On Al Franken: I read an article on Salon's web site by Joe Conason about the right's response to the contentious senate election in Minnesota. Essentially, it's the typical response from the usual suspects i.e. Limbaugh, O'Reilly etc. who are up in arms about the way that Franken has apparently stolen the election. Conason contends that because they offer no shred of evidence that Franken has done anything illegitimate, that he actually has a pretty strong case for a libel or slander suit (albeit one that he won't file for obvious reasons). Now at the risk of sounding naïve, here's what I don't understand about the right's reaction to this senate recount. The same folks who are claiming that Franken has stolen the election must realize the inherent hypocrisy when they make these claims. They must at some point think about the presidential election of 2000? There are really only three options when they do: a) They have completely forgotten about the shady way that Bush was appointed to the highest elected office in this country b) they truly believe that the process was done fairly and in accordance with the law c) they know it was shameful if not illegal and they realize that there are many people who are still a little chapped by the events. In the event that it is c, perhaps they just shut up and quietly make the case that this is payback for the 2000 presidential election and declare the slate clear. Even if they did this I don't think the slate would be clear but the point still stands. The bottom line in all of this is that when you have elections at the state or national level decided by very small vote margins we are forced to peek behind the curtain and when we do, we very quickly realize that it is not a perfect process and somebody is always going to feel disenfranchised. Tough luck Norm.
On Blagoavich: Granted my knowledge of this situation is limited to a few stories I've read on the typical lefty websites so I admittedly might not have the full understanding of this guy but is he not the slimiest pol alive? Wow, how does this guy not just crawl into a hole and take a little time away? Seriously, there is evidence that an apology mixed with a dash of contrition and self-imposed exile appears to go quite far in the attention deficit days of the 24 hour news cycle, see Eliot Spitzer http://www.slate.com/id/2207920/. But perhaps shelling out $5,000 for a hooker is less damaging than attempting to sell the seat that the President elect (not for long) vacated. Conversely, one might argue that a 5g hooker is endlessly more interesting than dirty political haggling but I digress.
On Somali Pirates: Okay, yes I have a fairly good understanding of the socio-economic factors that produced the foundation for the actions of the Somali pirates. That said the very notion of modern day "pirates" is strange to say the least. The sheer number of ships they have commandeered and the attention they have received is hard to fathom in our modern world. Seriously, these young men hop in a rubber raft armed with automatic weapons and are able to overtake cruise liners and oil tankers? I'm not an advocate of violence but couldn't you position a guy with a rifle on either end of the ship who might not only serve as a lookout but could even shoot a hole in the boat if need be? You could even give the guy a way to communicate with the ships captain and tell him that there is a craft approaching. It might go something like this. Lookout: "Captain, there appears to be a small, maybe 15 foot rubber boat approaching with five armed men in it" Captain: "Hmmm, I wonder if they are pirates intent on taking over our ship?" Lookout: "Could be perhaps we should slow the ship and ask them their intentions" Captain "No, I think a better option might be to increase the speed of our ship so that we are going at a faster rate of speed than the men in the rubber boat" Lookout: "wow, that is a much better plan".
On Digital TV Converter Subsidies: 8 million people with televisions will not be able to watch T.V. if the government switches to digital television in February. Solution, a 1.34 billion, yes that's a b in front of illion, subsidy to make sure these 8 million folks don't miss wheel of fucking fortune. This is one of my favorite quotes from the Washington Post article "With coupons unavailable, support and education insufficient, and the most vulnerable Americans exposed, I urge you to consider a change to the legislatively-mandated analog cutoff date," John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team, wrote in the letter to leaders of the Senate and House commerce committees. Vulnerable to what? They go on to say that, for many people this is their only source of news and information. C'mon, last I checked radios still worked and something tells me that many of the 8 million "at risk" folks probably still have one of these available. 46 million US citizens do not have healthcare.
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