Monday, January 03, 2005
No matter how some of the world may view the Bush administration's delayed response to the tsunami (Bush does nothing fast) or motives for committing two Naval fleets to aiding a predominently Islamic section of the planet, there's no ulterior motives for the ourpouring of private charity. & the government is doing what it must do, what the people of the United States expect of it at this time. I hope we keep it up for as long as necessary.
2004 Roundup Part One: The second half of 2004 provided the strangest, & saddest events of the year. Among the former was the downfall of Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey. It had fleetingly crossed my mind a few times that there was something vaguely gay about McGreevey (used to be called a "hint of mint"). But I lived in a town where a lot of people including the mayor had known him for decades, & his frequent visits to a local hetero strip club were common knowledge. McGreevey's name never figured in the gossip at a local coffeehouse owned, staffed, & largely patronized by gays. But gay men insist that closets unconsciously want to be outed; certainly McGreevey is an excellent example of that impulse. The main scandal (there were many) - McGreevey's attempt to make his alleged boytoy the state homeland security chief - & resignation were worth it for a number of reasons. It took the lid off the corrupt, county-based Democratic establishment & was at least a temporary setback to the reps of few political puppetmasters. It also removed a disappointing governor nearly everyone including me had assumed was qualified for the job & would do it competently if not with exceptional creativity, & put a strong advocate of mental health services in the governor's seat. & it was definitely worth hearing a friend - who is inclined toward using the first person singular possessive when a plural pronoun might serve better - exclaiming, "I just found out MY Governor is GAY." McGreevey may have wasted his political talent & capital, but not his life; I believe he will do some remarkable things.
In the runup to the presidential election I kept waiting for Kerry to gain momentum. Every few days checked an electoral map site to see what the latest polls were showing. But Kerry never recovered from the assault on the credibility of his Vietnam service. I don't remember who said "Attack your enemy's strengths," Machiavelli or Goebbels, but the strategy sure worked for the Bush team. Both candidates had great, possibly fatal weaknesses. But nothing Bush said or did personally during the campaign could ever trump Kerry's combat experience - that was untouchable by Dubya himself. So hired guns did the dirty work. In the end they had nothing. - they were pushing The Big Lie, which Goebbels realized could be more effectively damaging than a small one when repeated again & again, you grab the public's attention with something outageous, so might as well go for it. The Bush victory (& "mandate") has potentially terrible consequences for America as Dubya gears up to wreck Social Security (which the right has wanted to do since it was created) with a preposterous plan, extend tax cuts for the rich that have already been ruinous for the federal budget, open Alaska wilderness to oil drilling (lousy energy & environmental policy), misuse & waste our military, surrounding himself with sycophants - the list goes on. Did the American people re-elect Bush to do any of these?
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"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
2004 Roundup Part One: The second half of 2004 provided the strangest, & saddest events of the year. Among the former was the downfall of Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey. It had fleetingly crossed my mind a few times that there was something vaguely gay about McGreevey (used to be called a "hint of mint"). But I lived in a town where a lot of people including the mayor had known him for decades, & his frequent visits to a local hetero strip club were common knowledge. McGreevey's name never figured in the gossip at a local coffeehouse owned, staffed, & largely patronized by gays. But gay men insist that closets unconsciously want to be outed; certainly McGreevey is an excellent example of that impulse. The main scandal (there were many) - McGreevey's attempt to make his alleged boytoy the state homeland security chief - & resignation were worth it for a number of reasons. It took the lid off the corrupt, county-based Democratic establishment & was at least a temporary setback to the reps of few political puppetmasters. It also removed a disappointing governor nearly everyone including me had assumed was qualified for the job & would do it competently if not with exceptional creativity, & put a strong advocate of mental health services in the governor's seat. & it was definitely worth hearing a friend - who is inclined toward using the first person singular possessive when a plural pronoun might serve better - exclaiming, "I just found out MY Governor is GAY." McGreevey may have wasted his political talent & capital, but not his life; I believe he will do some remarkable things.
In the runup to the presidential election I kept waiting for Kerry to gain momentum. Every few days checked an electoral map site to see what the latest polls were showing. But Kerry never recovered from the assault on the credibility of his Vietnam service. I don't remember who said "Attack your enemy's strengths," Machiavelli or Goebbels, but the strategy sure worked for the Bush team. Both candidates had great, possibly fatal weaknesses. But nothing Bush said or did personally during the campaign could ever trump Kerry's combat experience - that was untouchable by Dubya himself. So hired guns did the dirty work. In the end they had nothing. - they were pushing The Big Lie, which Goebbels realized could be more effectively damaging than a small one when repeated again & again, you grab the public's attention with something outageous, so might as well go for it. The Bush victory (& "mandate") has potentially terrible consequences for America as Dubya gears up to wreck Social Security (which the right has wanted to do since it was created) with a preposterous plan, extend tax cuts for the rich that have already been ruinous for the federal budget, open Alaska wilderness to oil drilling (lousy energy & environmental policy), misuse & waste our military, surrounding himself with sycophants - the list goes on. Did the American people re-elect Bush to do any of these?
Add YOUR comments here
