Monthly Archives: July 2013

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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 “Stop 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 the 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.

 

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AG picks fight with Texas

Well, that’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 – 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 “pre-clearance” before enacting any state laws governing Texans’ 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 that’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 – even those who live in Texas – are protected under federal law.

The Hill said this in reporting the story:

“White House spokesman Josh Earnest defended the move, saying ‘the goal of the administration… is to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans.’  

‘“That includes protecting the voting rights of all Americans who are eligible to vote – that’s the goal here,’ Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One. ‘I would assume that that would be a goal that would also be supported by congressional Republicans. We’ll see.’”

Members of the state’s congressional delegation, dominated of course by Republicans, see it differently.

“My 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,” U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady said. “Eric Holder (is) just singling us out – just skipped through the alphabet and happened to land on Texas.”

Something tells me the Justice Department doesn’t really care what Texas Republicans – given their intense antipathy toward the president and his administration – 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. Coburn 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 is 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 to former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who also led a government shutdown in the 1990s. The shutdown helped doom Gingrich’s speakership.

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

 

 

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Dreamliner in trouble … again

I’m beginning to feel like one of the few, the proud who’ve gotten to fly on Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner – before it gets grounded for keeps.

Another Dreamliner experienced problems today, this time at London Heathrow Airport. The Ethiopian Airlines jetliner caught fire, forcing the airport to close for an hour.

http://thehill.com/video/in-the-news/310719-boeing-dreamliner-airplane-catches-fire-in-london

My own history – brief as it is – with the Dreamliner is kind of interesting. I was flying to Portland from Amarillo in June, via Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Weather – along with some human error – forced me to spend the night in Houston. I woke up the next morning and boarded a Dreamliner for a flight to Denver – but the plane wouldn’t start. We all got off the plane and boarded another Dreamliner and made the trip to Denver.

I must say the Dreamliner is a nice bird on which to fly. It has all kinds of leg room even for those of us in the cheap seats, which are a bit wider than they are on other aircraft.

But it keeps having all these issues. Electrical problems grounded the fleet worldwide for months. They keep catching fire. The plane cannot seem to operate safely over an extended period of time.

I hope this doesn’t doom the aircraft. It’s supposed to be the latest and greatest air travel innovation since, well, perhaps the 747 Jumbo Jet.

As it stands at the moment, I’m feeling somewhat privileged to say I’ve flown on one of these birds – and actually enjoyed the ride.

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Ariel Castro will lead some kind of life

Ariel Castro, who held three girls captive for as long as 10 years, has accepted a plea deal that spares him the death chamber in Ohio.

He’s heading to the slammer for the rest of his life.

Some of my friends have chimed in on social media in the past few hours about the deal and what it means for Castro. They’ve invoked the name of another monster, one Jeffrey Dahmer, suggesting Castro could meet the same fate as the late Wisconsin Cannibal.

Dahmer was thrown into prison in the 1990s after it was revealed he had killed and actually eaten many of his victims, some of whom were children. Wisconsin hasn’t had the death penalty since 1853. So, when Dahmer was sent away to serve a life sentence in prison, the state’s prison authorities threw him to the wolves, so to speak.

Dahmer was sent into the general population. He was attacked twice by inmates. The second time took him out. He was beaten to death in November 1994.

This is one of those things no one has yet been able to prove, but I’ve long believed that Wisconsin officials knew Dahmer’s life would end that way when they sent him to live among the rest of the bad guys. Absent a death penalty, what the state got — if you’ll pardon the expression — was the next best thing.

Ariel Castro would have faced a death sentence had he been convicted of murdering his victims’ unborn children, which he had been accused of doing. The state would sought the death penalty and likely would have succeeded had Castro taken his case to court.

Now, though, he’s spared himself a one-way trip to the Ohio death chamber with a guilty plea. He’ll spend his the rest of his days in prison.

Will he meet the same fate as Jeffrey Dahmer? That will depend on whether Ohio prison authorities separate him from the rest of his new “friends.” 

If he’s forced to live among ’em, well, as the saying goes: Karma’s a bitch.

 

 

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GOP troubles with Hispanics keep growing

Two words — one syllable each — can describe just why the Republican Party cannot make inroads with the nation’s fastest-growing demographic group.

Steve King.

The Iowa GOP congressman has planted both feet inside his very large mouth and has drawn criticism from none other than the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2013/07/25/2355631/boehner-condemns-steve-king-comment/

King said recently that for every young illegal immigrant living the United States, 100 more of them are drug mules who pack illegal drugs across the border. Then he said they may be small in stature but they “have calves the size of cantaloupes.”

Boehner, also a Republican, has called King’s remarks “hateful” and mean. Do you think, Mr. Speaker?

King is among a minority of House Republicans who oppose immigration reform. He prefers to round all them illegals up and ship ’em back to wherever they came from. King fervently opposes the Dream Act pushed by President Obama, which would in effect grant amnesty to young U.S. residents who were brought here illegally as children but who have made this country their home.

As for Boehner, he is invoking a House rule that says a measure should be voted on only when a majority of the party in power — that means Republicans — favor it. The House is deciding what to do with the immigration reform bill approved by the Senate in a sweeping bipartisan vote in June. Most House Democrats favor it as does a significant number of Republicans. It has the support of the full House, but it won’t come to a vote unless most GOP members sign on.

Steve King’s big mouth and utter callousness ought to persuade Boehner that the majority-of-a-majority rule — named after former Speaker Dennis Hastert — needs some serious rethinking.

 

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Dear Judge Ware: Please explain this firing

Texas is an “at will” state, meaning that employers can fire employees for any reason, or for no reason. They concoct reasons for terminating employees.

That appears to be the case involving a long-standing Potter County administrative assistant and her boss, the county judge.

The judge is Arthur Ware. The administrative assistant is Nancy Tanner. Ware suffered a serious stroke in 2010. He’s been unable to communicate effectively ever since. Technically, he’s been on the job but much of the work that entails actually talking to constituents – such as probate hearings – has been farmed out to other county officials.

Nancy Tanner has indicated a desire to succeed Ware as county judge in 2014. She has announced her intention to consider running for the office. Tanner sent a letter to friends and supporters throughout the community recently expressing that desire. In the letter, she said that because of his physical condition, Ware “probably” won’t seek re-election next year. Tanner’s letter, though, mostly extolled her own qualifications, of which there are plenty. She knows the probate process inside and out; she’s been handling court administration for more than two decades. What’s more, she’s been a loyal aide to Judge Ware and professes to this day that she maintains great respect and affection for him.

The letter went out. And then, quite suddenly about two weeks ago, Ware informed Tanner that he is firing her. Hit the road, he said in effect.

OK, so what’s going on here? Tanner believes politics played a part in her dismissal. Ware isn’t saying anything about it. Some of his Commissioners Court colleagues are asking for a clarification – which they are correct to do.

State law doesn’t require Arthur Ware to give a single reason for making a personnel-related decision. So it appears he’s going to rest on that law, go about his business and perhaps hope the tempest subsides.

I don’t think it should until Ware explains why he dismissed his trusted administrative assistant who has declared her desire to succeed him.

The county has been roiled by controversy before. This won’t be the last time. But the man at the center of this story needs to tell his constituents of his plans. Will he seek re-election or not? Was Tanner’s summary firing related to the letter she sent out? Did it have anything to do with the presumption she made about whether he would run again? A full and detailed accounting of what happened is in order.

Nancy Tanner deserved better than what she got. What is done is done. Just because the law protects an elected official from having to explain himself doesn’t make it right for him to stonewall the public.

Talk to your bosses, Judge Ware – the people you serve as county judge.

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Weiner poll numbers numbers take a dive

This is what I’m talking about.

Anthony Weiner – aka Carlos Danger – is taking a serious hit in public standing as revelations about his latest “sexting” escapade start to sink in with New York City voters.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/25/poll-anthony-weiner_n_3653422.html

Weiner revealed this week that he engaged in lewd communications via the Internet after he resigned his congressional seat in 2011. He called a press conference with his wife, Huma Abedin, standing with him. The New York mayoral candidate vowed to “move forward” and will stay in the race until the end.

Good for him, and that’s not because I want him to win.

The former frontrunner is now running second behind fellow Democrat Christine Quinn, who’s about 9 percentage points ahead of Weiner.

Many pols and pundits have called for Weiner to drop out of the race. I maintain he should stay in and let the voters have their say. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that a majority of New York Democrats will nominate him. If they do, that’s to their discredit – but they have to live with the result. Thus, it’s their call to make. Not mine. Not anyone else’s.

My guess is that Weiner’s polling will continue to slide as primary day approaches. If he loses, then we’ll be done with the tasteless jokes. Let’s hope, too, the nation will be done with Anthony Weiner.

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What is to know about Japan?

Caroline Kennedy’s appointment as the next U.S. ambassador to Japan has raised some interesting – but altogether pointless – questions about her qualifications.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/world/asia/caroline-kennedy-picked-to-be-ambassador-to-japan.html?_r=1&

Some observers are wondering aloud about just what the late President Kennedy’s daughter knows about Japan. Still others have responded rhetorically by wondering what most ambassadors know about these plum assignments when they come from the president. What did former Vice President and U.S. Sen. Walter Mondale know about Japan when he became ambassador? How about former Sen. Howard Baker, or former Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield? Was the former U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley a Japan expert when he took the job? Hardly.

These prime ambassadorial appointments are political in nature. They generally go to big fundraisers, political heavy hitters – such as Mondale, Foley Baker or Mansfield – or individuals who’ve worked hard to elect the president.

If we’re going to ask about Caroline Kennedy’s knowledge of the intricacies of Japanese culture, we could ask the same thing about the late Teel Bivins, the Amarillo state senator who served for a time as U.S. ambassador to Sweden. What did the Republican senator know about that country when he took the post offered by President George W. Bush? My guess is “not much.” But Bivins was a smart man, well-educated and could bone up quickly on almost any challenge presented to him.

We can’t ask him now, given that Bivins is no longer with us. But he got that appointment because he raised a lot of money for Bush and worked hard in contested states to get him elected in 2000.

Ambassadors – particularly those who are posted in important countries – are meant to be the face and voice of the U.S. government. The embassies where they work are staffed by many career foreign service officers who’ve made it their mission to learn about the countries where they serve. These foreign service officers, if they’re faithful to the ambassador and to our government, will make the ambassador look good.

Caroline Kennedy is a fine choice to be our next ambassador to Japan. She is just as qualified as any of the individuals who’ve taken that post.