Inauthentic is the New Authentic

Dan Kennedy is a veteran journalist covering the Boston area. When he sticks to that mission he's good.

To say he is a partisan of the Democrat Party is understatement at gold medal level if there were an Olympic event for that. When the Palin announcement came out, he was Johnny on the spot. I'm going out on a limb and say I have slight doubts that he said to himself, "Hmmmm, I'm going to research her and I do hope I only find good."

But it is older post that we are concerned with now.

On August 26 he wrote,

A presidential makeover

In my latest for the Guardian, I argue that two contrasting speeches by Michelle Obama show she understands what works in Chicago doesn't work on the national stage. Unfortunately for Democrats, the Obamas' efforts to reinvent themselves risk making them seem inauthentic and leave them vulnerable to Republican attack. (italics mine)

When the Obamas say something and get jittery, they change it and Dan is worried that mean spirited folks might notice. Noticing a contradiction in his eyes is bad form and I would not be shocked if he thinks it hate speech. He certainly feels it "wrong think" anyway.

Get over it Dan, "politics ain't bean bag."

So I commented

I don't understand the word "seem" here. Are you implying that the Obama's reinvention is genuine or only "seems" inauthentic?

Are not reinventers ipso facto inauthentic?

If that is so, then yes they are vulnerable to "genuine" attacks even from hacks like Severin*.

Another comment appeared,

Neil said....

A week or so ago Tom Ashbrook had as his On Point guest Richard Todd, the author of The Thing Itself, a kind of meditation on authenticity. I haven't read the book yet, I think it'll be on the fall pile, but he was quite witty about the slippery, even ineffable notion of what's "authentic". One caller mentioned that some Europeans come here specifically to experience "authentic" American kitsch of the sort we dismiss as worthless trash. Another talked about taking his students to Central America, where they searched for locally-made trinkets, and Indian souvenir shops selling items from China.

Last week in Montreal I nearly bought a hollow wooden frog that comes with a stick you clack across its back. For some reason I figured it was locally made. Label on the bottom: Made in Thailand. Uck no thanks, inauthentic! Had I been in Bangkok though, such a product of a local sweatshop would have been just the thing.

In short I think it's nearly impossible and maybe pointless to pick through the layers of the global economy in the search for "authentic" objects. And even more pointless to look for it in politicians who by nature must arrange themselves into configurations that the public can accept. How authentic is Ranchman Bush, or McCain and his "cabin"? The answer isn't that they are inauthentic, it's that to even imagine that authenticity can exist among such people, is absurd.

Republicans will of course attack Obama and his wife no matter how they behave, so hewing to some imaginary line of authenticity to avoid such attacks is pointless.

Et voilà, Inauthentic is the new authentic.

*Jay Severin is a goofy Boston talk show host whose buffoonery is chronicled here.

A speech for the ages, The Dark Ages

Hilary's vapid promise of everything for everybody is still reaping the plaudits of the msm and will be pilloried by talk radio today. I want to discuss what is, in our nation ancient history, the night before.

Ted Kennedy appeared before the faithful and gave maybe his last speech. I have dealt with the man and his illness before and see no need to here. Suffice it to say, the man could not put two words together on his own and has always been the creature of his staff.

The other night, he was ill served. Granted, I did not pay attention, the radio was background noise. What jarred me were the words, "To change America, to restore its future."

The lad or lass who wrote those words no doubt had a lot of high priced schooling. His mom and dad should get there money back. A future cannot be restored.

FDR said he never aimed a speech higher than the level of a thirteen year old. Aim high was not the motto the other night.

You never hear something like, "We are called to leave alone those who want to be left alone." Pity.

O Canada

Mr. Stephen Harper
Prime Minister
Dominion of Canada

Dear Mr. Harper,

I write in the spirit of brotherhood that exists between Canada and the United States. A CBC radio program that airs here in the states unintentionally embarassed your nation. I quote the offending segment aired on August 6 of 2008,

"DATELINE: HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS
Duration: 00:01:26

Dateline: Huntsville, TexasThe message to the international community was pretty clear. Don't mess with Texas.

Last week, As It Happens brought you the story of a Mexican death row inmate who was due to be executed within days. José Medellín was convicted in the rape and murder of two teenage girls - a conviction he never contested. Nevertheless, his case became something of an international cause célèbre. For although Mr Medellín was a Mexican national, it seems that he was never informed of his right to consular assistance. Foreigners were granted that right under the 1963 Vienna Convention - something to which both the U-S and Mexico are signatories.

Mr Medellín's lawyers and the Mexican government argued that his execution should be put off until a hearing could be held to determine whether or not his original trial was fair. And the International Court of Justice in the Hague agreed. The court ordered the United States not to execute Mr Medellín while it was reviewing his case. Even President Bush - who could not exactly be described as being soft on crime - urged Texas prosecutors to stay the execution and reopen the case.

But yesterday, the state's Republican governor, Rick Perry, offered his definitive response to their pleas. Jose Medellín died just before 10pm after being given a lethal injection. A spokesman for the governor said "the world court has no standing in Texas". For the sake of Americans living abroad, let's hope that the justice systems in other countries are more inclined to follow international law."

Is he saying that if an American commits kid murder in another country and they execute him, it will be a horrible injustice if he does not see the consul? Somehow, as dumbed down as many of my countrmen are, I hope they do not see this as a problem. Is he implying that law abiding US Americans (as Miss SC calls us) are now in trouble because other countries will rise up to avenge the noble Mr. Medellin? The implication of international barbarism is a slander on the rest of the world.

Really, Mr. Harper, tell the CBC to get a grip.

With brotherly love,

the voice of humility

Plus ça change, all over again

That stimulus check you got from the government got more than eaten up by inflation according to Marketwatch.

I'll be glad when the Dems win the White House and we can get some fiscal sanity.

Oh, wait. Isn't the O Man planning on a stimulus packages.

Change you can, oh never mind.

How Black People Became Irish

It is 1960 and morning at Parochial School. The normal orderly routine of prayer then lessons has been suspended. We are in celebration. An Irish Catholic American has been elected president. There has always been an undercurrent of "We are the better Americans, first to serve in war, yet not really accepted." Now, the validation.

Never mind that a Mick mayor and WASP Texan had done a bit of fancy footwork. That won't come out until it is irrelevant. Forget that Kennedy is not the rosary saying family man as portrayed. That also can wait till it does not matter. Nous sommes arrivé.

Sister Lucille, our teacher had been given a bit of tchotchkes as a gift. A little letter holder in the shape of a dachsund. Gushing, she told us that in celebration of the day, she would call it JFK.

Now, in 2008, in our current quadrennial search for a fuhrer, another ethnic group has their man in the battle for chief executive. And it is their man. They had plighted their troth to another family and it had been expected their support would descend on that pretender. The crown princess had been pandering for years. Yet, when someone entered the fray who bore at least superficial similarities, they abandoned their old patrons in a trice.

There is no praise high enough for Obama. The man is being likened to a deity. Yes, it's silly, but no sillier than JFKmania of my childhood. James Collier of the blog Acting White is pretty level headed even for someone who has an affinity for Nascar and weird bounty hunters, still extrapolates, "It may be that because he was born of two ancestries, one black, one white, he reached a harmony of the two that aides his leadership ability, and just maybe the country's too." Wow, the man is one with the gods. Hey, maybe he is right, maybe not.

When Kennedy won, we celebrated in the burbs, not inner city "Dawchestah"* where I was born. Our postwar dads had moved up a lot of ladders. Vatican II was making the Catholic Church into, "Unitarianism with a Pope."** Assimilation is complete enough to make the whole thing irrelevant.

So will an Obama election change things. Don't know. Is the Black American population on the verge of assimilation? Living in exurbia in self employed and under employed Swamp Yankeeness, I would not be able to say. It is over twenty years since I had any connection to an urban professional environment. People in professions tend to get along because the consequences of non cooperation are obvious. When I was mispending my youth and driving a cab, I would observe a sea of black faces and though not universally unfriendly, hardly palsy walsy. To be fair, in the old white neighborhoods, there was oft a left behind by life ambience. How much has changed?

I doubt the cleansing effect of an Obama presidency. Yeat's line at the beginning of Easter 1916, "Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart" may not have the same import as for Israel/Palestine, Sunni/Shia, or Hutu/Tutsi, but maybe it's close enough for government work.

If he wins, he has one thing going for him. Coming after GWB is not the hardest act to follow.


*English translation, Dorchester.

**D. Keith Mano

If you want to know what President Obama will do, Study Candidate McCain

A lot of people to the right of, oh, say Hilary Clinton are trying to scare everybody by fear mongering about what a commie Barack Obama is.

Moi, as always, I'd rather worry about life's important questions like, who wrote the book of love. Still, the need to soothe my nervous nellie countrymen and women weighs heavily on me. I shall do what I can, because I shall do what I must with all the humility I can muster.

An Investors Business Daily editorial is in a tizzy because we are about to see Barack Obama's Stealth Socialism if your man is elected. The last guy to institute socialist policies in this country called it "Compassionate Conservatism."

Anyway, IBD accuses Barry of using code words. Oh, that's never happened before. Under the rubric, "economic justice," we have a wish list,

• "Universal," "guaranteed" health care.
• "Free" college tuition.
• "Universal national service" (a la Havana).
• "Universal 401(k)s" (in which the government would match contributions made by "low- and moderate-income families").
• "Free" job training (even for criminals).
• "Wage insurance" (to supplement dislocated union workers' old income levels).
• "Free" child care and "universal" preschool.
• More subsidized public housing.
• A fatter earned income tax credit for "working poor."
• And even a Global Poverty Act that amounts to a Marshall Plan for the Third World, first and foremost Africa.

He also wants a $10 minimum wage. The shocking thing is that he didn't suggest free braces and whitening for senior citizens. If they are going to have drug induced smiles, they should at least be on straight, bright teeth.

Now, as the Democrat Party is merely a cargo cult, there is little different from what any other Dem would propose. He was talking to a black audience and was trying to get some racial cred at the time. If you think, as Mencken did of an election as an auction in advance of stolen goods, what does one expect?

So what is actually going to happen when the O man ascends to the throne? If past is prologue we know pretty well what will happen. We know because someone has figured it out.

Howard Katz, The Gold Bug has looked into the matter and it is clear how presidents act,

A study of politicians from JFK on shows that most of them fulfill the campaign promises of their enemies and violate their own promises. The left still does not want to admit that it was their beloved JFK who got us into Vietnam with a carefully planned dance of two steps forward (toward war), one step back (toward peace). LBJ followed (what he thought was) Barry Goldwater’s program for war in Vietnam. The Republicans promised no price and wage controls in 1968 and enacted them in 1971. Ditto, ditto “peace with honor” in 1972. Ronald Reagan promised that he would not negotiate with terrorists and that he would follow Milton Friedman’s prescription to limit growth in the money supply to 2%-6%. 1986 saw an 18% increase in the money supply. George Bush, Sr. said, “Read my lips; no new taxes.” Then he enacted new taxes.

Clinton said he was the “woman’s candidate,” and women voted for him in large numbers. It turned out he was the woman’s candidate, but not in the way that people thought. Instead he fulfilled the conservative program of cutting back welfare, reducing the size of the Federal Government and balancing the budget.


So, President Obama will turn out to be ......President McCain. Oh joy. Start your office pool now as to what countries Obama will bomb.

Mr. Katz makes the case for voting third party.

So to answer our original question, how to vote in 2008, voting for the major party candidate closest to one’s position is not a good option because, if elected, he will betray his promises. However, voting for the major party candidate farthest from one’s position does not work either. All politicians, from whatever party, study the results of each election carefully and estimate what each vote means. If you vote for a candidate you do not support, then your vote will be estimated by these people to stand for the exact opposite of what you believe.

Therefore, if your vote is to count for anything, you must vote for the minor party closest to your position. That is, you must vote for a man who stands up for his ideology, and in this case it is an advantage that he cannot win. These minor party candidates are men of principle, but even if one of them weren’t, he could not betray you because he is not going to get elected. The major party candidate who wins then “steals” the minority candidate’s position, and your vote for him is a winner. For example, in 1932 the 3 far-left candidates together gathered a million votes (2½%), and F.D.R. “stole” their position (as Norman Thomas later complained).

Right now there are two minor party candidates, Ralph Nader running on the program of returning society to the Middle Ages and Bob Barr running on the program of increasing the amount of liberty in our society. Both are polling about 6% in this early part of the race. Barr has never run for President before, and it will be interesting to see how he does. He has already far outpolled any previous Libertarian Party presidential candidate.

I'm not convinced. Mr. Katz rails against the Federal Reserve. His logic is convincing, but there are just too much in powerful special interests that support American central banking. Barr could get 25% of the vote and it would not change anything. The system has to completely crash for things to change and it is not certain at that point the gold standard nirvana would come.

Still, even though I agree with Loren Lomasky, that voting is like cheering, I shall duly cast my vote for Mr. Barr, despite my reservations about him.

Some People See a Problem, We See Opportunity

Over at Defense and the National Interest they note that the no fly list is at a million no flyers. It appears Bill Lind and his crew are not amused. To quote those skeptics,

Your first reaction might be that if the number of terrorists is into seven figures we are truly doomed — it only took 19 plus a support organization of perhaps a few dozen to carry out 9/11.

We say why fight the progression. It is foolish to do things piecemeal. Let's go for it and put everyone in the country on the no fly list. Look at the problems we take care of.

1. The oil crisis is solved.

2. We can finally stop shaking in our boots. A nation on lockdown is a safe nation.

3. It'll probably happen anyway. Better we do it at one fell swoop then taking years.

4. There will be no more problems with the frisky friskers at airports having their passionate desire to do a good job being mistaken for passionate desire.

This list of benefits is surely not exhaustive, but we at the voice of humility have only so much time to spend saving the nation.

Still, if the Department of Fatherland Security, wishes to call on us, we are here for them.

Fit to be Tied

Steve Sailer has a post about a New York Times article that notes violent criminals tend to be fit. Duh. Do you think someone will attack you unless he possesses force majeur?

A Libertarian Party presidential candidate once had the idea that criminals should spend the first month in jail in bed. That way, they would be less physically fit and easier to control. A riot by 90 lb. weaklings is not to be greatly feared.

There should be no physical training equipment in prisons. The diet and exercise program should be tailored to make sure the lads (and it is mostly lads) come out unfit.

Eric Nagourney, the author cites a Dr. Walker that “Those who are fit may have personalities that are more likely to make them violent.” Even if we can't expunge the propensity, I would much rather be threatened with mugging by someone who is wheezing from the effort.

Vive La France

July is here. We’ve had the fireworks and barbecues to celebrate our national holiday. Our sister republic, without whose assistance our fourth of July would have come to nothing, also celebrates its national day this month. Actually, Bastille Day est maintenant and my thoughts stray to the the glories of La Belle France. They are many and despite what some neocons might say, eating cheese has never caused them to surrender and les jeunes filles do not look like monkeys.

Much of our punditry loves to trash the French. Men who have organized their lives to be certain they never got near a battlefield, make fun of France’s Twentieth Century military record. It is true that the hundred years before the new millennium were not the epoch of La Gloire. France did have that. Les Polius were the bad boys of the late Eighteen and early Nineteen Hundreds. They ended up looking like the drunk in a bar, offering to take on the house. It ended predictably as it did for Les Boches approximately a century and a half later. It is premature to suggest that our current trajectory bears comparison, but only premature.

One thing Les Gaulles do not have going for them is their national slogan. For a nation that prides itself on logic, Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité is about the dumbest and least well thought out statement in world history.

How can liberty and equality coexist. If a man possesses liberty, than he is free to rise or fall. If he can, then he can rise above his fellows or fall below them. His freedom or his neighbor's must be curtailed if equality is the goal to be maintained.

Now the Fraternity stuff. When someone uses that word, like most Americans who never belonged to TKE, I think of Animal House. That is not what they had in mind during the Revo. That Liberty thingee, is again the problem. If I am free, I am free to not be your brother, or for that matter, your sister. Heck, a brotha is free to not be a brotha, considering black on black crime statistics. Brothers, I have none, but my sisters were glad to see the last of me, as they lack the revolutionary spirit.

So how do we stack up against the frogs. Hmmm, that Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness* thing seems okay, but the last part has a narcissistic sound to it. Anyway, it’s already contained in the liberty part except someone might scream at me, “You don’t know the difference between libertine and liberty. Ah non, mon cher. True, there are a lot of words I do not have the exact meaning of even at my advanced age. I, having attended college in this country, do know the meaning of libertine and have looked up liberty so no one could call me on it.

Thomas Jefferson supposedly changed it in the Declaration of Independence. I like the other way better, as the Civil Rights entry in our Short Dictionary of Politics has it:

Civil Rights: In truth, there can only be three: Life, Liberty and Property. Anything else is the attempt of one group to secure privileges at the expense of another group or society itself. Of the three above, Property is the most important. If the individual's property is secure, there is little reason for anyone to take his life or liberty.

*I know that’s not our official motto, but I would be okay with Life, Liberty and Property. Of course property seems a bit of Yankee conniving. So thanks to Jeff, Southern love crept into it.

I wish I thought of that

Quoted below is a post on the Parapundit blog in its entirety:

Stop Calling Elected Officials Leaders

Modest proposal: We should stop calling our elected officials "leaders". We should stop referring to the "national leadership". We should stop calling for "strong leadership". We should stop seeking to be led.

I agree we should stop though I don't remember ever having called an elected official my leader.

One of the comments intelligently, if depressingly, explained the phenomenon:

Unfortunately, it is the genetic nature of the majority of the human species to need leaders, especially when there is a confusing situation that threatens the usual way of life.

For example, the 9/11 event that was an unexpected and difficult to understand situation, made the majority of the nation far more submissive and obedient to the leadership, and the nation became willing to do things that were against its best interests, without thinking.

Similar situations have occurred every time a nation suffered a major military-economic setback like Germany after WW I, of Japan facing a terrible economic collapse before WW II. The list is endless.

But the fascinating question is how exactly leaders whose IQ scores are only slightly above average, can gain so much power during crisis. It must be a combination of factors, such as charisma and intensity of personality of the leaders that easily influence the masses that are desperate to be told what to do during crisis, and also the fact that behind these leaders, there are some very intelligent people who do the calculations (always so).

This phenomenon of mass servility during crisis, is an area of psychology that must be studied more seriously and thoroughly, because history repeats itself without duplicating itself, and it is difficult to discern when and how exactly the mass servility phenomenon will spontaneously manifest itself.

A few observations,

I think "fuhrer" means leader.

If the commenter Wolf-Dog is correct, most of us are Aristotle's natural slaves. Except of course you and I.

It exists at all levels. Even Ralph Adams Cram supported FDR.

Can we as a species overcome this? Let's say together, "Yes We can!"

Change You Can Believe In

I believe. Yes, I believe that when Barack Obama says he is for change you can believe in, because when he was told to jump your man said how high,

And,

changed his mind on foreign policy.

How can anyone not believe that change.

Anyway, as regarding his followers, anyone who would chant "Yes we can" would just as readily chant "Sieg heil."

Note to Governor Patrick, there appears to be a flaw in the State Police examination process!!

Your Excellency,

Last evening, July 2, 2008 at 8:27 Pm two Massachusetts State Policeman were stopped at the light at the intersection of Route 148 and Route 20. When the light turned green they lingered. I beeped my horn after the one in the right lane left. Instead of moving, the fellow in the cruiser in front of me jumped out and yelled, “Are you beeping at me?”

I do hope this is an anomaly and the fellow slipped through the cracks as It can only have been moi who beeped. If the examination system is allowing this to happen, I am worried.

The fellow excoriated me for not being patient as they were on police business. He said someone had been beaten up using the past tense. How his not moving along after he had finished speaking with the other officer helped the victim's situation is an excellent question, but he seemed not to be in a question answering mood.

I did mention I paid his salary, he told me not to go there implying he makes so much that I hardly covered his pay. Duh. His powers of cognition leave one to wonder if he might be overpaid.

As he walked back to the cruiser, I asked his badge number, but he ignored me. Not behavior one would expect from a public servant. No matter, his plate was either 894 or 984.

As he drove off, he did not put on his left turn signal. Not merely bad form to add to bad manners, but a ticketable offense. As the man who enforces the law should be held to the same or higher standard, I hope you will look into this.

To be fair, I’ve met many very professional state troopers and have been generally treated fairly. The bad apples need to be made aware they work for the citizens.

Thank you, Governor, for your attention.

Un Citoyen

WWSNS?

What Would Sam Neil Say?

I'm not a Tom Clancy fan. As a Mick, I think he goes overboard in making his hero Hibernian, but he also did too much in making the man a tool of the Brits in his anti IRA screed. Still in the movie, The Hunt for Red October, There is a small scene where Sam Neill's character is talking with Sean Connery's. Neill talks about how he is going to travel from state to state in his recreational vehicle. At one point he says, "No papers?" and Connery affirms, "No Papers." I loved that.

That was of course in the old Evil Empire days. Nowadays, we are scared of everything. I saw a post at Squirmelicious detailing the decline in our privacy and the increase in our surveillance.

Kids, we're all going to die. Hate to break it to you. Get out from under the bed and face the day. After all, when you sneak out of the house, you have a greater chance of dying for your country going to the 7-eleven and getting in a car crash than being attacked by Achmed. Got a swimming pool? An undertaker wife told mine that her husband had a lot of business from his affluent clientele's drowning children. Never said international terrorism got one.

Oh, speaking about "The Troubles," they said instituting surveillance cameras in the Six Counties was just to watch "terrorists." Gee, guess what's all over Britland now. I guess your Lumpen Limeys are all terrorists, or so HMG thinks.

I don't think as Squirmelicious does that Obama is the answer as he's flipped the flop on the Mid East. I think the people are the problem. If we did not see a bogeyman at every turn, the powers that be would not run with it.

Not The Meaning of Life, but Not Without Meaning

Linked from the resurrected Ilkka is a blog post about Tim Russert. Of course, by now it should be Tim Russert who? The import of the article is that Tim was fat, but he had no trouble getting on the case of deceased smokers. People talking about him are tiptoeing around his weight. Rest his soul, but he was hefty and did nothing about it and felt very good about being a non smoker.

When I was a kid, pre civil rights, there was a story told in Black American dialect that I thought contained a lot of wisdom. I suppose it might offend someone, but it is apropos and I'll recount it.

Preacher engages a ferryman to take him across a river. As ferryman is rowing the preacher asks him, "Son, do you smoke?" Ferryman answers, "Yes Rev, I does." "Son, one fourth of your life is over."

Little while later, preacher asks, "Son do you drink?" Ferryman, "Yes, Rev." "Son two fourth of your life is over."

Later, "Son, do you chase women?" "Yes." "Son, three fourths of your life is over."

The ferryman is now very nervous. So nervous and shakey, he forgets his skill on the river and hits a rock. The boat crashes and the ferryman swims to shore.

From shore he shouts to the preacher, "Hey Rev does you swim?" The preacher answers, "No son, I do not." The ferryman shouts, "Well Rev, four fourths of your life is over."

Death Conditioning

The Black Sea left the following comment on my last post.

On a more personal level, I can attest to the power of this phenomenon. Three years ago, a colleague whom I barely knew, and considered fairly odd, died in his mid-50s of leukemia. Although his death naturally received no media hype, I was surprised at how much it saddened me. I'd only ever spoken to the guy a couple of times, but still, in his mid 50s . . . (I was in my 40s, and at this point ten years passes rather quickly, so perhaps I was really premeptively lamenting my own demise).

Yep, that's us.

Contrast that with my old man. In Huxley's Brave New World there is death conditioning where kids are socialized to not worry about death. I think that happened in the world pre WWII society. My dad's brother was killed by a trolley at seven years of age. There was a lot of that in inner city neighborhoods in those days. Of the six kids my grandmother gave birth to, I only knew three.

That was a less safety conscious world. Also, it was pre antibiotic. Calvin Coolidge's son, who would have had the best treatment available died of a simple infection. Penicillin would have cured it with ease.

One of my dad's favorite entertainments was going to wakes. I have never seen the man more at ease than when conversing with friends a few feet away from a stiff.* Not for nothing do they call the obituaries the Irish Sports Pages where I come from.

His reaction to hearing about the situation Black Sea mentions. "Hey, yah hear about Mikey. Leukemia. Only 55. Got the paper? Gotta see when the wake is." He would have a hard time not appearing exhuberant.

Himself went at 93. A respectable wake, but nothing like the old days. He had been to the wake of just about everyone he knew. Other than his best friend from childhood, there was no one left.

Moi, I almost never get the paper and I never check the obituaries, if only for fear I might be in there.

*I never saw anyone partake of alcohol. Just had to get the stereotype thing out of the way.

Another Blogger Notices Tim Is Dead

Tim Russert's passing affected me personally. No, I did not connect with him because he represented me on the TV in some way. It affected me because we are or were the same age. Mr. Russert was on a few different drugs for maladies that I associate with older people. Could he have saved his life by leaving his job and taking up like moi the life of the self-employed, under-employed swamp yankee? Don't know. I could keel over tomorrow, so today is lucky.

My lifestyle is the anti-Russert. I do self-medicate. A couple of cups of coffee in the morning. A glass (well, closer to two) of red wine with dinner. I follow a strict dietary regimen of using bacon fat as a cooking medium for eggs (lots of 'em). Bacon fat is the olive oil of the north and those of us melanin challenged people from colder climes ignore its healing properties at our peril.

As to Tim himself. Like Princess Di, I had no connection with him other than hearing his voice simulcast over the radio on Sunday evenings once or twice. That people say nice things about him is okay, but the deification is a bit over the top. The biggest reason he had his job, and you would realize this if you only heard him on radio, is his pleasant voice. He could savage Ron Paul and still seem a nice guy. TV is a "soft medium," he was kind of a drug. That nice guy persona helped him even if he used it in the service of a bitter partisanship.

On a newscast they played at his memorial some bit of rock noise that had been on his ipod. My first thought was why did they embarrass the man by playing his guilty pleasure of low music. Ah, but this is the Republic of Bad Taste and he was his country.

I quote the best comment about him and his class,

...professionally, he was not a "great journalist," because a great journalist searches for the truth and asks fundamental questions about the status-quo. He was successful at rebuilding Meet the Press into the highest-rated Sunday morning news program. He was successful at becoming a celebrity and making a lot of money. In short, he was a successful media animal. But his very tenure at an establishment mouthpiece like Meet the Press is de facto evidence of his real professional legacy, of which this article’s transcript, and the gushing tributes this week from establishment politicians and journalists, are further proof: Tim Russert was a shill for the state and the power elite who control it.*

Oh well, we are only supposed to get 15 minutes. He had a half hour. After the canonization is done, he will be forgotten.

*Johnny Kramer at LRC

**Justin Raimondo probably has the best titled article, Enough Already!

Prospects Dim

Third quarter earnings for Clinton Inc. are expected to nosedive. The company, founded in 2001 to take advantage of the earnings prospects of William J. Clinton who was leaving a chief executive position due to the legal limitation of length of service. He was continuing his association with Hilary Clinton. It had been a tumultuous period of service for both.

Clinton Inc. had positioned itself as a major player in the influence peddling sector and had steady growth since operations began. Hilary Clinton, however, has been rejected as the next holder of her husband's old ceo position. This is expected to cause growth to, in the words of Monty Python, "not so much fly, as plummet."

The rumors that Ms. Clinton will now separate from Clinton Inc. to found Rodham Partners as a new company are probably untrue as interest appears nil. A breaking apart of the entity, due to the different outlooks, if not incompatabilty of the two senior staff is not ruled out.

Okay, is it time to panic yet?

A few days ago, oil drops a fiver, and I'm thinking an overbought market. Yesterday, up near $11 on war rumors. It's like getting whiplash watching a tennis match, except the trend is one way.

So, if an attack happens, and the Strait of Hormuz gets blocked, we shall see if the center can hold. We'll see if we can even have a center.

A few years ago, through a friend, I sort of had a writing audition for a small Western Massachusetts newspaper. I was to review a book on the then new subject of peak oil. I flunked the assignment as the editor thought I was trying to bring a tad too much humor to the task.

Now, peak oil is out there as a subject, but like global warming, how much can a non expert know. The book, Out of Gas by David Goodstein is a few years old now, but if you are a non science geek, it is a good read. Mr. Goodstein explains it so we non nerds can comprehend it.

I liked his book, but I can't say I've learned enough to make a judgment. My doubts about peak oil are not related to science, I still don't know enough to be confident one way or the other. It's a human thing. Everybody is jumping on the peak oil band wagon. Usually, that means the crowd has joined at the wrong time in my life's experience.

Out of Gas, by David Goodstein

Repent, the end is nigh. No, this time we really mean it. Sort of. You see, the world is running out of the stuff that makes it spin. Ah, but it started running out of that stuff on the day of the first gusher in 1859. Now, however, we really do have a gasoline crisis.

According to David Goodstein, author of Out of Gas, we have used up or are about to have used up half of all the petroleum that ever will be available on this planet. In a world where demand for black gold only increases, a declining supply being fought over by nations, not to mention individuals, reminds one of the Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” Life may get interesting indeed.

Yeah, but some might say, we had those long gas lines in the seventies and a few years later, gasoline prices were lower, adjusted for inflation than ever. Still. I occasionally like to get my paranoa juices flowing. After all, I haven’t had so much fun since before the y2k scare fizzled. Who is this Dave Goodstein, another crank? Would that he were. Dr. David L. Goodstein, Ph.D is a physics prof at Caltech, which is not a school advertised on matchbook covers. His biography is a lengthy list of accomplishments. He is the real thing who, lucky for me, has the ability to communicate to primitives with an entertaining style of writing.

Doctor Dave, lays out the problem well. He recaps the now well discussed Hubberts Peak. For those who have not heard about it, geophysicist M King Hubbert predicted in 1960 that oil production in the lower 48 would peak around 1970. He was right. It has been downhill ever since. Recently, other geologists have been using Hubbert’s methods. Brace yourself. Peak is coming within this decade. It may even have already occurred.

What does this mean? It means more people competing for less oil, forever. The crisis does not begin when the last drop is pumped, but when the half way point is reached. And, what happens when such a competition begins. One thing is, the price starts to rise. Now the author avers that a steep inflation will occur as we all compete for all the various petrochemical products. I tend to agree with him, but for a different reason. Inflation does not occur when the price of one commodity, or even a set of commodities become scarce and prices rise, for in a system where the central bank could actually control itself, the prices of other commodities must decline. If past is prologue, don’t expect the fed to exercise restraint.

So, how do we replace the missing energy? Do we go to a methane economy, making up the shortfall with natural gas products? Will we actually be better off when spurred by higher energy prices, less polluting forms of enegy come into production? Goodstein looks at a lot of alternatives.

About that methane economy. The use of natural gas as an alternative for Texas Tea could be done, with some effort. The problem is that peak natural gas will come just a couple of decades after peak oil.

Okay, scratch that. What else? Well the author notes there is a lot of elemental carbon buried beneath our planet’s surface. The stuff is coal. You can even liquefy it for driving in a process that is energy intensive and expensive. Oh, there are a few drawbacks. It is very dirty and gives off a lot of waste such that if we go over to a coal economy and you eat a lot of tuna, you may be able to take your own temperature.

The good doctor also looks at nuclear. He actually likes it. As mentioned above, I am a primitive and that may explain a fear of nuclear power. I would not wish to live next to an atomic plant, nor would I wish that fate for someone else. Reality, however, causes me to realize that when the bulbs start to flicker, my countrymen and women will look at things in a different light, so to speak. Of course, I would not like to live next to a coal fired plant either. It is a dilemma we may be forced to choose, assuming we are even asked. The greenhouse gas spewing chimneys or a potential mountain of spent fuel.

There is even a peak uranium problem as if we go full bore on nuclear we have only a twenty five year supply tops. That little problem can be circumvented by building breeder reactors to change a form of uranium into plutonium and providing a lot of fuel and fissile material for electricity and bombs. Anyway, whatever help nuclear provides, it won’t work in you car.

There is a clean form of atomic power. It’s called fusion. The author discusses it and its arrival is devoutly to be wished. His comment on it and another hope, shale oil, is all we need mention, “It has been said of both nuclear fusion and shale oil that they are the energy of the future, and always will be.”

As to hydropower, been there, done that, at least as much as we can on this planet. Wind? It’s great stuff, and it has a place. Unfortunately, it does not have enough places. Photovoltaics gets a “needs improvement” on the prof’s report card. He has a lot of suggestions on space based solar and improving what already exists. All of them good ideas, but of limited utility if peak is occurring now.

Obviously, the poor man spends way to much time in the classroom and needs to get out more. Just doing a little sociology led me to an energy solution that will be cheaper than any Manhattan Project . You see, I watched the movie Super Size Me wherein Morgan Spurlock eats only at McDonalds and almost becomes poster child for save the whales. Well, Professor Chazz Weaver, an economist went on the McDiet for a month, but exercised an hour a day and lost weight. Morgan’s movie spent a good deal of time on the epidemic of obesity. He had statistics and a lot of visual evidence to prove there is a big (pun intended) problem in our homeland. actually, I kind of relished (I can’t believe I did that) his scenes of people whom the Good Lord should have never given tee shirts and shorts. My love handles don’t feel so bad.

Still, there is an energy crisis to solve, Anybody with a McDonald’s jones that shows within certain guidelines should be required to exercise on a stationary bicycle attached to a generator that is plugged into the electrical grid. The bike would measure the amount of effort necessary to use up enough calories to be of benefit to the rider. Business loves to tout the win/win solution to a problem. Heck here we have a win/win/win/win/win. MickeyD’s wins because its customers are now svelte. The environment wins because other than some panting much less CO2 is belched into the air to produce electricity. The health care system wins as there will be fewer ambulances rushing to emergency rooms. Big Mac lovers win as they will feel and be (sort of) healthier. I’ll win as I’ll be on my way to Stockholm to pick up my Nobel. Or maybe this paragraph explains why Doc Goodstein teaches Physics and I’m just hacking around here in hillbilly Massachusetts.

The question does remain, is David Goodstein right or wrong. If he is right, and we don’t have adequate fixes in place, our world, as we know it will come crashing down on us. His worst case is that 95% of us are superfluous. Volunteers? His best case is we go to methane as a bridge while working on newer technologies.

One bit of anecdotal evidence that we are responding to peak oil here in Nova Anglia is the increased sales of outdoor wood stoves. Recently, friends of mine have mentioned their purchases and have related it to getting out from under fuel bills. Now this may not be a response to declining energy supplies. It could be a reaction to the possibility that Mr. Greenspan might no longer be able to work his magic in restraining inflation. No matter. If either becomes a crisis our Saudi Arabia of wood here in the Northeast will be gone in short order. A logger friend of mine related a couplet that described Massachusetts in the 19th Century,

From Pittsfield to the sea
Nary a tree you could see.

So it could be again.

I have been reading about the peak oil crisis for awhile now. So far, most of the press has gone to people who are believers. It has taken a small effort, but I have found some who disagree. The best of the lot appears to be Michael Lynch, President, Strategic Energy and Economic Research, Inc., and Research Affiliate, Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lynch is cited in the footnotes of Dr. Goodstein’s book. Mr. Lynch attacks the Hubbert Model as being inadequate and has fun pointing out that the peak crowd have been crying wolf for a while now. Most famously, he tells about Colin Campbell, one of the movement Gurus, prediciting imminent peak since 1989. From what I have read, I tend to agree more with Mr. Lynch. That is, up to point. The demand pressure is great what with the new Chinese and Indian middle classes wanting to join the ranks of car owners, but if the oil industry can react to demand by exploration and research, they may push the day of reckoning off for a few decades. If their efforts gradually reach a point of diminishing returns, that other technologies (some we may not be all that pleased with) will almost seamlessly take up the slack.

I would guess, if we are going to have a real life changing twenty-first century energy crisis, it will have a big political aspect to it. An invasion of Iran could do that trick.

For me, the most enjoyable aspect of this book was the review of junior high school science. Actually, it was science put in terms simple enough that an eighth grader could understand. Thanks Doc for coming down to my level. I know you had to travel.


Some biographical info below:
Dr. David L. Goodstein, Ph.D., is Vice Provost and Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Caltech, where he has been on the faculty for more than 35 years. In 1995, he was named the Frank J. Gilloon Distinguished Teaching and Service Professor. In 1999, Dr. Goodstein was awarded the Oersted Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers, and in 2000, the John P. McGovern Medal of the Sigma Xi Society. He has served on and chaired numerous scientific and academic panels, including the National Advisory Committee to the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate of the National Science Foundation. He is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the California Council on Science and Technology. His books include States of Matter (Prentice Hall, 1975, Dover, 1985) and Feynman’s Lost Lecture (Norton, 1996), written with his wife, Dr. Judith Goodstein. In the 1980’s he was Director and host of The Mechanical Universe, an educational television series that has been used by millions of students all over the world.


In recent times, while continuing to teach and conduct research in experimental Condensed Matter Physics, Dr. Goodstein has turned his attention to issues related to science and society. In articles, speeches and colloquia he has addressed conduct and misconduct in science, the end of exponential growth of the scientific enterprise, and issues related to fossil fuel and the climate of Planet Earth.


Dr. Goodstein has been Caltech’s Vice Provost since 1988.

Edward Moore Kennedy

When Ronald Reagan was shot, not a few left wingers made remarks about how fortuitous it might be if the man bought the farm. I remember the girlfriend of a friend making such a remark. I called her on it and she "cleaned it up" by saying, no, it would be wrong to wish for his death, but okay if he were incapacitated.

WTKK replayed the Jim and Margery show from the day after the announcement of Ted Kennedy's illness. I have mentioned Jim Braude and Margery Egan before. She center left and he, off the charts de la gauche. In Massachusetts, center left and out there lefty are terms much different than say, in Kansas.

Anyway, there were mostly encomia about what a wonderful man our senior senator is. There were also comments that even the right wingers were fulsome in praise. One might surmise that they take the high road because they are better or because they are too scared. We do not speculate as to motive.

I am glad there no comments wishing he were dead after horrible suffering. There are few in this country who have not had a family member who has gone through it. My family, has been mostly immune despite irresponsible dietary choices. A dear family friend, however, went through years of the battle and one knew that no matter the treatment torture, death would be the reward. For those years, my reaction was a heaving sigh of resignation. The cheerful smile became suffering and was then no more. Sad the person who would wish it on another as was my friend's girl's death wish for Reagan.

That out of the way, the praise of Senator Kennedy is, in itself sad. People go out of the way to praise him as the friend of the working man, the poor. He stood against this or that, ad infinitum.

Margery said of him that he dedicated his life to public service, and opined that she had not. The suggestion being this made him a great man. For all that time in the Senate, a seat he was anointed to. he received a salary. There is no record that I know of his refusing to cash paychecks out of noblesse oblige. While working so hard for us in the Senate, he had a staff paid by us. He supported laws that took taxpayer money to help those he favored. In these endeavors, he did not expend his own substantial fortune. Put aside whether or not his father made the money honestly or not, Ted earned none of his wealth. While serving us, he lived a life of privilege, not going without in the least for his office. If you think about it, his tenure kind of reminds one of Evita Peron whose praise was in the same vein.

As to an example of the vaunted public service we have the No Child Left Behind boondoggle. It has changed nothing for the better for the nation’s kids, but the educrats have done well out of it. If nothing, the senator has been an effective toady of teacher unions. The voice of humility has dealt with the oppression of the taxpayer due to the condominium of government worker unions and government. Ted is part of this ongoing civil war.

We’ll give him his opposition to Iraq. Was it principled or just political? Don’t know, but we concede the benefit of the doubt as to motive.

Margery's colleague Jim was as effusive in praise. He at one time mentioned a possible memoir that would address the elephant in the room. Chappaquiddick was mentioned less as a tragedy for the Kopechne Family, but more as a burden for Ted. The import being how all he achieved outweighed what happened on Martha's Vineyard.

Of course, who is the voice of humility to gainsay such sentiments. Churlish we would be to point out the numerous folk who opine in his favor, have not lost a child in that situation. We would pose a question to the callers and pundits who feel the value of his service outweighs a young lady's drowning. If you believe it so, and could bring back Mary Joe, would you be willing to drown your daughter for the greater good?

Mr. Braude used to excoriate Cardinal Law, the prelate who shifted pedophiles for his role in the church scandal. Though Jim seemed to take pleasure in it, he was right. Law, evaded legal problems by artful methods and escaped to Rome. Kennedy used legal means to keep Chappaquiddick from being fully disclosed. Law was abetted by the Massachusetts legal apparatus and so was Kennedy. I have to beg Jim to answer, why one should get away from the full legal treatment and one deserve it?

Cardinal Law should come back to his archdiocese and present the district attorney a full report of all he did during his reign and suffer the consequences and regain a tad of honor. Ted should release every fact of the night his passenger drowned. Whether it was an error in judgment or manslaughter, I'm under no illusions that it will make a difference to the electorate here, but it is the right thing. Whaddya think, Jim?

After all,

"Do we operate under a system of equal justice under law?
Or is there one system for the average citizen
and another for the high and mighty?"
- Senator Ted Kennedy, 1973 -

Res ipsa loquitur.

Can she control this?

In her husband's first administration she channeled Eleanor Roosevelt. It appears in this campaign, she is now channeling Tonya Harding.

Please, I beg of the Secret Service to provide sufficient protection for the frontrunner. I am already picturing him whining "Why me, why me?"

It's bad enough she has her TH moment, Barrack as Nancy Kerrigan would be the end.

Touché, Rev.

I served six years in the military.. Does that make me patriotic? How many years did Cheney serve?

I'm still not joining your church, Rev. but that was delicious.

I don't mean to insult the Black Church, but the only time I like to listen to a sermon is to cure insomnia...

There is one black church I would have loved to be part of, Rev. Leroy's Church of What's Happenin" Now. I would say with everyone, "Make it crawl, Rev., make it crawl" at the collection.

Here's to you, Pastor Flip, wherever you are.

It Wasn't All That Depressing

The end of the world is coming. Real Estate prices are in the tank and Walmart won't sell you more than a few grains of rice. Should we panic now, or when the depression actually hits and how will we know when it does?

Mr. Howard Katz in a blog post titled Reality has a different take.

The things in reality which are generally called recessions are credit contractions; they are periods when wealth flows from the paper aristocracy back to the ordinary American. During a credit contraction about 95% of the American people get richer. (During the Great Depression real wages rose, per capita meat consumption also rose, the nation ate less margarine and more butter and gave more [per capita] to charity.) The periods designated as depressions and recessions were such for the paper aristocracy but not for the average American. And the idea was to convince the average American that he was getting poorer when in fact he was getting richer (and vice versa). This is why after two decades of “economic growth” under the leadership of someone the media described as a “miracle man,” the people of the world are rioting and killing each other for food. This does not quite fit my definition of economic growth.

I am no economist, but am the son of people who lived through the depression. I can only inflict family narratives on my few readers.

My father, at the beginning of the depression had a bit of a hard time. When he got a job with a large enterprise, through some nepotism I suspect, things changed. He had a paycheck and some relative wealth. He would speak wistfully of how low prices were during the depression.

My mom's family did not have such a good time. With her dad out of work, it was tough. Oh, her dad's loss of work was injury related not economy related.

The 95% figure sounds high as I've heard unemployment figure that were persistently high. Still, the increase in meat consumed make it hard to argue the point. After all, how many steaks can a Rockefeller eat?

I feel much better.

Not that seeing you on TV would be special, Justice K.

As someone living in a small Massachusetts town and who is afflicted with a minor elected position, I get to see collegiality at work. It ain't pretty. At our annual town meeting, every adult has a vote, yet it is poorly attended. The Woody Allen comment about showing up being eighty percent of success is evident. The members of the town boards are there and everything is adopted rather than rock the boat. If the highway department opposed a salary increase for the cops then collegiality would be shattered and no one wants that so the heck with the taxpayer.

And, of course, we see the curse of collegiality in the church abuse scandals. "Father Tom might be diddling some kid. Let's call him in to warn him and move him to Saint Swithin's. He is really wonderful except for that problem. He was in my seminary class. Quality of mercy, you know."

So it goes.

But, to some, collegiality is a virtue. The Skeptical CPA reports on an article by Nat Hentoff on Anthony Kennedy's defense of his warm relations with his fellow justices.

Y'all remember Tony. He's the guy who read into his oath of office that the constitution isn't enough and that foreign law needs to be cited. Maybe if there is a disputed election he will quote Salic Law to disqualify Hillary.

Well, Tony is worried that if Supreme court sessions are televised, things may not be cosy among the brethren and sistern of the bench.

"We teach that we're judged by what we write and by what we decide... I do not want an insidious dynamic introduced into my court that would affect the relations that I have with my colleagues.

"It would be unhelpful for the collegial relations... I don't want to think that one of my colleagues asked a question because he or she was on TV. And I don't want that temptation to exist... We (justices) think that we should be entitled to at least a presumption of correctness and to some deference in determining how best to preserve the dynamic of the wonderful proceeding that we know as oral argument."

Yeah, I guess Nino saying to Justice Bader Ginsburg, "Ruth, you’re an ignorant slut, by the way, did you get us tickets to Daughter of the Regiment?" on TV might ruin their off bench friendship.

Some points for Big Tony,

1. It is not your court. You seem to forget who pays your salary. Everybody in government does, but this is a bit of a reminder.

2. I take “I don't want to think that one of my colleagues asked a question because he or she was on TV. And I don't want that temptation to exist...” as an admission that there may be some losers on the court that need to grandstand. Not yourself, of course. Anymore of those foreign law citations coming along?

3. "It would be unhelpful for the collegial relations...” Tony, your relationship to the constitution is more important than your relationship with the other functionaries. Next time, join a seminary if it’s collegiality you want, though Benny seems to be cleaning up that act.

4. "We (justices) think that we should be entitled to at least a presumption of correctness and to some deference in determining how best to preserve the dynamic of the wonderful proceeding that we know as oral argument." Maybe your being overly presumptuous there, Tone.

Anyway, Mr. Justice, if you don't think you can hack it, maybe that Judy woman is available.

The Question is the Wrong Answer

Over Market Watch from Dow Jones I saw the following poll question,

Who do you think has the right cure for the looming Social Security Crisis?

John McCain

Hillary Clinton

Barack Obama

Yeah, okay. It is a question as useful as, say, Which would make a better conversationalist, an amoeba or a spirochete?

Some will tell you to vote for a nominee because if you vote third party as they cannot win.

It does not matter, whichever of the above wins, you lose.

Good Point, Ron

In Ron Paul's April 7, 2008 weekly column about the amended the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the congressman states,

We have been told that this power to listen in on communications is legal and only targets terrorists. But if what these companies are being compelled to do is legal, why is it necessary to grant them immunity? If what they did in the past was legal and proper, why is it necessary to grant them retroactive immunity?

Why is he one of the few to use commonsense?

It is like the fact that we needed a constitutional amendment to take away drink, but not to take away someone's nickle bag (are they still called "nickle bags?") If you are reading this from prison and are righteously indignant because you are spending valuable time as a state guest because of some nasal ingestion, don't bother calling your lawyer. Nothing is going to happen.

Oh, and the law Ron Paul opposes, it is going to probably pass. Ronnie is one of the few who reads the laws and he is also one of the fewer who even understands them.

That is why the voice of humility proposed The Second Grand Reform based on the words of Jonathan Swift

No Law of that Country must exceed in Words the Number of Letters in their Alphabet, which consists only of two and twenty. But, indeed, few of them extend even to that Length. They are expressed in the most plain and simple Terms, wherein those People are not mercurial enough to discover above one Interpretation: And to write a Comment upon any Law is a capital Crime. As to the Decision of civil Causes, or Proceedings against Criminals, their Precedents are so few, that they have little Reason to boast of any extraordinary Skill in either.

Like our friends in prison, let us not hold our collective breath. Of course, if it ever did become law, it would not mean our solons understood the legislation they voted on. They would, however, lose the excuse that they had not read it.

Fitna and a decent respect to the opinions of mankind

Okay, Geert Wilders puts out a film and it is aimed at Muslims.

So his queen says, "free speech doesn't allow one the right to offend." Now, is the European Royalty so inbred that they do not understand language. (from Reason) Of course, Her Majesty is a state functionary with little personal discretion to say what she may truly feel. Still, one would hope she would think a figure head crown was not worth having if it required saying things that are silly. Just in case the genes are too close, Queenie, I'm going to explain it to you. If speech must not offend, it is not free. So, just say you are against free speech and be honest or tell your PM to go to hell and accept the consequences.

Geert's prime minister "sighed that in Holland such statements (Wilders) were indeed legal, "but there is the possibility, once the film is released, that there will be a court case."" (also Reason) What was the point of getting rid of Seyss-Inquart?

Intent on proving Wilders' right, threats from Islamic groups caused Liveleak to stop the video on its website.

So it goes.

the voice of humility viewed Fitna and has some observations.

First of all, the film has some power. More for me as the music, Grieg's Asa's Tod from Peer Gynt was practiced for a long time by one of my children as he prepared for a concert with an ensemble he was part of. It is not overpowering, but it is serious music for a serious subject.

Second, it consists of many quotes from the Koran. Now I have a rule. If you quote someone and their first reaction is that you are quoting them out of context, then generally, they are either guilty or are bad stylists. When you write, say what you mean and mean what you say. Religious texts get a pass from me on this one, as they were written long ago and because so much is at stake, they are serious stuff and listening to a rebuttal is in order.

The quote that is the title of this post is from the declaration of independence. The colonists felt if they were going to rebel, they had to make known their reasons. I believe that we all have an obligation to make the reasons for our positions known within in that spirit of a decent respect for the opinions of others.

Did Mr. Wilders do this. If you watch the video, he is quoting the Koran and showing videos of Muslims speaking and acting. Other than the picture of Mohammed and the fuse, I don't think he is being unfair unless he is doing the out of context thing. That beheading video, there is some "splainin to do."

If he had a lot of ranting text, it would not have had much power and he could be dismissed as a crank. No, this is spare and eloquent, but it may be wrong.

Therefore, in the spirit of "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind" the voice of humility looked for a reasoned rebuttal. As to the verses quoted, Rupee News does what appears to my uneducated eyes a very good job. He calls it a first pass. I hope the second pass deals with the vicious statements that are the words of various speakers. It is not enough to say these fellows are not representative. There a lot of them and they are speaking to sizeable followings.

Rupee news disgraces himself by throwing around the word "Nazi." Socialism of the national variety is too often used instead of argument. Mr. Wilders is an enemy of Islam, no doubt, but that does not make him a National Socialist. Come up with actual totalitarian statements of Mr. Wilders if you can.

Having said that Rupee News has presented the verses in context that make them understandable, they do not do much for the cause of religion. Let me explain. Raised in the faith of my ancestors, many years ago, I read the bible, OT and NT, over a year or two. My goal was to ascertain if a person who knew nothing of religion were given the book and read it without comment from a teacher or proselytizer, would they find it converted them? My conclusion was probably not. I have purchased a Koran and started to read it. I can't. It is not a page turner. Now the voice of humility does not claim to be a scholar, so we do not assume it is the fault of the book.

The problem is, having read the verses in context that Rupee News presents, though they make clear what he intends, repel me. They give me the same feeling I got upon reading the bible, i.e. not much.

Most Christians or Moslems have not read their texts. In sermons, they get the best parts presented by persuasive speakers. I usually ask people why they believe. I never do it with a sarcastic attitude. If someone could present it so I could really think this is it, I'd be on the team without delay. Alas, it has never happened.

This is not to say, I did not find some lovely stuff in the bible, but it just did not say, this is it.

I suspect Moinsari's (I believe the writer of Rupee News)belief is a feeling as I've found from most people of other religions.

If I had to say there was someone's attitude I came closest to agreeing with it would be this.



Having written this, one would think I've had done with religion. Not so fast. I like the faith of my ancestors. Okay, I can't say I've had the conversion experience. I reason thusly, the voice of humility does not think himself all that bright and the religion has produced many of the great lights of Western Civilization. There is also the family thing. My family would not shun me if I said I was no longer a member of the religion, but I would feel less about myself. My ancestors kept the faith under horrible persecution. Also, the unbeliever, John Derbyshire helped. In his review of the works of J.F. Powers, he quotes Powers as saying, "There isn't anything the Church can do that it hasn't already done to disillusion me," he sighed in a 1988 interview, "but I still think it's it." I don't know that there is an it, but if there is,"it's it."

My family is fun. Maybe not big fat Greek wedding fun, but fun. I'd hate not to be part of it in the fullest sense.

So, Hassan, you are a better man than I. Still, if you're ever in town for Christmas, stop by for some cognac. You too, Moinsari. We can scare up some lemonade if you can't do the brandy.

The Race is Not Always to the Swift(boat)

it was Antony, Caesar, who set me on the throne, and I freely admit that to Antony I have rendered every possible service. Nor do I hesitate to say that you would certainly have found me fighting loyally by his side if the Arabs had not prevented it. As it was I sent him all the reinforcements I could and many thousand sacks of corn; and not even after his defeat at Actium did I desert my benefactor - I gave him the best possible advice, as it was no use sending any more soldiers; I told him there was only one way of retrieving his disasters - Cleopatra's death. If he would kill her I promised money, protecting walls, an army, and my active participation in the war against you. But there it is! His ears were stopped by his insane passion for Cleopatra - and by God who has given victory to you. I am defeated with Antony and with his fall I lay aside my crown. I have come to you placing my hope and safety in my unblemished character, and believing that you will wish to know not whose friend, but what sort of friend I have been.

Thus, Herod, by demonstrating that when he became one's friend, whatever his personal defects, like perpetrating a massacre of innocents, his loyalty was enduring as reported by Flavius Josephus.

Somehow, nuancing his friendship with Reverend Wright in his speech tells more about Obama than will be recognized. He has proved himself eminently suited to be president of this nation. He is in the mold of the last few successful and unsuccessful candidates.

Had he said something like, Whatever this country thinks of Revered Wright, he has been my friend and I explain nothing about that other than, my friendship, once given is never taken back, he would have shown himself a gentleman and thus not in the mold of president. As it was, he did what it was thought he had to do.

I'm a loyalty type of guy. It can be considered a character defect, for if given to the undeserving, obligates one to do wrong. Once given for good reason, to abandon, or worse, to nuance it, for the bauble that is the presidency makes one laughable. Of course, it is the view of a tiny minority, the CEOUSA position being considered important and serious.

People are attacking Obama for having thrown his grandmother under the bus. The words "thrown under the bus" have been overused to the point the voice of humility deems them to have jumped the shark. We also deem "jumped the shark" to have jumped the shark as well. My problem with your man is the same as I have with Jay Severin. A lack of chivalry is a capital offense in my book.

Still and all, I would not have had much of a reaction to all this if it were not for his white supporters. Barack is just a normal garden variety presidential aspirant who happens to be black. Okay, he has sold himself as something more and the melanin impaired cool people have gone gaga over it. Now the intelligent reaction to the Reverend White kerfluffle would be to say, well, okay, he's just another guy, maybe it's time I paid attention to substance and see if I can support him on that. Nah, he's still a god. Below are the words of Dan Kennedy, a Boston area media guy.

Barack Obama's speech was first-rate — passionate yet subdued, easy to grasp yet complex in Obama's implied demand that his listeners hold a number of contradictory views simultaneously.

Yeah Dan, the man's a god.

He goes on to whine, The point is that it's all too easy to imagine some "independent" Republican group making a devastating ad out of the Obama-Wright connection this fall. Ya think, Dan. They wouldn't be making it up out of whole cloth, Dan. Hey, Dan, catch yourself on. What they said about the Duke and Willie Horton worked because it was true.

Udolpho does better on it.

Of the three candidates standing, I shall vote for none of them. Still, of the group, Obama is the least worst and Your Lying Eyes tells the truth on this one.

As to the bogeyman, ya know, I've been kinda wondering about himself. After all, all you get to see about him are the short clips of "GDA". David Henderson over at antiwar.com fleshes things out. My Ma always said, Son, no matter wherever you go, do something religious every day." So, I try to take up a collection whenever possible, but I won't be joining the Rev's church anytime soon even though there may have been a national overreaction to the man.

Speaking of Rev. Wright, in the movie The Commitments, there are a bunch of Dubliners whose leader is trying to transform them into a soul band. One of them says to him, "Don't you think we're a bit white?" William of Cork (liamascorcaigh) from the same island has noticed that though your man may not be named Swede of the Year, he is probably not in the running for the Hutu Pride 2008 award either. Hat tip Steve Sailer

Our First Ever Presidential Rankings

I am moved to set up our Presidential Rankings after watching Jim Rogers on Youtube suggest closing down the Fed and firing Bernanke.



Mr. Rogers is entertaining, but that is not the real reason for including the video. Dear CNBC, I am available as a commentator. I can put on a fake downmarket Brit accent and sound as stupid as the commentators (their accents aren't fake, but they do sound stupid). Granted, I don't look as good as Maria, but she doesn't look as good as she used to.

But I digress. Rogers is decrying the socialization of the losses. I was wondering if we really do need a fed. I did some imperfect research. According to a goldbug, Howard Katz, the Fed is our third national bank. We have done without a Fed before. Mr. Katz opines that the Fed serves not our interests, but those of a few.

I am not an expert in economics. As a Polish American major at a reserve intelligence school I attended (don't laugh) used to say, "I have all my money in cash." In the next few years, I expect to be getting a W-2 from the blood bank as I shall have to find tuition resources for my kids.

Still, I have some opinions about the Fed. One rationale for its existence was to make sure we did not have those old panics and crashes. How did that work out from 1929 to WWII?

Thus to our ranking. Two prezzies who go up in value are Andrew Jackson and US Grant. Jackson for vetoing the National Bank Charter extension and Grant because he vetoed the Inflation Bill which would have been the 19th Century equivalent of Helicopter Ben throwing money out the window. Grant had the excesses to deal with of a war he did not start but did more than anyone other than Sherman to end.

I specifically put these men above Madison, Polk, Lincoln, McKinley, Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, Johnson, Bush and Bush. Why? If these lads were so great, they would have been smart enough to figure out how to avoid a war. J&G were at least not warmongers.

In our rankings, avoiding war gets you extra points.

To be fair

Rev. Wright is problemo for Obama. There is a bit of selectivity. Romney had to explain himself, Ron Paul had to deny he wrote the protocols. Hey, here is a whack job who isn't even that good a speaker.



I'm not going to vote for any of the three who are still standing, but fair is fair. Up til now, the Obama candidacy has been a running joke that his silly supporters don't get is on them. Now, he is going to have to get serious and say something about race quickly. Why is McCain getting a free pass for his wingnut?

Do not trust to the cheering, for those persons would shout as much if you and I were going to be hanged.

So spoke Oliver Cromwell to his lieutenants as he was heading north to fight the Scots. I am no Ollie fan, but he was not such a fool as to be swayed by the fawning crowd.

The former governor of New York was. The fickle Empire Staters turned on him fast. I thought him a thug before his fall and did not have to change opinion. I am reminded of the Massachusetts politician who was told by FDR that he never aimed a speech over the head of a thirteen year old. FDR was a New Yorker. I am not surprised they turned on him in an instant, and I'm not surprised they bought his politics of envy to begin with.

I heard a Boston talk show host, Jim Braude, upset about Spitzer because it would lead people to become unjustly cynical about government. Ya think, Jim.

I stumbled upon this.

Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics:

- 29 have been accused of spousal abuse
- 7 have been arrested for fraud
- 19 have been accused of writing bad checks
- 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
- 3 have done time for assault
- 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
- 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
- 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
- 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
- 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year


Can you guess which organization this is?

Give up yet?

It's the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

Gee, Jim, that restores my faith. Our political class is pure as the driven slush.

To be fair, I first saw this at the Irish Savant and decided to see if I could verify it. As of yet, I am not dead certain of it though I suspect it understates if, anything.

Let Him Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stink Bomb

After the English Revolution had spent itself and Cromwell had died in his bed, England decided it wanted to be Merrie Old instead of a nation of saints. Charles II was invited home. Chuck 2 wasn't all that jolly about his dad's execution so he went about getting even with the regicides. One guy he could not kill, he dug up and hanged anyway. I doubt Ollie felt too much as he hung on the gibbet, but if it made Chucky Junior feel better then that was okay.

William F. Buckley, Jr. has passed on. There are mostly encomiums even from conservatives who had disagreed with him. They are of the, "I disagreed with him, but he wasn't all that bad," stripe. That is how ladies and gents observe the passing of anyone who at least did not kill Dumbledore. I never knew the man and have nothing to say other than we were not on the same wavelength but good luck in whatever dimension awaits you.

There is a website that I am ambivalent about. I favor immigration control for a number of reasons, partly because 911 was an immigration system failure more than anything else. I am more nuanced in my views on restriction. Still, I have found it interesting to read. The editor, Peter Brimelow, published his eulogy on the passing of Buckley and gave it the title of William F. Buckley, Jr., RIP—Sort Of. That "sort of" business says it all. Reading the article, one almost feels Mr. Brimelow feels bad he can't put the man on the gibbet before the body get too cold.

Undoubtedly, there will be many books out that will praise or pillory WFB. That would be the time to honorably stick the knife in with a review. Heck, I'm sure Mr. Brimelow could write one of those books.

Mr. Brimelow has put his character on display and it is not pretty. As the voice of humility, I've done the same. Mostly in my youth, I never passed up the chance to be less than gentlemanly and I regret it. I hope Mr. Brimelow figures it out.


The man more than anyone else who might have reason to write a mean spirited bit on Buckley's passing didn't to my knowledge. He did write a piece about the man over a year ago that viciously got back at his former boss. Actually, no. He wrote kindly about the man as Buckley started his battle with emphysema. Peter, Joe Sobran has a lesson for you on how to be a gentleman.

Say what? David Gelernter

How can I teach my students to write decently when the English language has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Academic-Industrial Complex? Our language used to belong to all its speakers and readers and writers. But in the 1970s and '80s, arrogant ideologues began recasting English into heavy artillery to defend the borders of the New Feminist state. In consequence we have all got used to sentences where puffed-up words like "chairperson" and "humankind" strut and preen, where he-or-she's keep bashing into surrounding phrases like bumper cars and related deformities blossom like blisters;

Thus David Gelernter begins his article titled Feminism and the English Language. I don’t know if he called it that reflecting Orwell’s Politics and the English Language. Not bad, though as I guess we shall always have some would be caste wanting to appropriate control of lingusitic expression.

In 1984, Newspeak would be a language of as simple expression as possible in order to limit rebellious thought. I guess it is always thought control.

Men and women should be fighting any group that wishes to control minds. They talk about “liberation.” No mind can be liberated that is controlled by an ideology, no matter how well meaning.

Now, I will never be considered an exemplar of good grammar, but the official controlling authority of the voice of humility is by our decree, Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, 1962 edition, even if I never open my copy again.

Mr. Gelernter is somewhat neoconnish and this article was found at an AEI site. No matter, it is a good job. I’m not going to be controlled by ideology.

Here in Massachusetts the speech police are ever busy. In the Peoples' Republic of Amherst, the elected officials are called the Select Board instead of the Board of Selectmen. The writ of the Correctarians is not absolute. My town still prefers the old usage even though the ablest members that have ever served that I know of were two women.

The ne plus ultra of feminist inspired speech was the construct used by Marty Sender on WBZ-TV Boston's Evening Magazine. He commended someone for showing great showpersonship. What is amazing is that happened way back in the seventies.

Proof that Communism is dumb

The Israeli Water Guy has picture after picture of Maria Sharapova. He seems to have an interest in, if not obsession for La Femme Russe. Like Cromwell, "I meddle with no man's conscience,"* so that is not my business.

My interest in all this is how it proves the silliness of Marxism. When I was in elementary school there was a series of geography books through the grades. The one with a section on the Soviet Union had pictures of women laborers. None of them would be on a Paris runway, though they might have replaced a few NFL linebackers.

Nowadays, it seems like all the Russian women we see can't take a bad picture. What I deduce from this is communism produces ugly women or the Russians have better cameras under capitalism.

Or does communism produce bad cameras and capitalism, beautiful women?

*Unlike Cromwell, I don't slaughter the wrongly conscienced.

Note; If you share your man's interest, you have to scroll down and through old pages for the whole series of pics. He is not uninteresting in his other posts, though his neoconnish tendencies are apparent.

Message to you dreamers, wake up!

When I was a stripling, the adoration of "charisma" was starting to be a big thing. People would gush about how someone had it. Bobby Kennedy was thought to be a big charisma guy. Things he said would be taken as some holy writ not due to any inherent value, but because the cool guy said it.

One of his oft quoted statements, "There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were and ask why not." is repeated Ad nauseam. It is not his actually, but no matter, if he had said, "The law of gravity is a mere construct," people would take it as an ex cathedra utterance and say we merely have to will it to fly.

The problem with the statement is that there are often good reasons why our dreams can't happen. Even worse, if we give into our dreams, it may even be disastrous. Serious reflection is not the strong suit of our national legislature and they might be on the way to one big screw up.

Some of the rent seekers who have achieved the title of congressmen and senators have not asked "why," or "why not." They appear to want to "Just do it." What is, "it" It is giving judges the right to reset mortgage rates.

It has in a sense happened before. One of the great charisma guys of the previous century, Adolph "I got Germany moving again" Hitler tried to avoid reality in his mortgage crisis.

According to Jude Wanniski, the fuhrer's policies had led to foreclosures on farm mortgages. Hitler "solved" the crisis by prohibiting foreclosure. As no one would want to invest in agriculture under such conditions, productivity declined. "By late 1935, Germany had been advanced 500 million marks wory of foodstuffs and raw materials which had yet to be redeemed in finished goods."*

Something had to give, and it did, Poland. The Lebensraum idea became inevitable.

Now, our august solons do not contemplate a blanket end to foreclosure, just relief for the folks who suckered themselves into the subprime mortgages. This will not lead to slogans like "Manitoba is historically a part of North Dakota," but it will make it harder to raise funds for mortgages going forward. Just a little more sand in the gears.

Jude Wanniski, The way the World Works (New York: Touchstone, 1979) p.147

Choose Obfuscation

Now Hilarycare is going to be mandatory if Mrs. Clinton is elected and can get it passed.

Hilary claims to be pro-choice.

Is there not a contradiction here.

I remember when the term pro-choice was first used. Choice was posited as the value rather than abortion as a right in and of itself because pro-abortion was not as easy to sell.

So much for the value of choice.

Then again, this is a country where English is spoken, but not understood.

No you can't and don't change on my account

When I was a kid I had a gofer gig on my way home from school. I would get coffee for the men who worked at a gas station and their friends who would gather at the mechanics' break and talk. Like a lot of Boston area Micks, the discussion would be political.

These men were high school grads at most. All of them voted Democrat. The arguments they had were on a higher level than anything I've heard from college grads, whether in person or on radio or TV in the last couple of decades. I suspect this is because the parochial school system of that day was superior to the winter camp that college has become now.

Most of the current campaign, whether Democrat or Republican has been the retailing of twaddle to the American people. The most embarrassing thing I've seen has been the Will.i.am silliness. Just keep chanting "change" and "yes we can" that will give it some meaning. Om me padme om. All the people who appeared in that are not sharp enough to realize they marked themselves as primitives.

Reflecting on all this, I've come to the conclusion that the only purpose to elections is that unlike some other countries we don't change governments violently. We select candidates with little rhyme or reason and then vote and go on.

The current campaign has caused an addition to the Short Dictionary of Politics.

Change: 1. Old, To transform or convert. 2. New, Politically, whatever you want it to mean.

Now more on elections and how they are sold by the candidates. If you saw Mrs. Clinton's Christmas message (see below in case you missed it), where she promised everything except a Merlot Maintenance Program for those of us who don't need methadone (and she might have hooked me with that) you can see the justice of our dictionaries definition of her party.



Democratic Party: American cargo cult masquerading as a political association.

Mrs. Clinton has inspired us to steal from H.L. Mencken, "Every Election is a Sort of Advance Auction Sale of Stolen Goods" and we distill it thus

Election: Auction in advance of stolen goods.

H.L. wrote this in either the twenties or thirties of the last century. Plus ca change and you finish it.

You think that's funny

Mangan and Sailer are posting about stuffwhitepeoplelike and it is funny. they ask for suggestions and I sent in grey haired guys with pony tales, not to mention bald grey haired guys with pony tails.

Thinking to impress my son with how cool the old man is, I told him about it. Believe me, you can't outdo your kid about the net. He told me about failblog which is another chronicle of stupidity. My favorite in the era of supposed peak oil, a guy holding up a sign saying "who needs oil, I take the bus" which runs on whatever I guess.

Not so beautiful but useless.

Jane Fonda started a flap by showing the country she possesses a sophisticated vocabulary. A local talk show made up of a woman reporter, Margery Eagan, and a liberal guy, Jim Braude, talked around it all day. Braude was not upset and Eagan was.

She finally asked him, did he talk like that around his kids and then callers had him on the run from other positions.

I'm old before my time, but I do not find the coarsening of language a happy occurrence. It is not good that most of the women in this country would be turned down by the navy because their language would curdle the blood of old salts. O tempora, O mores.

We are all Miss Teen South Carolina now!

The camcorder was just coming into vogue when my wife and I were houseparents in a girls' dorm. I was grateful to have been a college student before that invention and even more fortunate to have been able to destroy the still photos (I think I got them all). I had no idea that youtube would come someday and now, more than literally, nothing is sacred.

Anyway, we round on poor Miss Teen SC when all she was trying to do was win a beauty contest. Let's hear from some smart, hip politically involved folks.




Lest you think it is limited to supporters,



I am making the voice of humility corollary to Adam Smith's "There is a lot of ruin in a nation."

"There is a lot of stupid in a political class."

Of course, there is Dana Perino,




C'mon lads, you were never interested in Miss SC for her mind to begin with. Just look at her. What she does well, she really does well. Dana was probably a cute perky teenager once too.

Stick a fork in him, He's dog food.

a Madison Avenue fable from Ben Wattenberg.

Seeking to produce a new dog food, a big corporation set market researchers, food chemists and advertising agencies to work. The experts came up with a new product they were proud of. The dog food sold well, for a while. Then it slumped. Puzzled, the corporate executives commissioned a public opinion firm to see what was wrong.

Soon, the answer came back: "The dogs don't like it."

This is a fair enough analysis of the Mitt Romney campaign.

I've been hard on the Mitt. I did not vote for him. Take Ron Paul out of the mix and he was, however, the least unsavory of the lot.

Policy wise, he was as bad as the rest. If you were looking for someone to just keep the trains running on time, He was your man.

One disagreement about the coverage of the man was that he was plastic. I'm not completely sure what people mean by this. Sure, when he was "jivin" on MLK day he looked like he was trying too hard. So what. That he could not overcome his natural reserve hardly means he was "plastic." Just the opposite. The plasticity of Hilary Clinton wherein she can mimic a black woman and then go teary eyed is the standard.

Plastic, whitebread, racist terms for not being a complete public jerk.