The LA Times piece on tort reform I linked to several days ago and thought was an interesting read appears to be nothing but a bunch of false premises built upon strawmen.
Archives for August 2005
Insomnia. Again.
All I want is six hours sleep.
Oh- and as predicted, tonight on Hardball, the mother of a dead soldier protesting Cindy Sheehan’s protest. Who will find the first grandfather of a dead soldiers for/against the war to trot out? How about gay children of dead soldiers?
This whole thing is sickening.
Disgruntled White House Employees Lash Out
Someone at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue better cut Armstrong Williams a check, and soon, because he is sounding shrill:
The deterioration of Iraq serves as an unmistakable reminder of the flawed manner in which we carried out this mission. A global democracy works only when countries trust one another. America’s insistence on burrowing into Iraq without substantial proof that they possessed weapons of mass destruction frayed that trust, and will inevitably sew problems into our foreign relations missions for decades to come. It also served as a touchtone, uniting our enemies. The longer we stay, the more people will come from all over the world to fight us—not to fight for Iraq, but to fight against the United States.
During a recent press conference Donald Rumsfeld insisted that the insurgency lacks a galvanizing mission. That it is predicated merely upon brutal acts of violence, and therefore cannot sustain itself over the long haul. He has a point. He just misses it…
And indeed, the struggle not to be lorded over by America has proved quite galvanizing. Every day insurgents strap bombs to their bodies and detonate themselves in public squares. Get it? The insurgents are not trying to defeat us. They are willing to die, just to take some of us with them. We cannot win this kind of war of attrition. US soldiers are dying at a rate of one per day. Meanwhile the rest of the world is having trouble supporting the United States. You cannot lead in a global democracy, if people do not trust you. It is undeniable that we went about this in a very flawed manner. We need to admit that. We cannot solve the problem of terrorism by asserting our will on the world. Meanwhile, the deterioration of Iraq continues, serving as a sad reminder of the failed promise of this mission, and the need to pull out.
I don’t agree with his concession of defeat, but Aye, Carumba!
(via DC Media Girl)
Disgruntled White House Employees Lash OutPost + Comments (37)
Thank Goodness
While the country remains fundamentally divided over any number of issues, I am glad to say that Steeler nation once again stands united:
Pro Bowl wide receiver Hines Ward ended his 15-day contract holdout and reported to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that the team will reciprocate by resuming negotiations on a new contract in hopes that a deal can be struck by the end of the week
Ward arrived at Heinz Field about two hours before the Steelers’ exhibition against the Philadelphia Eagles and was quickly escorted into the stadium by a team official to watch the game.
Hallelujah.
*** Update ***
My goodness is Another Jeff going to be hammered…
8:09 pm: First play from scrimmage of the 2005 pre-season is a Steeler touchdown on a Willie Williams interception. Heh.
8:16 pm: Eagles punt, Steelers return 66 yards for a TD. 14-0. Double Heh.
9:00 pm: Eagles score, kick-off, Taylor scores on 100 yard kickoff return. 21-7.
American Revelations
I don’t know where it came from, but last week I received a complimentary copy of American Revelations, a book that reviews ten great cornerstones of the American experience and American ideals.
I was pleasantly surprised that this was not, as I had feared, simply another in a series of jingoistic agitprop pieces that show up at my doorstep every 3-4 months, but rather an interesting examination of some of the ideas that made this country what it is. My personal favorite was the section on George C. Marshall and the Marshall Plan, as anything involving WWII immediately catches my eye, but there is something in here for everyone.
Just in case you need somethign to read. Up next for me is Orr Kelly’s Meeting the Fox, about the WWII campaign in Africa.
Clinton/Pirro Match-Up
Via Kos, it looks like the 2006 Clinton/Pirro senate race is starting to look like the 2004 Obama/Keyes race. In other words, an outright debacle for the Republicans:
JEANINE PIRRO’S gaffe- marred announcement and her emphasis on liberal social positions has led to new unrest in some quarters of the state GOP, party insiders said yesterday.
“A lot of people were unhappy with her boatload of mistakes, and they’re starting to take another look at Ed Cox as a result,” said a prominent Republican lawmaker, referring to the son-in-law of former President Richard Nixon who hopes to challenge Pirro in the GOP primary for the right to run against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
It looks like the Clinton strategy for handling this ‘law and order’ Republican is to give her enough rope to hang herself.
Talk Left also notes this cheap shot by the NY Post. Cna we just leave families out of this stuff?
Watching Out For Number One
I mentioned the rant by Bob Schieffer about the TSA changing/relaxing the screening guidelines for airline passengers, and here (thank to Linda in the comments) is a writeup:
The federal agency in charge of aviation security is considering major changes in how it screens airline passengers, including proposals that an official said would lift the ban on carrying razorblades and small knives as well as limit patdown searches.
An initial set of staff recommendations drafted Aug. 5 also proposes that passengers no longer have to routinely remove their shoes during security checks. Instead, only passengers who set off metal detectors, are flagged by a computer screening system or look “reasonably suspicious” would be asked to do so, a TSA official said Saturday.
Seems sensible enough, but this seems like something a smart populist seeking office might seize upon as a prime example of Washington being out of touch:
The Aug. 5 memo recommends reducing patdowns by giving screeners the discretion not to search those wearing tight-fitting clothes. It also suggests exempting several categories of passengers from screening, including federal judges, members of Congress, Cabinet members, state governors, high-ranking military officers and those with high-level security clearances.
It seems to me that the people responsible for the oversight of the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security should be the last people exempted from the sorts of invasive searches they think are fine for the rest of the country. In fact, many of the members of Congress seemed to agree with me, at least in spirit, back in 1993 and 1994:
On the first day of the 104th Congress, the new Republican majority will immediately pass the following major reforms, aimed at restoring the faith and trust of the American people in their government:
FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress…
I understand that most of the posturing and most of the claims about members of Congress and elected officials being just one of the people are nonsense, as they aren’t just like the rest of us, but it seems that this is one area where they should be treated just like one of us everyday average Joes.