A 75-year-old former teacher and legislator, Juanita Goggins, whom was elected the first female black lawmaker in South Carolina in 1974 over a white incumbent male and was also a trailblazer in being named to the US Civil Rights Commission, was found dead from hypothermia in her rented home, apparently a week after her death, a few miles from the state capitol. Her heat was turned off--but days after her estimated death, and it appears that she had assets to cover her overdue bill. She was reclusive in the last few years of her life and rebuffed efforts from neighbors (whom weren't aware of her political past). No doubt Ms. Goggins must have experienced some form of dementia. As a Christian, I feel very sad about people whom fall through the cracks and die alone, without friends or family to check on them. You made a difference, Ms. Goggins; rest in peace.
Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Chief Justice Roberts Kerfuffle
The White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV-D) have responded to Chief Justice Roberts' complaint over the inappropriate nature of the President's in-your-face rejection of the Supreme Court's decision in favor of the free speech rights of corporations. Obama's argument is primarily ideological, not pragmatic; he views corporate free expression as inherently corrupting; at the same time, he complains about the role of lobbyists in Washington--my point of view being that, by his own admission, there is some influence of corporations, but it is not in the open. (Of course, in the eyes of Dems, unions, environmentalists, trial lawyers and other Democratic special interest groups are more equal than businesses.) It's not just that Obama and his fellow progressives want to continue the discriminatory censorship of business stakeholders, but there is no qualitative difference with other independent groups (including Soros-financed leftist organizations) advancing their viewpoints separate from the official campaigns. Furthermore, the court was even-handed in the sense businesses and unions would be able to advance their usually differing political points of view. This idea that corporations will essentially be buying American elections just because they now are allowed to express their own points of view is absurd. Having and spending the most money doesn't guarantee a victory; for example, in 2008 McCain won the GOP nomination despite Mitt Romney's overwhelming financial advantage and endorsements from key media conservatives. As usual, the paternalistic progressives like Obama lack faith in American voters making up their own minds given opposing campaign ads, regardless of the nature of funding.
Majority Leader Reid's response echoing the White House position was predictable and equally evasive of the Chief Justice's point regarding the intimidating nature of the President and the Congressional Democrats slamming the decision in a polemical, provocative manner. If the President, for instance, had calmly called for a constitutional amendment on campaign finance overturning the Justices' opinion, Chief Justice Roberts would not have objected. What you had from the President was not simply a politely worded disagreement. What Obama and his cheering Democratic legislators did was a violation of professional ethics, unworthy of a public servant.
Some Dems Already Trying to Temper Unrealistic Expectations
We are already seeing Democratic Congressional leaders beginning to acknowledge the obvious; for example, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD-D) has noted the need for both tax increases and spending cuts to rid of baked-in trillion dollar deficits (never mind unresolved entitlement solvency issues). Then there was this candid admission from Senator Durbin regarding whether the Democratic Party Health Care Bill will lower people's health insurance premiums (a claim, in fact, recently made by Obama himself):
Anyone who would stand before you and say 'well, if you pass health care reform next year's health care premiums are going down,' I don't think is telling the truth. I think it is likely they would go up.Political Cartoon
"It's not a bug, it's a feature." The man's response in this Steve Kelley cartoon reminds me of one of my favorite anecdotes to tell while lecturing. (In fact, you know how Obama has this irritating habit of laughing at his own jokes before he tells them? I'm usually quite good at wry ad libs others find hysterical, but when I retell this anecdote, I can barely tell the following without laughing out loud while telling it.) For those without an IT background, a bug is a computer program defect. This university lab was testing out a new computer language compiler (which translates computer programs to a form that machines can deal with). The testers discovered by accident that if a programmer forgot to attach a program terminating statement to the program card deck, there were nasty consequences, including wiping out computer memory and/or tapes. They dutifully reported back the issue to the vendor. When the compiler was released, the lab testers decided to double-check to see if the problem had been fixed and discovered the problem had NOT been fixed. Confused, they started reading through several hundred pages of documentation, seeing if the vendor addressed the issue. They then stumbled across a discussion which I'll paraphrase: "Normally you would have to pay extra for a utility that will go out and clean your computer memory, tapes, etc. We bundle this utility free of charge with our compiler. All you have to do is submit a program without an end statement. Not only that, the utility is very efficient: you can achieve the same result with very short programs." Kelley's joke works the same theme: guys love fast cars. Of course, when these "features" surface involuntarily or unintentionally (e.g., a beginning programmer error), they can be quite dangerous...
Quote of the Day
In men of the highest character and noblest genius there is to be found an insatiable desire for honour, command, power, and glory.
Cicero
Musical Interlude: Boy Songs
John Lennon, "Beautiful Boy"
Richard Harris, "My Boy"
Bobby Goldsboro, "Watching Scotty Grow"
The Hollies, "He Ain't Heavy...He's My Brother"
