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September 23, 2005
Porkbusters
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It started innocently enough, Tom Delay made what was perhaps a sarcastic challenge by saying that the Republican majority had pared the budget down "pretty good" and "My answer to those that want to offset the spending [Katrina] is sure, bring me the offsets, I will be glad to do it, but no one has been able to come up with any yet". If it was a joke, then no one got it. |
Many right-leaning blogs heard Delay's pronouncement and said "Bullshit!" Among these was Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit. The idea he posted has now grown into a full-blown grassroots campaign of fiscal conservatives who are fed up with the Republican majority in Congress who claimed to be fiscally conservative while running for office but now apparently have aspirations to unseat Senator Byrd of West Virgina as the King of All Pork. They have set out to identify wasteful spending in the Federal budget that could be better used to offset the aftermath of Katrina (also now likely Rita) and query their representative on what pet project they'd be willing to part with.
While many senators and representatives have items slated for their states that could easily be done without, the biggest target is Republican Don Young of Alaska and his $223M "bridge to nowhere". A spokesman for the Senator called the idea of cuts from the transportation bill "moronic". This from a man who wants to build a highway for fifty people on an island with regular ferry service. It's likely that Sen. Young has a guitar amp that goes to eleven.
According to the responses thus far, the only member of Congress who has committed to cuts is California Senator Nancy Pelosi... excuse me, Democratic Senator Nancy Pelosi to the tune of $70M.
I don't know if the DNC has taken notice of what is going on (the RNC certainly hasn't), but the Republican Partly no longer has the steadfast loyalty of a large bloc of voters. If they were smart, the Democrats would jump on this opportunity like it was an intern. The term "fiscally conservative liberal Democrat" has a nice ring to it that they might actually turn into a winning platform.
I did say if.
There are some bloggers who are less than hopeful about the outcome of this internet spawned drive to cut pork. Jonah Goldberg writes, "The porkbusters fight is fun now, but not since early cave men tried to train grizzly bears to give them tongue-baths has a project seemed more obviously doomed to end in disappointment. Expecting Congress — of either party — to give back pork which has already been approved and passed into law is like expecting crack whores to give refunds days after services have been rendered."
I read the above and I can't help but ask, Chuck, have you been writing for New Republic under a pseudonym?
Posted by Skayhan at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2005
Hurricane Rita: Don't Get Stuck on Stupid
That's the message from General Honore to the press.
Listen to the smackdown. Transcript and audio also available at Radio Blogger.
I feel infinitely more confident about the situation should Rita stike the mouth of the Mississippi River than I did the Sunday prior to Katrina. New Orlean Mayor C. Ray Nagin, until late yesterday under pressure from Federal officials, seemed determined to set the stage to compound the tragedy that is still ongoing in his city by reopening areas of the city against the advice of people such as Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen.
Thankfully, Nagin's not in charge of evacuating the city this time, nor is Michael Brown heading FEMA. Listening to Horore, it is possible to believe that any resource available to move people will be utilized and communication between state and federal levels will be more streamlined.
If only that lesson had not come at so high a price.
But to return to the subject of being "stuck on stupid", are you?
Do you know your city/town's evacuation plan (if it even has one)? Do you have a flashlight, first-aid kit, bottled water (available by the gallon), a battery powered radio (a CB radio would be an added bonus), or anything else listed on an emergency preparedness list? If you don't, you may be.
Or worse, do you think that this only happens to other people? You're not just stuck on stupid, you've established residency and are sending out change of address forms.
I live in Delaware, a state perhaps better known for DuPont or a Senator positioning himself for an inevitably disappointing presidential bid than tornados. But on September 28th last year, as the remnants of Ivan passed, I watched as one formed not 1000 yards away. A little jog to the east and I would have been a victim and not a witness. And from September 16th to the 18th, 1999, while I still lived in New Jersey, I remained trapped in my house until the water surrounding it (courtesy of Hurricane Floyd) receded. I was lucky twice, but the same rules apply here as in Vegas: eventually the house wins.
General Honore's message to the press applies to us all.
UPDATE: Video available here.
Posted by Skayhan at 07:23 PM | Comments (1)
September 01, 2005
Obsession
I open my email today, and it's the usual first of the month stuff. Editors, publishers, bill notifications, and naturally today's delivery of junk mail. As a guy who runs a website, I have to give all my junk mail the once over because new people have this tendency of not putting a header on their messages that will convince me it isn't spam. I don't know how many of these I get that wind up getting thrown out for just that reason. My usual method is pretty simple. First I highlight everything new, then I uncheck everything that is not labeled as being spam (believe me, that's a small percentage), then of the remaining highlighted messages I check the email addresses/senders for anything familiar and uncheck that too. That's two shots to pass through this very sophisticated filter.
Today I get an email that barely made it through the filter, from someone I've never heard of and titled "read this." In fact, the message was lucky to survive, as I had clicked on it to delete it, only to see the contents and determine this was actually a letter sent specifically to me. It came within a fraction of a second of hitting the trashcan unread.
What was it, you may ask? Hatemail, believe it or not, related to Captain Janeway. Depending on how you count it, it's my first or second hatemail on the subject. I got one a while ago from someone who told me not to make fun of Janeway because she's extremely sexy, but it was one of those messages where it's really hard to tell if someone was being serious or just pulling my leg. I didn't follow up on that one. I figured either this was some guy pulling a fast one, in which case all he'd do was string me along, or this guy was serious, and further conversation would only lead into a dark and dank place not entirely comforting.
Sexiness was not the subject of this email, however, for this took issue with my entire position on the subject of Janeway and her seven seasons of tormenting and endangering her crew. As was usually the case, it was a damning dismantling of my handiwork, so carefully written they occassionally used a capital letter as a passing nod to grammar.
It has always struck me as being odd that people would send hatemail to something called the "Opinionated Voyager Episode Guide." You think the name would tip people off to the contents.
What struck me about this message, however, wasn't the subject matter so much as it was the timing. One of the worst natural disasters in the United States' history has just hit. Thousands are estimated to be dead, many more are being left homeless. At a time when gasoline prices have been high a major oil producing area has been shut down, meaning not just unpredented high prices for fuel, but potentially devestating economic consequences for the US and the world in this global economy. When gas goes up, even if you don't have a car you're likely affected because the cost of delivering goods increases. Unless you produce everything you use, one way or another it will come around to you, whether it's through an increase in price or a lowering of quality or quantity. So right now we (the US) are facing a difficult obstacle (and, of course, others may be sharing in this; disasters are always striking somewhere, though) with the human tragedy, and beyond that with the national or global ramifications of this.
What better time to rise up and defend the good name of a fictional character!
Sometimes, just sometimes, people really show just how obsessed with something they are. I think that, when the fresh dead have yet to be buried, the living are left without four walls and a roof to call their own, and when economic disaster may loom, it may be time to stop obsessing for a moment on satirical pieces on make believe characters. For the first time in a long while, I think the words "Get a life" may really need to be spoken.
Posted by Chuck at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)