Dead Man’s Hand

It’s a strange thing, this election cycle. See, I’m not really all that interested. This is very strange for me because I’ve followed every election since 1988 (when I was 10) very closely. 2000 and 2004 were the big years, the first because I was finishing up a degree in political science and the second because I was in the middle of law school.

But somewhere in the last four years, I’ve lost my taste for politics. There was a time, when I was blogging like a crackhead, that I was a constant consumer of information. I read six newspapers on line (The LA Times, NY Times, Washington Post, OC Register, Sacramento Bee, and the London Daily Telegraph), plus the Drudge Report. I had over 50 blogs bookmarked, most of which I read at least once a week (usually a lot more than that). If I wasn’t watching ESPN, I was watching Fox News or MSNBC, or even CNN.

Now I maintain this blog just in case I get the urge to blog. But it’s not something that I’m constantly thinking about. I read maybe three or four blogs each day, occasionally clicking through to see what so-and-so said about whatever their rage de jour is.

I think this has given me a little bit of perspective. I can now see the forest for the trees. I am amazed how stupid both the left and the right within the blogsphere can be. Every little thing is personal. There’s no room for agreement on anything.

It is, to be honest, disheartening. I tend to believe that there are more things that unite Americans than divide us. I think we all believe in liberty, that capitalism - with all its flaws - is the best economic system for a free society, that generally people should be left alone to live their lives as they see fit, but that we have, at the very least, a moral obligation to help those in need. How we get there is the difference. Politics should not be a perpetual blood feud, left to the most childish among us.

I have to say, that is the thing that might be most heartening to me in this election. For the first time in my life, it feels like there’s at least one grown up on the ballot. Which one it is, remains to be seen.

I’ll admit right from the start that I’m a former fan of John McCain. I supported him in 2000 and thought he’d be a much better president over the last 8 years (of course, in hindsight, my 3 year old dog would have been a better president over the last 8 years, but that’s neither here nor there).

But McCain’s statement about the decision in Heller is a little troubling. Actually, it’s a lot troubling, because it speaks so well of his complete lack of understanding as to how our legal system works. Or at least how his campaign thinks our legal system works, which would indicate how a McCain Administration would think our legal system works. Here is his statement (via Sullivan). The important line is here:

Today’s ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller makes clear that other municipalities like Chicago that have banned handguns have infringed on the constitutional rights of Americans. Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today’s ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right – sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly.

Ok, first of all, Heller did not incorporate the Second Amendment via the Fourteenth Amendment to apply to the States. It only applies to the Federal government, if you are going to claim to be a federalist, you might want to understand that basic principle of federalism. Chicago’s gun ban will not be affected by this decision, even Scalia himself says so in the opinion. (see the long list of posts, here). This is what the legal community refers to as a very narrow ruling.

The ruling did not hold that gun ownership is a fundamental right, either. The decision recognized that the federal government could not ban the ownership of hand guns. However, it also recognized that you can’t go buy a surface-to-air missile launcher either. Or trade in your Hummer for a tank. In fact, Scalia’s opinion - despite what some would have you believe - is one of his more muted decisions.

As for the elitist canard, I’m already tired of it. McCain ran as an anti-populist and now is picking up on the populist disgust for elitists? Really? Why not go ahead and pick Huckabee as your running mate so that we can all ignore the run up to your impending monumental defeat in November.

“Apart from the whole loving my own gender thing, I think I may be straight.” - Andrew Sullivan today commenting on a post at the Onion.

Some days, you just got to love the internet.

George Carlin is dead.

Damn.

Seriously, there were few political moves that pissed me off more in the last few years than when Kyl and Frist snuck a ban on internet gambling into the port security bill. Luckily, there is a bill, sponsored by Ron Paul and Barney Frank (how sweet of a combination is that?) that is a step towards undoing the nightmare.

The UIGEA regulations will demand that banks block “unlawful internet gambling” but there is no definition of this vague term. Banks will be forced to block millions of transactions that are not in fact illegal. As a result, you may not be able to play poker or any other game of skill online. HR 5767 will prevent this regulatory nightmare. The King amendment will force the regulatory agencies to define “unlawful internet gambling” through a formal rulemaking, with due process and opportunity for input from affected parties.

Here is a list of members of the House Financial Services Committee, call them, especially if any of them represent you (I actually sent an email to my rep, who is on that list).

Well, what are you waiting for?

hattip: good Prof. Bainbridge

EM - the fashion goddess that she is - raises a good point about the lack of decent conservative and libertarian t-shirts out there. Well, assuming you don’t count all the pot related t-shirts as libertarian.

I have one shirt from Those Shirts, but I won’t tell you which one. Other than that, I don’t have any political clothing. I’ve seen a few shirts that I’d consider picking up, but usually pass. So, why aren’t there any good shirts out there for young conservatives?

I know for certain it’s not because the ideals can’t be condensed into a neat little slogan. I know this because they managed to teach President Bush the buzz words of the movement, and two Ivy League degrees or not, I seriously think my dog has better critical thinking skills than the president.

Nor do I buy the whole “younger people are more liberal” argument. I was a rather smart ass libertarian by the time I was in college. But then, perhaps I’m a little bit less than “normal”.

The best explanation I can come up with is that those who design conservative t-shirts really don’t have much imagination. Seriously, click on that link for Those Shirts, up above. Do any of those strike you as anywhere near creative?

Granted, “I only date Democrats” isn’t all that creative, either. But the look is probably better than any of the choices on Those Shirts.

I don’t expect this to get any better real soon, as I think the right has lost it’s way and is on the verge of going into the wilderness for a generation… but hey, I could be wrong.

I don’t read many blogs these days. There’s actually only maybe 5-7 that I read daily, and one is more out of morbid curiosity than intellectual interest. But one that I do enjoy reading, and will likely remain on my bookmarks is the American Princess.

Now, what’s interesting is that the Princess has been drifting leftward lately. In the way that a few of us already have, and I suspect many more will in the next couple of years. Actually, leftward is not the best term. I am not, after all, a liberal in the contemporary sense of the word, nor do I suspect that EM is either.

The shift, I think, has been away from fundamentalism and towards something different. Something critical, something reasoned, something pragmatic. That is why I find this post so interesting by Thad, AP’s token liberal.

What we have really seen over the course of the Bush Administration is the triumph, and ultimate fall, of fundamentalism in American politics. It is fundamentalists who see the world in terms of black and white. And it should be noted here that not all conservatives are fundamentalists and not all fundamentalists are conservative. There are liberal fundamentalists (See: Edwards, John).

If Thad were to replace the term “conservative” in his post with “fundamentalist”, he would be dead on. There are so many ways in which the Bush Administration has been a mess, but at it’s core is fundamentalism. The belief that one is righteous and can do no wrong in his quest - that, I think, is the essence of fundamentalism, at least in the contemporary world. The president has been a disaster, an epic disaster, he is a two term Jimmy Carter. But he is not a conservative, not by any measure I’ve ever known. President Bush is a fundamentalist.

Many of us did not want to believe it early on, so we bought into it. But as time passed our better angels pulled us to the light. We recognized that reasonable minds can disagree. We recognized that “winning at any cost” meant just that, and the cost was going to be the soul of this Republic.

There is a reason why the president has historically terrible approval numbers, and why Obama will likely win in a landslide. It is because we are not a fundamentalist people. We are not crusaders, we only want to live out this life in peace, and hopefully leave the world a little better than it was when we got here.

Dear Michelob, look, we understand that American macrobrews suck ass. Seriously, we totally understand that.

But is this really the direction you want to go?

Adding fruit to your crappy beer is not going to make it any better. You know what will make it better? Making it more like good beers, I’d suggest beers brewed in England, Ireland, and Germany.

Or, you know, you can continue to suck ass.

Seriously, for all the crap people talk about California, we haven’t had a governor file for divorce (while serving) and then have he and his wife fight over who gets the governor’s mansion.

Nope, we leave that sort of thing to our neighbors in the Silver State.

Or does it seem like Coldplay is trying to become U2?

Just asking?

Or more specifically, the case for the California Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the ban on same sex marriage in California.

This post by good blog-friend Ken got me started the other day, as you can see from the comments, I had a few things to say. I was going to just comment, but there are so many issues to deal with, I felt it was worthy of its own post. So, here goes. Read more »

I am suppose to be in Santa Monica right now at an event that involves beautiful women, music, and alcohol. I had even convinced my boss to do an appearance tomorrow morning in Vista, so that I could recoup in the morning. And then, about 3 hours ago, I got a headache, and some gunk began to build in my throat, and my eyes started to hurt.

I don’t typically get sick, and when I do, I usually power through, but an hour and a half drive from my office to Santa Monica, while not feeling well, followed by load music and alcohol, followed by an equally long (but different) drive home in the wee hours of the morn just did not seem like a very good idea.

Fuck.

I have a bit of a contrarian stance when it comes to illegal immigration. I don’t believe that enforcement first is going to work, nor do I believe comprehensive reform will work well either (though, if those are the only two choices, I would prefer comprehensive reform). I also don’t think that the status quo can be maintained.

But ultimately, I do not think that we can “solve” the immigration issue unless we look at why people are coming here. And the reason they are coming here is the reason everyone has come here: a better life. The fact is, a lot of people come to the US from Central and South America because those countries are an absolute mess.

This includes, if you are wondering, Mexico.

In the year and a half since Calderon launched a crackdown against drug gangs, about 4,100 people have died, the government says.At least 1,400 have been killed so far this year, including 170 in Tijuana, about 400 in Ciudad Juarez and 270 more in the northern state of Sinaloa.

Mexico is basically in the midst of a civil war, and America doesn’t seem to be paying much attention. But we should be, for a couple of reasons… if the drug war continues, we should expect more movement across the border, in the form of refugees. Beyond that, it is only a matter of time until a fight between the Mexican Army and the drug gangs near the border extends into US territory.

Now, personally, I’d prefer to see most drugs legalized (at least pot, probably cocaine, and I’m on the fence about the others). Gangs get involved in drugs because they are capitalists and recognize where there is a high profit. Sure, there is a high risk, but the higher the risk, the higher the process.

But of course, we can’t legalize drugs because, drugs are bad. Granted, we took that approach to alcohol and all that came of it was the Kennedys getting rich. If you really want to take the profit out of drugs for gangs, the easiest way to do it is legalize it… you don’t hear about the mob running booze any more, do you?

Instead we get this:

But for now, the bulwark of his strategy is the army, which says it has made more than 5,800 arrests and intercepted 2,900 tons of marijuana and 24 tons of cocaine. One commentator calculated that overall, drug seizures have cost traffickers as much as $20 billion. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reported last November that street prices of cocaine and methamphetamine had risen, and purity levels had fallen — signs interdiction was working.

Unfortunately, I seriously doubt that we will see legalization any time soon, so we are left with a neighboring country fighting a civil war that we ignore. And we ignore even the possibility that people see this as being a reason why people might decide to risk their lives to come to the US.

I don’t think it means what you think it means.

There’s an interesting comparison of what exactly conservativism is in American politics on display between the Princess and this post over at the Corner, well really the quote by Huckabee.

I’m more or less a libertarian, my politics can be summed up thusly: keep my taxes low and leave me the hell alone. I’ve pretty much given up on the GOP - and keep in mind, I supported McCain in 2000 - over the last 7 years. The party has been a complete disaster at the helm, and it is due in large part to the fact that the GOP has decided that the power of government should be wielded for what it considers “good”. In many respects, they are no different than what passes for the left in American politics - both sides are out to use government to improve society in its own vision.

The problem is, a free society can not be improved from the top down. It’s a bottom up process. Sure, political leaders can set a tone, and occasionally steer the mass of humanity that is a free society. Unfortunately, contemporary American politics is fashioned in a way that suggests everything can be solved from the top down.

The beauty, in my mind, of libertarian thought is that it generally understands that bottom up improvement is possible. It understands that top down politics doesn’t work. Instead, libertarianism recognizes that the best government is the government that governs least. It understands that if you basically get out of the way of a free society, it will take care of itself. Sure, there’s some role for government, but it’s not the be-all-end-all of making the world a better place.

I don’t think I can really call myself conservative anymore. Unlike the good Prof. Bainbridge, I’ve never been one to believe in standing athwart history and yelling stop.

So, not surprisingly, I think there is something more to Ms. McArdle’s question.

First, I think the “Stop!” approach is simply foolhardy. While many argue that human perfectibility is impossible, it is undeniably true that the entire course of human history has been a quest for improvement. Sometimes it has been bad (see Germany, 1932-1941). But usually it has been good (see United States of America, 1776-1789). It is, I believe, part of human nature to seek self-improvement, and by extension for societies to do the same.

Perhaps it should be that conservativism is not so much an ideology as a pre-disposition. Skepticism, I would argue, is generally a good thing. And if skepticism is the critical point of conservativism, than it is a good thing. But skepticism has it’s limit, at some point, you must make a decision to either do something or not do something (or alternatively, to do something else).

Prudence and reason should be guides. But the ultimate goal should be progress.

Therein, again, lies the problem for Stop! conservatives. History is not done, it marches on, leaving those who stood athwart it with tire tracks on their chests.

Now, all that said, the political conservative movement has lost its way. It is out of ideas. And politics, particularly in America, is the business of ideas. So a trip to the wilderness, in order to do some soul searching, isn’t a bad idea. But there needs to be a focus not only on results, but on the process. I’ve little confidence in the “leaders” of the conservative movement to figure that out.

I want to have an opinion on something, anything, really. But I got nothing. Nothing about Obama. Nothing about McCain. Nothing about the Dodgers, Lakers, or even the NFL Draft. I just got nothing.

Oh well.

I’m going to tell you right now, Barack Obama is the next president of the United States.

He is going to win in a landslide.

No. Wait, that’s not right.

Obama is going to win in a land-fucking-slide. I’m talking Reagan-beating-the-holy-hell-out-of-Mondale-looks-close-by-comparison landslide.

On a chilly day in November, some on the right are going to wake up and say something along the lines of, “I just don’t get how he won. Nobody I know voted for him.”

And the good Prof. Hewitt will be among them puzzled by this.

If you really think that the answer that Obama gives to the question about Ayers (side note: I have a degree in political science and a law degree, I know more about 20th century American history than 85% of the population, and I have no idea who this guy is) was a bad answer, you have been living in a damn cave. Seriously, you think, “He lives in my neighborhood, I’ve talked to him a few times, but he’s not an advisor and he hasn’t endorsed me, so why should I renounce him?” is a bad answer to a stupid question, then you have no business commenting on politics.

Here’s the thing about Obama, he’s different. He’s not someone tied up in the vitriol of the last 30 years. He doesn’t have to run on the ghosts of former presidents (the GOP has Reagan, the Dems have FDR, Hillary has Bill), he is actually running as himself. He doesn’t want to be the next (fill in the blank), he wants to be the first Barack Obama.

That distinguishes him from almost every other politician I’ve seen in my life time. The one person he does remind me of is Reagan… but in a different way. Reagan came to politics late in life, he was already comfortable with who he was. Obama, on the other hand, is coming to it rather early in life (he’s only in his 40s), but he’s confident about who he is and what he wants to do.

McCain doesn’t have that. McCain got the nomination for a couple of reasons. First, and it’s amazing that so many have over looked this, it’s his turn: the GOP almost always goes with the guy when it’s his turn, very rarely do we take someone out of turn, and it’s usually a disaster (see: Bush, George W.). Second, the field was horrific this year: there was no heir apparent (not that it would have mattered), no one actually seemed to connect with voters, and none seemed to have the testicular fortitude to say the current president has been less than stellar. Third, he ultimately won by default.

But the last 8 years have broken McCain, he watched the perfect opportunity to be a great president get pissed away by a half-wit legacy. Now he just wants his one shot, but he knows he’s staring at the same fate as his beloved Barry Goldwater.

The difference, of course, is that the Goldwater campaign was the birth of the conservative movement, the McCain campaign will be its funeral march. There’s a certain symmetry to that, beginning and ending with the blow out of a Senator from the great State of Arizona.

But mark my words, on the second Wednesday of November, a lot of “conservatives” are going to be beside themselves that the Republic decided that Obama was the right guy, and that it wasn’t even close.

It’s strange, these days, I don’t follow a lot of the news. I read a couple of blogs, but am basically wrapped up in my own life and work. But this little deal about Obama’s recent comments on small towns is quite interesting to me. The good Prof. Bainbridge has a nice little round up (and more importantly the commentary that I want to jump off from).

Cities and towns, are in some ways, organic creatures. Much like people, communities can choose to grow, mature, change… they can choose to improve themselves. Or, they can choose to cling to a past that is not going to come back, and have a bitter, closed off life - think of the high school jock that never quite got over being the star of the football team and prom king, but never found a calling after high school.

Every big city started off as a village, became a town, and eventually developed into a full fledged city. Even in the suburbs, we’ve seen growth, change, and eventually an acceptance that it’s not a rural community any more (I think mainly, of my home town of Yorba Linda, California and the political mess it found itself in during the mid-90s expansion). Some small towns are content to remain small towns, and that is fine.

But it is folly to believe that it can be what it always was. All those factory jobs that have left are not coming back. Even if the factory were to open back up, it would likely be automated, one guy would do the jobs that 30 would have done in the old days. For those who have known no other way, I can understand the bitterness, but I don’t have to accept it.

In fact, I can call bullshit on it.

If you aren’t learning, you ain’t living. If you ain’t living, you’re dying.

I doubt that the federal, state, or local government can do anything to get the small towns learning and living again; because, quite frankly, if the towns wanted to living, they’d be trying to fix themselves. Instead, they wave as their young and talented leave (only to return for holidays, weddings, and funerals); and cling to a past that is gone.

While Obama may be sympathetic to the plight of small towns, I am not.

You want something done, do it yourself.

Ok, so, the Dodgers, in 50 years and 2 games, have been rained out at home a total of 18 times.

Eighteen times in approximately 6,482 games (not including the playoffs).So, what happens tonight?

Well, the meterologist meaterologist meeterologist weatherman, tells us that there could be some rain tonight in the LA area. So, Joe Torre and Bruce Bochey (manager of the team who shall not be named) both decide to not start their young starting pitchers, figuring that they will be available for a potential make up game tomorrow.

Game time comes around, and no rain. Hong-Chih Kuo starts for the Dodgers (side note: Kuo should be the Dodgers’ fifth starter instead of Estaban Loaiza). And some stiff starts for the black hats. Then something incredibly insane happens. I’ll let Jon Weisman (of the best Dodgers blog out there) ’splain.

And, of course, after the starters come in… so does the rain.

Really, opening day is only a few days away. But if that’s too long for you (and it is for me), I’ll leave you with these:

As Greg Brock said over at Dodger Thoughts: “that whole video is full of win.”

Apparently, Rush Limbaugh was telling listeners from Ohio to go vote in the Democratic primary a little while back. Turns out that might be… how should I say this? Um, illegal? Or at least unlawful.

And Hewitt is offering to defend him.

Granted, I’m not much for oath cards for things like political parties… freedom of association and all those other pesky First Amendment Rights being what they are. But still, I can’t help but think that Rush and Hewitt being off the air for two months during this trial can’t be anything but good for America and good for the conservative movement.

Honestly, I can’t listen to talk radio much anymore. I end up yelling at the radio fairly quickly. It’s not really conservativism that they’re preaching… it’s Republicanism. Too many are missing the point, it’s not what’s good for the party or the movement, it’s what’s good for the Republic. It should not be Republican vs Democrat. It should be Americans working together to accomplish specific goals.

But cooperation doesn’t draw ratings, so it has to be “us versus them.” And it’s petty. And it’s ultimately bad for the Republic.

So, hopefully the trial takes a long, long time. And the case gets appealed, several times.

I am still attempting to recover from last night… a late night of drinking on an empty stomach (between about 10 pm and last call, I had something like a combination of 8 beers and shots). Not so much because of the “everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day” routine; usually, drinking on a Monday is justified by it being a Monday (alternatively, days ending in “y” are good days to drink as well); but more because yesterday was officially the last day of my 20s.

I don’t feel old. Hell, I can still handle staying out all night and then going to work the next morning; evidenced by my spending the last three hours in a meeting with a client. I’m not even hung over… at least that I can tell.

But still… damn.

As I mentioned yesterday, there are certain stories that captivate me.

This definitely falls into that category… a Lesbian couple in Orange County, California now has quadruplets.

Can you guess where I got the title of this post?

In a lot of ways, this is the kind of story that makes America so amazing to me… where else in the world do we get to define “family”?

And just to mess with the “pro-family” types:

A doctor raised the possibility of selective reduction early in the pregnancy, a medical procedure that would reduce the number of fetuses and thus the risks of complications like premature labor and low birth weight. But a 10-week ultrasound led Gaiennie, 39, and Lovell, 49, to rule it out.

Also, how many families do this: one mom worked the day shift, the other the night shift, so their first child would not need to go to day care?

But…

Yeah, that’s pretty much me. More here

You can tell there is a certain desperation among Republicans these days… some of them have figured out that they are staring at a young, black, Democrat version of Ronald Reagan. So, when they are not parroting Democrat talking points circa 1980 (only switching Obama for Reagan), they are trying to tie Obama to Rezko (a guy facing federal criminal charges for mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and attempted extortion charges). Here’s the best they got:

Did Tony Rezko buy Obama’s house? No. But he made it possible for Obama to buy his house. He did him a favor to the tune of $625,000. What, exactly, did Rezko expect in return from the U.S. Senator?

What was the favor?

Rezko bought a plot of land next to the Obama’s Chicago home at the same time the Obama’s bought the house. Both pieces of property were owned by the same person.

The stupid. It burns.

How many times have you been looking for a place to live and have people suggested places to work? How many times have you suggested to friends looking for a new place to live a place that might be available. That basically is what happened here. Except the friend ended up being charged with felonies under federal law.

But really, I’m not surprised. The GOP has no actual platform any more. The party has not had a new idea in 20 years. All it’s got is a perpetual war with no clear enemy or end game. Oh, and they have “the Democrats are worse.”

And they wonder why so many of us are willing to take a chance on Obama.

There are some stories that you read in the paper that just sound like a potentially great novel (or a really bad one); the kind of story that you just wonder if it’s true.

This is absolutely one of those stories.

The Orange County coroner believes Trepp, who was discovered last week in a Rubbermaid container in a room at the Fairmont hotel, died of a drug overdose. Stephen David Royds, who had been living in the hotel for years, is being held on drug charges but isn’t a suspect in Trepp’s death.

The victim was a stripper, he was a coke dealer; and he claims “everything that happened was for religious reasons.”

There’s so much to this story that makes it hard for me to take my eyes off of it. I am sure that there is more to this story, and if I was still in my law school blogging days, I would being doing a little bit of investigation… but now, not so much.

more here

It is going to be a lot of fun to be a Dodger fan the next few years…

Did I mention that pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, is 20 years old and throws a 97 mph fastball? And he’s been working with Sandy Koufax?

There are certain debates that may never be settled - paper or plastic; Ford or Chevy; Beatles or Elvis; Christmas or Hanukah; and of course, Ginger or Mary Ann.

While I’m firmly in the Ginger camp (always been a fan of the elegant girls, myself), this piece of news may make me have to rethink.

I mean, wouldn’t you have expected Ginger to be the one caught with drugs? Well, actually, of the women, Mrs. Howell would be the one I would most expect to be on drugs.

(hattip: the good Prof. Bainbridge, who is, of course, right on the larger issue of his post).

No, not “I never made it to the bigs” - though I suppose, on one level that is a regret.

I mean that this is the last year, in fact, the last week that the Dodgers will conduct Spring Training at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida. They’ve been at Dodgertown longer than they’ve been in LA. I always figured they’d be there, and I always figured at some point I’d get a chance to see them play there.

Instead, I guess I’ll have to settle for catching some Cactus League action. The only question is whether it will be this year or next.

Since It Comes In Pints is down for the time being, I figured Ken wouldn’t mind if someone else picked up the ball on the R’n'R Trivia… and if he does, oh well.

So, I was re-syncing my iPod this weekend and was going through the good ole iTunes library in the process. I was picking out songs, from among others, Jim Croce. Now the interesting thing is I got a three disc 36 Greatest Hits album; well, that’s not the interesting thing, the interesting thing is that through some sort of programing glitch (not that Apple has programing glitches), the three discs each fall into different genres: folk, rock, and the confounding one: “Alternative & Punk.” Read more »