Re my recent post outlining The Flip-Flop Test, persistent Iraq-watcher George Packer has a smart piece in the current New Yorker advising Obama to start modulating his position on the Iraq pullout–recognizing, as he should, the limited but real successes of the surge– but to do so in a way that inoculates him against both the Flip-Flop [...]
Entries from June 2008
June 30, 2008
On The Radio: My Best Summer Job
My daughter just finished her first summer job.
Did she wait tables? Nope. Mop floors? Nope. Sack groceries at Piggly-Wiggly? Forget it. No, she spent four weeks singing and dancing in two or three shows a day –in other words, stuff she loves to do–in a play enjoyed by hundreds of kids from local day-care centers [...]
June 27, 2008
The Flip-Flop Test
In yesterday’s post about our imperfect choices on energy policy, I noted in passing that I don’t see John McCain’s recent change of mind on off-shore drilling as a serious “flip-flop,” in mediaspeak.
The issue here is not McCain, who, if recent polls are predictive, may be headed for a defeat of Mondalian, if not Goldwaterian dimensions. [...]
June 26, 2008
Offshore Drilling? Nuclear Power? Old Ugly vs. Old Nothing
Should we drill offshore? Drill in Alaska? Drill in Crawford, Texas? Never ever drill anywhere ever again? Build a few nuclear power plants? Fuel all vehicles with a sawgrass-Taco Bell grease formula?
The current back-and-forth on energy policy between some Dems and some Repubs reminds me of what I call the Galloway Rule, after a local sports radio [...]
June 25, 2008
Gary Hart Gets it Right Again
Gary Hart, whose absurd womanizing in the 1988 election cycle sent him into the wilderness for years, has emerged in the past decade as a voice of wisdom, as I noted here a few months ago. Today Hart pens a NY Times Op-Edifier dishing advice to Barack Obama. A quote:
Senator Obama has two choices. He [...]
June 23, 2008
One Energy Fix: Boot the Commute
The age of cheap energy, which made possible and sustained much of contemporary American life, may be gone forever. With so many of us defining the good life as a never-ending parade of consumption and painless mobility, some wrenching and unpleasant changes may lie ahead.
It’s interesting to see the spectrum of opinion developing, with some adamantly arguing [...]
June 22, 2008
MUSE MACHINE MILESTONE: 500TH POST!!!!
Maybe it lacks the drama of A-Rod’s 500th (see below), but according to the tireless statisticians who labor in the WordPress tech netherworld, this is the 500th post I’ve done on this blog, which was born in March 2007. According to my own rough estimate, about 40, 345, 389 blogs were born and died during that stretch. So [...]
June 21, 2008
Move On’s “Baby Alex” Spot: Infantile Propaganda
I’ve made it clear that I admire certain things about both Barack Obama and John McCain. I’ve cast votes for both of them in primary elections. So I’m not pushing a partisan line when I say that Move On.org’s “Baby Alex” spot contains some of the most irritating political propaganda I’ve seen in a long time. It [...]
June 20, 2008
Tim Russert, Barometer of Decline
How are Tim Russert and former TV talk show host Dick Cavett alike? Both were lionized for possessing virtues and abilities that should be the norm but are not. Sifting through the accolades for the departed Russert, we find that he was:
*fair
*hard-working
*relatively modest
*not filled with hate and venom and partisan zeal
This is all good. But [...]
June 20, 2008
Obama: The Magic Fades Away
Having cast my vote for Obama in the Texas primary, I’m saddened by signs that he is morphing into just another conventional pol, thus eroding about 70% of the reasons for electing him:
1. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday rejected Republican rival John McCain’s proposal for 10 joint town-hall appearances, offering instead to have just [...]
June 19, 2008
Baby-Killing Vegan Buddhist: I’ve Got My Rights
OK, we do lock up an inordinate number of folks in these United States, but thank God we have judges who make sure that people who beat 5-week old kids to death get a special diet once they’re in the slammer.
The child, alas, wasn’t around long enough to earn a special diet. Ponder the ways [...]
June 19, 2008
If Facts Matter. . . Ross Perot is Back
Somebody call Larry King: Ross Perot is back. The irascible Texan, a billionaire back when they were a rare breed, has unleashed a new website full of graphic proof that, once again, we’re spending ourselves into oblivion. For all his many, many flaws, the 1992 presidential candidate was dead right about this issue then, as he is [...]
June 18, 2008
Fighting The Puppet Masters of Habit
I’ve devoted a number of posts over the lifetime of this blog (16 months and counting) to the challenges and mysteries of change: How we change, why it’s hard, why there is in so many lives a large gap between good intentions and the way we actually live. It’s a gap that cannot be explained [...]
June 17, 2008
Obama Vs. Derelict Dads And Saggin’ Gangstas
Not only did Obama make a pretty gutsy, Cosby-ish speech about derelict dads and serial impregnators, but at least one commentator believes his election could inspire a whole generation of black youth to pull up their pants and learn correct English.
We’ll add that to the already-lengthy list of Ways Obama Will Regenerate Life on Earth:
“I [...]
June 15, 2008
American Mood: I’m Great, We’re Doomed
An interesting and slightly schizoid picture of Americans emerges from two wildly disparate polling numbers. Collectively, we seem to think that the country has plunged off a cliff and is headed for the rocky shoals below, as shown in this poll. A huge majority says the country is on the wrong track.
But, asked to look [...]
