses off at how much time, manpower and treasure we spend reacting to an attack they would probably never be able to pull off again. Because anyone attempting to hijack a plane today would most likely be torn limb from limb by the passengers before they could get anywhere near the cockpit.

With the recent debate over health care, we are going to start looking for ways to trim the budget to pay for the new programs the congress is about to approve. One of the first areas we should look to cut is the TSA. Last year's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allotted ONE BILLION DOLLARS to the TSA. If we are going to spend that money, let's spend it on something worthwhile like vaccinations for children or cancer treatment, not strip-search machines.

Manual of Arms

2010-03-10T10:38:00.006-05:00

I know it's been a while, and that there are dozens of things I should probably write about or comment on, but when I saw this picture of a Palestinian honor guard saluting VP Biden and PM Abbas in the New York Times, I was reminded of what's really important...

Close-order drill.

Looking at the way this honor guard holds their rifles at "Present Arms" just makes me what to shout:

"Four inches from your chest, Pyle!!! FOUR INCHES!!!!"

Then there's the guy fifth from the left, who looks like he's about to break his nose with the muzzle of the rifle.

Unimpressive, boys. Your sergeant has his work cut out for him.

100 Years of Being Prepared

2010-02-08T08:08:00.005-05:00

The Russell Record is proud to salute (with three fingers) the Boy Scouts of America on the 100th anniversary of its founding.

While it has been a long time since that Eagle Scout ceremony, and I continue to disagree with the national office vis-a-vis the exclusion of gays from Scouting, I remain grateful for all the experiences and good times I was able to enjoy as a result of my membership in this organization. I hope that it continues to provide its valuable services to young people for generations to come.

Well done, boys.

The Air ... Down There

2010-01-22T07:34:00.003-05:00

The Russell Record bids farewell to Air America Radio, which will file for protection under Chapter 7 (liquidation) of the Bankruptcy Code. While serving as a springboard for the political career of Senator Stuart Smalley (a.k.a. Al Franken) and a mouthpiece for some Kennedys, that gauche American concept of a business having to turn a profit got in the way of bringing progressive radio to compete with Limbaugh and Hannity.

If I were Rush, which I thank the fates I'm not, I would find this immensely satisfying: Although the stated purpose of AAR was to compete with the plethora of conservative talk show hosts out there, the reality is that nobody would have bothered to spend the time and money on this failure if it wasn't for him. Clinton and his aides named Rush numerous times in inteviews and speeches; it was all about him. And now, he's still going strong, while the millions his opponents poured into fighting him are being distributed among creditors.

The Upset: Part Deux

2010-01-20T09:56:00.004-05:00

Does anybody else think it's kind of interesting how it is going to take ten days to two weeks to certify the results of this special election in Massachusetts?

For reference, consider: In 1962, Ted Kennedy was elected in a special election to replace his brother. The results of his election, which came on national election day in 1962, were certified the day after the polls closed. Are we seriously trying to say that, in forty-eight years, our technology has not only not improved, but has deteriorated to the point where it will take at least ten times as long to certify the results of a special election where there was only one line on the ballot???

Why is it that when Republicans put out attack ads, they are dirty tricks, but when Democrats try to delay the seating of a candidate who won an election, fair and square, so that they can desperately try to advance their domestic agenda with the passage of a bill that said candidate explicitly ran against, it isn't?

Second Upset of the Week

2010-01-20T08:08:00.003-05:00

As I was watching the despair on MSNBC last night as a Republican stole a senate seat that had been in Democratic hands for fifty years, I was struck by the fact that this seemed very familiar: Wasn't this a football game on Sunday?

Consider: Scott Brown as the gritty New York Jets, a team as accustomed to defeat in the playoffs as Republicans in the Northeast, who played a gritty, shove-it-up-the-middle kind of football that brought back memories of ... well, something. On the other side of the field, Martha Coakley played the role of the heavily favored San Diego Chargers, whose gaffes, fumbles and personal fouls mounted up until they had blown a game that everyone agreed was theirs to lose.

Amazing, isn't it, how life can imitate, if not art, then at least a really violent sport?

Rachel Maddow provided some humor for the evening, as she tried to lead off her broadcast by talking about voter irregularities (six of 'em) and the ridiculous unfairness of someone named Kennedy trying to use his last name to get elected in Massachusetts. Apparently, you're only allowed to do that if you're a Democrat. But when her own Washington correspondent pointed out that Coakley had gone on vacation in the Caribbean while Brown had stayed home to pound pavement, a lot of the fire seemed to come out of her eyes, and she resorted to trying to paint the winner as nothing more than a male model who drives a pickup truck.

It's also amusing to consider the fact that, as Jon Stewart pointed out Monday night, the only reason this happened is because Bay State Dems decided to change the law in 2004 so that Mitt Romney would not be the one to appoint John Kerry's replacement should he win the White House. Had they stood pat and left the law as it was, Kennedy's interim replacement could have sat until November, thus giving Coakley a chance to pull her head out of wherever she'd stuck it and pull away.

But what really amazes me is the hopelessness being shown by Democrats, despite the fact that they still have a larger majority in the Senate than Republicans ever had during the Bush Administration. Is it really so difficult to get things accomplished with 59 votes? The Republicans didn't seem to think so, and the most they ever had was 54. Of course, it would be easier if Democrats hadn't stopped Republican efforts back then to do away with the filibuster, but that's a story for another time.

It's hard to say what to take away from the Democrats apparent inability to close the deal on their agenda, but one thing we can be certain of: Either Democrats recognize that their ascension to power was a fluke to begin with, and that the American people have never actually agreed with them, or Democrats concede that they are more incompetent than the Bush Administration and its Republican Congress ever were.

And considering how bad Democrats painted those eight years, that's saying something.

2010-01-14T13:57:00.001-05:00

Pat Robertson is the Antichrist.

...Someone had to say it.

USMC

2009-11-10T08:45:00.003-05:00

"Resolved, That two Battalions of marines be raised, Consisting of one Colonel, two Lieutenant Colonels, two Majors, and other officers as usual in other regiments; and that they consist of an equal number of privates with other battalions; that special care be taken, that no persons be appointed to office, or inlisted into said Battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so aquatinted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea when required: that they be inlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the present war between Great Britain and the colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress: that they be distinguished by the names of the first and second battalions of American Marines, and that they be considered as part of the number which the continental Army before Boston is ordered to consist of."

-In Congress, Resolve of 10 November 1775

Happy Birthday, fellas.

Semper Fi.

Hail to the Chief

2009-10-09T10:32:00.003-04:00

The Russell Record congratulates President Barack H. Obama on winning the Nobel Peace Prize of 2009. Chesty was as stunned as anyone by this announcement as he staggered from his bed to the iMac this morning, but after realizing this wasn't a pilsner-induced hallucination, came to see just how ...well...funny it is. Just when the conservatives thought they had him on the run, that they had taken back the initiative, the Nobel Committee steps in and gives him something which will probably gain him another ten points in the polls, at least in the short term.

A lot of ink is being spent this morning, particluarly over at CNN.com, saying that this was "the last thing he needs," and that it will just embolden conservatives who always said Obama was about soaring rhetoric as opposed to dynamic action, and that the committee bought it, too. But I say bunk to that. The American people just got a validation of the choice they made last year: the rest of the world likes and respects him, and are willing to follow his lead in trying to improve this ball of rock we all share. If conservatives want to attack that, they are free to do so. But if morons like Glenn Beck and Rush are the best they've got in the way of spokesmen, then they are going to continue to fail.

On a related note: Obama has just one-upped John F. Kennedy in the department of "Cool Things To Have On Your Desk in the Oval Office." A Pultizer is pretty cool, but a Nobel? Way, way cooler. (Makes you wonder what Reagan would have done if he'd ever gotten an Oscar, doesn't it?)

Busted Birther

2009-09-17T10:22:00.004-04:00

The Russell Record salutes the Honorable Clay D. Land, U.S. district court judge for the Middle District of Georgia, for his order yesterday in the case of Rhodes v. McDonald, et al., No 4:09-CV-106 (2009), in which he laid down the smack on birther den mother Orly Taitz and the rather foolish Army officer she duped into suing to get out of deploying to Iraq.

Taitz was cautioned that if she ever brought such a case in the Middle District of Georgia again, she would face Rule 11 sanctions. As it is, for bringing what the court considered a patently frivolous claim, her client has to pay the defendants' legal fees. All the time and manpower the government spent on this case, this plaintiff has to cover. Good luck with that on a captain's salary.

I highly encourage reading not only the attached article, but the pdf of the judge's 14-page decision in which he disembowels the birther movement.

Joe Wilson and the Race Card

2009-09-16T08:31:00.007-04:00

After listening to numerous tirades on the playing of the race card with regard to Joe Wilson's outburst last week, I spent part of my evening trying to organize my thoughts.

To review: The specific comment of the President which caused Wilson to pop off was the statement that illegal immigrants would not get free health care under the proposed plan. (Or at least, no more than they already get, what with those who go to emergency rooms with life threatening injuries or illnesses and then never pay, which is obviously not a problem limited to illegal immigrants.) Wilson screamed that he was lying at that point, violating various rules of congressional protocol and earning criticism from both sides of the aisle. Wilson has since apologized for the form of his objection, but not for the substance, and he has refused to apologize on the floor of the House.

Now, to my understanding, and I admit that I am not reading too much on the subject anymore, people are not suggesting that Wilson is a racist simply because he called a black president a liar. It's because he was, in a lot of people's opinions, deliberately trying to raise a specter of illegal immigrants getting taxpayer-paid benefits under Obama's plan, in spite in the actual text of the plan clearly stating otherwise. In doing so, the theory goes, he was deliberately playing a race card which will always rile people up.

This theory is a bit of logical reasoning that is hard for some people to follow, but what many people may not be aware of is that our immigration policy --tired, poor, huddled masses notwithstanding-- has a history of being tinged with bigotry and racism. Check out the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which was referred to in one of my favorite movies, Tombstone. (Sheriff Behan: "I'm also town tax collector, captain of the fire brigade, and chairman of the Non-Partisan Anti-Chinese League.") Or the literacy and English-speaking tests proposed at various times in the 19th and early 20th Centuries which would have kept most Irish immigrants, to say nothing of the Italians, Poles, Russians, Greeks and anybody else who wasn't English or Scottish out of this country. The fact is, whether people like Joe Wilson want to acknowledge it or not, whenever you talk about immigration, you are also talking about race...specifically, you're talking about how America should deal with the problem of races other than the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant coming here, taking jobs from "real" Americans, and gaining too much power and influence. That may not be what is in the hearts and minds of people like Joe Wilson, but it is the historical reality of our law and policy, going back almost two centuries.

And, not for nothing, but if the GOP doesn't like the idea of being called "racists" every time they oppose Obama, perhaps they should reflect on the wisdom of having called liberals "traitors" or "appeasers" or "cowards" every time they opposed Bush. If you take the gloves off, then they are off. It's a little late to whine about Marquis of Queensbury rules when you were the first one to pull out the brass knuckles. Particularly when the guy doing the whining once cited "hatred of America" as the reason a Democratic Congressman would suggest that the WMD justification for war was insufficient, given that we'd supplied WMDs to Iraq during their war with Iran. Or who insisted that the half-African-American woman fathered out-of-wedlock by Senator Strom Thurmond should have kept quiet about her parentage to keep from diminishing the segregationist senator's legacy.

All the Tyranny Fit to Tout

2009-09-09T15:22:00.008-04:00

I usually defend the Times to my more conservative friends. But today, I am literally in a state of shock. A passage from today's op-eds:

One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages.

Thomas Friedman has finally flipped his wig. Sort of a Joe Kennedy, "Democracy is finished in Europe" kind of moment, except that Friedman will probably get another Pulitzer instead of being shipped home in disgrace.

Leaving aside for a moment Freidman's unique perspective on the current government in Bejing, consider: Our system was not designed to be efficient. It was designed to be free. Of course it makes things harder for the federal government to accomplish. That was the whole point.

If there is a trade-off between efficiency and liberty, I want the latter.

New York's Local News Boobs

2009-09-06T16:50:00.002-04:00

Note to NY1 local news: Father Vincent Capodanno was NOT awarded the Bronze Star for his actions in Vietnam.

He was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Do some research before you report on a story, you freakin' morons.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

2009-08-26T23:00:00.001-04:00

The world stops to note the passing of Joe Kennedy's last surviving son this morning at his home in Massachusetts. After 46 years in the Senate, Ted Kennedy lays down his burden under the inexorable weight of brain cancer.

As an Irish American, it's a bittersweet moment, a chance to look back to the time when our race faced down the bigotry that awaited us as we stepped off the coffin ships into a nation that hated Catholics. And to remember a time when, after gaining enough money and influence to defend ourselves, we reached back behind us to help those immigrants a few ships behind us. (This is in contrast to today, when too many of us are willing to collaborate with the same Brahmins and bigots who worked so hard to keep Catholics out of the country clubs and curb immigration, legal or otherwise.) It's true that Joe and his family put on airs to fit in with the Protestant-dominated social structure from time to time, as do most lace-curtain types, but in hindsight, they wouldn't have accomplished as much, either for us or the nation at large, if they hadn't.

After three of his brothers died before their hair could turn gray, Ted's frailties began to show. The drinking, the womanizing, the desire to live while there was time that led to disasters. It was inevitable, of course, that his detractors would focus on that night in 1969, when his immaturity and poor judgment got the better of him and cost an idealistic young woman her life. And, decades later, how his testimony about his actions the night his nephew was accused of rape demonstrated that he learned little from the Chappaquiddick incident. It is not inappropriate to mention these failings in reflecting on his life, any more than to remember the decades of service to the cause of civil rights or his championing of health care reform. It just bothers me a little that some people think that the accident outweighs the five decades of service. But then I remember that these are people to whom civil rights or Medicare or anything else to help poor people never meant little in the first place.

It is also true that some on the Left will now paint the debate over health care reform as a fight to do right by Ted's last wishes. But before people get too irritated by this, we should remember that Johnson did much the same in order to push Jack's goal of the Civil Rights Act. Few thinking people would argue that he was wrong to do so. And those indignant voice on the Right should remember that, at his death in 2004, John Paul II was honored by conservatives as a demonstration of the pontiff's recognition of the sanctity of all life, even in the failing years.

I don't pray much anymore, but I will light a candle for a man who touched the lives of millions of people around the world. A man who I criticized over the years, whom I disagreed with on many points of domestic policy and personal conduct, but a man whom, in the final analysis, served his constituents and his country to the best of his ability. He was flawed, as are we all. He made mistakes, even some big ones. So do all men of great power. But, for all his failings, he left a mark on this country that made it better than before he entered the Senate so many years ago.

Ted's mother was fond of saying that "[t]o whom much is given, much is expected." I think its fair to say that Ted, while a difficult child, met his mother's expectations.

Say hello to my dad at the bar, Teddy.

The Big Fellow

2009-08-22T20:23:00.004-04:00

General Michael Collins

16 October 1890 - 22 August 1922

Rest in peace, Mick.

Disturbed Dissent

2009-08-18T20:51:00.009-04:00

From the gun-toting 'patriot' with the sign saying "It's Time to Water the Tree of Liberty" walking outside a town hall...

To the woman who yelled "Heil Hitler" at the Jewish man who was describing the benefits of Israel's best-in-the-world health care system...

To the passionate cry of "Keep the gov'mint out of my Medicare..."

To the people who seem to have forgotten that Britain, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, and nearly every other country west of the Elbe with some form of a national health care system was, in fact, on our side of the Cold War...

...Chesty is not amused.

I have to be honest: At first, I really didn't care much about this debate, because I'm 'rich people'... not the ones who merely have health insurance through their employer, mind you; but the ones who both have it and make enough money to keep it once prices start to get really out of control when the economy collapses again in 2014. And, frankly, I was irritated by the way people who had until recently extolled the virtue of dissent, and spent years calling Bush and Cheney fascists suddenly had a problem with the same tactics being thrown back in their face.

But at the risk of paraphrasing Brother Marine Leon Uris, the more I see of the mindless obstinacy, the refusal to engage in rational conversation, and the bald-faced lies about pulling plugs and death panels, the more I am hoping that Obama sticks to his guns and rams this bill through. Because when I see some gun-toting piece of crap carrying a sign which implicitly suggests the assassination of elected officials for trying to fix a health care system that even most Republicans agree is broken, I've got my own ideas about who the traitors are.

The Man in the Mirror

2009-08-07T17:17:00.006-04:00

In today's installment of Irony Watch, Ellen Goodman at the Boston Globe decries the latest Republican demagoguery: The people who say that the Health Care bill being pushed by the administration will require euthanasia of the elderly. Ms. Goodman cries about how these wicked, ill-designing conservative hacks are taking a prefectly legitimate program (providing counseling regarding what is euphemistally called "end-of-life services") and twisting it to mean something entirely different and totally ridiculous.

Sort of like "Republicans want to starve off old people."

Or "Robert Bork's America."

The GOP was on the receiving end of this kind of crap for decades, and nobody seemed to think it was a problem. But now, when they take a few calls from the Democrats' playbook, liberals start crying "foul."

On Reid and the Rabble

2009-08-06T17:47:00.003-04:00

Senate Majority leader Reid today lashed out at conservative activists who are sabotaging the health care debate.

How are they sabotaging it?

By speaking out against the Democrats' plan.

Or, to Reid's way of seeing it, by organizing a bunch of cranks who drive from district to district, showing up at town meetings to harangue congressmen about the proposed government health care overhaul.

Three years ago, if some liberal cranks had driven from town meeting to town meeting to ambush congressmen about The Surge, Reid would have called it free speech. Those Code Pink people who showed up in Congress during any hearing carried on C-SPAN? Free Speech. The 9/11 Truth people at Bill Maher's show? Free Speech. The protest outside the recruiting station in Berkeley? Free speech.

But now, it's "sabotage."

Fancy that.

The Beaches of Richmond County

2009-08-06T11:30:00.004-04:00

Forbes.com has posted a list of the ten most polluted beaches in America.

Noticable absentees from the hall of shame are Staten Island's beaches: Midland Beach, South Beach, Great Kills Park and Wolf's Pond Park.

Take your victories when they come, I say.

Happy Birthday to All

2009-08-04T12:08:00.016-04:00

I am remiss in not wishing a happy birthday to my brother, my best friend, and the President of the United States. (If I have to explain this, those are three different people.)

On this most auspicious of days, it seems appropriate to celebrate by laughing our asses off at the continued controversy of the birther movement. As most are probably aware, Birther den mother Orly Taitz filed a document this weekend in the Central District of California which she purports to be Barack Obama's Kenyan birth certificate. She claims that this document, which she received from an anonymous source, gives a basis for discovery to be conducted of the records of the Kenyan government to determine, once and for all, where Obama was born.

Never mind that the document purports to show Obama born in a part of Kenya which was not, in fact, part of Kenya at that time.

Never mind that it purports to show Kenya as a republic three years before Kenya in fact became a republic.

Never mind that it was denounced as a forgery by other birthers less than twenty-four hours after being posted on the internet, and that such more responsible birthers are criticizing her for making them all look incompetent.

Never mind that Taitz herself does not vouch for the authenticity of her "evidence," making it extremely unlikely that any federal judge would credit her argument.

UPDATE: We also wish a happy birthday to distinguished Hearst Newspaper/former UPI reporter Helen Thomas, also born on August 4th.

Irish Pennants

2009-08-04T08:20:00.006-04:00

As we continue our national lovefest with all things European, some sobering food for thought:

Last month, The Republic of Ireland introduced legislation which would make blasphemy punishable by a 25,000 Euro fine. Under the proposed legislation, to express an opinion which might cause "outrage among a substantial number of adherents of [a] religion" would now be a criminal act. The legislation is non-denominational, meaning that it is not simply an attempt to protect what was once called the "special position" of the Catholic Church within Irish society. Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and, yes, even Protestants would be eligible to express their outrage with some editorial, billboard, or song on the radio and see to it the rabble-rouser in question gets what's coming to him. Conversely, if Martin Luther were to suddenly be revived and start nailing a tirade to some church door, charges of vandalism would be the least of his worries.

Naturally, atheists and agnostics are left without recourse. To suggest that the walking-on-water story be filed with the one about the flying reindeer is more than just unpopular; it is dangerous. And to blaspheme against blasphemy, i.e., to say that those who don't believe are going to burn in Hell, the central theme of Christianity, is apparently still good to go.

Maybe this is a reaction to three hundred years of watching the Pope get burned in effigy up in Derry every summer. But since Derry is outside the Republic (for now), this would be like cutting off the nose to spite the face.

I don't expect this law to get passed; some people in the current Irish government have some common sense left. But sometimes I wonder: What good do people think freedom of speech would serve if it only protected nursery rhymes? It's the offensive, controversial stuff that needs to be protected, because that's usually where the important debates take place. And if recent events in Ireland have shown us anything, it is that religion and its role in society are topics worthy of lively, even angry, debate.

I know people who roll their eyes when someone on the right talks about "political correctness run amok." They think that anyone who opposes a more sensitive, PC approach to running society is some kind of right-wing neanderthal who refuses to give up dirty jokes.

I hope they are paying attention to what is going on in Ireland right now.

Speechless

2009-07-30T14:07:00.004-04:00

In one of my frequent fits of insanity, I realized a few minutes ago that I had never actually read what Sarah Palin said when she left office this week. Palin is, to me, like the uphill portion of a marathon: it is painful, but you know that there is a crest and once you pass it, the pain will subside, at least in part. As such, I have tried not to pay too much attention as she has continually embarrassed herself, her state, and the GOP.

Nevertheless, I was curious to know just what she had to say as she deserted her post for financial/ethical/patriotic/whatever reasons, so I went online to try to find a transcript.

I went to two different websites because I wanted to be sure what I was looking at was not just some liberal propaganda created by somebody at Huffington Post to make her look stupid. But I quickly came to realize that this incredible assault on the English language was, in fact, what this woman actually said to the press.

Between this and the "birther" nonsense, I really don't know what to say.

Yet, as President Obama continues to defy my expectations and sludge further on with an ambitious agenda while suffering from foot-in-mouth disease vis-a-vis the Gates incident, I feel the first twitches of apprehension in my stomach.

It's a little early (to me, at least) to handicap the 2012 primary, but my money is on Romney to win the nomination. I'm not saying I'll vote for him, mind you, but at least he can form a coherent sentence. Nevertheless, the American people have already shown their willingness to elect someone of ...shall we say, less than stellar intellectual ability... because he was friendly and affable and the kind of guy you'd invite to your barbecue. Why wouldn't they do it again? It's entirely possible that she'll flame out in the next two years, that she'll end up with a TV show like Huckabee did that will further expose what an idiot she is to the public. But as conservative commentators continue to insist that "she gave the McCain camp its best two weeks of the campaign," why should we think that she is going to become less popular with the base as Obama dips further in the polls?

Hold me.

Birther Truthiness

2009-07-23T12:22:00.004-04:00

I like Stephen Colbert better than Jon Stewart, because, while neither is a journalist, Stewart sometimes forgets that. I watch Comedy Central to laugh, not to listen to him lecture Jim Cramer.

Still, this was funny as sh*t.

Personally, I'm glad these 'birthers' are finally getting the attention they craved. Because, as with this clip, it is going to put a spotlight on just how drop-dead crazy they are.

Equal Justice

2009-07-10T14:49:00.004-04:00

"The most important teaching of Nuremberg was that aggressive war is a punishable offense that must apply equally to all."
Benjamin B. Ferencz, Katonah, NY, 7/7/09

This statement was in a letter to the editor submitted to the NY Times this week, in regard to the death of Robert S. McNamara. Mr. Ferencz was a member of the US prosecution team at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.

No disrespect intended, Mr. Ferencz, but if that is the teaching we are supposed to take from Nuremberg, why was the Soviet Union sitting in judgment of Nazi Germany for the invasion of Poland, an aggressive war in which the Soviet Union participated? Why was the Soviet Union given a free pass on the invasion of Finland in 1940? Wasn't that another agressive war?

Not really much of a lesson, then, was it?

6/30/2009 - The Handover

2009-06-30T16:28:00.007-04:00

Marking today's turnover of security for Iraqi cities to local forces, the New York Times has an editorial which offers a bleak forecast of the future. Below are a few excerpts, with my commentary:

We once hoped that a clear timetable for an American withdrawal would finally persuade Iraq’s leaders to make the political compromises that are the only way to hold their country together without an indefinite occupation. That has not happened.

"Oops. Sorry about that. We criticized Bush and McCain for years about how their refusal to talk about deadlines or benchmarks was making things worse, but now we see it wasn't. Our bad."

Mr. Obama was right to commit to a carefully paced and responsible withdrawal, and he was right to say that the United States cannot solve all of Iraq’s problems before it leaves. But we are concerned that Iraq may not be getting all the attention it needs in Washington.

Gee, do you think that endorsing a bunch of candidates who didn't care about anything except ending Bush's mistake might have something to do with that lack of attention?

The United States needs to take in many more Iraqi [refugees], especially those who risked their lives to work with the Americans.

Do I take that to mean you are conceding that this is not going to work, and that we need to get those who helped us out of the way of those who would seek revenge?

As American troops leave, the Pentagon must continue to provide security so civilian advisers can work throughout the country.

How, exactly, do you continue to provide security with fewer and fewer troops? The Times doesn't say. "Oh, I'm sure the Pentagon can figure it out."

Iran and Syria have meddled constantly — driving up the violence and backing off only when it looked as if the war could spin out of control and over Iraq’s borders or the Americans might retaliate. Tehran would still like to control Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government.

So, Bush and the war-mongers around him were right: Iran and Syria were "meddling," i.e., supplying insurgents with the weapons and training necessary to kill American and Iraqi soldiers and civilians more effectively. The New York Times says so, so it must be true. Thank you for confirming this ... eight months after the election.

Washington must do a lot more to persuade these allies that their interests would be far better served by building strong diplomatic and economic ties with Iraq.

I'm sure that the people who campaigned on the premise that the war was a mistake will have a much easier time doing that than the people who were determined to stay there until every insurgent was dead, even if that was never.

DADT Today

2009-06-29T13:56:00.006-04:00

Frank Rich has an op-ed in today's New York Times marking the fortieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and the birth of the gay rights movement. It is an insightful column regarding how much, and yet how little progress has been made toward equal rights for homosexuals. Although I enjoyed most of the article, I admit I became quite irritated to find yet another member of the press talking about how "Congress and the Pentagon rebelled" against President Clinton's campaign promise to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces.

Pay attention, Mark, because this is important: The Joint Chiefs did not "rebel", or "mutiny", or anything else. Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice says that sodomy is a crime. That is not a policy, or a regulation, or a guideline. It is a law. And no president has the power to say that an article of law is suddenly no longer valid. You change a law by creating a new law, or by getting a federal court to declare the existing law unconstitutional. (I was under the impression that everybody learns that in high school civics class.) Yet the press still love to paint this as a cabal of brass hats, who were openly insubordinate to the commander-in-chief, rather than as a moron of a candidate who made promises he couldn't keep. And who, in an attempt to save some face, created the compromise we now know as Don't Ask Don't Tell, which satisfied no one. Not because of mutiny among the brass, but because he never had the necessary support for a repeal in Congress. I have no doubt that the Joint Chiefs opposed the idea of letting gays serve openly. I'm sure that the issue was particularly offensive to them as it was coming from someone who avoided serving in Vietnam. But to suggest that, if Congress had changed the law and the President had signed off, that these men would not have obeyed a legal order is simply laughable.

I have said before, and I say again now: I am in favor of repealing Article 125 and allowing gays to serve openly. But by continuing to suggest that the military was responsible for stopping President Clinton from doing something he never had the constitutional power to do, Mr. Rich is doing a disservice not only to the armed forces, but to the cause he seeks to advance.

UPDATE - 6/30/09: Richard Cohen of the Washington Post also opined on this subject today. He looks at it solely as a matter for the Joint Chiefs, even referring to a conversation with Colin Powell while he was Chairman. At no point in his article does he discuss the role of Congress in making or changing federal law. In fact, he even tries to suggest that to get Congress involved would be useless meddling.

What is wrong with these people that they think the president can snap his fingers and law evaporates just because it's military law???

Judgement at S.D.N.Y.

2009-06-29T11:55:00.003-04:00

And you thought judges were tough in Texas.

A few minutes ago, District Court Judge Denny Chin sentenced Bernard Madoff, perpetrator of the largest Ponzi-Madoff scheme in history (it was recently renamed, you know) to the maximum term of one hundred and fifty years in prison.

I lost my bet, which was for 25 years.

Giap

2009-06-28T20:41:00.003-04:00

It's always fun to see a communist dictatorship smacked upside the head.

But this is just too good.

Although the Times characterization of his victories seems a little oversimplified (I seem to recall he was relieved of command after the 1972 invasion of the South failed), General Giap's is a name that still earns the deepest respect of his former adversaries. His memoirs are required reading for senior officers in the Marine Corps.

And now, at 97 years of age, he openly criticizes his government for their environmental and economic policies.

Too much.

On a Generation's Life and Loss

2009-06-26T16:02:00.020-04:00

Submitted for your consideration: An article by Ted Anthony, Associated Press culture writer, on the impact of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett's deaths on Generation X.

Apparently, the AP is getting around to figuring out that the Boomers are no longer prime market, and has decided to spend some ink on their kids. Anthony, a Gen Xer, opines that the sadly premature deaths of these two icons brings home to those who were children in the '70s and '80s that, suddenly, we're all grown up, and the titans of our youth have fallen to earth:

In the 1990s, members of Generation X would often laugh in bars about how the time of the Boomers was passing — about how the quaintness and naivete that made up the 1960s was, finally, a grave being danced on by Kurt Cobain. Today, members of that same generation sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings of pop.

It's ironic that he mentions Kurt's name, because, to me, it was when Cobain's life was cut so short that we first realized that our childhood would be a sadly brief one. It was reinforced a few years later, as two buildings I'd grown up with tumbled to the earth, forever changing the face of my town, and the world. And as my friends and classmates went off to war.

But this is a day that defines our generation???

Anthony talks about some of the music forced upon us by our elders in those days, in particular a Tina Turner piece called "We Don't Need Another Hero." I am not sure why he thinks that song is a statement of our generation: It was written before most of us could vote, by people who'd been in the music business since the '60s, and performed by a woman who turns 70 this year. (Sorry, Tina.) How, then, does this represent Gen X? Sure, we listened to it, because it was what was available. But does Chubby Checker or Howdy Doody really define the childhood of the Baby Boomers??

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that people look at the deaths of famous people as seismic events. Boomers are always talking about the impact the Kennedy assassination, or "The Day the Music Died," had on their lives. I admit, I remember where I was when John Lennon was killed. I walk through Strawberry Fields in Central Park and think about how much my mom liked that last album. So, yes, his death was a memorable moment in my childhood. But that was my childhood. Our generation grew up a long time ago, Ted. This is sad, but it isn't like it was for the Boomers when Elvis died. After three wars and a depression, to suggest that yesterday was some kind of a pivotal moment for our generation is just plain silly.

Anthony asks if we're sure we don't want a hero right about now. But our generation has plenty of them. In the stairwell of Tower One, they were the firefighters who continued to charge upward when they heard that Tower Two was gone. In the devastation of the 2004 tsunami, they were the Marines and sailors who brought food and water to strangers. In a prison in Tehran, she was a lone woman who chose to go on hunger strike to protest a tyrant's suppression of free speech.

Yesterday, Generation X lost two of its favorite childhood and teen celebrities. But in the last ten years, we've also lost some of our classmates, our friends, our brothers and sisters in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lower Manhattan. We've lost our life savings in a stock market crash. We've lost our jobs in a depression. We've lost our faith in a series of church scandals and abuse.

Yesterday was a raindrop in the torrents of our spring. But one which, like all the others, will give way to a bright summer.

Goodbye, Michael. Farewell, Farrah.

On Mark Sanford and Beatrix Kiddo

2009-06-25T11:18:00.005-04:00

"I'm a killer. I'm a murdering bastard; you knew this ... and, there are consequences to breaking the heart of a murdering bastard."
-Bill

There is no wisdom so deep that it can't be found in a very violent movie.

The GOP has, for reasons I will never truly understand, chosen to cast itself as the party of Christian values. And there are consequences when you cast yourself as the party of Christian values and then fail to measure up to those values.

Cheers.

Cap's Back!

2009-06-15T16:03:00.003-04:00

It would seem that you can't keep a good man down.

Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, returns to the Marvel universe in July.

Told ya.

On Extremists and Editorials

2009-06-14T09:07:00.007-04:00

The Op-Ed contributors for the New York Times sure seem to be up in arms this week. First, there was Paul Krugman, and today there's Frank Rich, each talking about the crazy conspiracy theorists who are spouting nonsense about President Obama, and the damage such invective can do. Each singled our Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck as examples of the kind of stupidity-mongering that adds fuel to the fire of nutjobs who think about taking the law into their own hands.

In today's piece, Rich touches on some comments made by Frank Gaffney, who served in the Defense Department under President Reagan. Gaffney that yes, President Obama could be a secret Muslim, with ties to "the dangerous global movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood." Gaffney further suggested links between Obama and various charities which fund terrorist groups. Rich then asks: "If this isn’t a handy rationalization for another lone nutjob to take the law into his own hands against a supposed terrorism supporter, what is?"

That's a good question, but I can think of something that might be: How about the suggestion that a certain unnamed president stole two elections, caused 9/11, was attempting to establish a theocratic dictatorship, tried to kill off black people in New Orleans after Katrina, and created a war just to get more oil money for himself and his Texas cronies? How is that not an invitation for some patriotic young freedom-fighter to become a "lone nutjob" to save America?

I agree whole-heartedly with the criticisms that Rich and Krugman have made of the so-called conservative commentators, but I have to ask where was this sense of alarm over the tone of civic discourse for the last eight years, with the various conspiracy theories being spread about GWB? Why is it that these guys never thought that calming some of the liberal hysterics about Republicans was worth a few lines of newsprint?

Conservatives who supported cutting taxes in the middle of a war and eight years of deficit spending have no business pretending that they stand for fiscal responsibility. Liberals who stood silent while their wingnuts ranted about Bush's conspiracies to kill Americans so that he could justify a war with Iraq have no business posturing about the dangerous tone that political discourse has taken now that their guy is in the White House.

My Tax, Your Tax

2009-05-20T08:18:00.003-04:00

So, now Congress is considering an excise tax on soda pop, junk food, and beer?

Applebees, Chili's and T.G.I. Friday's ... rest in peace.

I suppose this is a lesson to those of us who have suggested that the government get over the war on marijuana and just tax the hell out of it, same as cigarettes. I don't smoke either of them, so I don't really give a damn if the idiots who do have to pay through the nose for the legal privilege of destroying their lungs.

Of course, if I don't care about their lungs, those schmucks have no particular reason to care about my liver.

What bothers me the most is that this new revenue will not go to pay off the debts we owe to foreign sovereign funds like China's and get our future generations out of hock; it's going to go to pay for new, expanded health care programs for the uninsured. This is the definition of tax-and-spend liberalism.

Back in the day, my great-great-grandfather used to avoid this problem by brewing poteen, the Irish version of moonshine. Pity I live in an apartment with no room for a 40-gallon drum. Gotta get the two-bedroom.

Ominous Quotes

2009-05-15T12:02:00.003-04:00

"...victory must be allowed to rest for the moment with those who have destroyed the Republic. Other means must be sought to safeguard the nation's right."

-Eammon de Valera, "Legion of the Rearguard" message to the Irish Volunteers, 24 May 1923

"There is nothing you can do at this time about what is taking place because there is simply no limit to what the left can do at this time. Anything they want, they get and so we can't stop them ... pray for this great nation... As I see it, there is no other answer. There's no other answer, short term."

-James Dobson, Founder of "Focus on the Family", 15 May 2009

... I say ominous because, less than a decade later, "Dev" was elected President of Ireland.

An Army of None

2009-05-15T07:44:00.003-04:00

A decorated four-star general has no place in the Republican Party ...

A decorated hero with thirty years in the Senate has no place in the Republican Party ...

And his mother, who held what the Navy calls its "toughest job" for forty years -i.e., Navy Wife- has no place in the Republican Party.

... so say the party's new spokesmen, a draft dodger and a drug addict.

I hope the V.F.W. and the A.L. are paying attention.

Areas of Agreement

2009-05-14T08:23:00.004-04:00

Although tea-baggers and true believers of the Left and Right would probably sputter with rage at the suggestion, there seems to be a lot the Bush and Obama agree on. No doubt electing Obama has had a more positive impact than electing another white male, and the budget is somewhat different than it would have been with a Republican President and a Democratic Congress, there are still aspects of their policies where Obama looks a lot like his predecessor. For example:

Global Warming: According to Time, both Bush and Obama favor starving the poor polar bears by not stopping global warming. We still haven't ratified Kyoto (although there's probably not much point, as its moratorium is coming to an end). Perhaps its too early in his presidency to make a judgment, but so far, environmentalists can't be too happy.

Bailouts: Hate to have to break it to you, tea-baggers, but Bush proposed this idea. Leading conservative bankers said it was necessary. Goldman may be paying it back, but if they hadn't taken it in the fall, they'd be dead now. Try listening to a few billionaires and Nobel laureates, not a dead atheist fiction writer who had no economic experience other than her dad's pharmacy being stolen by the Bolsheviks.

Defense Spending: Everybody's so upset over Gates new plan to cut the F-22 and the DDG-1000 programs. But, they're forgetting two things. One, Gates got his job from Bush, not Obama, and Two, the Bush Administration was trying to "right-size" the military during Rumsfeld's years, too. Remember how Rummy wanted to move away from large, lumbering heavy mechanized forces and toward lighter, fast reaction units? Well, What Obama is doing is in some ways a continuation of that (unpopular) plan. Hopefully, he'll be cutting spending for the services and platforms that don't play a major role in the low-intensity-conflicts we'll be fighting for the next thirty years or so, but keeping spending for the Army and Marines on priority.

The Wars: I don't see much difference between the presidents on Afghanistan. six one way, half-dozen the other. And Iraq, well, now that violence is ticking up every month, let's see if Obama is willing to stick to his guns on the pull-out if it really does look like our absence would result in chaos.

Dissent: Both presidents show a disturbing way of handling people or organizations which criticize their plans. The Bush white house was not shy about loosing the attack dogs on anybody who thought they were going too far, were making mistakes, or were just plain wrong. Similarly, President Obama' vilification of those banks and hedge funds which dared to assert their property rights smacks of an imperial presidency just as did Bush's, albeit in a different area of law: corporate vs. civil liberties. But before you start to say how much less of a problem it is, remember that civil liberties don't can your soup or heat your apartment or drive your economy. Corporations do.

GITMO: Not so simple now that you're the boss, is it, Barack? Funny how we aren't releasing these people en masse. Fine; it never would have been a problem if Bush hadn't resurrected Clinton's (or his dad's?) weak argument that habeas corpus doesn't apply on leased Cuban soil, but you haveto admit, Obama doesn't seem to have any better ideas what to do about them.

Secrecy: Despite promises of the most transparent administration in recent memory, the Obama Administration has decided to bar the release of alleged abuse photos, much as the Bush administration wished to. My friends at ACLU headquarters are irritated, but Obama's sudden insight that releasing these pics can only harm America's image overseas, put American troops overseas at greater risk, and will do nothing to heal or fix the damage done during the Bush years demonstrates a more realist, practical approach to the presidency than we had been given to expect. A pity it couldn't have come without all the hype over these pictures being released over the last month.

Conservative Viewing

2009-05-13T14:24:00.005-04:00

I don't know about you, but I enjoyed this week's Simpsons. While the show has been on the skids for a decade in my opinion, I got a real kick out of the last of the four shorts they ran, a homage to "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand in which Maggie Simpson spoke in a complete sentence for the first time (voiced by Jodie Foster).

Monday morning, I went looking for a clip of the short on Google. I found one on a website called popmodal.com, which bills itself as "a conservative alternative to YouTube."

Huh???

I have found stuff from every political viewpoint and agenda on YouTube over the three years I've been using it. I've seen clips of Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Mike Wallace's interview with Ayn Rand, and explanations of how Obama is the Antichrist and we are now in the End Times. I've also seen clips of liberals explaining how Bush caused 9/11, how the Illuminati are controlling us with television and flu shots, and many, many clips about UFOs and the Rapture.

Anybody can put something up on YouTube. That is the whole point.

So I was a bit surprised to learn that conservatives need an "alternative" to YouTube that filters out everything except their viewpoint. But then again, I realized, there would certainly be a market for a "true-believers' " version of YouTube. The creators will probably make some money this way, "borrowing" someone else's idea and tailoring it to a specific audience.

Of Conservatives and Communist Strategy

2009-05-12T13:07:00.008-04:00

As I was reading a blog post today about Darth Cheney's comments regarding General Powell's apostasy, I came up with an analogy for the Limbaugh Wing's "win by purge" strategy.

We can call this The Long (Republican) March.

Just as did the communists during their sojourn in the Chinese hinterland, the glorious Republican Party shall shed the half-hearted revolutionaries (i.e., moderates, centrists, and other affiliated swine) whose loyalty to The Cause is not enough to keep them warm in the Wilderness of Minority Status. Soon, all that will be left will be the true zealots of righteousness, ready to rise again when the Kuomintang Party/Democrat Socialist Party is exposed for its corruption and incompetence. Then, the people will rally to The Party, just as they did when Fidel entered Havana after years in the wilderness, celebrating the return of Justice, Prosperity and Peace through Superior Firepower.

Viva la Revolucion.

I'm sure that many conservatives would prefer to think of themselves as Washington's band of patriots hunkered down at Valley Forge, but they should remember that Washington was able to hold out and win because of assistance from, god help us, France.

Hate to break it to you, guys, but the successful examples of this strategy have a tendency to come from the Left.

ROXANA IS FREE!!! KICK ASS!!!

2009-05-11T13:43:00.004-04:00

The Iranians released Roxana Saberi today after reducing her sentence from eight to two years, and suspending it. Roxana is on her way back to the United States.

.. and, for one brief, shining moment, the New York Times took a break from swine flu hysteria to put the story in the banner headline.

I am certain you'll be able to guess which of the comments listed with the story was mine (Hint: #116). But I was astonished at how many people seem to believe that she was, in fact, a spy. I suppose that is one way of looking at the lack of press coverage, but it also seems to suggest that Times readers are prone to wild conspiracy theorizing.

At any rate, welcome home, Roxana. Your courage was an example to all journalists.

The Chrysler Challenge

2009-05-08T07:35:00.001-04:00

This is one of the best analyses I've read on the Obama Administration's actions.

RINO says NO

2009-05-07T14:55:00.004-04:00

Former Pennsylvania governor, Homeland Security director, decorated Vietnam veteran and moderate Republican Tom Ridge announced today that he will not seek the Republican nomination to run against Arlen Specter for Senate in 2010.

Aw. I wonder why?

Could it be that Ridge wasn't interested in wasting his time on a bruising primary fight with Pat Toomey accusing him of being too liberal?

That maybe Ridge didn't feel like having his patriotism questioned by a punk who was in elementary school while Ridge was risking his life for his country in Southeast Asia?

Or that he wasn't interested in being stabbed in the back with a challenge six years later, should he actually win in '10?

...Nah. I'm sure there's some other explanation.

On the Politics of Self-Interest

2009-05-07T08:47:00.003-04:00

It was in Specter's self-interest to switch parties and join the Democrats.

It was in Reagan's self-interest to switch parties and join the Republicans.

It was in Lieberman's self-interest to become an independent.

It was in the Democrats' self-interest not to punish him.

It was in Gore's self-interest to choose Lieberman as his running mate.

It was in Gore's self-interest to endorse Kerry four years later, stabbing Lieberman in the back.

It was in Clinton's self-interest to suggest gays serve openly.

It was in Clinton's self-interest to change his mind and promote DADT.

It was in Democrats' interests to oppose civil rights in 1920.

It was in Democrats' interests to support civil rights in 1960.

It was in Republicans' interests to shun Catholics in 1928.

It was in Republicans' interests to court Catholics in 1988.

The moral is, all politicians act out of self-interest.

Self-interest is part of the system. It always will be.

So save the sanctimony.

Specter Stripped!!!

2009-05-06T14:56:00.006-04:00

Democrats decided to disrespect their newest senator today, stripping him of his seniority by unanimous voice vote on each of his committees.

Even as a moderate, I find it kind of hard to feel much sympathy for Arlen. But I have to admit, I am kind of surprised that the Democrats would be this stupid. Fine, you don't really like him; he helped put Alito and Roberts on the court; he voted against the budget, yada yada yada. On the other hand, you didn't strip Leiberman of his seniority, and he didn't join your party; he left it!!!

Furthermore, what kind of a message are the Democrats sending to Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins? Do you really want to send the message that, if one of them bails and joins you, you'll publicly humiliate her by treating her like a freshperson?

In the short term, this will make the Dems on those committees feel good, but in the long term, this is the kind of snub that sends a message to other people who might want to work with you. If we're going to use words like "defector," you might consider that there were several reasons why we treated defectors from the USSR so well, among them to put forward an advertisement to other officers and bureaucrats who might be disgruntled and want to get back at their party bosses.

If the CIA treated defectors the way the Democrats do, we might have lost the Cold War.

FREE ROXANA!!! (v)

2009-05-06T14:47:00.004-04:00

Roxana Saberi ended her hunger strike earlier this week, at the request of her parents. Hopefully, she has not harmed her health too greatly by her actions; historians say that Gahndi did significant damage to his organs with his numerous hunger strikes.

For now, at least, Roxana is trusting in the appeals process and the goodwill of her fellow journalists to get her through this crisis.

We are still thinking of you, Roxana. We are proud of you, and are looking forward to your release.

FREE ROXANA!!! (iv)

2009-05-05T08:00:00.006-04:00

CNN is reporting that Roxana Saberi has been admitted to the prison hospital to be forcibly fed via intravenous fluids. Apparently, the Iranian government, which has been denying that Saberi was on a hunger strike, will need t come up with a creative excuse for why this was necessary.

In further developments, Roxana's legal team has received the support of Nobel laurate Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights activist. Hopefully this is a sign that stronger defensive actions are on the way, before Roxana's health deteriorates further.

There is a sick irony in the fact that there is a street in Tehran which is named after Irish hunger striker, the Right Honorable Bobby Sands, M.P. It's the same street on which the British Embassy is located; the revolutionary government renamed it after Sands died in order to embarrass the British.

Ezra Levant

2009-05-05T07:56:00.006-04:00

Check out the awesome story of one Canadian's fight for free speech against Islamic radicals and his own government.

While I am reliably informed (by the only Canadian I know to have met the gentleman in question) that this fellow is somewhere to the right of Rush Limbaugh, I have to say, I admire his tenacity and ingenuity in this case.

Republican Outreach

2009-05-03T12:04:00.005-04:00

“Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”
-Michael Steele, RNC Chairman, on his invitation to moderates to attend the annual Republican party convention.

In other words, Mike, you're saying that this house (the GOP) is not ours (moderate registered Republicans), and while we can come to the table, we shouldn't forget that we are guests?

C-ya.

(Special thanks to John Cole of Balloon Juice.)

Yankee Economics

2009-04-30T08:38:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, the Brothers Steinbooger announced that prices for tickets to watch the last gasps of the Yankee dynasty have been cut from $2,500 to $1,250.

Excuse me while I stampede to the Bronx.

These cuts only affect those seats behind home plate and along the dugouts, where the TV cameras have been trolling row after row of blue emptiness. As for the loge, the upper deck, the outfield, and everything else, they will remain at the current prices, which range from $5 in the bleachers for a seat that doesn't provide a view of the field to $80 on the loge (the "terrace" as it is now apparently called) to $250 for the higher field level.

Apparently nobody bothered to mention to the Junior Georges that there is a recession going on, and they didn't realize that their seats were overpriced. So, they've decided to give the millionaires a price cut. But, as for the rest of us, well, we should work harder to be able to afford the prices they've set for us. After all, these are the Yankees, right? I mean, it's not the 1998 squad, and they didn't make the playoffs last year, but people will still pay through the nose to see them, because they're the Yankees, right?

Right...???

FREE ROXANA!!! (iii)

2009-04-30T08:18:00.009-04:00

The Iranian government is giving Roxana a chance to get them off the hook, by letting her appeal to the Grand Ayatollah himself for amnesty. Apparently, they want this to go away, and are trying to get her to just admit some level of wrongdoing so that they can save some face and pardon her while still being able to tell the masses that she admits her guilt. That way, they can tell themselves that they look kind and merciful, and that they haven't caved in to one woman on a hunger strike.

Blast from the Past

2009-04-30T08:10:00.003-04:00

"We have to recognize that we have to get used to fighting ourselves at times and we have to recognize that we are in the business of conflict management. We are not in the business of conflict resolution. You only resolve conflicts by kicking people out and that means you become a minority. So, if you intend to be a majority, you have to be willing to live with a lot of conflict because that is the nature of a majority."

-Newt Gingrich, 1990

Special thanks to John Pitney Jr.

Limbaugh on Specter's Departure

2009-04-29T08:04:00.002-04:00

You see? I told you he'd be proud.

And the fact that no one within the GOP tells him to shut the hell up just signifies that they don't get it.

Do they really think that Toomey, a Limbaugh-style conservative, is going to be able to take back a Senate seat in a state that has gotten progressively bluer in the last twenty years? Or that a similar candidate will win in Maine when/if Snowe or Collins decided to switch, or after they retire?

And I love these idiots who are trying to put a spin on this by saying there's no guarantee that Specter will survive the Democratic primary. Do you actually think he would have made this switch without assurances from Reid that he would face no serious challenge from within in 2010? Wake up, people!

Oy gevault.

And Then There Were 59...

2009-04-28T13:51:00.002-04:00

Let us pause to congratulate the conservative wing of the Republican Party for coming even closer to its goal of ridding the GOP of all moderates, centrists, and RINOs with the defection of Senator Arlen Specter to the Democrats. Assuming Stuart Smalley takes the seat in Minnesota, "the Democrat Party" will have the 60 votes necessary (barring independent thought) to stymie Republican filibusters.

Republican leaders, in shock and panic, are currently sequestered in discussions about how to handle this latest setback. Quick to look for the root cause of everything (except why their party is at its weakest since FDR was elected), they point at the strong challenge Specter faces -excuse me; FACED-- in the 2010 primary from Rep. Pat Toomey. Perhaps wisely, few are bringing up the issue of "loyalty" in their criticism, inasmuch as if the party had any loyalty to Specter, it would not be allowing a challenge to one of its own, sitting senators.

Seriously, there are some within the party who are celebrating this latest disaster, or who at least ought to be, given the things they have said about Specter, Collins, Snowe, and yes, even McCain. But perhaps these people have decided not to slam the door behind Arlen too hard, for fear of losing any one of the remaining three.

Regardless, we should congratulate Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Nugent, and all those who have made sport of hunting the RINOs, as they step even closer to their goal of an ideologically pure party.

WH Apologizes for Photo Op

2009-04-27T17:20:00.003-04:00

The White House Military Office issued an apology to the hundreds of shaken New Yorkers for thhis morning's low-flyby over the Statue of Liberty by an Air Force One duplicate plane.

At least when Bush used the military for a photo op, he didn't traumatize an entire city.

Free Roxana!!!! (ii)

2009-04-27T13:17:00.013-04:00

As Roxana Saberi approaches her seventh day on hunger strike, the international media continues to focus on Obama's grades at 100 days rather than support their colleague's struggle for freedom. I found no reference to her on the Times or CNN.com this morning. I actually had to Google the story to find some reporting on it. Only Fox has it on the front page, albeit you must scroll down to the "World" news section. Only Reporters Without Borders is taking any initiative.

No new information is provided in those sparse articles, however, other than that her condition is deteriorating as her body gets weaker.

Yet the Iranian government has little reason to be concerned as long as the Western press treats her like a non-event.

Free Roxana!!! NOW!!!!

2009-04-25T22:22:00.012-04:00

One of the things that really annoys me about the so-called mainstream media is their wacked- out sense of priorities.

Today, the father of Roxana Saberi, the American reporter recently sentenced in Iran to eight years for espionage (after a secret, one-day trial) announced that she was invoking the final weapon of the political prisoner:

Hunger strike.

For the last five days, Roxana has taken no food. She says she will not eat again until she is freed. With nothing but her own will and spirit, she defies an autocratic government that continues to confound and confuse the West on a daily basis.

This woman is trying to fix the world's attention on the mockery that passes for due process in Iran. She is risking her life to advance a free press. You'd think the major newspapers and networks would want to assist her by raising more awareness and energizing people to boycott or march on the Iranian embassy in London, especially since it is in their own best interests. Hell, you'd at least think they'd give it the same level of attention the detainees in Gitmo got when they did it. But instead of rallying around her and putting her story at the top of the news, you have to actually dig around the sites of major news services before you find it. They'd rather talk about the newest disease craze of "swine flu," or Obama's report card at the 100 day mark. I found a side-of-the-page article at CNN.com, and nytimes.com hasn't even got it up at all. Even Fox has it at the bottom of the page.

Roxana, you are in our hearts and our minds, and will be until you come home. Be strong.

The Incredible Shrinking Service

2009-04-24T11:38:00.016-04:00

It was interesting to see the vicious reaction to Paul Kane's op-ed in the New York Times this week which, among other things, pointed out that the US Air Force has little, if any, useful function in either of the two wars in which America is currently engaged. Kane suggest that the Air Force's emphasis on fighting cold way-style conflicts of massive air interdiction and strategic bombing renders it superfluous to our current security needs.

Let's take a look at the letter to the editor submitted by the president and chief executive of the Air Force Association, Mr. Michael Dunn:

I take strong issue with Paul Kane’s article advocating the end of the Air Force. Well, I'm sure the makers of buggy whips complained about Henry Ford, too, but let's look at your arguments.

First, we fought this battle in the 1940s and learned that an independent Air Force was vital to national security. Ignoring the lessons of history about the need for air power would be a grave mistake. The world has not seen its last war, and the need for deterrence and air dominance is growing, not diminishing. That is very stirring, but I did not see in that statement any justification for the Air Force's budget, which last year was more than that of the other three services put together, to fight a cold war style conflict sometime in the future while we have two wars being fought on the ground in which the Air Force's role is minimal. The United States has not lost a plane to enemy fighter action since Vietnam, and yet we are told it is vital to the security of the nation to buy joint strike fighters at $140 million a unit that have little to no practical use in a low intensity conflict setting such as Iraq or Afghanistan.

Second, the Air Force is in the fight. Airmen are fighting on the ground, from the skies and from space. The Air Force is enormously involved providing real-time intelligence to commanders, cover to troops, precision air-to-surface strikes, transport, medical evacuation, search and rescue, and much more. This sounds quite impressive until one remembers that all the other services are engaged in the same efforts, and, in some cases (particularly close air support), conduct them better than the Air Force does. The fact is, the most important role played by the Air Force in this war is flying remote controlled airplanes. An important and useful job, to be sure, but one that the Navy is also performing. And which Cub Scouts could be trained to do.

If Mr. Kane is really concerned about too many “air forces,” perhaps a better solution is for the Marine Corps to fold its air assets into the Air Force. Frankly, the fact that you would talk about the service disputes of the 1940s, and in the same breath suggest that Marines turn over their organic air assets, an argument brought up by the Air Force planners throughout that time frame, is rather hypocritical, Mr. Dunn. The simple truth is that your service has sought the abolition of Marine air wings since the days of the Army Air Corps. To say nothing of your efforts to get control of the Navy's aircraft carrier wings. Don't whine now that the tactics your service used for decades are being turned against you because of your self-inflicted obsolescence.

If Mr. Dunn is what passes for the leader of Zoomie lobbying efforts in Washington, then I pity the Air Force.

Apologia

2009-03-17T23:06:00.010-04:00

For the last month, I've been away from posting.

In large part, this is because on February 12, 2009, Robert E. Russell, my father, left me.

It is hard to think of the right way to summarize a life like this, one so full and yet so dedicated to others as was his. Robert Russell left Erasmus Hall HS to join the Navy in 1948. He served with honor and distinction until 1952, when he re-entered civilian life to join Chase Manhattan Bank. There he would spend nearly forty years, later joining Paine Webber until his retirement.

Dad was a man who, above all, worked hard, and expected a lot from himself, as well as those around him. I saw that every day that I was a midshipman, and I was proud to be living up to the expectations of a man to whom God, Fleet, and Country meant so much.

My classmates have been kind to respond with their thoughts and prayers in this troubling time. To them, I express my deepest gratitude. '95 was always that kind of a team, so it isn't that surprising.

Farewell

2009-02-18T13:13:00.003-05:00

The Russell Record bids a final farewell to a beloved husband, father, mentor and friend, Mr. Robert Edmund Russell, of Staten Island, New York.

Bob Russell was born in 1930, during the Great Depression. As such, he was always one to impress on his children the value of "a modest savings," even at the risk of exasperating them. After joining the Navy at 17 and serving at sea for almost his entire enlistment, Bob went to work for the Chase Manhattan Bank, where he was employed for 30 years. Retiring from Chase in 1988, he would later work for Paine Webber until 2000.

Robert leaves behind his devoted wife of 39 years, four children whom he lived to see graduate from college and become professionals, and two beautiful grandchildren who share his name. In addition, he leaves a powerful legacy of the the principles he inbued in his children and all who knew him he believed in: his kindness, his gentle spirit, his respect for others, and his devotion to his faith, his family, and his country.

Goodbye, dad.

NY Archdiocese Sells Indulgences

2009-02-09T14:35:00.003-05:00

This is how you know when things are getting tight.

When the Church returns to the practice of selling the steps on the Stairway to Heaven, you know it's about to go from a recession to a full-blown economic apocalypse.

2009-02-06T20:53:00.009-05:00

The Ideology Store

Inspired by this Article at NewMajority.com, the Parrot Sketch, and this South Park Video
With apologies to Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Monty Python

Door chimes as Cartman walks in, dragging a large, heavy bag.

KYLE: “Can I help you?”

CARTMAN: “Yes, I wish to complain about the political ideology I purchased not one election cycle ago from this very boutique.”

KYLE: “Oh yes; conservatism. What’s wrong with it?”

CARTMAN (pulling Kenny out of the bag; Kenny is wearing a shirt that says “CONSERVATIVE”): “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it, my lad: It’s dead!”

KYLE: “Oh, no, it’s, um, it’s resting.”

CARTMAN: “Look, asshole, I know a dead political ideology when I see one, and I’m looking at one right now!”

KYLE: “No, no, it’s not dead; it's resting. Remarkable ideology, isn’t conservatism? So highly principled.”

CARTMAN: “Principle doesn’t enter into it; it’s STONE DEAD!”

KYLE: “Oh, no, no, no, it’s resting!”

CARTMAN: “All right, then; if it’s resting, I’ll wake it up.” (He pulls Kenny up by the ear.) “HELLO, CONSERVATISM! OBAMA WANTS SOME TAX CUTS IN HIS STIMULUS PLAN, CONSERVATISM!!!”

Kyle walks over to the corpse and hits it.

KYLE: “There, it moved.”

CARTMAN: “No it didn’t!! That was you hitting it!”

KYLE: “I NEVER!”

Voices Raised in Protest

2009-02-06T08:35:00.002-05:00

We have already heard about criticisms of Obama coming from the right of American politics. But since such comments are to be expected, let's have a listen to the more interesting criticism: that coming out of the Loony Left.

In today's San Francisco Chronicle, David Sirota of the Campaign for America's Future throws a vicious left hook at the Obama Administration, decrying the total absence of change. Rather than setting up a cabinet of "rivals," Obama has apparently chosen to surround himself with he same breed of spineless yes-men that Bush did. "Obama's national security team, for instance, includes not a single Iraq war opponent...The only "rivalry" is between those who back increasing the already bloated defense budget by an absurd amount and those who aim to boost it by a ludicrous amount." Sirota goes on to say that people who could really fight against Wall Street corruption and bring about a truly progressive economy "have been barred from an administration focused on ideological purity." In summation, Sirota declares that "Washington is the same one-party town it always has been ...Indeed, if an authentic "rivalry" were going to erupt, it would have been between Obama's promises and his team of zombies. Unfortunately, the latter seems to have won before the competition even started."

We haven't even completed Week Three of Change, and voices of the Left are already declaring Obama a failure.

Change, Day 14

2009-02-03T13:16:00.006-05:00

So, let's review.

It's been two weeks since the inauguration.

And how has "Change" been going?

--Well, we've changed our commerce secretary nominee, after Bill Richardson was forced to step aside because of revelations about his handling of in-state contracts while governor of New Mexico.

--And, former Senator Tom Daschle has withdrawn his name from consideration as Secretary of Health and Human Services for failure to pay his taxes.

--Plus, of course, the Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, who apparently was careless in paying his taxes as well.

--Then, there's the "performance czar," whatever that may be, Nancy Killefer. Taxes. Again.

--And let's not forget those trade partners whom we've irritated with this "Buy American" provision in the spending bill.

So, two weeks into Change, three prominent Democrats' public careers have ended, probably for good. We've irritated our economic allies to the point of threatening a trade war that will deepen the recession, and far-right tax resisters everywhere have some new symbols of double-standards to rally around.

And, of course, we still don't have a stimulus package approved.

Makes you wonder what the next two weeks will bring.

Great Minds and Green Machines

2009-02-01T12:07:00.005-05:00

Jim Carville is apparently also a regular reader of The Record.

Carville's commentary at cnn.com today closely mirrors the comments made at this site regarding Mr. Limbaugh's proposal for a stimulus bill. Specifically, the part where we asked whether the Bush Administration was willing to split the budget 50-50 (or thereabouts; Jim is still fuming about the 2000 election) to reflect the way the American people voted. Jim facetiously congratulates Rush for standing so consistently by his ideas; he must have proposed this back in 2001, right???

I would caution Mr. Carville to be more careful in the future; someone who is not a brother Marine might get irritated with him for stealing their thunder. But, to uphold the reputation of our beloved Corps, I'll let it slide.

From the Right...

2009-01-29T10:18:00.004-05:00

A sampling of this morning's op-eds, with my commentary:

Claudia Rossett writes in today's Forbes that "dictators are making a comeback," and proceeds to analyze the myriad of despotic regimes which are thriving as opposed to four of five years ago. Russia, Venezuela, Iran, Libya, China, North Korea...I seem to recall all of these regimes as being around duing Bush's eight years in office, but now that Obama has been president for nine days, it's time to talk about the rollback of freedom around the world.

I wonder if Rossett was just asleep for the last eight years.

Meanwhile, at the Wall Street Journal, Rush Limbaugh decries Obama's "porculus" stimulus bill. I wonder why he didn't decry the homeland security bills that put national security dollars into protecting a bean festival in some podunk, red-state backwater town a few years ago.

-Mr. Obama (whom Rush is apparently unable to bring himself to address as "Mr. President") met with GOP leaders three times in the last ten days to try to get their support. Every Republican congreesman voted "no." Rush asks "Where's the bipartisanship, Mr. Obama?"

-Rush goes on to suggest that Obama's "I won" comment was not particularly conciliatory. I might ask whether Bush's "I got some capital and I'm going to use it" comment in 2004, or "What's to negotiate? Governor Bush won" during the 2000 primary were conciliatory, and if not, did Rush call him on it.

-Rush proposes a compromise to split the money, based on the results of the election. 54% to infrastructure improvements and such, 46% to tax cuts, and let the people judge whiich works better. I wonder: Did Bush, who never got as large a percentage of the vote as Obama did, ever propose such a route for spending bills? 51% to supply-sider ideas, and 49% to Keynesian projects? If not, why didn't Rush suggest it then?

Ugly Americans, 1912 Edition?

2009-01-27T09:07:00.004-05:00

Some topics will just get my blood pumping faster: Navy Football, Constitutional Law, that scene from Mr. and Mrs. Smith...

And then, there's the Titanic.

For some reason, the story of the Titanic has captivated me since I was a little kid. I read A Night To Remember when I was ten, and I still have the National Geographic from 1985 when Ballard discovered the wreck. It's a part of my DNA that shipwrecks and sinkings are just enthralling to me, and I've read about most of the major ones in the Twentieth Century. But, for me as for many people, the Titanic casts a powerful spell.

So that might explain why I got a little steamed this morning when I read that behavioral scientists from Europe and Austrailia have concluded that "British passengers on board the sinking Titanic died while politely queuing to get their place on a lifeboat, while Americans pushed their way on, according to new analysis of passenger data," according to the Discovery Channel.

Really.

A full one-third of the survivors were members of the (British) crew, but it was the Americans who shoved people out of their way to save their skins.

The article at http://www.discovery.com/ explains the crew's high survival rate as a result of the seamen having better knowledge of the ship's layout and, therefore, better access to the lifeboats. I suppose that makes it all right for them to abandon their more well-behaved passengers, as opposed to those who elbowed their way to the front. Especially in lifeboats that were only half-filled, a point the article didn't address.

I also thought it was interesting that the article would mention the witnesses who said that Captain E. J. Smith told his crew "Be British, boys," but not mention the reports from various crewmen, including the operators in the wireless shack, who claimed that Smith told them "It's every man for himself...that's the way it is at a time like this..." It's entirely possible he said both things at different times in the evening, but why report one without the other?

The article also mentions the higher survival rate among women and children, though it doesn't analyze the percentages of American survivors within these demographics. And that first and second class passengers had a better survival rate than people in steerage (e.g., the Irish, the Italians, the Poles...)

Now that's being British.

Karma Catches Up

2009-01-23T09:51:00.002-05:00

In the Irony Report, federal agents raided the offices of two Pennsylvania defense contractors which have received millions of dollars of funding from the king of the earmarks, Congressman John Murtha. Apparently, Mr. Murtha, who accused his fellow Marines of war crimes before a formal inquiry could ascertain the facts, is facing his own "rush to judgment."

Semper Fi, mac.

Senate Endgame

2009-01-23T08:32:00.006-05:00

And so,the epic saga of New York's empty seat comes to a close with the selection of Congresswoman Kristen Gillibrand, of Hudson, NY.

My first reaction: Who?

Having ever heard of her before, I know only what is being reported by the Times and CNN. But so far, what I see is intriguing. Gillibrand is in her second term in Congress, having been elected in the 2006 tsunami. A member of the Blue Dog Coalition, Gillibrand received an endorsement from the National Rifle Association, and a 100% rating from the American Civil Liberties Union...I didn't know that was possible!!! Gillibrand was also one of the Democrat apostates who voted against the bailout package in October.

So, in addition to replacing a woman with a woman, which saves Patterson from being crucified by the N.O.W., he is also replacing a moderate with a moderate, which keeps state Republicans from getting too energized for 2010. While liberal, downstate Democrats are not happy, this seat stands a better chance of being held by the Democrat if she can bring in a sizable voting bloc from the rural areas. Although Congresswoman McCarthy from Long Island has suggested that said she would challenge for the nomination in 2010 if Gillibrand got the seat, McCarthy isn't going to be that popular north of Rockland County with her anti-NRA views, while most downstate Democrats would probably be pragmatic enough to not want to unseat an incumbent. All in all, I think this was a smart move by Patterson from a tactical standpoint, and will make it harder for the GOP to take this seat back in '10.

POSTSCRIPT: Liberal reaction has run the gambit here in New York over Gillibrand. It's actually pretty entertaining. I popped off on one of the NY Times comment boards with the following pondiferous truth:

The fact that “progressives” are upset about someone who the ACLU gives a rating of 100%, someone who has voted with the Democratic caucus 93.8% of the time, and who the American Conservative Union gives a rating of 8% is just proof that liberals are as dogmatic and intolerant of dissent in their ranks as the conservatives they’ve been ripping for the last eight years.

Kennedy Withdraws From Senate Consideration

2009-01-22T12:07:00.002-05:00

CNN reports that Caroline Kennedy is pulling the plug on her effort to be named to the Senate seat vacated yesterday by Hillary Clinton.

At the end of the day, I think this was the best thing for her and the New York Democratic Party, which is replete with able candidates for the job. Probably Andrew Cuomo will get the nod, a safe and comfortable choice with its own family mystique. Cuomo has done a creditable job as New York's AG, and will probably do a respectable job in the higher office.

Although, to be honest, that's almost exactly what I said about Eliot Spitzer when he was running for governor. Here's hoping Andy, should he get it, has a more successful career than Eliot did.

Change: Day 1

2009-01-21T09:04:00.009-05:00

Like most Americans, I watched yesterday's festivities with a mix of pride, concern, and humor:

Pride at the peaceful transfer of power between rival political factions, done as it is done nowhere else in the world. Pride at seeing injustice and prejudice swept aside, if not swept away, to allow an African-American to reach the nation's highest office, proving yet again that this country stands by its principles, and recognizes the right of every citizen to dream, to strive, and to achieve.

Concern over the gravity of the time at which he takes office, and over whether this man, who five years ago, sat in a state legislature, is up to the task. Now that the campaign is over and he's in office, let's be honest: He is green. One term in the Senate, one term in the Illinois House. Period. Nothing that he's done in the transition suggests to me incompetence or ideology; indeed, everything suggests a thoughtful approach which will not be pressured by the activist wing of his party. If I was betting on how he'll handle his first real crisis (and Blagogate doesn't really count in my opinion) I'd put my money on Obama. Still, only time will tell how he will actually stack up.

Humor over the way so many liberals seem to think that everything is coming up roses and obviously expect conservatives and moderates to rally to their champion "for the good of the country." That is especially amusing given how many people on the Left used the phrase "Not My President" as the password for the last eight years. It wasn't quite as bad as some conservative commentators want to make it out: Bush had a 90% approval rating in the months following 9/11, so obviously at least some liberals were willing to give him their support, at least until Iraq. It's one thing for Obama to "declare an end to the petty grievances" which many in his party share responsibility for creating and exacerbating; it is quite another to expect conservatives and moderates (and yes, I have seen plenty of criticism of centrists from Obama's supporters) to willingly accept all the blame for them. But, be that as it may, after eight years of partisanship from both sides of the aisle, the naivete of the Left is pretty funny.

As for us at The Record, we wish our new President well. So far, we have been impressed with what we have seen, and we must admit that we were not exactly sorry to see "Executive One" take off from Andrews AFB. The new President takes over at a time when, contrary to Limbaugh's comments, the nation can't afford four years of failure, indecision, and poor judgment. We will support those decisions which we agree with, and criticize those which we don't. We do not seek obstruction for obstruction's sake, and will oppose such efforts by the somewhat-less-than-loyal opposition. But, even for Republicans, this morning represents a new day for America, and we should not fail to rise to the occasion.

Riot in NYC

2009-01-11T22:56:00.005-05:00

The Russell Record is duty-bound to bring you a first-hand account of the riot in Hell's Kitchen this evening.

I was out for a walk when I ran into the police running down Eighth Avenue. I followed them down to Fifty-Fourth Street, where the ruckus seemed to be taking place. There was a large number of Palestinian-supporters, waving flags and shouting, but it was difficult to see what had started the mess.

Inside Matt's Tavern, I was told that someone had attempted to rip a Palestinian flag out of a protester's hands and stomp on it, which resulted in a fist to the face. Chaos then ensured, which resulted in your intrepid reporter bailing into the tavern for a beer and some discussion with some local actors.

Among the statements of the witness quoted in the article which I find false is the one about how the police charged on their horses down the sidewalks. That simply did not happen. I saw the cops approach on horseback, but I saw NONE of them on the sidewalks; they were in the street, trotting at a slow pace that did not endanger anyone.

Take that person's comments with that grain of salt.

The Brute, R.I.P.

2009-01-05T11:44:00.005-05:00

The Russell Record bids a respectful farewell to Lt.Gen. Victor Krulak, USMC (Ret.), who passed away this weekend.

Krulak, known by his nickname, "The Brute," was the driving force behind the development of the Higgins Boat landing craft of WWII, would later serve as commanding general of Marine forces in Viet Nam. His son, Charles Krulak, would one day surpass his father, serving as the Commandant of the Corps from 1995-1999. The younger Krulak would tell stories about his father while serving in the Corps' top post.

Our condolences go out to the former Commandant and his family.

Semper Fidelis.

To the Courts!

2008-12-31T09:20:00.007-05:00

Ruben Navarette calls Saltsman's distribution of the song... wait for it... "boneheaded."

Apparently, Ruben thinks that by not hyphenating bone-headed, he can avoid a plagarism lawsuit. Well, Rube, this will not stand! You'll be hearing from my attorney!

Oh, wait; I'm my attorney. And I guess you just heard from me.

Aw, nuts...

Not The Most Trusted Name in Crossing Guards

2008-12-31T08:46:00.006-05:00

This morning, as I was walking from my fortified bunker in Hell's Kitchen to my office, I passed one of the many camera crews setting up for tonight's insanity in Times Square. As I was waiting at the corner to cross the street, I heard a cameraman asking the woman standing next to me if she wouldn't mind moving so as not to ruin his shot of the attractive female reporter. Problem is, the spot he was trying to direct the woman to stand at was dangerously close to being in the way of traffic.

The woman with the microphone, being a more intelligent sort, told the cameraman that the lady didn't need to move; she was fine where she was. Apparently, she didn't feel the need to create news by urging this woman in front of an oncoming bus.