Nobody 727

Sunday, January 13, 2008
Nobody # 727

Nobody Asked Me But:

First: I am so sorry son, that you slipped on some ice and broke your wrist. As your father, I still feel a need to protect you. I know that makes little sense, but parenting is like that. Get whole soon.

Now, on with Nobody.

"The Reverend Al Sharpton attacked President Bush, saying he ruined the economy. For instance, Sharpton hasn't been able to find a job in over 46 years." —Craig Kilborn

There are two kinds of people in the world, those with brains and those who listen to Al Sharpton.<<<

Help me out here. I am as big a civil libertarian as almost anyone, but I can’t get excited about the government requiring “Real ID.”<<< I

am in shock and a little depressed this morning (Wednesday) over Hillary’s victory. I must have more emotional investment in Obama than I thought. I have no sense of what went wrong in New Hampshire unless the independents voted for McCain. (This proved to be correct and one of the factors.)

I do know that between Iowa and New Hampshire, Hillary had a Romney-like conversion. She went from the candidate of experience to the candidate of youthful hope.

More on New Hampshire: By a 44% to 35% margin, those who voted in the Democratic primary thought that Obama had a better chance than Hillary of winning the election in November ----- and yet---- the vote went for Clinton by a 39% to 37% margin. Would you call that a bit masochistic? I would.

AND wouldn’t it be ironic for Hillary to win in November by running an “It’s the economy, stupid”
campaign?<<<

Justice Antonin Scalia on a our nation’s responsibility to provide a humane death penalty:

“But where is it written that the state must choose the least painful method?” “Is that somewhere in the Constitution?”

AND “This is an execution — not surgery.”

AND - on allowing time to determine if a one-injection method is preferable to the current 3 injections: “Such a move would mean a national cessation of executions. We're looking at years. We wouldn't want that to happen."

Could Friedrich Nietzsche have been thinking about Scalia when he wrote:

“Whoever battles with monsters had better see that it does not turn him into a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”<<<

More on the Court

I am really hard line in my disbelief in original intent. I cannot imagine the "Fathers" expecting the Constitution to remain forever unchanging and trapped in a 1787 time warp. Yes, they created a mechanism for amendment but they also wrote flexibility into our great document. The elastic clause is one example. Due process is another.<<<

Here are my answers to Last week’s questions

If you had been a youth growing up in the 1800s, who do you think your hero would have been?

The easy and expected answer is Abraham Lincoln, but I will do the unexpected. My choice is William Lloyd Garrison. He was unequivocal in his hatred of slavery and unafraid to take a stand. And he was a white man “calling out” the vast majority of his race whose morality was blinded by prejudice and convenience. Here is a famous sample of his work:

I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; – but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest – I will not equivocate – I will not excuse – I will not retreat a single inch – AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead. – William Lloyd Garrison, “To the Public,” from the Inaugural Editorial in the 1 January 1831 The Liberator

Garrison was a moral giant.<<<

If you could investigate any famous archive, which one would you choose?

The Enlightenment Archive at The British Museum.<<<

Here’s Hugh, with my thanks, on his choice for a final appearance by a superstar:

My Superstar (I am assuming he has to be gone) would be Ben Hogan who overcame a terrible childhood experience (his father's suicide) and a near fatal car accident* to become one of golf's all time greats. Ben's golf swing was incredible. It is STILL being studied today by modern golfers. Ben was also an innovator in golf equipment. In 1953 he played in 3 of the 4 majors and won all three. He was unable to compete in the PGA championship, because it conflicted with his appearance in the Open Championship in Scotland. I would just love to see him practice (he use to hit golf balls until his hands needed to be bandaged, then he would hit more). In the 1960s he sent Lee Trevino a check for $2,500 to help Lee get started on tour. Lee never cashed the check but still has it. One Texan helping another! My golf hat is off to one of the all time sports great Ben Hogan.

*Ben's life was saved when the Air Force flew in a specialist to operate on Ben after his horrible car accident. Ben's car was hit head on by a bus on a foggy Texas road. Ben had served in the Air Force (Just like Williams) during World War II.<<<

Some weeks it doesn’t pay to say yes. Here are three questions asked on CNN in the last few days:

Would Bill Clinton make a good Supreme Court justice?

The majority said no. I said yes.

Is execution by lethal injection so likely to cause pain that it is unconstitutional?

A huge majority said no. I said yes.

Have you ever scared yourself silly with online health information?

You guessed it. By 2-1 the answer was no. I was one of the minority.<<<

Movie Trivia question - Who was originally intended for Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley role in “Beverly Hills Cop?”

Sylvester Stallone. (Heck, He wasn’t even the right color.)<<<

Worst places to retire list

According to America Online, these are the 13 least desirable places to kick back after a long career:
1. Clearwater City, Fla.
2. Austin, Texas
3. Anchorage, Alaska
4. Bridgeport, Conn.
5. Washington, D.C.
6. Rhode Island (entire state)
7. Provo, Utah
8. Queens, N.Y.
9. Connecticut (entire state) 1
0. Your kids' house
11. Green Valley, Ariz.
12. Corpus Christi, Texas
13. Riverside, Calif.

I didn’t think Austin was that bad, and Connecticut would be cool if it wasn’t so cold. It is a good thing, Libby, that you and Jack didn’t head for Green Valley.<<<

Heard from the opposing team during a game with UCLA:

“We can beat this team! We can beat this team! We can beat this team!”

“Hey, we lost by 10 points.”<<<

Heard from USC players after almost every game:

“That was a game we could have won.”<<<

Changing abortion's pronoun

“We had abortions,' say men whose lovers ended pregnancies. It isn't just a women's trauma, they insist.

WE? I don’t think so.<<<

Old but good: This is a Christmas story that I had in my notes but that somehow slipped past me.

Did you read a couple of weeks ago about Marietta, Georgia middle school teacher John Hayes, 46, who loaded several students into the back of his pickup truck, and drove them around after dark as they created X-rated version of neighborhood Christmas displays, including placing reindeer in sexual positions.

The newspaper report did not say whether this field trip was curricular or extra-curricular.<<<

And did you see – that Trader Joe’s is phasing out some of the food items it gets from China?

What was that popular song of my youth again?

No more chow mein, yaka mien, bean sprout
No more leche nut or won ton soup.<<<

Here are the questions for next week. Care to share?

Aside from your family, friends or pets, what would be the most difficult thing for you to give up in your life?

If you had to create the ultimate hotel, something as big and grand as those in Las Vegas or in Disney World, what would your hotel look like upon completion?