Nobody 685

Sunday, February 11, 2007
Nobody # 685

Nobody Asked Me But:

“A too confident sense of justice always leads to injustice.” - Reinhold Niebuhr

Since Niebuhr is dead, I can’t claim this quote as directly applying to our government’s current infringements on the Bill of Rights, but I can claim his general meaning appropriate to it.<<<

I have a theory that Affirmative Action was actually sanctioned in the Constitution. Am I off the wall? Have I lost it?? Maybe not.

Isn’t the Constitutional make-up of the Senate a type of affirmative action? After all, it clearly guarantees a minority (small states) representation inappropriate with the democratic principle of merit – which is summed up by the idea of one person, one vote? As it now stands, Tom Turner, who lives in sparsely populated Wyoming, has more representation in the Senate than does Jim Turner in California.<<<

Q: What is a signing statement?

A: A statement added by a President to a new law declaring his opinion, support or opposition to it.

Q: Are signing statements new?

A: No. Presidents almost from our country’s beginnings have used them. Q: Then who is afraid of signing statements?

A: Me! Q:

Why? A: Because, as opposed to most past Presidents, Bush is using them to assume both legislative and judicial power and, by so doing, is violating one of the pillars upon which our government stands – separation of powers. If the President does not like a law he has the power to veto. If he signs it or vetoes it and is overridden by Congress, it becomes his responsibility to enforce it. The power to interpret that law rests not with the executive but with the Supreme Court.<<<

Cartoon of the week: (above)

Run, don’t walk, away from your favorite book store. Dinesh D’Souza, the darling of right conservatives has lost it. Gone! Disappeared! Poof.

D’Souza (left) claimed his “right” to fame in 1991 with his book “Illiberal Education,” which I must admit, made some valid points about political correctness on college campuses. Since then he has been slip-sliding away, and with his new book, “The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11,” he has hit the bottom.

This recent publication is a two-fur. For one price you get both his stupidity and his outrageousness.

Let’s start with stupidity. Try to follow this. I dare you. D’Souza’s claims that, 1 - the American left is allied to the Islamic radical movement to undermine the Bush White House and American foreign policy and, 2 - that “the left is the primary reason for Islamic anti-Americanism as well as the anti-Americanism of other traditional cultures around the world” because “liberals defend and promote values that are controversial in America and deeply revolting to people in traditional societies, especially in the Muslim world.” In other words, the left is allied with the Muslim radicals and at the same time is the primary reason that these terrorists hate America. Sorry. Those opposites don’t attract.

I’ll let the NY Times reviewer handle the outrageous:

“This embarrassing volume is an out-and-out partisan screed made up of illogical arguments, distorted and cherry-picked information, ridiculous generalizations and nutty asides. It’s a nasty stewpot of intellectually untenable premises and irresponsible speculation that frequently reads like a ‘Saturday Night Live’ parody of the crackpot right. It gives conservatism a bad name while viciously throwing oil on the partisan fires already burning in red state, blue state America.”<<<

Frankie Laine died last week. But for 93 years “That Lucky Old Sun” warmed his life. He is probably most famous for the impression he did of me singing:

To spend one night with you
In our old rendezvous
And reminisce with you
That's my desire.<<<

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate:

HPV vaccine – who chooses? Should the government or the parent make the decision about whether their daughters will be immunized to prevent cervical cancer? The debate is just beginning. Expect it to intensify.

To simplify the arguments: an editorial in the Washington Post said a mandatory vaccine would save lives, while a Wall Street Journal editorial labeled the proposals coercion.

The ideal situation would be for the individual to make the decision, but because it needs to be made at an age too early for that, I’m a pro- mandatory. If I am a parent who has a chance to save my daughter from cervical cancer and refuses to exercise it, then I am guilty of child abuse, and the government becomes in loco parentis taking that decision out of my hands.<<<

Things that people should not say:

“It's a no-brainer for me." Dick Cheney<<<

Urgent message to the Terminator -Don't outsource prisoners. I am not big on coddling prisoners. I’m for Spartan but humane treatment – the degree of Spartan depending on the crime. But capitalism has no place in any American prison system. For profit prisons do not consider humane in their bottom line.

Actually in California there is a consent law forbidding this practice but Governor “I’m back,” (who was at the Bruin/Trojan basketball game Wednesday) has declared an emergency, which gives him the power to ignore it.

So the President is not the only executive to usurp legislative power. And neither one even makes the trains run on time.<<<

Did you know that in Russia (where they are having the same problem of excessive executive authority) there are more cellphones than people?<<<

Candidates for President - on universal health care:

Obama – inspiring rhetoric but no specific plan. Actually I am currently listening to the Senator’s book and I find the same generalities there. He is still my candidate but he needs to some plans and some stands.

Aside on Obama: the experience issue is totally phony.

Hillary – says she is “not ready to be specific,” and that she wants to “build the consensus first.” Sorry Mrs. C, but you have it backward. If you want my support you must be a leader.<<<

Candidate for President - on abortion:

I have never been a fan of Rudy the G, but his whoring himself to the Right by changing his life-long support of abortion rights disgusts me.<<<

Quote of the week: “Any country that comes into being as a consequence of the pen of a diplomat has never been able to be stable except by (a) an imperial power dominating it, (b) a dictator or strongman, or (c) a federal system.” - Joe Biden<<<

I am not a big Pro Football fan and Tony Dungy seems like a really nice and deserving person, but I can’t help wondering why he would say that it was God’s will that the Colts won the Super Bowl. I mean why would God care – unless, of course, She had some money down on the game.<<<

And did you know that the average American adult drinks 3.16 gallons of wine per year? A year?

Heck, I drink that much in a week.<<<

And did you know that Pinot Noir has become the most sought after red wine? That’s just sick! There is no red wine but Cabernet, and I am its prophet.<<<

Liar, liar, pants on fire quote of the week:

"I haven't really even looked at the standings," Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson.<<<

Bruins 70, USC 65. I love it! I have “hated” Trojans all my life. (below, left - the camoroon connection against U$C)

And with the Bruins 22-2 (all right, 21-3) and on their way to a PAC-10 championship and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, and the Dodgers getting close to reporting for spring training, life is good.