Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Can't Follow the Program?
Greetings from far away from the RNC!
If you try following the convention this week you may feel like you are watching a film -- Compassionate Conservatism II -- that has the wrong audio track. What you'll hear is completely different from what is written in the script, er, platform.
The big prime time speakers, not including the candidates themselves, are largely pro-choice, pro-gay union/gay rights, pro-stem cell research, etc. You know them well -- Guiliani, McCain, Arnold. In short, they are moderate and independent-thinking -- folks I at least could tolerate should my preferred candidate (Heaven forbid) lose in November. The real story, however, is in the party platform in which the Bushies sketch out their second term agenda:
- In response to Dick Cheney's statement that gay marriage wasn't the end of the world the conservatives have strengthened the platform to state that they want to stop gay unions as well as gay marriage;
- The determination eliminate legal, safe abortion is as strong or stronger than ever;
- There is no flexibility in considering expanding stem cell research;
- The $455 billion deficit is described as "unwelcome, but manageable" and encourages spending cuts to help bring things in check. Thanks to the Iraq war the military has an open checkbook so that means less spending on education, the environment, help for the uninsured, and other programs that can strengthen us as a nation;
- The biggest yuk comes from the section on tax cuts that states, "The taxation system should not be used to redistribute wealth or fund ever-increasing entitlements..." This from the party that gave us the new drug program for seniors that explicitly forbids the government from negotiating prices with the drug companies. If that's not creating a redistribution of wealth, from taxpayers to the pharmaceutical industry, and guaranteeing a bloated entitlement, I don't konw what is.
I'd like to link you to the platform itself but it's damn hard to even find it on their Web site. Sections are reprinted in today's NY Times.
So, yes, the "big tent" is open again for moderate Republicans but only during primetime this week. Check the rental agreement -- the big tent gets folded up for another four years on Friday morning. The painful part is that the truth is so obvious yet the public seems to float blithely along and the press does little challenge it for fear of losing their prime seats at the circus.
The speakers at the podium should reflect the message in the platform. If you are going to stand for something, stand for it. Otherwise, we have may have to have the FCC investigate the RNC for false advertising.
If you try following the convention this week you may feel like you are watching a film -- Compassionate Conservatism II -- that has the wrong audio track. What you'll hear is completely different from what is written in the script, er, platform.
The big prime time speakers, not including the candidates themselves, are largely pro-choice, pro-gay union/gay rights, pro-stem cell research, etc. You know them well -- Guiliani, McCain, Arnold. In short, they are moderate and independent-thinking -- folks I at least could tolerate should my preferred candidate (Heaven forbid) lose in November. The real story, however, is in the party platform in which the Bushies sketch out their second term agenda:
- In response to Dick Cheney's statement that gay marriage wasn't the end of the world the conservatives have strengthened the platform to state that they want to stop gay unions as well as gay marriage;
- The determination eliminate legal, safe abortion is as strong or stronger than ever;
- There is no flexibility in considering expanding stem cell research;
- The $455 billion deficit is described as "unwelcome, but manageable" and encourages spending cuts to help bring things in check. Thanks to the Iraq war the military has an open checkbook so that means less spending on education, the environment, help for the uninsured, and other programs that can strengthen us as a nation;
- The biggest yuk comes from the section on tax cuts that states, "The taxation system should not be used to redistribute wealth or fund ever-increasing entitlements..." This from the party that gave us the new drug program for seniors that explicitly forbids the government from negotiating prices with the drug companies. If that's not creating a redistribution of wealth, from taxpayers to the pharmaceutical industry, and guaranteeing a bloated entitlement, I don't konw what is.
I'd like to link you to the platform itself but it's damn hard to even find it on their Web site. Sections are reprinted in today's NY Times.
So, yes, the "big tent" is open again for moderate Republicans but only during primetime this week. Check the rental agreement -- the big tent gets folded up for another four years on Friday morning. The painful part is that the truth is so obvious yet the public seems to float blithely along and the press does little challenge it for fear of losing their prime seats at the circus.
The speakers at the podium should reflect the message in the platform. If you are going to stand for something, stand for it. Otherwise, we have may have to have the FCC investigate the RNC for false advertising.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Election Unplugged?
No matter where you sit in the Bush - Kerry battle, nothing should be more disturbing than the move to electronic voting machines that offer no verifiable paper trail. Anyone with a PC (and that's you if you are reading this) knows how fallible technology can be -- it's not perfect and it never will be -- so let's not pretend that the new "black box" voting machines will always work flawlessly.
You expect a paper receipt from virtually every other transaction -- from the ATM to a toilet paper purchase -- why should the standards be lower for our votes? We’re spending $150 billion + to bring democracy to Iraq; we should not be afraid to spend what it takes to ensure the validity of our own elections.
MoveOn.org has an on-line petition you can sign that will be forwarded to the President and your representatives in Congress. Please consider signing it today. This is not a partisan issue -- it is in the best interest of democracy that elections are conducted in such a way that we can all have confidence in the outcome.
You expect a paper receipt from virtually every other transaction -- from the ATM to a toilet paper purchase -- why should the standards be lower for our votes? We’re spending $150 billion + to bring democracy to Iraq; we should not be afraid to spend what it takes to ensure the validity of our own elections.
MoveOn.org has an on-line petition you can sign that will be forwarded to the President and your representatives in Congress. Please consider signing it today. This is not a partisan issue -- it is in the best interest of democracy that elections are conducted in such a way that we can all have confidence in the outcome.
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Yucca Mountain Convention?
Having lived through the DNC in Boston and watching NYC get ready for the chaos of the Republican shindig I cannot help but think that we'd all be better served if the parties got together and built a permanent convention center just for their use far, far away from the rest of us. In our new world of constant terror alerts, it's time to move these extravaganza's to find a place of their own.
Boston learned, and New York is about to find out, that the economic benefit is minimal, the disruption huge, and the political discourse more rehearsed than a Broadway play.
What could be more appropriate than Yucca Mountain, Nevada -- the proposed site of the national nuclear waste depository? Most of what the parties give us at the conventions is processed waste. The Bushies are pushing hard for this installation, having sunk multiple billions into the effort already according to 60 Minutes, and we're going to owe the long-suffering Nevadans some sort of compensation so how about a nice convention center with residential villages for the delegates and press? There's plenty of room for protesters' campgrounds, too. Extensive security will already be in place (we hope) and what better guarantee of the safety of the storage facility could there be than to ask each party's presidential candidate to stand atop it to address his or her followers -- not in a lead outfit but in shiny wingtips and a Brooks Brothers' suit? Perhaps a nano-geiger counter can be woven into a rep stripe tie just in case.
Join me today and write to the heads of the RNC and DNC and your congressional representatives. By acting promptly we can spare some poor American city the drain on its resources and infrastructure while bringing much needed economic development to rural Nevada.
Boston learned, and New York is about to find out, that the economic benefit is minimal, the disruption huge, and the political discourse more rehearsed than a Broadway play.
What could be more appropriate than Yucca Mountain, Nevada -- the proposed site of the national nuclear waste depository? Most of what the parties give us at the conventions is processed waste. The Bushies are pushing hard for this installation, having sunk multiple billions into the effort already according to 60 Minutes, and we're going to owe the long-suffering Nevadans some sort of compensation so how about a nice convention center with residential villages for the delegates and press? There's plenty of room for protesters' campgrounds, too. Extensive security will already be in place (we hope) and what better guarantee of the safety of the storage facility could there be than to ask each party's presidential candidate to stand atop it to address his or her followers -- not in a lead outfit but in shiny wingtips and a Brooks Brothers' suit? Perhaps a nano-geiger counter can be woven into a rep stripe tie just in case.
Join me today and write to the heads of the RNC and DNC and your congressional representatives. By acting promptly we can spare some poor American city the drain on its resources and infrastructure while bringing much needed economic development to rural Nevada.
