Category Archives: Uncategorized

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Mahan is the man

Hunter Mahan is now a hero to expectant mothers around the world.

OK, heā€™s not exactly a household name, but heā€™s going to become one in short order.

Mahan is a professional golfer. This past week he was leading the Canadian Open after the first round when his cellphone rang. His pregnant wife was on the other end telling her hubby she was going into labor. With that bit of news, Mahan said ā€œgoodbyeā€ to his caddie and his fellow golf pros and headed home to be at his wifeā€™s side.

This is a big deal for a couple of reasons.

First of all, it demonstrates to men all over the planet the importance of family. No matter how important you think your job may be, or how big a deal it is for you to complete whatever transaction in which you are engaged, nothing matters if you donā€™t take care of things at home.

Second, Mahan stood to make a lot of money this weekend. Had he kept his lead at the Canadian Open and won the event, he would have pocketed more than a million bucks. Thatā€™s a lot of money in anyoneā€™s book, but the young man has made a good bit more than that already on the Professional Golfers Association tour. I donā€™t think itā€™s money he would dismiss as so much chump change.

I trust his wife ā€“ despite his surrendering a substantial payday ā€“ was glad to see him.

With all the male misbehavior being reported these days in and out of the sports world, this story ought to make any red-blooded man ā€“ not to mention expectant mothers ā€“ feel good. Well done, Hunter.

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Kennedy is qualified to be envoy

The chattering class is yammering over whether Caroline Kennedy is qualified to become the next U.S. ambassador to Japan.

Sheā€™s never held elected office, or run a big public agency, or managed a political campaign, or been schooled in the details of U.S. diplomacy. Thatā€™s what theyā€™re saying.

Iā€™ll reiterate yet again that Kennedy is qualified by virtue of the criteria presidents of both parties set for these high-profile ambassadorial assignments. Sheā€™s a big supporter of the man who occupies the White House and thatā€™s good enough.

Allow me this comparison: Teel Bivinsā€™s appointment to be U.S. ambassador to Sweden.

What qualified the late Amarillo state senator? Well, he was a big fundraiser for President George W. Bush. He campaigned diligently for the then-Texas governor when he was running for president in 2000. Bivins held exactly one elected office, that of state senator, before being tapped in 2003 to present his credentials to the Swedish government in Stockholm.

By all accounts, Bivins did a fine job representing U.S. interests in the Baltic region of Europe. How did he do that? He was surrounded by a competent staff of career foreign service officers who taught everything he needed to know about Sweden, not to mention about diplomatic protocol.

Iā€™ll concede that Sweden isnā€™t nearly the economic powerhouse that Japan has become. Still, Sweden is no Third World backwater. It has a vibrant automobile industry and it manufactures fighter jets that are sold to many nations around the world. It is one of he worldā€™s most socialized countries. It taxes its citizens heavily to pay for things like medical care.

That was the environment into which Teel Bivins, a staunch conservative Texas Republican lawmaker was thrown.

He did just fine.

Kennedy has access to even more expertise than Bivins ever had. Sheā€™s a well-educated lawyer who comes from the nationā€™s premier political families. She could be a quick study on the complexities of Japanā€™s economy, its geopolitical importance and its key role in keeping the peace in east Asia.

I donā€™t doubt for a minute that sheā€™s qualified.

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Interview says it all about right-wing media

There is virtually nothing anyone can add to the video linked to this blog post that explains or analyzes completely the utter incompetence of this Fox News Channel interview with a religious scholar.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/is-this-the-most-embarrassing-interview-fox-news-has-ever-do

The interviewer is trying to put words into her subjectā€™s mouth, trying to get him to admit to some kind of anti-Christian bias ā€“ which the subject, author and scholar Reza Aslan, says does not exist. He said it many times during the course of this 10-minute segment.

It is a stunning display of attempted ā€œgotcha journalismā€ from the network that purports to be ā€œfair and balanced.ā€

Iā€™ll just let the video speak for itself.

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Tea Party vs. Establishment GOP

Itā€™s going to be fun watching the tea party wing of the Republican Party take on the old dogs of the GOP.

Itā€™ll be over Obamacare and whether itā€™s prudent to shut down the government to deprive the Affordable Care Act of the funds it will need to become operational.

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/313819-obamacare-funding-battle-pits-tea-party-vs-establishment-gop

Hereā€™s what I see happening.

The establishment wing of the party knows the dangers of shutting the government down to prove some kind of political point. The Republicans tried that in the late 1990s. You remember that, yes? House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his band of GOP insurgents shut ā€˜er down over a budget fight with the Clinton administration; turned out Newtie really was mad because President Clinton didnā€™t give him a choice seat aboard Air Force One ā€“ but I digress.

The government shutdown didnā€™t work well for Gingrich and his Republican foot soldiers. They ended up getting their heads handed to them in the 1998 mid-term elections, Gingrich ended up quitting the House and President Clinton ā€“ despite being impeached by the House ā€“ ended his presidency on a high note.

The establishment guys remember all that. Their memories are painful. The tea party guys are new to this game of D.C. hardball politics. Theyā€™re righteous in their cause and, by golly, theyā€™re going to have it their way or else.

I feel compelled to remind them that Newt Gingrich once was a righteous revolutionary who knew how to obtain power, but didnā€™t have a clue about what to do when it came time to actually use it.

A part of me is beginning to believe that history is going to repeat itself.

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Scandals know no partisan bounds

A word of caution is due to Republicans here and across the country as they watch the struggles of three well-known Democratic politicians.

Let’s not gloat, folks.

Anthony Weiner wants to run for mayor of New York. Bob Filner already is mayor of San Diego, Calif. Eliot Spitzer, the former governor of New York, now wants to become NYC’s comptroller. All three of them have made headlines for (in order) sending text messages and videos of a certain functional body part to women; groping and speaking hideously to female staffers; consorting with prostitutes.

Some Republicans are relishing the troubles that have befallen these Democrats. One noted conservative columnist and Fox News TV commentator, Michelle Malkin, recently tweeted about how silent Rep. Nancy Pelosi and other Dems have been about Filner’s difficulty; I responded to her with a tweet thatĀ advised her to cool the “partisan perv” talk.

The record shows that Republicans have endured more than their share of sexually related difficulties. To wit:

House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s extramarital affair with a staffer while he was blasting President Clinton for his own marital misbehavior; U.S. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana becoming involved with a call girl; U.S. Rep. Mark Foley’s email flirtations with underage congressional pages; U.S. Sen. John Ensign’s marital infidelity; U.S. Sen. Larry Craig’s arrest (and this is my favorite scandal) for making indecent sexual advances to others inside a men’s restroom at aĀ Minnesota airport.

Let’s stipulate that all three men now caught in the sexual perversion vise — Weiner, Filner and Spitzer — deserve every bit of the scorn they’re getting.

Misbehavior by male politicians, though, hardly is aĀ partisan endeavor. Pols from both parties in recent years have garnered their share of infamy.

Ā 

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Keep jails in public hands

Curry County, N.M., officials are considering a bad idea, which is to hire a private company to run their county jail.

At issue is a $9.9 million bond issue to be decided Aug. 6. It would finance construction of a new jail in downtown Clovis. I wonā€™t comment on the wisdom of that site, although I will refer to an editorial in the Clovis News-Journal that says itā€™s a bad idea, given that downtown is a magnet for families who shop and eat there.

http://www.cnjonline.com/2013/07/27/new-jail-bond-hard-to-sell-with-poor-planning/

Iā€™ll reserve my comments for the wisdom of farming this out to a private company. Iā€™ve noted before I think thatā€™s a bad idea. Iā€™ve long had concerns about accountability and whether private companies can be held to the same strict accountability standards as public taxing authorities, such as cities and counties.

What goes on inside the jail walls ought to be the publicā€™s business. Yes, Iā€™m aware that jail standards would have to be met and that state officials would be able to monitor their activities.

But there seems to be an overarching public responsibility that needs to be honored. We pay police officers to arrest criminal suspects; we pay for courts to try them, and that includes prosecutors and on occasion we even pay defense counsel to represent the accused; and we ought to pay for the defendantsā€™ housing in jail before and during their trial.

It ought to go with the territory.

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Nugent embodies right-wing lunacy

Ted Nugent doesn’t speak for most reasonable Americans. He speaks for himself and the crazed lunatics among us who share his racist, homophobic, xenophobic world view.

He sits on the National Rifle Association board. A group called “StopĀ Gun Violence,” an acknowledged foe of the NRA, wonders why the pro-gun group doesn’t boot Nugent off its board.

http://csgv.org/action/tell-the-nra-remove-ted-nugent-from-your-board/

Why, indeed, doesn’t the NRA act?

The Motor City Madman has been on a roll of late, as the link attached to this blog post will attest. No need to repeat his rants. Suffice to say he is out of control.

There he is, though, promoting the NRA agenda — which when it comes to background checks for gun buyers — doesn’t even agree with rank-and-file NRA members, who support background checks.

He makes news when he twists off the way he does because he once was a reasonably popular rock musician. He now has become caricature of himself and the views he espouses.

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This slug should slither away

Bob Filner is a slug.

Don’t take my word for it. The San Diego mayor has all but described himself that way.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/bob-filner-announcement-sexual-harassment-94815.html?hp=l12

He’s admitted to groping women, saying unbelievably crass things to them, accosting them, making their working lives miserable. He needs to resign his office. But he won’t.

Filner, the former Democratic congressman from southern California, instead says he’ll enter two weeks or rehabilitation to cure himself of theĀ demons that drive him to do these horrible things.

The man doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand that he no longer can represent his fine city.

Filner is just the latest pol to get himself into some serious political trouble. The other, of course, is Anthony Weiner, the former congressman who’s now running for mayor of New York. I’ve already declared my desire for Weiner to stay in the race and let voters cast him aside — which they should do.

Filner needs to take another course. He’s already in the office. He’s already betrayed the trust of everyone who’s supported him.

Filner needs to go to rehab as a private citizen, try to fix what ails him and perhaps try to reassemble what’s left of his life. And it’s going to take a lot longer than two weeks.

Ā 

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AG picks fight with Texas

Well, thatā€™s a big surprise. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the federal government is suing Texas to make sure the state follows federal civil-rights law ā€“ and Texas Republicans go ballistic, saying the feds are picking on the Lone Star State.

Someone has to be singled out, yes? If not Texas, then which state feels the heat? Mississippi? Alabama? Georgia?

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/313535-texas-gop-pans-holder-move

Holder has asked a court to require Texas to obtain ā€œpre-clearanceā€ before enacting any state laws governing Texansā€™ voting rights. It seems Texas is one of those states with some history of denying certain folks full access to voting rights based on their race or ethnicity. The U.S. Supreme Court decided earlier this year that the federal requirement is no longer necessary and has left these decisions up to the states.

The AG says thatā€™s not good enough.

Thus, the Justice Department is taking action to ensure that Texas complies right off the top.

I applaud the attorney general for seeking to guarantee that the rights of full citizenship for all Americans ā€“ even those who live in Texas ā€“ are protected under federal law.

The Hill said this in reporting the story:

ā€œWhite House spokesman Josh Earnest defended the move, saying ā€˜the goal of the administrationā€¦ is to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans.’  

ā€˜ā€œThat includes protecting the voting rights of all Americans who are eligible to vote ā€“ thatā€™s the goal here,ā€™ Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One. ā€˜I would assume that that would be a goal that would also be supported by congressional Republicans. Weā€™ll see.ā€™”

Members of the stateā€™s congressional delegation, dominated of course by Republicans, see it differently.

ā€œMy belief is (the) Voting Rights Act and those laws ought to be applied equally across states, and not played for political games, which is exactly what I see happening here,ā€ U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady said. ā€œEric Holder (is) just singling us out ā€“ just skipped through the alphabet and happened to land on Texas.ā€

Something tells me the Justice Department doesnā€™t really care what Texas Republicans ā€“ given their intense antipathy toward the president and his administration ā€“ think of its voting-rights policy.

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Dr. Coburn is right about shutdown effect

U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn is an Oklahoma Republican who joins his GOP colleagues in hating the Affordable Care Act.

But the man also understands the consequences of shutting down the federal government to make a political point about ending what’s known as Obamacare.

Don’t do it, Sen. CoburnĀ warns.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/313845-coburn-government-shutdown-would-destroy-the-gop

A government shutdown would destroy the Republican Party, he told the Washington Examiner.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has this idea to quit operating the federal government if it results in getting rid of Obamacare. He’s been joined by some of the party firebrands, such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Such a shutdown could occur later this year as the White House and congressional Republicans lock horns in their ongoing battle over federal spending.

Someone ought to remind Lee, Cruz and some of the other political pistols on the right that Congress enacted the ACA, which then withstood a challenge in the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled in June 2012 that the law isĀ constitutional and it should stand.

Yet the foes persist time and again trying to get rid of a law they contend constitutes a federal overreach.

And now they’re threatening to shut the government down to make their point?

Quick. Put out a call toĀ former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who also led a government shutdown in the 1990s. The shutdown helped doomĀ Gingrich’s speakership.

What’s that saying about the consequences of ignoring the lessons of history?

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