...I'm cool with it. He's the president. Having the president talking about how important school is seems to me to be a perfectly acceptable thing for the president to do.
But, seriously, all of you folks who are getting all bent out of shape about conservative types getting all bent out of shape about President Obama doing this, I'm sure you would have been perfectly fine with President Bush (the second one, or, heck, even the first one) doing the same thing, right?
Doubtful.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Back to the Future
This would mean a lot to me, I suppose, if it were, say, 1993 or so.
Because I think that's the last time I ever sat down to watch the nightly news.
For what it's worth, sometime in 2001 was the last time I bought a Tennessean.
Because I think that's the last time I ever sat down to watch the nightly news.
For what it's worth, sometime in 2001 was the last time I bought a Tennessean.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Wow, Such Astonishing Power the Republicans Apparently Have
President Obama is blaming the Republicans for killing the Democrats' attempt at health care reform.
Huh. Well, here's the current scorecard:
1) The Democrats control the White House.
2) The Democrats control the House of Representatives by a wide margin.
3) The Democrats have a filibuster-proof super-majority in the Senate.
Try all they wish to pin blame on Republicans, but, if they do indeed screw this up, Democrats have no one to blame but themselves. And it's pathetic for them to pretend otherwise. Indeed, they could pass anything they want without a single Republican vote. So, what's stopping them?
Huh. Well, here's the current scorecard:
1) The Democrats control the White House.
2) The Democrats control the House of Representatives by a wide margin.
3) The Democrats have a filibuster-proof super-majority in the Senate.
Try all they wish to pin blame on Republicans, but, if they do indeed screw this up, Democrats have no one to blame but themselves. And it's pathetic for them to pretend otherwise. Indeed, they could pass anything they want without a single Republican vote. So, what's stopping them?
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Just Saying
One last word about Sherri Goforth, before that story disappears into the ether altogether:
I've run across some lefty folks complaining about the fact that the employment policy in place at the legislature resulted in her getting only a warning/reprimand in her file/slap on the wrist for her first offense rather than getting fired outright. After all, in the private sector, she would have been fired outright, more likely than not, right?
Right. It is a bit annoying that government employees often aren't subject to the same strictures as those in the private sector, isn't it?
(NOTE: Yes, I know that there are some good arguments for having these sorts of rules in place for government employees. Doesn't make them any less irritating when there's someone you really want to see run out on a rail.)
I've run across some lefty folks complaining about the fact that the employment policy in place at the legislature resulted in her getting only a warning/reprimand in her file/slap on the wrist for her first offense rather than getting fired outright. After all, in the private sector, she would have been fired outright, more likely than not, right?
Right. It is a bit annoying that government employees often aren't subject to the same strictures as those in the private sector, isn't it?
(NOTE: Yes, I know that there are some good arguments for having these sorts of rules in place for government employees. Doesn't make them any less irritating when there's someone you really want to see run out on a rail.)
Friday, June 19, 2009
Goodbye, Tim Chavez
Tim Chavez used to drive me crazy way back when. I remember reading his Tennessean columns in the mid-1990s and thinking about them the way I now think (on the rare occasions I even read The Tennessean) of Saritha Prabhu's dreck: knee-jerk conventional wisdom-style liberalism (although Tim was a much better writer).
But then this weird thing happened: Tim started questioning some of the shibboleths of those on his political "side of the fence." It wasn't that he had turned on them, really, (though, certainly, some thought that): it was that he had come to the realization that--sometimes--folks on his side sometimes let ideology get in the way of reality (which happens all over the political map, by the way).
I got to know him pretty well after that, and while he never went into too much detail with me, something happened when he was volunteering (or something) with Metro public schools. He got a wake-up call of some sort, and he came to believe that conventional "liberal" solutions or prescriptions for public education weren't working, at least not for those on the bottom rungs of the socioeconomic ladder. He wanted to look at other ideas--even those proposed by conservatives--but became disillusioned when his usual compatriots--Democrats, unions, etc.--didn't want to go along, vested as they very much were in the status quo.
This realization made him more open to conservative types generally, but while some conservatives started to think of Tim as one of their own, he really wasn't. Tim's passion was bettering the lives of the poor and underprivileged, walking--as he saw it--in the footsteps of Jesus. And when he thought that conservative types had better ideas than liberal types in that regard, he said so.
If you want to honor Tim's memory, here's one way to do it: don't always assume that someone who takes a position is doing so because they are a Republican or a Democrat, or a man or a woman, or a conservative or a liberal, or a white person or a black person, or a rich person or a poor person, or married or single, or a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim or an atheist, and that therefore they hold that position because of what they are.
To be sure, the opinions of many people (perhaps even most people) are largely determined by these things. But there a few people who have a real passion beyond their own identities. They are few and far between, but they are out there, and are usually the ones most worth reading and listening to. And now, alas, we just lost one of the best.
But then this weird thing happened: Tim started questioning some of the shibboleths of those on his political "side of the fence." It wasn't that he had turned on them, really, (though, certainly, some thought that): it was that he had come to the realization that--sometimes--folks on his side sometimes let ideology get in the way of reality (which happens all over the political map, by the way).
I got to know him pretty well after that, and while he never went into too much detail with me, something happened when he was volunteering (or something) with Metro public schools. He got a wake-up call of some sort, and he came to believe that conventional "liberal" solutions or prescriptions for public education weren't working, at least not for those on the bottom rungs of the socioeconomic ladder. He wanted to look at other ideas--even those proposed by conservatives--but became disillusioned when his usual compatriots--Democrats, unions, etc.--didn't want to go along, vested as they very much were in the status quo.
This realization made him more open to conservative types generally, but while some conservatives started to think of Tim as one of their own, he really wasn't. Tim's passion was bettering the lives of the poor and underprivileged, walking--as he saw it--in the footsteps of Jesus. And when he thought that conservative types had better ideas than liberal types in that regard, he said so.
If you want to honor Tim's memory, here's one way to do it: don't always assume that someone who takes a position is doing so because they are a Republican or a Democrat, or a man or a woman, or a conservative or a liberal, or a white person or a black person, or a rich person or a poor person, or married or single, or a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim or an atheist, and that therefore they hold that position because of what they are.
To be sure, the opinions of many people (perhaps even most people) are largely determined by these things. But there a few people who have a real passion beyond their own identities. They are few and far between, but they are out there, and are usually the ones most worth reading and listening to. And now, alas, we just lost one of the best.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
It's Not Racism! It's, Um, Something Else, and as Soon As I Figure Out What It Is I'll Tell You
"I think all along, Steve Cohen has known that's his vulnerability," said political scientist Marcus Pohlmann at Rhodes College of Memphis. "It's not so much that he's disliked because he's white, but he's running in a district that was created to elect an African-American."
...which means--does it not?--that any person who is not an African-American may be resented--dare we even say "disliked"?--for occupying the seat, for no other reason than that he or she is not an African-American.
Just once I'd like one of these people to just come out and say this simple, undeniable fact: Steve Cohen will pretty much always be vulnerable because the majority of his congressional district is black and he is not. Stop trying to spin it into something else. It is what it is: a race-based opinion.
...which means--does it not?--that any person who is not an African-American may be resented--dare we even say "disliked"?--for occupying the seat, for no other reason than that he or she is not an African-American.
Just once I'd like one of these people to just come out and say this simple, undeniable fact: Steve Cohen will pretty much always be vulnerable because the majority of his congressional district is black and he is not. Stop trying to spin it into something else. It is what it is: a race-based opinion.
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