You should check this out (if you haven't already)

I don't remember which MySpace blog it was that told me about this link, but if you click on it, you can view An Inconvenient Truth for free; it's in two parts, which are navigable by use of the pull-down menu at the top of the page.

I'll admit to being more than a little skeptical about a documentary starring Al Gore and which was about a topic that has been questioned on more than one occasion. After watching it, however, its message rings true to me and I strongly recommend that you view it -- either via the link I provided or by actually contributing to the economy (i.e., going to the theater or renting the DVD via Netflix or whatever other purveyor you so choose).

Libations for the politically-inclined

If you're going to watch SOTU tonight (that's "State of the Union" for the uninitiated [i.e., anyone outside the Beltway and/or who doesn't care a whit about politics]), you may want to take a gander at Wonkette's idea of a good time during said event (thanks to Democracy in America for pointing it out to me).

Time to go home, watch some NHL All-Star festivities, and go to bed.

The homogeneity of our presidents

CSM has run an opinion piece on the likelihood that our next president will -- probably much to the consternation of Democrats everywhere -- be a WASP. It's gotten so "bad," argue the authors (a sociologist at Claremont Graduate University and a former WaPo editor and writer), that:

Since 1952, there's been only one presidential election year in which the name Nixon, Dole, or Bush was not on the GOP ticket. (The exception is 1964, when Barry Goldwater and William Miller were trounced.) In fact, no Republican has been elected to the White House without either the name Nixon or Bush on the ticket since Herbert Hoover was elected in 1928! And should Senator Clinton win in 2008 and serve two terms, either a Bush or a Clinton will have been president for 28 consecutive years.

I'm no fan of Hillary or Obama (or Bill Richardson [whose PAC doesn't seem to have a website], for that matter), but I'm all for mixing it up quite a bit in terms of who is representing the American people at a national and international level, and if that means electing a qualified woman or minority candidate, so be it.

What will happen in the new year?

In what is, apparently, his "33^rd annual office pool," legendary NYT columnist William Safire (who now chairs the Dana Foundation) offers a set of multiple-choice questions regarding possible outcomes for the year-to-be. What do you think?

Safire -- who, it seems, in 1969, while a Nixon speechwriter, wrote a short speech to be delivered in the event of the Apollo 11 astronauts being stranded on the moon and (a memo prepared by NASA for Nixon and Vice President Agnew that suggested statements in the event of Apollo "crew fatalities" also is part of the linked document) -- instructs us that we either must pick one, all, or none of the options for each question. His answers and mine follow the questionnaire (a word I'll never forget how to spell as it is similar in construction to "personnel," which I once misspelled to be eliminated from a regional spelling bee]).

*****

1. The “O’Connorless Supreme Court” will decide
(a) without reversing Roe v. Wade to uphold laws restricting late-term abortion because they do not impose an “undue burden” on women
(b) that public schools in Seattle and Louisville, in their zeal to prevent re-segregation, have gone too far in using race in selection of students
(c) to reject Massachusetts’ case to force the Environmental Protection Agency to raise auto emissions standards, holding that “global warming” gives the state no standing to sue without new law

2. Dow Jones industrials will
(a) reflect 4 percent economic growth to rise in 2007 to close above 14,000
(b) fall out of bed to 10,000 in what the Republicans will claim is the Democratic recession
(c) soar to 15,000 before ending the year around 14,000
(d) change from a boring numerical index to lively prose opinions in the with-it Wall Street Journal

3. Bipartisan achievement of 110th Congress and Bush White House will be
(a) blue-ribbon Social Security panel providing cover to raise retirement age to 70 for those now under 50
(b) passage of Leahy-Pence shield law permitting whistleblowers to expose corruption to reporters without fear of being ratted out by runaway prosecutors
(c) immigration reform allowing earned citizenship of current illegals and installing 1,700-mile fence named after the nativist Millard Fillmore
(d) substantial minimum-wage increase with reduction but not elimination of “death tax”

4. Congress will override Bush veto of
(a) federal support of stem-cell research
(b) federal negotiation of drug prices

5. The word most often heard in 110th Congress will be
(a) sellout
(b) compromise
(c) subpoena
(d) civility
(e) payback

6. The Oscar for best picture in a year of great pictures will go to
(a) Martin Scorsese’s “Departed”
(b) Paul Greengrass’s “United 93”
(c) Clint Eastwood’s “Letters From Iwo Jima”
(d) Stephen Frears’s “Queen”
(e) Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’s “Little Miss Sunshine”

7. The level of American troops in Iraq at year’s end will be
(a) over 100,000, down from surged 160,000
(b) under 100,000, down from today’s unsurged 140,000
(c) under 80,000 with announced timetable for downsizing in 2008 to 40,000 in secure Iraqi Kurdistan

8. Iraq will be
(a) in full-scale civil war
(b) on the road to shaky democracy with insurgency weakening
(c) split three ways with Kirkuk as capital of Kurdistan

9. Iran at year’s end will be
(a) more intransigent than ever and on the way to matching North Korea’s nuclear weapon
(b) more reasonable after plunge in oil income, anti-terrorism boycott, labor-student unrest and global sanctions
(c) red-faced at double cross from Arab Iraqi Shiites

10. Publishing sleeper-seller will be
(a) “Sacred Games” by Vikram Chandra, a gangster novel like an Indian “Godfather”
(b) Jim Lehrer’s novel “The Phony Marine”

and in non-fiction
(c) “Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries and Deadly Games,” by a retired spook, Tennent Bagley, which refutes C.I.A. groupthink about the molehunter James Angleton being paranoid
(d) “Father’s Day,” by Buzz Bissinger, about his twin sons, one exceptional and the other damaged

11. Internal party struggle will be
(a) John Edwards’s labor-appealing protectionism versus Hillary Clinton’s championing of Nafta-style free trade
(b) John McCain as pro-life versus Rudy Giuliani as pro-choice
(c) cognitive dissonance of anti-bias liberals at bias toward a conservative Mormon candidate

12. Scientific news will be in
(a) neuro-circuitry
(b) deep brain stimulation in treating depression
(c) sequencing the genome of higher apes in studying evolution
(d) vaccine approaches to treatment of Alzheimer’s as well as eradication of malaria
(e) gene duplication to detect mental illness
(f) commercial hype about cranial calisthenics

13. Year-end polls of likely primary voters will have in the lead among Democrats
(a) Clinton
(b) Obama
(c) Edwards
(d) Gore
(e) Richardson-Biden-Dodd-Dean

and among Republicans
(a) McCain
(b) Romney
(c) Giuliani
(d) Gingrich-Rice-Brownback-Hagel

14. Time and chance will happeneth to all predictions if
(a) McCain scampily blows his stack
(b) Clinton freezes over
(c) Romney is brainwashed
(d) Obama loses his cool over press interest in “Rezkogate”

15. Key factor in swing-voter choice of next president will be
(a) experience
(b) freshness
(c) character
(d) name recognition
(e) seizure of health-care issue
(f) Internet organization

*****

Safire's responses: 1 (all) 2 (c) 3 (b) 4 (both) 5 (c) 6 (d) 7 (a) 8 (b) 9 (b) 10 (c) 11 (a) 12 (all) 13 (a), (a) 14 (all) 15 (c)

My uninformed guesses: 1 (a) 2 (a) 3 (c) 4 (none) 5 (b) 6 (a) 7 (a) 8 (b) 9 (none) 10 (d) 11 (a) 12 (b) 13 (a), (a) 14 (none) 15 (c)

RIP, Leslie Lynch King, Jr.; and limiting presidential service

While surfing just now, I saw that Gerald Ford has passed away at 93 at his home in southern California. He was president when I was born, so I have a special place in my heart for old Jerry despite the fact that he was the butt of many a joke (most notably, of course, by: [1] Chevy Chase during his [i.e., Chase] brief stint on SNL [couldn't find a video thereof on YouTube or Google Video] [somewhat little-known fact: CC played drums in a "bad jazz band" called The Leather Canary in the late '60s and that group was headed by Fagen and Becker, the creative forces behind the world's greatest band ever]; and [2] The Simpsons). I had forgotten that Ford was a member of the Warren Commission and, as it turns out, he was the last surviving member of that presumably-august-but-oft-questioned panel. Also, he was the target of not one, but two assassination attempts within three weeks in September 1975, thus fulfilling another criterion for inclusion in history's memory (at least, according to me).

*****

On a quasi-related note, CSM is running an interesting op-ed today by Jonathan Zimmerman of NYU, in which Zimmerman argues for a repeal of presidential term limits. His main point is that if a president is no longer "electable," he is no longer accountable (a la W). His secondary contention is that the American people have enough "long-term common sense," as Eisenhower put it, to know when to boot out an ineffectual chief executive.

It's funny that this arises now because just yesterday (Xmas Day), I had a brief conversation with others (all of whom, I assume, voted for W [at least, in '04]) and the general consensus was that W doesn't really care as long as it's (i.e., "the war on terror") cleaned up by his successor.

*****

I've really got to get to bed. Good night.

Word o' the week

Courtesy of the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and the lovely folks at Wikipedia:

sinecure (n.)
('sI-ni-"kyur, 'si-) [From the Medieval Latin sine cura without cure (of souls)] 1 archaic : an ecclesiastical benefice without cure of souls; 2 : an office or position that requires little or no work and that usually provides an income

As used in a sentence: "They can't imagine why Lieberman would accept an appointment that is likely to last for only two years when he can simply stay in the six-year sinecure that he worked so hard to keep." ("The Lieberman Maneuver," Salon.com, December 15, 2006 [which offers a "way out" in terms of senatorial power for the GOP/GWB even if Sen. Johnson of South Dakota makes a full recovery]).

Am I unpatriotic?

On Frozen Blog addresses one of my pet peeves in attending sporting events in the DC area; in fact, it's my biggest pet peeve after knowing full well that 90 percent of the people around here don't care two whits about any team other than the Redskins. (Hello, people...the team is 4-9 with Joe Gibbs, Gregg Williams, Al Saunders, the ghosts of George Allen père [that's two posts today referencing that family -- hope I don't have some sort of Allen-o-philia] and Vince Lombardi, and Santa Claus on the coaching staff, so they ain't goin' nowhere this year -- or, with any luck and some blessings from the football deities, next season either.)

I'm very open about the fact that I think "The Star-Spangled Banner" (I will abbreviate hereafter as "TSSB") is a terrible national anthem. "Why?" you ask.

1. It's about a flag, not a country.
2. Speaking more to that point, can most Americans honestly say they know how the song/poem came to be? If not, it loses even more meaning.
   
3. Unless you're a fairly competent vocalist, it's hard to sing.
   
4. Given (3), if a large-enough crowd attempts to sing it -- and if you're at a sporting event, a good number of folks have probably been a bit over-served already, so to speak -- it just sounds bad.
5. Of course, if they are over-served, it fits right in, considering that "To Anacreon in Heaven," the tune to which the Key poem was set, was, more or less, a drinking song.
   

As such, I'd be very amenable to changing our national anthem to "America the Beautiful" (this is the U.S. Navy Band [with the Sea Chanters], pre-Randy or Deech) or "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" (the Coast Guard Band here) -- even with their theistic references, which I am leery of using in this nation that purports to celebrate separation of church and state -- because they speak to the history, beauty, and wonder of the United States and not to a bombed-out Free State flag.

All that being said, however, for the time being, show some respect for "TSSB" (gotta love Hendrix, who was, of course, a parachute infantryman with the 101^st Airborne) as well as for the men and women who have fought and died defending the very flag about which we sing (albeit poorly more often than not) and protecting rights like criticizing the validity of our national "song."

* * * * *

On a related note, does anyone know where one might find audio and/or video clips of James Earl Jones reciting "TTSB" before last night's (12.13.06) Wizards-Nuggets tilt at the Phone Booth? If so, let me know.

* * * * *

If you're wondering, the flag above is the 32-star model in use from 7.4.1858 to 7.3.1859 -- the 32^nd state being Minnesota, of course. (I apologize for using the Rouser as the clip as it's not the state song, but it's peppier and I actually know the words to it.)

2006 in DC, SD, VA, etc., etc.

The Rothenberg Political Report offers up "[a] [v]ery, [v]ery, [v]ery [w]eird" year in politics. I must say that the biggest surprise of the year -- and as a new Virginian, the most pleasant surprise of the year that is soon not to be anymore -- was Macaca Mouth going down to defeat at the hands of the wacky, wild, and Dubya-dissin' Webb. (I can't believe I linked to the Sacramento Bee; it wasn't even an article about the comparative merits of Mike Bibby and Brad Miller -- the center, not the North Carolina Democrat Congressman [and yes, I had to go to the Kings' website to see who was on the team besides Bibby].)

The closing weeks of 2006 may bring even more aberrations if Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) is unable to continue to serve the Mount Rushmore State following his overnight surgery to stabilize a congenital arteriovenous malformation. The ramifications for control of Congress are immense, to be sure (at least, within the Beltway), but they should -- and must -- take a back seat to concern for the senator and for his family. Democracy in America sums up my feelings pretty well:

May Mr Johnson recover speedily; not only because his incapacitation or death would be tragic, but because Mike Rounds, the governor, will undoubtedly infuriate half the country with whomever he names as a replacement. Name a Republican and Democrats will howl that he has overturned the will of the American people by exploiting a tragedy. Name a Democrat and his party could lynch him. Either way, America's business will be forgotten for weeks if not months of angry finger-pointing between the partisans.

Get well soon, Tim Johnson.

What do you think about...

...voting by mail? A commissioner on the Postal Rate Commission argues, in the NYT, that voting by mail could, effectively, solve all of the problems and eradicate the anomalies in today's voting systems.

I'm inclined to agree.

Jack McCoy sent me an e-mail!

Today, I received a message in my Gmailbox "from" Sam Waterston urging me to join him in the fight for an end to the partisan bickering in Washington. His e-mail included a link to a testimonial video in which he idealistically argues:

The system is broken, and a third force in the middle is essential to fix it...Through Unity08, for the first time in American history, we are going to throw out the backroom deals and, yes, change politics forever. [my emphasis added]

I'm 100% for ridding ourselves of "politics as usual," but I hope the man who voiced Lincoln in the epic Ken Burns documentary, The Civil War, is not tilting too much at windmills.

Weird coincidence: As I finished adding links above, the shuffling Windows Media Player was playing "Everybody's Got The Right" from Assassins and "John Wilkes Booth" (as played by Jack Bristow, er, Victor Garber) sang his part:

Everybody's
Got the right
To be happy.
Say, "Enough!"
It's not as tough
As it seems.

Don't be scared
You won't prevail,
Everybody's
Free to fail,
No one can be put in jail
For their dreams.

For more of my ramblings re: presidential deaths, see this post.

Thanks to Michaela on deviantART for the cool SW portrait.

Liberals and libertarians, Episode II

In today's (12.4.06) WaPo, Sebastian Mallaby has an interesting column discussing an apparent schism in the GOP between "traditional conservatives" and small-"L" libertarians, and that the latter are, more and more, siding with the Dems. The column points to an essay in this week's New Republic (available here for subscribers [of which I am not one] and here for non-subscribers [thanks, Cato]). Thought-provoking stuff for those of us who don't prescribe to either of the behemoths that make up our deleterious political duopoly.

One thing I found humorous about the article was the subhead: "A Progressive Manifesto: Ayn Rand meets Howard Dean." I'd pay money to watch those two get together over lox and bagels.

The former model, a dead economist, and a quote

(1) From SI.com and Lew Rockwell.com (with some links added by me):

Tiger Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, has filed a libel lawsuit against an Irish magazine story that included fake nude photos of her and claimed that she appeared on Internet porn sites. If the lawsuit is unsuccessful, Tiger plans to simply buy the mag and shut it down.

* * *

Murray Rothbard believed that there should be no libel laws, as one does not "own" one's own reptuation. (A reputation is what others might think about someone.) However, Murray certainly would have supported Woods' Plan B. A private property solution!

I have to say that buying up that which defames you and yours is a pretty good solution, albeit one that's available only to a select few.

---

(2) Another quote from my favorite net pundit, Ilana Mercer:

In a truly free society, the kind we once enjoyed, one honors the right of the individual to associate and disassociate, invest and disinvest, speak and misspeak at will.

Liberals and libertarians (small "L" for both)

On one hand, Democracy in America (an Economist blog) gives some constructive advice as to the improvement of political thought in the good ol' US of A, whereas Richard Maybury reaffirms why I will never be a true libertarian (i.e., the market rules all for starters and they appear to be as willing to be revisionist about historical events as the "statists" they oft decry); I first saw this because I'm on an e-mail list providing announcements from the Libertarian Party of Virginia.

From the ridiculous to the sublime

Thanks to Ilana Mercer of Barely A Blog for this quote, which is, I guess, rather self-deprecating, given that I'm posting it, in theory, as a "commentator":

The commentariat, of course, is a mirror image of the political class, reflecting and reinforcing the opinions—and the reality—of the elites. More often than not, the chattering classes are as privileged—and protected—as their masters.

Perhaps "self-deprecating" isn't the right term - more like "self-critical" or something along those lines. That said, I'm fairly sure that I'm not particularly "privileged" or "protected."

More representative government?

Thanks, Democracy in America, for pointing me toward this site, which has a good animated demonstration of instant runoff voting, or IRV. In my younger days, I discussed this topic amongst like-minded North Star Staters via FairVote Minnesota.

No rest for the political

Yes, the 2006 mid-term elections are over and, most definitely, Democrats won the day. Now, however, those of us involved in politics (yes, even the most "apolitical" amongst us) must turn to the 2008 presidential race for grand electoral blog fodder. The Fix does a good job of tying the two events together.

Politics1, long one of my favorite resources for all things election- and politics-related, has a fairly comprehensive list of Oval Office hopefuls for the fall of the next leap year. Off of that list, I think the following is a reasonable estimate of what may be the matchup in one year, 356 days:

• McCain/Romney for the GOP; and
• Bayh/Clinton for the Dems.

As someone who actually likes some differences (and personality) in political combatants, I'd prefer to see Kucinich v. Tancredo or something like that, but I'm also a realist.

What do you think?

Senate majority, or is it "majesty"?

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but thanks, George Allen. "Why?" you ask.

• he lost; and
• he conceded, thus forgoing a recount and sparing those of us who reside in "The Old Dominion" weeks more of political posturing.

Here's "the new guy." (BTW, I don't endorse Chuck Schumer in any way, but unfortunately, he shows up on this video.)

Post-election thoughts

1. If it weren't for the fact that the Dems are, in general, so terrible on the issues on which I work (see this post as well as this one), I really couldn't care less. I'm no fan of gridlock, divided government, etc., etc., but some new voices being raised up in some of the debates (e.g., the war, general corruption) is a good thing in this case, I think.
2. So long, Rummy - we hardly knew...well, we knew you too well and for too long, unfortunately. Too bad you couldn't get your old pal Dick to come along for the ride.
3. Stay away from the Limited Edition Chocolate Mocha Kit Kat - not so good.
4. Anybody ever had any luck with "aversion therapy" relative to nail biting?
   

Who to vote for this coming Tuesday

I know every faithful reader of this blog has been waiting with bated breath to see who I'm endorsing for next week's elections. Well, the wait is over. Incumbents are indicated by italics and the candidates I'm backing are indicated with an asterisk (*) below.

U.S. Senate - Virginia

• George F. Allen (R)
• James H. "Jim" Webb, Jr. (D)*
• Glenda Gail Parker (IG)

U.S. House - Virginia 8^th District

• Tom M. O'Donoghue (R)
• James P. Moran, Jr.(D)
• James T. "Jim" Hurysz (I)*

Arlington County Board

• Michael T. McMenamin (R)*
• Christopher E. Zimmerman (D)
• Joshua F. Ruebner (G)

Arlington School Board

• Sally M. Baird (I)*
• Cecelia M. Espenoza (I)

Proposed Constitutional Amendments

• Question 1. Defines marriage as solely between one man and one woman - NO
• Question 2. Allows churches to incorporate - YES
• Question 3. Allows tax breaks for new structures in development areas - YES

Proposed County Bond Referenda

1. $35.55 million in bonds to finance the cost of various capital projects for local parks and recreation - YES
2. $31.5 million in bonds to finance the cost of various capital projects for Metro and other transit, pedestrian, road or related transportation projects - YES
3. $27.3 million in bonds to finance the cost of various capital projects for County facilities and infrastructure - YES
4. $79 million in bonds to finance the cost of designing, expanding, improving, and renovating Arlington County's Water Pollution Control Plant, and the water and sewer systems serving the County (including the County's share of capital costs for Washington Aqueduct treatment facilities) - YES
5. $33.712 million to finance the costs of various capital projects and land for Arlington County public schools and community purposes - NO

Just so you know, I'm not reflexively anti-incumbent, but if the incumbents are less than stellar (Allen and Moran, I'm looking in your direction), it's easy for me to vote against them.

Also, if you live in Virginia, but not in Arlington County, here's a link to check out to see who and what are on your ballot.

NOW READING (per my friend Teresa's recommendation)

Two influential women in one blog?!

(1) I realize I'm a bit late on this train, but I wanted to make sure as many people as possible see the recent Camille Paglia interview on Salon. I know the name (i.e., über-intellectual, off-kilter [to many] and iconoclastic feminist), but didn't know much about her views until reading this piece. It's a must-read for anybody who is disenchanted with our current political system as a whole.

(2) Too bad Reese and Ryan are splitting up.
(Hey Reese - call me!)