80s Redux
ArchPundit
The Chicago Tribune sounds my favorite alarm bell, Detroit is about to get its ass handed to it by foreign competitors on fuel-efficiency.
January 2003
Patrick Fitzgerald’s other target
How effective is Patrick Fitzgerald in changing how business is done in Illinois Government? He not only is nailing terrorists, but he is keeping the clubby world of the Combine jumping. As I mentioned the other day, subpoenas have been issued to Ryan’s staff keeping them from destroying documents.
The importance of this is Ryan has kept Fawell on the payroll and given his estranged wife a paid position in state government. Additionally, it appears Jim Ryan jumped into the investigation without knowing it. When he began to push the Governor on a couple of real estate deals, the feds check in with him to see what his intentions were. The Trib’s Editorial page takes GRyan to task for his hypocrisy on the issue as well.
The good news is that on Monday, the taxpayers of Illinois will stop paying Scott Fawell’s salary. G-Rod’s spokesman said that may be the very first thing the new Governor will do.
Ryan’s sincerity
Continuing with the theme of moral complexity, Eric Zorn addresses whether George Ryan is sincere about death penalty reform. It has always been my position that Ryan is sincere about it. He is far more sincere than G-Rod and more than Jim Ryan was, though JRyan did seem to understand there was a problem. What George Ryan has done with the death penalty moratorium is wonderful. My constant carping on the man is due to his inability to apply those same moral principles to his other behavior. I can understand he has done a great thing at the same time understand he is responsible for undermining the public trust.
The Tribune also reports that he is leaning towards some sort of clemency before leaving office next week. Let me make it clear that I am an absolute opponent of the state taking a life outside of defending another’s individual life. I think commutation would be the right thing to do in a vacuum. As life is often morally complex, I cannot support such a move now. If a mass commutation is made I believe death penalty reform in Illinois will die for a generation or more and as such a greater harm will come of such a move. While I hope we can continue to work towards abolition, mass commutation, in my opinion, will produce a backlash and destroy the good work already done.
Hale-ing in Chicago
John Kass telepathically steals my line this morning when he says
As he spoke, I hoped he’d soon experience multicultural diversity up close and personal in the federal pen.
I had tried to make a line like that work and it kept coming out as some weird allusion to prison rape. Rape isn’t funny so I didn’t do it. Kass worked it out just fine. Hence, Kass is paid for his writing.
What is more interesting is that Kass was there. I think it is safe to assume Patrick Fitzgerald or someone in the US Attorney’s office tipped him off. Kudos to them. While I am always suspicious of prosecutorial leaks to reporters, it is entirely fitting in this case where the reporter can relay the delusional mind of Hale and his supporters.
The news story includes Hale’s background as a likely terrorist.
I’ve written about Hale before in the context of terrorism and the sniper shootings last fall. I still believe it is true that all too often many in the blogosphere try and tie every violent act to Islamist terrorism. My belief is that tendency is due to people not wanting to accept the inhumanity present in even some good ‘ole average Americans. And that is what Hale is except for his raving hatred. He grew up on the border of working and middle class in the very respectable town of East Peoria. Other than being a huge crod and a racist, he wouldn’t stand out a bit. Having grown up near there, I would hate to think all Central Illinoisans would be painted with same brush as he is just as I would hate for all Muslims to face the same stereotypes. While there are cultural problems in Islamic countries that drive violence, we are different in degree, not in nature.
Matt Hale is arrested
Via Atrios:
The infamous Matt Hale has been arrested according to WEEK. My recent comments on Hale are below.
I bet he is wishing he was in Wyoming now, doesn’t he?
For the World Church of the Creator’s paricularly warped version of the dispute with Judge Lefkow visit their warped site. It is a harsh site, but I think of it like turning the light on cockroaches.
Hale will now be able to explain himself and his views in federal prison. I suppose this kills any chance at getting that law license, doesn’t it?
Up DATE: Here is the Trib Story which is more complete.
Energy Policy and crackpots
PLA certainly aren’t crackpots so don’t get the wrong idea, but they take on crackpots over soy diesel. Since I commented twice in the comments section take a look there as well. I won’t repeat it here unless there is more interest.
Jim Saxton–no, the environment, screwed
Over at the Political State Report, an excellent note on Jim Saxton being given a chairmanship of the Armed Services subcommittee overseeing terrorism instead of House Resources. Saxton is strong on the environment, not perfect, but strong. The point of term limits for committee chairmanship is to open them up to new ideas–something the Resources Committee absolutely needs. The environment has been one of two major issues for Saxton over the years and he spends upwards of 40% of his time on such issues–but apparently ideological purity beat out actual reform.
Saxton would have been especially friendly to my pet cause and ‘radical idea’ that the users of federal land should pay market rates for the use of public lands instead of being subsidized. What a loopy idea.
Lomborg’s science
Funny, but the book isn’t science so why should it have to abide by the scientific process? Lomborg wrote a piece of advocacy and did no original scientific research. It is a mystery to me why so many are taking him seriously. There are serious discussions to have about specific environmental challenges and the science behind them, but he doesn’t add to those discussions in any substantive way. He does give right wing hacks something to scream about, but they would do that anyway.
Peter Raven sums it up well:
"The environment is a field where, when people do some light calculations like Lomborg did, it’s easy to argue for a happy-times kind of conclusion," said Dr. Peter H. Raven, the director of the Missouri Botanical Garden and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
But such findings should not be portrayed as science, he said, adding, "This is a just outcome that ought to bring his credibility to a halt except for those who desperately want to believe what he says."
He deserves little more attention than do creationists.
Announced Candidates to Replace Gephardt
Steve Stoll’s ratings by interest groups are available from Vote-Smart.
He is pro-life just as Gephardt was early in his career, pro-gun and mediocre on the environment. Typical Missouri conservative Democrat. Look for liberal challenges from moderately liberal Carnahan or Mae Scheve, Missouri Democratic Chairwoman. Carnahan has already expressed interest.
What have you done for me lately?
Not literally, given I’m melanin challenged, but you know.
During the Lott fiasco Republicans tried to argue that back in the 60s, they had done much for civil rights and they were correct. Today, George Schultz argues the same about school desegregation in the South. Republicans seem to think this is a way to address African-American voters and insist those voters just aren’t paying attention.
Wrong. African-American voters might pay attention to the GOP, if the GOP paid attention to them. That means getting out in the neighborhoods and working to address the concerns of African-American voters. I know a couple GOP guys who do that in St. Louis, but it doesn’t help if the candidates show up for one or two media events a year and then don’t bother. If you want African-American votes you have to work for them in the pulpits and in the neighbhorhoods. Telling people you did good things years ago is nice, but not very effective.