Optimates

The Devil would have given her a better deal

2008-02-18T22:55:00.002-05:00

It would seem that despite all her years of hard work and enduring her husband, Hilliary Clinton's presidential bid is, shall we say, having some issues. At this point in time is there anything that could reverse the Obama tidal wave or should she call it quits while she still has her dignity intact?

I believe there's nothing she can really do at this point. Bill hasn't helped and realistically he was her big gun to pull out when or if things were getting rocky. Bill has yet to have the desired effect. She should bow out gracefully now before she ruins whatever pull and influence the name Clinton has.

On the remote chance she does somehow manage to pull herself out of this dive she'll most likely lose the general election. Listening to Obama talk-while it may be naive-makes me feel hopeful and optimistic. Listening to Hilliary makes me what to change the channel. In 2000 I voted for McCain mostly due to the way he was able to inspire people, myself included. Unfortunately, I don't feel he's captured people as much as he had then. If Hilliary is the Democratic nominee I will most certainly be voting McCain, but if Obama is the candidate I will probably be voting for him.

Having said this, I doubt I am alone in this type of outlook and probably many share this view. So the big question is will Hilliary figure this out and do what's best for her party and the democrat agenda or will she want to do what's best for Hilliary? Of course, in actuality this question is never going to be answered as she doesn't think there's a difference between the two choices.

What are your thoughts?

Miss us?

2007-05-20T12:29:00.000-04:00

You guys are never going to be Hokage with this kind of commitment. Let's talk about human weakness. Isn't it long past time we did?

It has come....to this

2007-04-14T19:37:00.000-04:00

I brought back one of your favorites...

End it! DO WHAT MUST BE DONE!

Remember when you just snorted pixie sticks?

2007-04-06T23:21:00.000-04:00

Based on the last couple of posts, I feel free to post this story, which I find strangely hysterically funny. I don't know whether or not it's because I've started a new job that doesn't let me sleep, so I find bread to be funny, but the idea of Keith Richards snorting the ashes of his dead father seems so wrong and so appropriate.

So what do you think? Did he do it, or was he lying? Did he retract his statements because Disney (the makers of his future Pirates of the Caribbean 3) made him do it, or was he just high during the interview? And most importantly, does the idea of Keith Richards snorting the ashes of his dead father make him more or less cool?

Typical

2007-04-04T22:31:00.000-04:00

What do this blog site and video have in common? Any guesses?

Boston's Tenth Man Could Not Be Wrong!

2007-04-02T17:22:00.000-04:00

Spring has arrived!

Are We This Stupid?

2007-04-01T10:53:00.000-04:00

The answer is yes.

Over the next few months, the price of milk at your local supermarket will begin a sharper climb upward. Why? Because some of the corn that traditionally has gone as feed for cows is now being diverted to ethanol production. As a result, dairy farmers have to pay more for their corn and they pass that along in higher milk costs.

Let me also remind you that we have farm subsidies in this country that encourage farmers not to grow specific products. So when a new market for corn opens up, farmers are ill-suited to expand supply. The result is the price for everything corn-related goes up, all while the government is giving farmers money to keep it that way. What an excellent idea!

This supply and demand issue, I should note, doesn't even touch on the further idiocy of our desperate search for another magical fuel to power our automobile culture for a little bit longer. The junkie needs just one more hit! We promise, this is the last one!

Pop Culture Corner Vol. 1

2007-03-29T17:17:00.000-04:00

As Promised!

After reading this wonderful post from the A.V. Club (go to item #3), I realized that, for one thing, the Oscars are kind of crap. I know this is in no way shocking and that I'm maybe the last literate person outside of L.A. to come to this conclusion, but there it is. It didn't seem like this when I was growing up, starry-eyed by the hopes of one day working in the movie industry, so to me the Academy Awards still hold a holy significance for me that they almost surely don't deserve.

Now, however, my faith is badly lapsing. I mean, come on. A Beautiful Mind? Gladiator? Crash, of all things? And those are just in the last five years or so. Go back further and apparently Driving Miss Daisy is better thanDo the Right Thing. The first ever Best Picture Winner was the 1928 film Wings. You've never heard of it, of course, except for possibly in the trivia that it was the first ever best picture winner. With a few exceptions of obviously phenomenal films that were instant classics, most Best Picture winners are the sort of thing that fade into relative obscurity about a week or two after their coronation. Million Dollar Baby is a great film, of course, but not one that people of any age or demographic are likely to be watching at home in the future.

My point is that Great Movies can only be judged from a little bit of distance, and maybe shouldn't be chiefly judged by those who make them, at the whim of the politics of any given week. As such, I give you The First Ever (and likely ever) Revisionist Oscars!

(and beg for your replies...)

I'm only going back to 1990, because it's unlikely that any of us truly have enough of a memory of anything before that, and if we do it's bound to be tainted by nostalgia.

1990 - WINNER - DANCES WITH WOLVES

(other movies that year* included Goodfellas; Ghost; Awakenings; The Grifters; The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover; Last Exit to Brooklyn; Miller's Crossing; The Nasty Girl; Beauty and the Beast**; Edward Scissorhands)

1991 - WINNER - SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

(JFK; Naked Lunch; Boyz n the Hood; My Own Private Idaho; Thelma and Louise; The Fisher King)

1992 - WINNER - UNFORGIVEN

(The Crying Game; A Few Good Men; Glengarry Glenn Ross; Howard's End; The Player; My Cousin Vinny; Malcolm X; Reservoir Dogs; Aladdin)

1993 - WINNER - SCHINDLER'S LIST

(The Piano; In the Name of the Father; The Fugitive; Philadelphia; Short Cuts; The Nightmare Before Christmas; Menace II Society; Strictly Ballroom)

1994 - WINNER - FORREST GUMP

(Pulp Fiction; The Shawshank Redemption; The Hudsucker Proxy; Ed Wood; Quiz Show; Heavenly Creatures)

1995 - WINNER - BRAVEHEART

(Apollo 13; Babe; Mr. Holland's Opus; Leaving Las Vegas; Dead Man Walking; 12 Monkeys; The Usual Suspects; Get Shorty; Toy Story)

1996 - WINNER - THE ENGLISH PATIENT

(Fargo; The People vs. Larry Flint; Jerry Maguire; Shine; Sling Blade; Trainspotting; Welcome to the Dollhouse; Bound)

1997 - WINNER - TITANIC

(L.A. Confidential; As Good as it Gets; Good Will Hunting; The Full Monty; Wag the Dog; The Ice Storm; Chasing Amy; Boogie Nights)

1998 - WINNER - SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE

(Saving Private Ryan; Elizabeth; Life is Beautiful; The Thin Red Line; The Truman Show; Out of Sight; Bullworth; Rushmore)

1999 - WINNER - AMERICAN BEAUTY

(Fight Club; Magnolia; The Sixth Sense; The Green Mile; The Hurricane; Boys Don't Cry; The Insider; Being John Malkovich)

2000 - WINNER - GLADIATOR

(Wonder Boys; Almost Famous; Traffic; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Erin Brockovich; You Can Count on Me; Requiem for a Dream)

2001 - WINNER - A BEAUTIFUL MIND***

(Ocean's Eleven; Moulin Rouge; Gosford Park; In the Bedroom; The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring; Mullholland Drive; Monsters' Ball; Ali; Monsters, Inc.; Shreck; The Royal Tenebaums)

2002 - WINNER - CHICAGO

(Gangs of New York; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; The Hours; The Pianist; Adaptation; Catch Me If You Can; About Schmidt; Road to Perdition)

2003 - WINNER - THE LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING

(Lost in Translation; Mystic River; Finding Nemo; Pirates of the Caribbean; Monster; Whale Rider; In America; The Last Samurai; Kill Bill Vol. 1)

2004 - WINNER - MILLION DOLLAR BABY

(Sideways; Ray; The Aviator; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; Closer; Maria Full of Grace; Kill Bill Vol. 2)

2005 - WINNER - CRASH***

(Brokeback Mountain; Sin City; Munich; Good Night and Good Luck; Syriana; Transamerica; Walk the Line)

So there it is. Have at it, folks.

*These lists of other movies are, of course, not exclusive nor comprehensive, and serve only as helpful reminders. I also chose not to mention this year's Oscar's as we're still too close to properly judge anything.

**The first animated film ever nominated for Best Picture.

***Imagine a written, audible sigh, as I lose a little more faith in humanity.

CACR11

2007-03-20T17:15:00.000-04:00

New Hampshire's Democrats want to change the term of our governor from two years to four years. At present, only New Hampshire and Vermont limit their respective governors to two years. New Hampshire actually goes a step further than Vermont in restricting executive power - we have an elected Executive Council that can put a negative on the governor's plans.

I happen to like it this way. As you know, I'm no friend of unchecked power of any kind, be it the President of the United States or the head of the local Board of Selectmen. While I'm not equating a four-year governorship with tyranny, I think in a small state, the governor should be held accountable on a regular basis.

Big staters and small staters: what do you think?

Dahlia Lithwick is my hero

2007-03-20T15:34:00.000-04:00

If you have time, and need a laugh, I highly recommend reading this Slate article. She covers the recent Supreme Court case Morse v. Frederick, and the article is amazing for many reasons, mostly due to the sheer number of stoner jokes she manages to fit into it. It's also an interesting case of school censorship, and raises issues of how do we consider which illegal activities it's ok to advocate for, but when it comes down to it.... It really is just a case about a kid who thought it'd be funny to put a giant sign up across from his school that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."

And yes, David Souter at one point asks whether or not we should think about what the phrase "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" actually means. That is now on the public record, folks.

Tap, Tap

2007-03-19T14:36:00.000-04:00

Is this thing on? I know you're there...I can hear you ignoring Josh's posts...

Seriously though, there must be something we can discuss that hasn't been talked to death. Over at the Caravan we're having a discussion on what makes a person gay. Is it a choice? Is it biochemical? Can a person have any control over it?

Come on guys, we both know you're reading this.

Richardson

2007-03-17T13:26:00.000-04:00

The governor of New Mexico and presidential hopeful prepares to sign a medical marijuana bill. His words:

"So what if it's risky? It's the right thing to do," said Richardson, one of the candidates in the crowded 2008 field. "What we're talking about is 160 people in deep pain. It only affects them."

He just got a lot more interesting.

Exam Week

2007-03-13T21:22:00.000-04:00

It's exam week for me. Sorry for the light posting.

Thanks, Congress

2007-03-11T20:41:00.000-04:00

Is the super-early switch to Daylight Savings Time messing with your inner season-clock? I know mine is completely confused by the dual prospect of snowbanks and light until almost 7 p.m. Another successful federal initiative!

Feel Bad About Yourself

2007-03-09T16:52:00.000-05:00

You know why I like the concept of Original Sin, as I've said before? Because it reminds us that we shouldn't go around feeling good about ourselves. And why shouldn't we feel good about ourselves? Well, look at the world today. More specifically, look at what the United States has done in the past six or seven years. Most - if not all - of our policies have been based on the premise that we are a good people, that good people will do good things if given power, and we should feel even better about ourselves for it.

We see where this has gotten us. I say we need to stop feeling good about what we do. We need to stop promoting ourselves as virtuous, inherently good people who can do no wrong. This is called pride. Until we rid ourselves of these self-glorying conceptions (and their parallel delusion that only mysterious bad people who are not us are behind all villainy), our nation will only suffer. So stop feeling good about yourself.

Town Meeting Time

2007-03-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

As you may have noticed, it's town meeting season in the New England states. Consider this an open thread to air your views on local democracy- plusses and minuses.

Scooter

2007-03-06T15:36:00.000-05:00

So, he's guilty. Does anyone think he cooked up this whole scheme by himself? Of course not. What remains to be seen now is who was really behind this and what their full motivations were.

The worst-case scenario is that we had a vice president who knew the intelligence on Iraq was faulty (at least, not a slam dunk), and swept inconvenient facts under the rug so as to "sell" the war to the Congress and the American public. A war that has since gone rather badly. Sadly, the worst-case scenario seems the most likely, too. Thoughts?

The Return

2007-03-06T15:07:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the unexpected pause in blogging over the weekend. Our computer's old keyboard stopped working, and it took some time to diagnose the exact nature of the problem as well as remedy it. We should return to a regular blogging schedule soon.

I Know You Like Quizzes

2007-03-01T12:47:00.000-05:00

So here's another one: what kind of intelligence do you have?

I'll post my answer in the comments.

Two Great Tastes

2007-03-01T08:28:00.000-05:00

With the acquisition of Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox have a loaded rotation this year. But, as the Onion tells us, they also have something extra:

"If what we've heard is correct, then Matsuzaka indeed possesses a Power Level of well over 9,000," said ESPN's Peter Gammons, struggling to contain his excitement on Tuesday's edition of Baseball Tonight. "Over 9,000! Which, of course, is only to be expected of the ballplayer whom sources say descended into the Underworld to spit in the flaming eye of the Lord of Hell and steal the secret power of the Onikaze, or 'demon-storm' pitch, which tails away nicely from both lefties and righties."

It's the best of both worlds!

Healthcare Fix

2007-02-28T20:04:00.000-05:00

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) has come up with a rather interesting healthcare proposal. It's not Hillarycare, but it's not quite Health Savings Accounts either. Here's a passage that caught my attention:

Under Wyden's plan, employers would no longer provide health coverage, as they have since World War II. Instead, they'd convert the current cost of coverage into additional salary for employees. Individuals would use this money to buy insurance, which they would be required to have. Private insurance plans would compete on features and price but would have to offer benefits at least equivalent to the Blue Cross "standard" option. Signing up for insurance would be as easy as ticking off a box on your tax return. In most cases, insurance premiums would be withheld from paychecks, as they are now.

Eliminating employers as an additional payer would encourage consumers to use health care more efficiently. Getting rid of the employer tax deduction, which costs a whopping $200 billion a year, would free up funds to subsidize insurance up to 400 percent of the poverty line, which is $82,000 for a family of four. The Lewin Group, an independent consulting firm, has estimated that Wyden's plan would reduce overall national spending on health care by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years and that it would save the government money through great administrative efficiency and competition.

This seems to make far more sense than our current model, where the employee is essentially a serf to his boss when it comes to purchasing insurance. Not only is this grossly inefficient, it's not even classical capitalism! This plan promises to cut government expenditures, give us more choice in selecting insurance plans, and would free up investment dollars for more productive endeavors (like, dare I say, trains!). Where's the catch?

Bones

2007-02-27T16:38:00.000-05:00

Could these be the bones of Jesus and Mary Magdalene? And what ramifications would it have if they were?

Does Welfare Create Secularism?

2007-02-27T11:12:00.000-05:00

Recently, we've been talking about God. In a similar vein, I direct you to this interesting study. It posits a strong link between increased public welfare spending and decreased religiosity. Here's the hypothesis, verbatim:

...we assert that cross-national variation in religious participation is a function of government welfare spending and provide a theory that links macro-sociological outcomes with individual rationality... as goverments assume many of those welfare functions, individuals with elastic preferences for spiritual goods will reduce their level of participation since the desired welfare goods can be obtained from secular sources.

Read it and let me know what you think.

Your Train Update

2007-02-27T10:52:00.000-05:00

Things are not looking good for passenger trains in Vermont, as this article shows. Here are two glaring particulars:

RIDERSHIP: The number of passengers on the Vermonter route declined from 72,235 in fiscal 2001 to 52,490 in the last budget year.
STATE SUBSIDY: Amtrak has required Vermont to pay increasing shares of the cost of the train routes in the state. The subsidy went from $1.58 million in fiscal 2001 to $3.3 million this year.

From a financial perspective, these numbers are enough to doom passenger rail in the Green Mountain State. Over a five-year period, passenger total decreased by roughly 25 percent, while the amount the state government had to pay increased by more than 100 percent. This is exactly the sort of glaring inefficiency that taxpayers rightly condemn.

At the same time, as this article notes, rail does hold out the long-term promise of more energy-efficient transportation. In an age of oil shortages, this is absolutely necessary. So I put it to the group: how do we promote rural rail in a cost-effective manner? Can we?

Free State Update

2007-02-25T12:28:00.000-05:00

I like local government. I agree with the idea that, on most issues, towns and cities are best left to work out their own solutions. Likewise, the farther a branch of government is from direct citizen oversight, the weaker the hold it ought to have on individual behavior.

I think smaller states are more likely to have freer and more effective government for this very reason. It's one of the many things I like about New Hampshire. I am not the only one to think so. There's a group, dubbed "The Free State Project," which recently chose the Granite State as its resettlement destination. The goal is to get 20,000 people to move to the state and preserve (or enhance) the state's decentralized politics.

Here's an update:

To date, several hundred people have moved to the Granite State from other places and 7,500 people have signed up to participate in the project. "We realize to get to 20,000 is years away," Swearingen said.
But already some of the members who have moved to New Hampshire have been successful, he said.
One member successfully sponsored legislation passed last year ending the requirement for state approval of home school curricula, Swearingen said.
And he noted last year's defeat of the proposed smoking ban in restaurants and the state's push for real ID or a national identification card.

Libertarians are an interesting bunch. Since they are (admirably) consistent, most people agree with them only half the time. For example, when the government is going to regulate something you like, you agree with the libertarian stand. When the government is going to regulate something you dislike, you disagree with the libertarian stand.

What better argument for libertarianism could there be than that?

The Third Man

2007-02-25T12:25:00.000-05:00

In the fuss over Obama and Clinton, we're likely to forget about this man. We shouldn't.

Why I Adore My Conservative Friends

2007-02-24T13:51:00.000-05:00

I recently returned from Chicago for my mandated Northwestern Law interview. In the all-too-short time we had for the meeting, I took my chance to ask how ideologically divided the student body was. I has said nothing at this point to give away my true leanings, and left my question as neutral as I could. Not knowing the answer I was looking for, she eventually told me that both ends of the spectrum were quite well represented, and that the Constitutionalist/Federalist Society debates were a staple of the extracurricular life.

This was, of course, the answer I wanted to hear. Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows how liberal my views are, and I don't need to repeat it. What I need to say is how much I love passionate, intellectually engaged conservatives. Great debate is how we shape not only the ideas of our opponents, but our own ideas as well, and smart people who disagree are the greatest asset one can have to one's own continued thought.

...which is why this pisses me off so much. Conservapedia, started by Andrew Schlafly, is another example of a certain subset of Conservatives who, rather than enter the debate, claim a right to their own facts, and then when others don't accept their "facts" as true, declare that they're simply picking up their ball and going home. Schlafly's issue is, of course, with Wikipedia, which he claims sports a liberal and anti-Christian bias. Seemingly missing from this rant is the fact that Wikipedia is, for all it's faults, edited by the public, and as such is as egalitarian as it possibly can be. Also, he takes offense to the BCE/CE dating procedure,
which I didn't even realize was uniform in Wikipedia.

From the FoxNews entry:

Fox News was started in 1996 in response to the other cable news channels which all had obvious liberal biases. Because of this, Rupert Murdoch decided to start a real new channel which would tell the truth. The success of Fox news over every other news channel is because it is fair and balanced. It has many people on it who work to spread truth such as Sean Hannity who is a great American. Fox News is best because instead of just telling you what to think, they only report the news unbiased and then allow the viewer to decide.

In 2005 the White House selected Tony Snow from Fox News to be the new White House press secretary which was a great honor for Fox because it showed how well it was presenting the real truth instead of the fake liberal version.

Of course, Schlafly has every right to do this, but what does it say about a group of people so afraid of differing opinions that they would feel the need to be protected from them? I know that there are subsets of liberals that do the same, so I'm not claiming that this is entirely a right-wing phenomenon. But if your beliefs are so central to your life that you can't bear to read facts, let alone opinions, that might subvert them, shouldn't those belifes also be strong enough to handle it?

Post 500: Beards

2007-02-22T17:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, this post marks our 500 on the Optimates site. And I'm using it to promote something near and dear to my own, er, face: BEARDS. All you men who hate the vile razor, and ladies who love those men, embrace the wonder of the beard!

Website Update

2007-02-21T16:50:00.000-05:00

I've added the God post to the "Hot Threads" menu on the left-hand side of the page. This will enable easy access to the discussion - still ongoing! - when the post itself rides off into the sunset of the archives. Keep the comments coming!

Sex Crisis?

2007-02-21T16:34:00.000-05:00

Well, we're tackling the issue of God (here and here). Let's return to another old favorite: sex.

In a recent book entitled Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love, and Lose at Both, author Laura Sessions Strepp discusses the "hookup culture" on college campuses and its effects on young women. The Slate review, which may be more interesting than the book, says the real problem isn't the dissociation of sex and love, but rather the linking of sex, status, and work. Money quote:

The hookup culture is part of a wider ethos of status-seeking achievement. As one girl puts it: "Dating is a drain on energy and intellect, and we are overwhelmed, overprogrammed and overcommitted just trying to get into grad school." So they throw themselves into erotic liaisons with the same competitive zeal they bring to résumé-building... they frame their seemingly explorative sex lives in rigid, instrumental terms, believing that vulnerability of any sort signals a confusing dependence.

I'd love to know what everyone thinks of this. So many of our readers are recent college graduates or current graduate students, so doubtless we're informed enough about what's really going on. What's your take on it?

Want a Strong Economy? Vote... Democratic?

2007-02-20T21:44:00.000-05:00

That may be the case, says "Angry Bear."

Happy Presidents' Day

2007-02-19T22:17:00.001-05:00

Please remember that we used to have good ones. Who's your favorite?

Madonna's Big Bang

2007-02-18T12:18:00.000-05:00

Ah, the joys of a relaxing morning catching up on the news spread across the internet!

I stumbled up this gem (also here, but free registration may be required) outlining how a the Anti-Defamation League is demanding an apology from Georgia State Rep. Ben Bridges (R, Cleveland) because of a memo Bridges circulated " that says the teaching of evolution should be banned because it is a myth propagated by an ancient Jewish sect." Apparently the Big Bang Theory is a tall-tale passed down in Kabbalah. Bridges is also the sponsor of legislation to require Georgia schools teach only "scientific fact" in the classroom.

Fortunately for those of us bored on a lazy weekend, there's more. Bridges' campaign manager runs the website www.fixedearth.com. Here you can learn about how the Earth is not rotating or moving at all and how Copernicanism paved the way for evolutionism. There are several links to various topics, but my personal favorite is the page outlining 14 "What if?" questions that Creationists should ask themselves regarding the myth of heliocentricity.

Money question:

WHAT IF - mathematics has long since been an art form capable of depicting anything the "artist" wants? (And what if the ultimate "artist" behind heliocentric (moving earth) mathematics is not men but You-Know-Who?!)

Clearly I have been misled in my intellectual pursuits. Forget everything I said in my God comment. Here I thought I was working with the purest forms of truths, working up slowly from an axiomatic foundation, in a subject that did not carry the same ideological emotions as the other hard sciences. Apparently not. Obviously, my first mistake was leaving the home, since as a married woman, my sole obligation is tending to my husband's needs and bearing him glorious heirs, instead of investigating various geometric embeddings of complete graphs on orientable and nonorientable surfaces.

As you get bored this week, or if you have President's Day Off, please poke around Fixed Earth. My challenge for you is to find the most outrageous quote. We'll make it a contest of sorts, with the prize being the peace of mind you have at night knowing you are a logical human being.

Good Luck!

Keifer Sutherland = Dick Cheney?

2007-02-18T00:55:00.000-05:00

Is the Fox show 24 promoting torture? Will we soon have soldiers in the middle east trying to imitate the velvety Sutherland voice while breaking the kneecaps of potential suspects?

This New Yorker article seems to think so. They make a good case. Personally, I stopped watching the show around season 3 when the stories started getting repetitive, but it's still a great premise.

Pity

2007-02-17T15:20:00.000-05:00

That's the emotion I feel toward the newly-bald Britney.

Trade

2007-02-16T22:16:00.001-05:00

Free trade. What do you think about it?

Sullivan Comes Around

2007-02-15T10:47:00.000-05:00

Andrew Sullivan has finally joined the Optimate position on the Middle East. After a slow to shaky start, he's come around to the distinction between Iran's Islamic Republic and Persian civilization. Money quote:

I don't think we can learn enough right now about the tensions between and within Shia and Sunni Islam. Shiite Islam, filtered through Persian civilization, may be a far more pliable force than the worst excesses of Sunni fanaticism.

This is not the end of knowledge on the subject, but it is a suitable beginning. Persia, so conceived, existed well before the arrival of Islam in the 7th century A.D. After the Arab conquest, its civilization was influenced by Islam (and influenced it in turn) as well as Arab language and culture. But Persia's conversion to Shi'a Islam in the 16th century was not solely a religious epiphany within an Arab context. It was the restoration of Persian identity. Iran, therefore, has a much longer tradition of nationhood than, well, almost every other country in the world. They're not a faceless Shi'a mass, to whom appeals can be made only on a religious basis. They are a proud nation.

So why has the Islamic Republic sustained itself for nearly 30 years? The regime's beginning gives us the biggest clue. At the outset, it was attacked by Iraq (with our tacit permission), allowing the mullahs to conflate Islamic identity with Persia-against-the-Arabs identity. With this element of power solidified, inertia alone could keep it power for some time. But there wasn't only inertia, was there? There were oil revenues in the billions! Dispensed through a suitable system of patronage, any regime could keep itself afloat on petrodollars.

Yet in recent years two things have happened: the regime's hold on both aspects of Persian identity faltered, and the world began to enter into Peak Oil times. Both props to the Islamic Republic are shaky. In that light, their recent behavior becomes far more predictable. As for our long term strategy toward them, I think Sullivan has it right again:

Our long-term strategy has to be: detach Persia from its fanatical religious leadership; wean ourselves off oil as much as possible; then reach out to Persia and Turkey as the two great Islamic civilizations that can control the unruly expanse between them.

Now how do we do that?

Digging Out

2007-02-15T09:59:00.000-05:00

The total snowfall at the apartment was, by our best guess, between 30 and 36 inches. The 24-hour snowfall record for the Burlington area was approached by this last storm, and according to the various services, there has not been a single February storm this powerful since the 1880s.

This morning I dug us out as far as the main walkway - a distance of about 10 feet from the apartment - and created enormous snowbanks. We still haven't made it to our cars yet, but most everything is cancelled or postponed, so there's no hurry. We hope to give you pictures of the aftermath throughout the day.

It's actually quite nice to get outside first thing, before breakfast, and attack the snow. There's nothing to get the blood pumping like dense snow. And I think we're the first apartment to have created a path to the walkway! While I was doing this, Boudicca was making a fine country-style breakfast: bacon, homefries, and she even boiled up some hot chocolate. What a fine day off!

Valentine's Day Blizzard

2007-02-14T19:39:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody! As you've doubtless guessed from my comments throughout the day, I did indeed have a snow day. As a matter of fact, the school has already called me and notified me I get tomorrow off, too.

The total snowfall is expected to vary throughout the region, but our area will probably end up with about three feet of fresh new powder. Posted to the right is a picture of downtown Burlington early this afternoon.

Snow! (Hey Oh)

2007-02-13T20:38:00.000-05:00

If all goes well, tomorrow could be my first Snow Day as a teacher rather than a student. What should I do? My first priority will be sleep until a decent hour. From there, who knows?

Away from Reagan?

2007-02-12T16:58:00.000-05:00

George Will challenges conservatives to move beyond the legacy of Reagan and return to a more realistic - some would say gloomier - conception of humanity and politics. Money quote:

"An unmentionable irony," writes Diggins, is that big-government conservatism is an inevitable result of Reaganism. "Under Reagan, Americans could live off government and hate it at the same time. Americans blamed government for their dependence upon it." Unless people have a bad conscience about demanding big government -- a dispenser of unending entitlements -- they will get ever larger government. But how can people have a bad conscience after being told (in Reagan's First Inaugural) that they are all heroes? And after being assured that all their desires, which inevitably include desires for government-supplied entitlements, are good?

I've always appreciated George Will's sensibility. In the past few years, he has become an invaluable voice for reasonable conservatism, unmixed with the wild-eyed fantasies of the neo-con or theo-con contingents. Too bad he's in the minority.

Yay!

2007-02-12T05:55:00.000-05:00

Finally, cutting-edge provocateur Tony Bennett is accepted by the mainstream!

I'm scared

2007-02-12T00:14:00.000-05:00

Here's why.

Some Casus for your Belli

2007-02-11T21:01:00.000-05:00

Is Iran arming Shi'a militias? The U.S. Military says they are. Great.

Unfunded Mandates, AGAIN

2007-02-10T21:26:00.000-05:00

President Bush - who has "worst president ever" in his sights and may shoot for "most incompetent elected official ever" if he has time - has come out with yet another bad idea. Following hard on his post-election conversion to balanced budgets, Bush has proposed to make cuts in Medicaid and Medicare.

I know you're asking why I would be against this. I've made it pretty clear I think out-of-control entitlement spending is one of the country's largest fiscal problems, and these proposals would reduce some of that spending. Have six years of conservatism betrayed given me a pathological and irrational hatred of Bush?

No. What's actually going on here, as you may have guessed, is window dressing. First of all, the cuts total a mere $23 billion over the next five years, a drop in the multi-trillion-dollar bucket of entitlement spending. Nothing proposed here reforms the overall product or the health-care industry.

Secondly, some of the proposals - if passed - will make it even harder to educate America's schoolchildren:

School districts get reimbursed for arranging speech and physical therapy for Medicaid-eligible students. For example, when a student with autism gets speech therapy, the school can seek reimbursement for scheduling the therapy, confirming it gets done and transporting the student to the therapist, said Mary Kusler of the American Association of School Administrators.

The president's regulatory proposal would eliminate Medicaid reimbursement for those services, she said. The administration estimates the savings at $3.6 billion over five years.

Kusler said students would still get the therapy needed to help them learn — schools have no choice in the matter. However, they may have to cut back other programs to offset the loss of federal funding.

"This would transfer the burden onto local school districts and local taxpayers," Kusler said.

This is what is known as an "unfunded mandate," whereby the federal (or a state) government mandates something but refuses to pay for it. Sadly, this is no rare thing in the case of education: the feds passed expansive Special Education laws decades ago, but even now don't fund more than 15-20 percent of the total cost. Since the local districts will still have to pay for these special services, they will be faced with two choices: cut other programs that are not mandated, or increase the local tax burden just to keep the same level of education. Wonderful.

Don't Date This Girl

2007-02-10T08:31:00.000-05:00

I can't tell if this is a parody or real, but either way, it's sad:

I don't see how people who don't agree politically can date. This became clear last summer when Israel killed 16 children in Qana, the U.S. refused to call for a cease-fire, and the boyfriend acted as if these were war games where Israel had a right to defend itself. So every time Israel did something abominable I'd increasingly begin to hold him personally responsible.

It must have been difficult to date me. My apologies. But whatever. Politics take precedence over penis. (Know this, future ex-boyfriends of mine.)

Dating me, and all of the ideology that comes with the territory, was supposed to enlighten him, but I think it might have had the opposite effect. At times I thought he was coming around, but he'd go do stuff like hang the Israeli flag - and over his bed of all places.

Oh, and it gets better:

Still, until that day, I wave the Palestinian flag in solidarity. And will even let it fly over my bed. Know this, future ex-boyfriends of mine.

Hillary and War

2007-02-10T08:28:00.000-05:00

Her vote for it wasn't actually a vote for it. Great.

A Comparison of 3 Deaths

2007-02-09T00:19:00.000-05:00

Molly Ivins. Pinochet. Anna Nicole Smith.

Three very different people, all recently deceased. I mention them to raise the question, Why and how do we view and mourn different people in different ways? I link the names to the appropriate MeFi threads to give a comparison.

I'm about as anti-death-penalty as you can get, but I didn't give a damn about Pinochet's death. In fact, I toasted to it. Molly Ivins was extremely influential to me since about age twelve, and just today I received a package from my mother of the Houston Chronicle's obituary of her. I never cared about Anna Nicole one way or another, aside from seeing her as a self-indulgent walking punchline, but I still feel a sense of loss at her passing. And now I'm curious as to why, exactly.

Is human respect something we earn? Is it something we're born with intrinsically, but lose if we've done enough to lose it? Do some people simply fall into the public consciousness as being undeserving of life? Do we instinctively mourn the passing of those we feel are "too young"? Or do we pass judgment on "celebrities" post-mortem?

I want your opinions.

Peak Oil

2007-02-08T22:32:00.000-05:00

... has come to Mexico.

Congress and War

2007-02-07T16:18:00.000-05:00

Let's play name that quote! Who said the following and when:

Dates certain, Mr. President, are not the criteria here. What is the criteria and what should be the criteria is our immediate, orderly withdrawal from [name of country]. And if we do not do that and other Americans die, other Americans are wounded, other Americans are captured because we stay too long--longer than necessary--then I would say that the responsibilities for that lie with the Congress of the United States who did not exercise their authority under the Constitution of the United States and mandate that they be brought home quickly and safely as possible. . . . [emphasis mine]

I'll give you a hint. This and many other fascinating views on the power of the Executive Branch in wartime can be found here. Have fun!

God

2007-02-05T21:16:00.000-05:00

I'm completely enthralled by the Harris-Sullivan theological debate. What do you think about it? More interestingly, what do you think about God? I want to hear from atheists and true believers, and I want people to defend their positions. Let's talk big!

Super Bowl XLI

2007-02-04T17:59:00.000-05:00

Before we start, I'd like to be on the record as picking the Chicago Bears. That is all.

Update: What a sloppy game that was! And now we get to hear about Peyton Manning's divine qualities until the next Manning brother wins the Big One. Yippee.

While I've got you here, what did everyone think of the game? Of the ads? Any standouts on either count?

New Hampshire and Civil Unions

2007-02-03T09:29:00.000-05:00

New Hampshire - however coincidentally - is following my lead.

If you recall, nearly a year ago, I offered the following measure for debate:

The state should have nothing to do with marriage whatsoever beyond the simple recognition of the creation of a partnership. The actual ceremony and 'significance' of the marriage to the individuals are private matters, really; all the government cares about is whether they're getting joint or separate tax returns and how much of the estate they get. On that basis, same-sex marriage between consenting adults (at whatever age the state defines that) is as equally valid as marriage between two heterosexual consenting adults.

Imagine my pleasure when I saw this article in the Union Leader today! State Senator Bob Clegg (R-Hudson), former Senate Majority Leader and strong conservative, has proposed legislation that would, among other things, do the following:

Under his bill, two adults could go to a Justice of the Peace and affirm their decision to enter into a contract. The contract would be filed with the Secretary of State as are marriage licenses. Dissolving the unions would be similar to a divorce with the parties responsible financially for dependent children.

At first glance, this bill seems to be precisely what I've been advocating for, doesn't it? Let's hope it's the real deal and let's hope it passes. What makes me even more optimistic about the bill's chances are these three crucial facts:

The bill was offered by a conservative Republican. There will be no talk - hopefully - of how this is a Loony-Left conspiracy to overthrow heterosexuality.
The bill was not forced upon us by an overly assertive judiciary. This has served as the death knell for similiar proposals in many states.
This is New Hampshire! Live Free or Die!

For those of you who live, work, and vote in New Hampshire, I urge you to read over the proposed legislation, and - if it does indeed hold water - offer it your support. Let's show the country that New Hampshire, of our own free will and without judicial mandates, knows how to do the right thing.

Update: Welcome to all our new readers linked by Andrew Sullivan! Please feel free to explore our site (for those of you linked to this post specifically, our home page is here) and join in our discussions. If you like what you see, help us grow by spreading the word about us. Thanks!

Encouraging

2007-02-02T17:09:00.000-05:00

I'm encouraged that people are starting to find the time to post and comment again! Please, if you want to keep the blog alive, tell your friends about it. Get them to put up comments. Let's get some momentum.

The Commons

2007-02-02T16:55:00.000-05:00

I found an interesting new blog the other day - we're always looking for those, aren't we? - in the form of On The Commons. Its main focus is, you guessed it, preserving and enhancing the public aspect of our lives.

For an introductory post, I direct you to this one, about how reinvigorating the public sphere need not be a strictly 'liberal' or 'conservative' goal. Money quote:

For the past decade, it has been a truism in Washington, D.C., that Congress is so ideologically divided that little of any significance can be accomplished. Yet there are new and encouraging signs that the idea of the commons, at least in terms of its expression in the community wealth/asset building field, can win bipartisan political support and help build a new community stability coalition across the ideological spectrum.

The article also mentions public transit, so you know I'm hooked. Read it all.

RE: The Innocents Shall Suffer...BIG TIME!

2007-02-01T14:43:00.000-05:00

I'm sure most of us have heard by now that the city of Boston is well protected from the Quad-Laser of Ignignokt and Err. For those who enjoy keeping their brain cells unscrambled, Ignignokt and Err are two recurring characters on the cult cartoon series Aqua Teen Hunger Force airing on Cartoon Network, a show, which if watched for more than a hour straight, can literally kill you by reverting your brain to such a state of pre-conscious associative fugue that your autnomonic body functions shut themselves down one by one. For those interested in seeing what these objects actually look like, click here for an unlit example and here for a lit example . Needless to say, the best part about reading some of these articles, especially the ones posted in the New York Times, Fox News, CNN, etc, is reading how journalists are trying to describe a TV show that stars a giant milkshake, carton of freedom fries, and a wad of inedible meat that loves dancing.

In any event, Boston transportation was shut down for an hour yesterday starting at 8am, as these displays were discovered attached to the bottom of bridges, suspended from lightpoles, and several other hard to reach places. The Bomb Squad was dispatched to remove these objects, and in one instance, blow the living shit out of it. Many Bostonites are understandably pissed. Their mayor and governor are especially pissed because apparently it cost the taxpayers about USD500,000.00 to remove these objects alone, and they are threatening to fine Turner Broadcasting Network, the owner of Cartoon Network, for carrying out an "irresponsible" and "ill-conceived" stunt with these "hoax devices". On the other hand, similiar devices have been found in 9 other cities such as Chicago and New York, and there was nary a peep from the other Police Departments of those other cities. Furthermore, these devices were put up nearly two weeks ago, and they were documented on Cartoon Network's own site, and videos of their construction and placement were posted on YouTube.

So, my question to you is: has this been a colossal over-reaction by the Boston PD? Or is TBS/Cartoon Network and their guerilla marketing firm to blame for the fiasco, since they should know better than to stick undisclosed packages to public infrastructure? Or, is no one really to blame for this, since this was just a serendipitous intersection of lack of fore-thought plus trigger finger happy response? What's scarier, that Boston called down the thunder to deal with these lite-bright displays, albeit 2 weeks late, or that none of the other cities were even aware that these things existed attached to their own bridges and tunnels?

Royalism

2007-02-01T05:55:00.000-05:00

An excellent reason to vote against Hillary.

Blogging the Bible

2007-01-30T22:17:00.001-05:00

Am I the only one fascinated by this ongoing Slate series? Let me know.

Introducing: Civ-Cons!

2007-01-29T13:52:00.001-05:00

Or at least introducing a new label. John Fonte's National Review article can be found here, at Asiansmith's request. (He really should have contributer status.) My question, however, is what's driving the need for more and more labels in the conservative arena? Is it a need to re-brand the party as big-tent, or a self-serving measure to differentiate from a conservative movement run out of steam?

Also, what do y'all think about Fonte's desire for a national voice, et al. Discuss!

A Fantastically Stupid Article

2007-01-28T20:52:00.000-05:00

Have you ever read an article and wondered whether the authors were being paid to write such obvious falsehoods, or if they simply lacked common sense and perception?

Well, I have just such an article for you right here. It's another in a long list of denialism about our current automobile culture. They often run on a common theme, and this one is no exception: Cars are good because people like cars, and they are a sign of wealth. Or something like that. In truth, here are the five 'myths' the authors set out to debunk:

Americans are addicted to driving.
Public transit can reduce traffic congestion.
We can cut air pollution only if we stop driving.
We're paving over America.
We can't deal with global warming unless we stop driving.

My favorite, as you must have gathered, is #2. Is it really a myth that public transportation reduces traffic congestion? Here's an especially choice paragraph, in which the authors state that it would be just too darned hard for us to make our suburbs transit-friendly:

Many officials say we should reconfigure the landscape -- pack people in more tightly -- to make it fit better with a transit-oriented lifestyle. But that would mean increasing density in existing developments by bulldozing the low-density neighborhoods that countless families call home. Single-family houses, malls and shops would have to make way for a stacked-up style of living that most don't want. And even then the best-case scenario would be replicating New York, where only one in four commuters uses mass transit. [Emphasis mine]

Read that bold passage again. What could be a more blatant misrepresentation of what sensible planners are suggesting? Planners suggest that new development should ideally be created in a manner that creates higher-density neighborhoods. This means zoning with more regular street plans and smaller lot sizes. Where do the authors get the notion that this is the same thing as bulldozing existing neighborhoods? Again, I ask if they're honestly this stupid or if they're being paid off.

Never mind that beneath the entire article is the implicit assumption that we will have enough oil (or hydrogen, or ethanol, or magic beans) to continue running our cars at the same capacity forever. Well, I'm sorry, but we won't. We just won't. And it makes far more sense to begin planning for an oil-short future sensibly than plugging our hands over our ears and repeating that everything is fine.

Happy Birthday!

2007-01-28T20:44:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to our friend and fellow blogger, Gaufridus. Welcome to the club, old man!

Giuliani '08

2007-01-27T21:26:00.000-05:00

The other night my parents went to the Littleton Area Chamber of Commerce annual dinner. The featured speaker was Giuliani. A well-known politician in New Hampshire a year before the primary? You know what that means!

I've got little to say about it now, but soon I'll offer up my thoughts on a possible Giuliani candidacy. In the meantime, feel free to give me your thoughts on the man.

As neocon pundits continue to break ranks...

2007-01-26T15:57:00.000-05:00

Charles Krauthammer comes out in favor of a gas tax. (and ANWR drilling, and nuclear power, and accepts global warming as true... a mixed bag, but worth reading.)

Apropos of Nothing...

2007-01-24T21:58:00.000-05:00

But we really like High School Musical. No, we're not going to apologize.

SOTU

2007-01-23T20:50:00.000-05:00

Since the TV and the computer are not in the same room, I will not be liveblogging the SOTU. I will, however, post commentary afterward. Watch this space!

Update: That was really boring. It is no exaggeration to say that I fell asleep during parts of the speech. Comparing this speech to last year, I noticed that many portions were virtually identical. For example, are my notes below from last year or this year?

9:47 p.m. - Hypes Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Frivolous lawsuits are no good.

9:48 p.m. - "America is addicted to oil." Umm... keep talking...

9:50 p.m. - Coal, wind, solar, and, ahem, 'nukular.' Research will be increased in alternate sources. We'll be ready by 2025. No rush or anything.

That's right, you can't tell. Neither could I, and I watched the speech both years. And so the Bush Administration stumbles along to the anticlimax. Your thoughts, as always, are welcome. Did you see or hear something I didn't?

In Anticipation

2007-01-23T16:48:00.001-05:00

It's clear that the 2008 election season has begun. Candidates from both parties have declared their intentions outright or established so-called "Exploratory Committees" to determine the manner in which they should declare their intentions.

After six - by then eight - years of the astoundingly bad Bush Administration, I'm sure a lot of us will be looking for a candidate who will 'put things right,' and solve the many problems this current bunch has let fester. While that's all well and good, and there is plenty a President can do to change direction, I think it's important to remember we're not looking for a savior. In fact, it's precisely that kind of thinking that only makes matters worse.

So long as the political involvement in this country is focused on a quadrennial beauty contest, we will not truly have a Republic, but an elective monarchy of a kind. Is it any coincidence that Bush only thought he was accountable when the votes were counted? This, as many of you know, is why I'm skeptical of greater federal government power in general: I think it leads to greater and greater gaps in accountability and honest government.

I urge you to remember that when you consider candidates. Ask yourself if the candidate will, in the long run, grant you more power over not only your destiny, but the destiny of the country as a whole.

Vote for me!

2007-01-22T18:00:00.000-05:00

Hello friends and fellow gardens plants. I've been part of this great botanical nation of ours for many years now and I've seen many presidents come and go. But dear friends, both vegetable and flower alike, these last few years I've seen things going wrong in this garden. I've voiced my opinions and spoken out. Spoken out on the campaign to keep the weeds from getting through our borders. Spoken out on the growing fertilizer gap between flowers and vegetables. I've even
let my voice be heard on the new sunlight placement laws and the deep question of if that really is a greenhouse being built around us.

Now friends, I've feel my time just talking is over. So I, Adam the Orchid, declare my candidacy for president of the garden! It is long past time we had a flower in the oval office. Too long it has been purely vegetable race. Well it's time for a change! As a flower I can bring a fresh way of dealing with problems. As a flower I can deal with all plants to help bring a brighter tomorrow.
In the coming days I'll be going all over this great garden of ours to talk to everyone about what can be done to get things back on track! I look forward to speaking to each and everyone of you!
Thank you!

If you were to ask a frog what he thought he'd probably not see what the hype was about. Flowers, Vegetables, what difference does it make? They're all just potted plants.

Clinton '08

2007-01-20T19:14:00.000-05:00

She follows Obama and makes the counter-move. And here I thought I wasn't going to voting Republican in '08!

I like the world today...

2007-01-20T09:51:00.000-05:00

I like it when it's green...

Obama the Smoker

2007-01-17T22:56:00.000-05:00

I like him even more!

Obama '08

2007-01-16T22:06:00.000-05:00

It's on. Your move, Hillary.

MLK

2007-01-15T21:44:00.000-05:00

Rome

2007-01-14T20:55:00.000-05:00

The HBO series Rome returns tonight. Sadly, we do not get HBO at our apartment. Consider this an open thread to tell us what happened in this week's episode, as well as what you thought of it.

More Scissor Sisters

2007-01-13T23:27:00.000-05:00

They're no mere musical group, says Sullivan: they are a revolution! I just like the songs, personally.

Down With Baby Boomers!

2007-01-12T16:32:00.000-05:00

Robert Samuelson makes the case for massive entitlement reform here.

More Court!

2007-01-12T15:54:00.000-05:00

If you're an avid court-watcher, or if you have any interest at all in the workings of the judiciary, I urge you to read this very thorough article on Chief Justice John Roberts. The article is based on what must have been an incredibly compelling interview with Roberts, in which he lays out how the Supreme Court must deal with the modern-day politics of personality (among other things) to retain its prestige.

Money quote:

“A justice is not like a law professor, who might say, ‘This is my theory … and this is what I’m going to be faithful to and consistent with,’ and in twenty years will look back and say, ‘I had a consistent theory of the First Amendment as applied to a particular area,’” he explained. Instead of nine justices moving in nine separate directions, Roberts said, “it would be good to have a commitment on the part of the Court to acting as a Court, rather than being more concerned about the consistency and coherency of an individual judicial record.”

Read it all (hat tip: Volokh, of course).

One-Hundred and Fifty

2007-01-11T22:18:00.000-05:00

Tonight at dinner, Boudicca and I realized that this year marks the 150th anniversary of the Dred Scott decision, in my opinion the single worst decision in the history of the United States.

Well, except for Roe.

Escalation

2007-01-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

So, by Bush's leave, it's an escalation of the war in Iraq. The additional 21,500 troops will be sent into Baghdad and Anbar province to pacify the area. I think the concept is fatally flawed - per Andrew Sullivan, "enough troops to lose" - but that was never the point, was it?

The real question is this: given the substantial opposition to the troop increase among Democrats (and in surprising quarters of the Republican Party), and given that the Democrats control both the House and the Senate, will the Legislature regain its composure and dignity long enough to oppose a policy they detest?

My money's on "no."

Mankind's best/worst Achievement

2007-01-10T21:28:00.000-05:00

Your quest into Youtube reminds me of something Rich and Nate are quickly running to. At first Youtube was a god send straight from Rich's lightning god (don't ask), but now they're getting bored with it. The main problem they seem to have is coming up with things they want to see.
What does one want when one can get whatever one wants? If anyone knows please tell them.
Trust me, they're all ears.

In a Little While

2007-01-09T20:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry to post two videos in a row, but YouTube is just so fun, you know? Anyway, this next clip U2 and Brandon Flowers duet on one of my favorite U2 songs, "In A Little While." Give it a listen.

Irony Explosion

2007-01-08T20:55:00.000-05:00

Israel to nuke Iran! ..shhh..don't tell anybody though..

2007-01-07T21:51:00.000-05:00

I opened up Drudge this morning and what is it that I see? A headline bigger than my arm saying Israel has secret plans to nuke Iran before Iran nukes Israel. At least they were secret plans before this morning.

Now I'm all for freedom of the press, but this story shouldn't have happened. What point does it serve other than to inflame an already tense situation? Iran could easily read this and decide to launch a preemptive strike before Israel's preemptive strike.

I'm not saying the press should be outright censored (even though it should be), but editors should have some sense of what they're putting out there and what effect it will end up having on the readers. Running a scoop on Paris Hilton is one thing, running one on secret plans for nuclear attacks is another.

I look forward to you disagreeing. That's your cue Shawn..

This is Interesting

2007-01-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

So newly released files tell us that Rehnquist was zonked out of his mind on painkillers in the early 80s. Who's on what today?

Brownback '08

2007-01-06T22:57:00.000-05:00

Are you as excited as I am about this? That's right, God's Own Senator(tm) is going to run for President.

My only serious question at this hour is the following: what does this do to Romney's chances?

The Scissor Sisters

2007-01-05T20:15:00.000-05:00

Is it wrong that I like this song?

The Talented Tenth?

2007-01-04T21:57:00.000-05:00

With the Democrats' success at the polls in 2006, a fair number of House committees and subcommittees are now led by members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Indeed, I heard it said on the radio today that black members of Congress now have a greater role in the affairs of the Republic than at any time in our history. This can only be to the good.

And yet I can't help but notice the divergent paths forged by the black elite and the bulk of their constituency since the 1960s, when the black vote was freed from Jim Crow and became an electoral force. The census offers a stark tale: over that time, illegitimacy rates have gone from the low 20s to the high 60s; black men are now in prison in far greater numbers than their proportion in society; black poverty rates remain consistently higher than those of whites. The political successes of black candidates - such as in the '06 election - have not, it seems, improved the lot of most of their supporters.

It all returns me to the old argument between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. Washington said the way forward was through self-reliance and industry, and since nothing could be done about white racism and discrimination, it should merely be endured. In the end, he argued, a self-empowered and economically vibrant black community would be the best defense against discrimination, indeed its eventual downfall.

DuBois, on the other hand, argued that Washington was an accommodationist who would do the black community no good. He advocated for a so-called "Talented Tenth" of classically schooled intellectuals who would push for social change, leading the community into the broad uplands of social and legal equality. The rest would follow from that.

In the current political elite we have something of a Tenth (talented or no). What strikes me is not how well they have fostered equality and economic opportunity, but rather how well they have become part of the self-serving establishment. Really, how is a CBC member any different from a conservative white politician who riles up his poor white constituency with wild talk about abortion or gay marriage? The sentiment is the same in both cases: it's about being represented by someone who looks and acts exactly like you. Results are less important than the symbolism of being represented by "one of us." Identity politics.

So I'm left ambivalent about it all. While it's oddly comforting that black politicians have finally reached the same level of do-nothing symbolism and allegiance to the establishment as their white counterparts (what perverse equality!), I don't see how anyone else really benefits from it. But, as always, I'm open to your thoughts on the matter.

Do You Still Beat Your Wife?

2007-01-04T21:47:00.000-05:00

... and do you follow the Hadith while doing it?

BloggingHeads

2007-01-03T21:57:00.000-05:00

If you have an hour or so, consider watching these fascinating and erudite video blogs. The two men featured are Robert Wright and Andrew Sullivan, respectively. The opening of the second one is particularly compelling, as Sullivan apologizes for his part in selling the Iraq War. So throughly does he apologize that Wright has no comeback! Give 'em a look.

'07 Predictions

2007-01-02T19:12:00.000-05:00

As a companion piece to Boudicca's post below on New Year's Resolutions, I'm asking for your predictions for this year. What will happen in 2007 politically? Economically? Culturally? I want to hear from you.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T15:54:00.000-05:00

Welcome to 2007! I hope you all were able to party heartily (yet safely) to ring in the new year, and I'm curious about your New Year's Resolutions. It goes without saying that you have all resolved to read this blog more and comment frequently.

Do you have anything else exciting planned for your clean calendrical slate?

Holocaust Denial and prison

2006-12-21T22:59:00.000-05:00

So, you may have thought about this before, as it comes up every once and a while, but a British historian who was jailed for Holocaust denial for a year was just released and booted out of Austria.

Now, a case like this leaves me pretty torn. Does it really make sense to jail someone for 3 years (that was the original sentence) just for saying that Auschwitz didn't happen? It is certainly a daft statement, but is it prison-worthy? I want to say no. Yet, at the same time, he defends himself by saying that "I was put in prison for three years for expressing an opinion 17 years ago". While the fact that is was 17 years ago and he has since supposedly changed his outlook on the Holocaust, that makes the jailing seem more silly, yet doesn't. The Holocaust isn't an opinion. It's a fact. It happened or it didn't, and a lot of people who were there and somehow survived can tell you all about it. So, the part about being 17 years ago notwithstanding, what do you all think about jailing people for Holocaust denial?

It is a privilege to fight!

2006-12-15T17:24:00.000-05:00

....especially when it involves the battle against the UK for Geography Knowledge Supremacy!

It only takes a few minutes of your time. The challenge is correctly identifying 13 countries in the span of 2 minutes.

Give it your best at The Geography Cup. Good luck! America! **** Yeah!

Happy Birthday!

2006-12-11T08:10:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to our dear friend Prometheus!

To the Optimates contributors, commenters, and readers we saw Saturday at Prometheus's birthday party, it was so wonderful to finally meet you! Tacitean and I had a lovely time in New York City, so you can definitely expect to see more of us in the future.

For now, I hereby open the floor to birthday greetings for the birthday boy!

So THIS is what insane looks like!

2006-12-05T17:24:00.000-05:00

Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit is currently holding an "Iraq Symposium." The basic idea is to see if the blogosphere has any good ideas for fixing the mess. Well, I haven't had the time to look through them all, but one of them is completely off the rails. It's to be found in full at this website, and here's a taste of the madness:

"The US will back any non-aligned, Islamic forces to secure the holy cities in Saudi Arabia for ALL MUSLIMS. No muslim will be denied entry as part of this bargain. We will need 10,000 or so troops to do this and you will get aircover from the mightiest air forces on the planet. Luckily, the US owns them completely. Administration of the Cities will be done by 'Unity Councils' and supported by foreign donations. Every single sect of Islam gets ONE VOTE on the council. Size does not matter in this. It is FAITH that matters."

I think that's definitely what would solve the problems in Iraq - a war against Saudi Arabia, led from the skies by the United States and on the ground by "non-aligned, Islamic forces." Read the whole thing. Seriously, it's psychotic.

Schools and Race

2006-12-04T16:13:00.000-05:00

That's the topic at the Supreme Court today: are school districts justified - and more importantly, within their legal boundaries - when they design programs to promote racial integration. In this particular instance, the school districts of Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle, Washington have been sued for denying children their first choice of school, a decision which their parents allege is based on their race.

Here are the specifics of the Louisvile plan (via the Washington Post) and how it led to the lawsuit:

...It requires elementary school parents to rank their preferences from among a group of schools in their geographic area. In more than 90 percent of the cases, officials say, parents and students get their first or second choice. If not, they can apply for a transfer. But the Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, where African Americans make up 34 percent of the student body, wants to limit the black student population of each school to no less than 15 percent and no more than 50 percent. So in 2002, Joshua McDonald's kindergarten transfer was denied because it would have reduced the number of white students at the school to which he was assigned.

What do you think?

Gun Laws

2006-12-04T15:46:00.000-05:00

Eugene Volokh has put together a very short compendium on the right to bear arms in the state governments. It can be found here.

What's very interesting to me is not only that 44 state constitutions have provisions similar to the federal Second Amendment, but that the protections vary in scope. Some states grant the individual citizen an unambiguous right to firearms, whereas others grant the right but with certain provisos. Six states grant no official rights whatsoever: California, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York. Take from that what you will.

Now, Maryland

2006-12-03T14:53:00.000-05:00

Dale Carpenter over at Volokh brings it to our attention that this week Maryland's court is going to hear oral arguments on marriage equality.

I've got little to say on the issue that I haven't already said in previous posts (not only that, but my real commentary can only take place after a decision is handed down), but I thought I would bring the matter to your attention. Feel free to look through the relevant documents here.

Comments, as always, are welcome.

More Time

2006-12-03T14:45:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody, sorry I was out for the week with little notice. As I think I've told you, this week was my first at a new job and I wanted to make sure I was squared away there before I put up some posts here. But with the first week out of the way, I can get back into it here. Expect some posts in short order.

At least one thing you probably didn't know about Bill Clinton...

2006-12-03T10:52:00.000-05:00

And more in this incredible GQ interview with Al Gore.

And then, if you're like me, weep a little bit for the last six years.

My favorite part:

What kind of freedom do you feel now that you didn’t feel when you were running?
You know my all time favorite Onion headline—you read The Onion?—sometime in the summer of 2001, the lead story on the front page had a picture of Tipper and me, and the headline was, “Gores Enjoying Best Sex of Their Lives.” And she said, “How did they know?”

Awesome.

Staggering

2006-11-27T19:39:00.000-05:00

Compare and contrast...