Political dialogue and actions these days are saturated with a disgusting kind of hateful slime. This garbage is not unique to Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, or liberals. It emanates from the Maher's and O'Donnell's as well as from the Noonan's and Coulter's. They all shout, “Don’t bother me with the facts, I just hate this guy.” For some, “this guy” is George Bush; for others, “this guy" is Bill Clinton. Well, I don’t hate either president, even though I vehemently disagree with many of the actions that both have taken.
Scholars of history know that the politics of hate is not unique to modern society. A review of the campaigns of the nineteenth century reveals similar elements in the campaigns for and against Ulysses S. Grant, James G. Blaine, Grover Cleveland, Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden, and others. But it seems more intense today, probably because of the pervasiveness and speed of electronic news media.
I try to set aside the internet jokes and the ravings of the asses and idiots in the media and entertainment industries. It's discouraging, though, that the politics of hate is not limited to commentators, entertainers, and election campaigns. It has spread to the meeting rooms of the Senate and the House. Too many of our (assumed intelligent) elected representatives expend their energy obsessively on hatred, vindictiveness, and character assassination. Instead of crafting legislation that will improve our society, our legislators waste hours and days investigating the activities of their hated political adversaries.
I am also angered by the pervasive application of dual standards by both politicians and commentators. That is, an action by a person from one party is investigated and prosecuted as criminal, yet an identical action by someone from the opposing party is ignored, rationalized, or even praised.
The very people who spew hateful political slime about their political opposition do not hesitate to criticize an individual who uses a word or phrase that they consider to be “offensive” or “politically incorrect.”
Our senators and representatives need to grow up. They should stop trying to fix the blame, and devote their energies to fixing the problems.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Friday, March 09, 2007
Too Many Laws, Part 2
I said it before, and I'll say it again: We have too many laws! The LA Times on Thursday had an item about some bills being drafted by California state legislators:
- Restrict the use of foods containing trans-fat in restaurants and public schools
- Ban smoking at state parks and beaches, and in cars carrying children
- Open a savings account, seeded with $500, for every new-born Californian to use at age 18 for college, a new home, or a retirement account
- Fine dog and cat owners who do not spay or neuter their pets by 4 months of age
- Require chain restaurants to list calorie, saturated fat, and sodium content of items on menus
- Phase out the sale of incandescent lamps, replacing them with fluorescents
In other states, proposed laws would ban the use of the "n__" word, or prohibit the use of "boo" at school sporting events.
But most folks are smart enough to figure out when a fluorescent lamp is the most cost effective solution for a light, and to buy one for that purpose. And in the past we have been able to use custom and social pressures to discourage inappropriate speech.
These absurdities are perfect examples of two major problems with our governments today:
- We have no need for a full-time legislature. Because we pay these people to write laws year-round, we will get more and more laws--laws that are virtually impossible to enforce--laws that create more problems than they solve, laws that increase the manpower needed for administration and enforcement. Instead, these legislators should meet only a few months out of the year to clear the books of obsolete and unenforced laws, to plan the next year's budget, and perhaps to write one or two new or amended laws to deal with large emerging problems.
- Too many of us think that government should solve everyone's problems for them. Instead of making the smart choices for ourselves, we are electing people to office who feel compelled to run everyone's lives (except, perhaps, their own). They want to tell us what to eat, what to buy, what to say (and what not to say), but they will retreat to their own mansions to spend and do as they please. And, because we are dumb enough to elect them, they assume we are too dumb to solve our own problems.
Let us heed the warnings we heard from the late President Reagan about the dangers of big government. Don't let our daily lives be micro-managed by full-time, power hungry legislators. Let us educate, not legislate.
I Once Was a Sailor
Bill Knight and I were shipmates on the USS Hoel (DDG-13) from 1962 to 1965. We were able to reconnect by e-mail a few years ago and continue to exchange notes. I served for only 5 years, but Bill made the Navy a career. However, we share warm feelings and fond memories of our days as sailors.
Today, Bill sent me an e-mail that paints a vivid picture of our shared experiences in the 20th century U.S. Navy. Bill tells me that he is not the author--it's apparently one of those anonymous pieces that gets passed around. Like Bill, though, I just had to share it--it deserves a wide audience.
Sharing a glimpse of the life I so dearly loved...I liked standing on the bridge wing at sunrise with salt spray in my face and clean ocean winds whipping in from the four quarters of the globe.
I liked the sounds of the Navy - the piercing trill of the boatswains pipe, the syncopated clangor of the ship's bell on the quarterdeck, harsh, and the strong language and laughter of sailors at work.
I liked Navy vessels -- plodding fleet auxiliaries and amphibs, sleek submarines and steady solid aircraft carriers.I liked the proud names of Navy ships; Midway, Lexington, Saratoga, Coral Sea, Antietam, Valley Forge - - memorials of great battles won and tribulations overcome.
I liked the lean angular names of Navy "tin-cans" and escorts, mementos of heroes who went before us. And the others - - San Jose, San Diego, Los Angeles, St.Paul, Chicago, Oklahoma City, named for our cities.
I liked the tempo of a Navy band. I liked liberty call and the spicy scent of a foreign port. I even liked the never ending paperwork and the all hands working parties as my ship filled herself with the multitude of supplies, both mundane and to cut ties to the land and carry out her mission anywhere on the globe where there was water to float her.
I liked sailors, officers and enlisted men from all parts of the land, farms of the Midwest, small towns of New England, from the big cities, the mountains and the prairies, from all walks of life. I trusted and depended on them as they trusted and depended on me -- for professional competence, for comradeship, for strength and courage. In a word, they were "shipmates"; then and forever.
I liked the surge of adventure in my heart, when the word was passed: ''Now Hear This'' "Now set the special sea and anchor detail - all hands to quarters for leaving port," and I liked the infectious thrill of sighting home again, with the waving hands of welcome from family and friends waiting pier side. The work was hard and dangerous; the going rough at times; the parting from loved ones painful, but the companionship of robust Navy laughter, the "all for one and one for all" philosophy of the sea was ever present.
I liked the fierce and dangerous activity on the flight deck of aircraft carriers, earlier named for battles won but sadly now named for politicians. Enterprise, Independence, Boxer, Princeton, and oh so many more, some lost in battle, and sadly many scrapped.
I liked the names of the aircraft and helicopters; Skyraider, Intruder, Sea King, Phantom, Skyhawk, Demon, Skywarrior, Corsair, and many more that bring to mind offensive and defensive orders of battle.
I liked the excitement of an alongside replenishment as my ship slid in alongside the oiler and the cry of "Standby to receive shotlines", prefaced the hard work of rigging spanwires and fuel hoses echoed across the narrow gap of water between the ships and welcomed the mail and fresh milk, fruit and vegetables that sometimes accompanied the fuel.
I liked the serenity of the sea after a day of hard ship's work, as flying fish flitted across the wave tops and sunset gave way to night.
I liked the feel of the Navy in darkness - the masthead and range lights, the red and green navigation lights and stern light, the pulsating phosphorescence of radar repeaters - they cut through the dusk and joined with the mirror of stars overhead.
And I liked drifting off to sleep lulled by the myriad noises large and small that told me that my ship was alive and well, and that my shipmates on watch would keep me safe.
I liked quiet mid-watches with the aroma of strong coffee -- the lifeblood of the Navy permeating everywhere.
And I liked hectic watches when the exacting minuet of haze-gray shapes racing at flank speed kept all hands on a razor edge of alertness.I liked the sudden electricity of "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations," followed by the hurried clamor of running feet on ladders and the resounding thump of watertight doors as the ship transformed herself in a few brief seconds from a peaceful workplace to a weapon of war -- ready for anything.
And I liked the sight of space-age equipment manned by youngsters clad in dungarees and sound-powered phones that their grandfathers would still recognize .
I liked the traditions of the Navy and the men and now women who made them. I liked the proud names of Navy heroes; Halsey, Nimitz, Perry, Farragut, John Paul Jones and Burke.A sailor could find much in the Navy: comrades-in-arms, pride in self and country, mastery of the seaman's trade. An adolescent could find adulthood.In years to come, when sailors are home from the sea, we still remember with fondness and respect the ocean in all its moods - the impossible shimmering mirror calm and the storm-tossed green water surging over the bow. And then there will come again a faint whiff of stack gas, a faint echo of engine and rudder orders, a vision of the bright bunting of signal flags snapping at the yardarm, a refrain of hearty laughter in the wardroom and chief's quarters and mess decks.
Gone ashore for good we grow humble about our Navy days, when the seas were a part of us and a new port of call was ever over the horizon.
Remembering this, WE stand taller and say, " I WAS A SAILOR ONCE."
A footnote to this posting: I received another copy via email on 13 January, 2008. In this version, the quotation was attributed to Captain Lew Thames, U. S. Navy (Retired).
Today, Bill sent me an e-mail that paints a vivid picture of our shared experiences in the 20th century U.S. Navy. Bill tells me that he is not the author--it's apparently one of those anonymous pieces that gets passed around. Like Bill, though, I just had to share it--it deserves a wide audience.
I Once Was a Sailor
Sharing a glimpse of the life I so dearly loved...I liked standing on the bridge wing at sunrise with salt spray in my face and clean ocean winds whipping in from the four quarters of the globe.
I liked the sounds of the Navy - the piercing trill of the boatswains pipe, the syncopated clangor of the ship's bell on the quarterdeck, harsh, and the strong language and laughter of sailors at work.
I liked Navy vessels -- plodding fleet auxiliaries and amphibs, sleek submarines and steady solid aircraft carriers.I liked the proud names of Navy ships; Midway, Lexington, Saratoga, Coral Sea, Antietam, Valley Forge - - memorials of great battles won and tribulations overcome.
I liked the lean angular names of Navy "tin-cans" and escorts, mementos of heroes who went before us. And the others - - San Jose, San Diego, Los Angeles, St.Paul, Chicago, Oklahoma City, named for our cities.
I liked the tempo of a Navy band. I liked liberty call and the spicy scent of a foreign port. I even liked the never ending paperwork and the all hands working parties as my ship filled herself with the multitude of supplies, both mundane and to cut ties to the land and carry out her mission anywhere on the globe where there was water to float her.
I liked sailors, officers and enlisted men from all parts of the land, farms of the Midwest, small towns of New England, from the big cities, the mountains and the prairies, from all walks of life. I trusted and depended on them as they trusted and depended on me -- for professional competence, for comradeship, for strength and courage. In a word, they were "shipmates"; then and forever.
I liked the surge of adventure in my heart, when the word was passed: ''Now Hear This'' "Now set the special sea and anchor detail - all hands to quarters for leaving port," and I liked the infectious thrill of sighting home again, with the waving hands of welcome from family and friends waiting pier side. The work was hard and dangerous; the going rough at times; the parting from loved ones painful, but the companionship of robust Navy laughter, the "all for one and one for all" philosophy of the sea was ever present.
I liked the fierce and dangerous activity on the flight deck of aircraft carriers, earlier named for battles won but sadly now named for politicians. Enterprise, Independence, Boxer, Princeton, and oh so many more, some lost in battle, and sadly many scrapped.
I liked the names of the aircraft and helicopters; Skyraider, Intruder, Sea King, Phantom, Skyhawk, Demon, Skywarrior, Corsair, and many more that bring to mind offensive and defensive orders of battle.
I liked the excitement of an alongside replenishment as my ship slid in alongside the oiler and the cry of "Standby to receive shotlines", prefaced the hard work of rigging spanwires and fuel hoses echoed across the narrow gap of water between the ships and welcomed the mail and fresh milk, fruit and vegetables that sometimes accompanied the fuel.
I liked the serenity of the sea after a day of hard ship's work, as flying fish flitted across the wave tops and sunset gave way to night.
I liked the feel of the Navy in darkness - the masthead and range lights, the red and green navigation lights and stern light, the pulsating phosphorescence of radar repeaters - they cut through the dusk and joined with the mirror of stars overhead.
And I liked drifting off to sleep lulled by the myriad noises large and small that told me that my ship was alive and well, and that my shipmates on watch would keep me safe.
I liked quiet mid-watches with the aroma of strong coffee -- the lifeblood of the Navy permeating everywhere.
And I liked hectic watches when the exacting minuet of haze-gray shapes racing at flank speed kept all hands on a razor edge of alertness.I liked the sudden electricity of "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations," followed by the hurried clamor of running feet on ladders and the resounding thump of watertight doors as the ship transformed herself in a few brief seconds from a peaceful workplace to a weapon of war -- ready for anything.
And I liked the sight of space-age equipment manned by youngsters clad in dungarees and sound-powered phones that their grandfathers would still recognize .
I liked the traditions of the Navy and the men and now women who made them. I liked the proud names of Navy heroes; Halsey, Nimitz, Perry, Farragut, John Paul Jones and Burke.A sailor could find much in the Navy: comrades-in-arms, pride in self and country, mastery of the seaman's trade. An adolescent could find adulthood.In years to come, when sailors are home from the sea, we still remember with fondness and respect the ocean in all its moods - the impossible shimmering mirror calm and the storm-tossed green water surging over the bow. And then there will come again a faint whiff of stack gas, a faint echo of engine and rudder orders, a vision of the bright bunting of signal flags snapping at the yardarm, a refrain of hearty laughter in the wardroom and chief's quarters and mess decks.
Gone ashore for good we grow humble about our Navy days, when the seas were a part of us and a new port of call was ever over the horizon.
Remembering this, WE stand taller and say, " I WAS A SAILOR ONCE."
A footnote to this posting: I received another copy via email on 13 January, 2008. In this version, the quotation was attributed to Captain Lew Thames, U. S. Navy (Retired).
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