Episode 64: Delusions R Us

Monument to a Super-Duper Ego
Roland Burris, the likely senatorial designate from Illinois, is a pip. He built this mausoleum to himself and had carved upon it the words "Trail Blazer," followed by a chiseled resume of his achievements and additional space below to enter any future feats. Among the personal milestones therein enumerated are the facts that he was the first African-American in Illinois to become the state Attorney General and the first black Southern Illinois University exchange student to the University of Hamburg. There is an adjoining stone structure intended for "Other Major Accomplishments". Burris (71) is said to frequently refer to himself in the third person. His children are named Ronald and Ronalda.

But as we know, a towering ego is hardly an obstacle along a political career path.
**********************************************************************************
Independent of What, Exactly
In politics, smugness isn't confined to Senators or Congresspeople running for election in safe districts (A liberal Democratic candidate in Mississippi? Snicker). Far greater in number are those citizens who identify themselves as "Independents". They puff that they "reject partisanship" and "make their choices outside ideology," ignoring the fact that politics is by definition partisan and ideological.

Worst of all is the knee-jerk assertion of declared Independents that they "vote for the person, not the party." This is a assertion that denies reason. If you vote for a conservative Republican, you must accept that he or she almost certainly stands with anti-abortionists and gun fanatics, against single-user medical care for all citizens, and supports notions of limited government, a strong military, strict immigration control, and lower taxes for businesses and the wealthy. Vote for a liberal Democrat, and he or she will surely be aligned with pro-choice and gun-control activists, and those who believe that government spending can solve social and economic problems, including healthcare for all and programs intended to relieve poverty.

Of course, few politicians adhere exclusively to positions held by the right or left, but an independent who votes for a George Bush or a Bill Clinton must know what kinds of people either candidate is likely to appoint to key positions. Vote for a man or woman because he or she speaks well or looks good or likes dogs or would be "fun to have a beer with" and you can easily be in for four or eight years of initiatives and steamrolling policies you despise.

There is nothing noble or virtuous about being a non-aligned voter. Parties and their platforms matter. Convictions are important.
***********************************************************************************
Video Alert
Apparently this link didn't work in an earlier blog. It's worth another try - it's Robin Williams, after all. (About ten minutes long.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puMz1Q3E000
***********************************************************************************
Military Efficiency
The Army admitted this week that it had mistakenly sent "Dear John Doe" letters to family members who have died in Iraq and Afganistan.
**********************************************************************************
And You Were Thinking What, Mr. Jarrar?
In August 2006, Raed Jarrar, an Iraqui-born legal resident of the United States, had a ticket on JetBlue flight from JFK Airport. He was stopped at a checkpoint because a legend on his T-shirt, in both Arabic and English, read "We will not be silent."
He was given another T-shirt to cover the first one, which the security officer thought was inflammatory. Jarrar was incensed. He sued. Got a $240,00 settlement. OK, the security officer may have overreacted, and there is that First Amendment thing.

But in such times as these, how on earth did Jarrar imagine his declaration might be received?
***********************************************************************************
Oh, For a Memory Like That
Governor David Paterson gave his first State of the State address this week. It was over an hour long and included family names and ages of children he cited as exemplars of the spirit of New Yorkers. Paterson is legally blind and cannot read Braille.
***********************************************************************************
P.S. Your Cat Is Dead
George and Laura had a black American shorthair cat called India. It expired last week. So it goes as life and time dribble away.
***********************************************************************************
A Product Whose Time Hasn't Come (At Least Not For the Target Group):
Cialis for daily use.
************************************************************************************
It Isn't Easy Being a Democratically Elected Dictator
* With a cholera epidemic, total economic collapse, rampant hunger among the citizenry, and the utter breakdown of every imaginable public service, President Robert Mugable of Zimbabwe is just plain exhausted. Really. So he has left his country for a month-long vacation.

* Venezuela's oil weapon has lost its punch, with a two-thirds dump in price-per-barrel since last July. This takes all the fun out of poking the gringos with a stick, one of President Hugo Chavez's favorite pastimes. He's had to suspend the much-publicized program providing discounted heating oil to about 200,000 households in poor communities in 23 states. Under Chavez, oil has accounted for 93 percent of the country's export revenue, up from 69 percent when he was elected president a decade ago. He is delaying devaluation of the national currency until after a referendum soon to be held that would allow him to seek re-election forever.

*Vladimir Putin is in a similar twist. With oil revenues way down and his great popularity at home starting to slip, the surly little ex-KGB agent picks fights with the West to distract Russians from the slumping economy. This week, it was Ukraine and, by extension, much of Europe, when he shut the tap of natural gas sent through the former Soviet republic to France, Germany, Italy, and several other countries.
************************************************************************************* If you came across this blog while surfing and would like to receive advance notice of future episodes, please send your e-mail address to www.TUCKg3@optonline.net.