By Your Leave, Miss Boxer...
Senator Boxer appeared on Wednesday particularly sensitive at an EPW hearing in response to a military officer's response to her question:
Do me a favor. Could you say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am?' It's just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title, so I'd appreciate it, yes, thank you.
I understand that the junior US Senator from California may not be that familiar with military protocol; after all, it's not like there are any military bases in California, right?
According to Military Protocol Uniformed Services:
According to Military Protocol Uniformed Services:
Officers who are at the rank of Commander or above are usually addressed by their rank i.e.. "Good Morning Commander Jones" or "Good afternoon General Smith". You can never go wrong by using "Sir" or "Ma'am", but it is a nice touch if you can properly address a senior officer.
Of course, Senator Wicker (R-MS) didn't similarly object when a general recently responded to his question with "Yes, sir!" I guess that he didn't work that hard to get his title of senator...
But I think I understand Senator Boxer's confusion. After all, the Military Protocol also states this:
But I think I understand Senator Boxer's confusion. After all, the Military Protocol also states this:
In the Navy and Coast Guard, Officers below the rank of Commander (0-5) are usually addressed as "Mister" or "Miss" depending on the situation.
Hence, how I would interpret it in the context of senators from a state, that the senior senator from a state (i.e., Senator Feinstein) is entitled to be called "Ma'am", but a junior senator (i.e., Senator Boxer) may be addressed as "Miss".
By your leave, Miss Boxer...
INSPECTORGATE: Obama Brings Chicago-Style Politics to the White House
By your leave, Miss Boxer...
INSPECTORGATE: Obama Brings Chicago-Style Politics to the White House
Before Obama became President, he co-sponsored a key ethical reform written by Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill: toughening of Inspector General positions to make these auditor-type positions more independent and less susceptible to political influence--in particular, the White House. These positions, by their very nature, are sensitive, and unlike the positions of US Attorneys, do not simply work at the pleasure of the President (no matter how Democrats wanted to rake former Attorney General Gonzales over the coals), the President has a relevant 30-day window and must furnish reasons in writing.
There have been multiple controversial events lately, the most prominent of which was the firing of Gerald Walpin, inspector generator for the Corporation for National and Community Service. The White House was initially silent on specifying reasons, drawing a rare rebuke from Democratic Senator McCaskill. The White House finally responded, claiming that Walpin "was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve....had engaged in other troubling and inappropriate conduct..had become unduly disruptive to agency operations, impairing his effectiveness…" McCaskill indicated that she was satisfied, but I believe that any reasonable person would find this explanation fairly transparent, little more than an ageist smear against the 78-year-old Walpin. Without knowing the specifics, I suspect that Walpin may have walked into a pack dog ambush, being peppered by a barrage of detailed questions, having his answers interrupted, etc.: totally political (cf. Glenn Beck's interview with Walpin for additional context; Beck noted that two days before the termination and after the meeting in question, Walpin gave a 20-minute speech in front of 2000 staffers in San Francisco at the request of the administration, which seems to undermine their rationale for termination.). Walpin had angered the White House by targeting one of Obama's key supporters, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, whom Walpin suspected of having misused federal funds.
A second case involved acting IG for the International Trade Commission, Judith Gwynne, whom was told that she would not be be renewed less than 3 hours after Senator Grassley wrote a letter demanding an explanation for an earlier incident where an agency employee forcibly took documents from Gwynne.
A third case involves stonewalling of the financial stimulus spending watchdog, Neil Barofsky, by the Treasury Department which has withheld certain requested documents, dubiously citing "attorney-client privilege".
Summertime: Time to Ditch the Agrarian/Traditional School Calendar
I get somewhat annoyed by the nitpickers whom argue that, for example, that the 'agrarian' calendar is not so agrarian, pointing out planting typically takes place in the spring and harvesting in the autumn and suggest that other reasons (e.g., Northern schools without central air conditioning) are at play. I have little patience with the state-of-denial defenders of the unacceptable status quo, the counterreformers (e.g., , supported by vested interests, such as summer vacation destinations, summer camp, amusement parks, etc.), arguing that the summertime learning is just as, if not more valid, including friendships and group activities in camp, summer job experience, and family quality time.
There have been multiple controversial events lately, the most prominent of which was the firing of Gerald Walpin, inspector generator for the Corporation for National and Community Service. The White House was initially silent on specifying reasons, drawing a rare rebuke from Democratic Senator McCaskill. The White House finally responded, claiming that Walpin "was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve....had engaged in other troubling and inappropriate conduct..had become unduly disruptive to agency operations, impairing his effectiveness…" McCaskill indicated that she was satisfied, but I believe that any reasonable person would find this explanation fairly transparent, little more than an ageist smear against the 78-year-old Walpin. Without knowing the specifics, I suspect that Walpin may have walked into a pack dog ambush, being peppered by a barrage of detailed questions, having his answers interrupted, etc.: totally political (cf. Glenn Beck's interview with Walpin for additional context; Beck noted that two days before the termination and after the meeting in question, Walpin gave a 20-minute speech in front of 2000 staffers in San Francisco at the request of the administration, which seems to undermine their rationale for termination.). Walpin had angered the White House by targeting one of Obama's key supporters, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, whom Walpin suspected of having misused federal funds.
A second case involved acting IG for the International Trade Commission, Judith Gwynne, whom was told that she would not be be renewed less than 3 hours after Senator Grassley wrote a letter demanding an explanation for an earlier incident where an agency employee forcibly took documents from Gwynne.
A third case involves stonewalling of the financial stimulus spending watchdog, Neil Barofsky, by the Treasury Department which has withheld certain requested documents, dubiously citing "attorney-client privilege".
Summertime: Time to Ditch the Agrarian/Traditional School Calendar
I get somewhat annoyed by the nitpickers whom argue that, for example, that the 'agrarian' calendar is not so agrarian, pointing out planting typically takes place in the spring and harvesting in the autumn and suggest that other reasons (e.g., Northern schools without central air conditioning) are at play. I have little patience with the state-of-denial defenders of the unacceptable status quo, the counterreformers (e.g., , supported by vested interests, such as summer vacation destinations, summer camp, amusement parks, etc.), arguing that the summertime learning is just as, if not more valid, including friendships and group activities in camp, summer job experience, and family quality time.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan has won a measured degree of respect from me for having the audacity to say the following:
Go ahead and boo me. I fundamentally think that our school day is too short, our school week is too short and our school year is too short. You're competing for jobs with kids from India and China. I think schools should be open six, seven days a week; 11, 12 months a year.
But there's no doubt a traditional 10-week or longer summer break simply is a luxury this country can no longer afford: our students are routinely outscored by those from others countries requiring another 50 days of school each academic year. We have a serious problem with urban schools, both in quality (often comparable to a junior high level in suburban schools) and in terms of dropout rates.
My issue with Arne Duncan and Obama on this topic is not so much their intent, but as to the facts on the ground. There is multi-faceted resistance to change: many parents don't like school schedules interfering with family plans, and teacher unions fight tooth-and-nail any attempt to yield more administrative control over teacher evaluations and retention, work rules, and incentivized, market-based compensation and have a vested interest in a local educational monopoly. I'm afraid unless Barack Obama is willing to spend political capital to take on his union allies--and his unconscionable penny-wise, pound-foolish decision to throw securitized bondholders under the bus in the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies in favor of his union cronies is not promising--the federal government's massive pumping of deficit spending into the nation's schools will do little more than subsidize ineffectual state/local educational spending. In other words, it's not "change" but "more of the same".
