Call It A Comeback
Jeff Golden at High Country News takes the admirable position of being for common sense. He lists 6 points that are all pretty reasonable and center on consensus building. Who would disagree? One big twit with a lot of backers who don’t benefit from consensus.
Another High Country News article examines the effects of Bush’s order to increase energy projects. Jon Margolis seems to be making a similar argument to what has been said about maximum cuts becoming the quota instead of the max.
Going to HCN for the trifecta is a little older of an article on the Navajo potentially using smaller trees for Homebuilding. This seems like it could provide jobs in clearing brush, building and then housing at lower rates than HUD does.
And one more. They have collected the articles on coalbed methane which is quickly becoming the industrial hog farm issue of the west. Amazingly, energy companies have found how to get environmentalists and ranchers together.
Gephardt takes a swing and gets a base hit. Some highlights:
“A lot of his verbiage is loose, unhelpful and not appropriate,” Gephardt said in an hourlong session with Post-Dispatch editorial writers and reporters.”
“It is sensible for the president to give the speech he gave at the U.N. the other day,” the congressman said. “I frankly wish he’d made it six months ago.”
My reactions are:
1) Thanks Dick, where were you 6 months ago? Holding his feet to the fire? Not well enough.
2) He seems to have read the New Republic article on the Dems needing to get their act together. He makes a coherent policy statement supporting action while differentiating himself from the Bumbler in Chief.
3) This man cannot be the nominee–he won’t win. I like him and he is one of the most honest men in government. He isn’t going to capture enough swing votes and for me, he is too protectionist.
A very real problem with limiting citizen suits is explored by Rich Miller. The Illinois Supreme Court has stopped a citizen suit to recover state money spent on G-Ry’s election campaign. This is especially relevant since Daniels will be indicted probably after the election for similar use of state funds and Madigan is under investigation.
The more important point is, citizen suits are a check on government. Federal suits have limited standing, as this case essentially echos, but limiting the ability to sue limits checks on the powerful. This is exactly the principle that Bush is trying to subvert in both forest fire reduction and transportation projects. Democracy is often slow, but that is okay—the process is the point in democracy.
By Wayne Allard’s standards I’m a trusted pal of Dick Cheney and the RNC which amusingly sends me membership cards on occasion.
Eat this Greg Easterbrook. The administration is that bad on the environment. For those not familiar with Easterbrook’s argument concerning the Bush administration, he made some good points on the initial criticism of the administration. Anyone paying attention knew they would pull this crap later on when fewer people were paying attention.
I actually greatly enjoy Easterbrook’s work–I just disagree on this issue.
One of the better articles on the freedom of speech in academia is written in Slate by Dahlia Lithwick.
The key paragraph is here:
Free speech does not encompass the right to fire, suspend, or riot your way into a universe in which everyone agrees with your views, even if you have legitimate grievances. The courts are well aware of this, but it seems that universities, both here and in Canada, are not. On campus, you may “speak” freely?with fists, chairs, and broken glass?so long as you are a member of an aggrieved minority with delicate sensibilities and a narrative of oppression.
The important part of the article is it addresses the suppression of speech from all angles and it doesn’t equate it strangely with Colorado College’s choice to have a Palestinean speak.
I’ll add one more problem. There is an increasing tendency for colleges to include a counterpoint view at a talk from an controversial figure. This is a horrible precedent to set. Alternative points of view should be invited on a regular basis and not because of some concern that someone can’t speak at a given time. The notion that students aren’t smart enough to see different points of view when they listen to them is condescending and silly.
Molly knows Texas and when she sticks to what she knows, she writes a great column. If only one could have been a fly on the wall for this:
Carr had known Bill Clinton since he was a baby alligator, come to Texas in ’72 to run McGovern’s campaign. She later worked her tail off for him. A main thing about Billie was, she didn’t just work herself, she made everybody else work their asses off, too. When President Clinton got himself into that Monica Lewinsky mess, Billie was pissed off at him as only a woman of a certain age can be about men and their stupidity. She defended him against the Republicans , but she was steamed.
Clinton made the mistake of inviting her to the White House in the middle of that deal. Here it is, a big reception line, everyone duded up, all these important folks around, and Billie came though that line, looked the president of the United States in eye and said, low and hard, “You dumb son of a bitch.”
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