The BBC is reporting on a new study that shows fans of romantic comedies have unrealistic expectations when it comes to love. What a surprise—people who watch unrealistic movies have unrealistic expectations.
More than anything, I'm chalking this up as a victory to all the men who don't like these movies. Now when our significant other wants to watch them, we can beg off with the excuse: "But those movies are psychologically unhealthy." Score one for the guys!
Lobster
We ate lobster today. I really like it, but it's so expensive. The store usually sells it for 16.99/lb. This week, they dropped the price to 6.99/lb. That's still more than we would normally spend on meat or fish, but that's a good price for what it is.
Random note: I just heard Plainbellied upstairs with Her Nibs, who is prepping for bed: "[Muffled sound] wipe! That's gross!" I really don't want to know what happened.
Lobster is one of those things I remember from when I was a kid. I don't eat it very often. I think I've only had it twice in the last ten-fifteen years. Most recently I got a grilled lobster tail with my dinner from Outback Steakhouse. It was dried out and not very good. So when we got our lobster today, I steamed them, and it came out really well.
Her Nibs refused to help prep them--let's face it, lobsters look kind of gross. But when we started eating, she liked it. Plainbellied was another story. She's eaten lobster before, but she's never eaten a lobster by herself. So I taught her how to break it apart and what to eat (I don't touch the tomale, which is wicked disgusting). She did really well, but I noticed that she kept giving her meat to Her Nibs. It turns out that she didn't really like it.
I give her props for trying though. That was impressive.
Random note: I just heard Plainbellied upstairs with Her Nibs, who is prepping for bed: "[Muffled sound] wipe! That's gross!" I really don't want to know what happened.
Lobster is one of those things I remember from when I was a kid. I don't eat it very often. I think I've only had it twice in the last ten-fifteen years. Most recently I got a grilled lobster tail with my dinner from Outback Steakhouse. It was dried out and not very good. So when we got our lobster today, I steamed them, and it came out really well.
Her Nibs refused to help prep them--let's face it, lobsters look kind of gross. But when we started eating, she liked it. Plainbellied was another story. She's eaten lobster before, but she's never eaten a lobster by herself. So I taught her how to break it apart and what to eat (I don't touch the tomale, which is wicked disgusting). She did really well, but I noticed that she kept giving her meat to Her Nibs. It turns out that she didn't really like it.
I give her props for trying though. That was impressive.
Musical Mayhem
I have a lot of CDs. Really. A lot. As in hundreds.
I made my collection largely in high school and college. In fact I haven't purchased more than a few CDs a year since I got married. I don't have the money to support my habit anymore. But now I have a problem. I got an iPod a few years ago, and now I have a lot of music in iTunes so I can put it on my iPod and take it with me. Unfortunately, I haven't taken the time to move all of my CDs. I think this is rooted in the fact that I'm inherently lazy. I have music I like on iTunes, so I don't feel the need to import more. I've increased how much I put on over the years, working on the project intermittently. My iTunes now has 13.3 GB of music in it. That's a lot, but I still have a lot of music to put on it.
Today I'm trying to make a dent of some kind. Each album doesn't take that long to import, though the task is still daunting. Having said that, I'm rediscovering some pretty cool music. I had forgotten about the Lemonheads and Mighty Mighty Bosstones. I haven't listened to Cream's entire Disraeli Gears album for a while. The Cranberries have some really cool music, too. Maybe if I remind myself how fun that part is, it won't be as hard to do next time.
I made my collection largely in high school and college. In fact I haven't purchased more than a few CDs a year since I got married. I don't have the money to support my habit anymore. But now I have a problem. I got an iPod a few years ago, and now I have a lot of music in iTunes so I can put it on my iPod and take it with me. Unfortunately, I haven't taken the time to move all of my CDs. I think this is rooted in the fact that I'm inherently lazy. I have music I like on iTunes, so I don't feel the need to import more. I've increased how much I put on over the years, working on the project intermittently. My iTunes now has 13.3 GB of music in it. That's a lot, but I still have a lot of music to put on it.
Today I'm trying to make a dent of some kind. Each album doesn't take that long to import, though the task is still daunting. Having said that, I'm rediscovering some pretty cool music. I had forgotten about the Lemonheads and Mighty Mighty Bosstones. I haven't listened to Cream's entire Disraeli Gears album for a while. The Cranberries have some really cool music, too. Maybe if I remind myself how fun that part is, it won't be as hard to do next time.
Post-election Roundup
It's been so long since I've posted that I think I'll just briefly touch on the election. This should be the last election-related post you'll get from me for a long time.
First, I'm happy Barack Obama won. I don't know how he'll do actually governing, but he has a chance to make a significant positive impact. I would not have confidence in John McCain to do that.
I want Sarah Palin to go away. Some people actually see her as a leader of the Republican party? Well, if she gets the nomination in 2012, I won't vote for her. She's a joke.
John McCain was very gracious in defeat. He was definitely more gracious than his followers. At his concession speech he had to tell them to stop booing when he pledged to work with President Obama. I don't know if he's going to be an opposition figure or what, but I do have confidence that we might just get the old John McCain back.
The transition has gone pretty smoothly, all things considered. We're in two wars and a major recession, and yet the wheels keep turning. I'm concerned only about two things. First, the Bush administration is pushing through a bunch of rule changes, and I hope the effort comes up short or the next administration quickly overturns them. They will gut the environmental protections currently in place, and I don't think we can afford that. My second problem with the transition is the appointment of Hillary Clinton. I don't like her. I don't trust her, and I don't want her to be Secretary of State. Having said that, I hope that I'm wrong and she does a good job. I used to think highly of Condoleeza Rice, and look how that turned out.
But that's it for politics. I'm all out of gas after the election. Now I'm concentrating on work and family. That's enough for me.
First, I'm happy Barack Obama won. I don't know how he'll do actually governing, but he has a chance to make a significant positive impact. I would not have confidence in John McCain to do that.
I want Sarah Palin to go away. Some people actually see her as a leader of the Republican party? Well, if she gets the nomination in 2012, I won't vote for her. She's a joke.
John McCain was very gracious in defeat. He was definitely more gracious than his followers. At his concession speech he had to tell them to stop booing when he pledged to work with President Obama. I don't know if he's going to be an opposition figure or what, but I do have confidence that we might just get the old John McCain back.
The transition has gone pretty smoothly, all things considered. We're in two wars and a major recession, and yet the wheels keep turning. I'm concerned only about two things. First, the Bush administration is pushing through a bunch of rule changes, and I hope the effort comes up short or the next administration quickly overturns them. They will gut the environmental protections currently in place, and I don't think we can afford that. My second problem with the transition is the appointment of Hillary Clinton. I don't like her. I don't trust her, and I don't want her to be Secretary of State. Having said that, I hope that I'm wrong and she does a good job. I used to think highly of Condoleeza Rice, and look how that turned out.
But that's it for politics. I'm all out of gas after the election. Now I'm concentrating on work and family. That's enough for me.
Absolutely classic!!!!!!
This just came up on the wire, and I had to put it out there. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Sarah Palin took a prank call from a French-Canadian comedy duo claiming to be President Sarkozy of France. Here's the audio for your pleasure. Let me just say that I'm worried about someone as gullible as her being in a position of authority. The Houston Chronicle article gives some context for how bad her response really was.
This is funny, too
I've been meaning to put this up for a while. I think it's really funny.
Old, Grizzled Third-Party Candidate May Steal Support From McCain
Old, Grizzled Third-Party Candidate May Steal Support From McCain
You Expect Me To Talk?
I've been meaning to write this post for about a week now. Last week, when Lizard Loaf was still in the hospital, they did a chest X-ray on him, and it was a pretty crazy situation. They gave Plainbellied and I lead aprons to wear and asked us to hold him down on the table while they took the images. When they turned on the machine, somekind of alignment guide came on, which was a red laser line down the center of his body from head to toe. I know it was just an alignment guide, but we had to pin him down and he was uncomfortable and then this laser came on. Ever since, I've had a scene from Goldfinger in my mind. Today I took the time to find it on Youtube and share it. My favorite exchange comes right at the end of this short clip. I hope you enjoy it.
More Lizard Loaf
Here's another picture of Lizard Loaf. He's doing well here at home, though the oxygen machine is driving me crazy. It's a constant hum in the background. Hopefully we'll only need it a few more weeks and he can come off it.
Today's Funny Clip
I found this clip from a John McCain speech today. He's trying to respond to a comment from an Obama supporter who called Western Pennsylvania "racist." As you'll see, McCain mangled it, and I think it's funny.
Home at Last
Yesterday afternoon, we were able to take Lizard Loaf home from the hospital. Out of all the possible outcomes he could have faced, this was probably the best. It turns out that he is aspirating liquid into his lungs when he eats, which explains the fluid in the lungs, which explains his low oxygen levels, which might explain his body temperature drop and his other problems. He's still on oxygen for now, but we hope that by adjusting his food (thickening it so he doesn't aspirate it), we can resolve the aspiration problem. Now if we can just get the existing fluid out of his lungs. . .
For now, it's good news, and we are happy that our boy can be at home with us, instead of at the hospital hooked up to monitors. More as things progress!
For now, it's good news, and we are happy that our boy can be at home with us, instead of at the hospital hooked up to monitors. More as things progress!
Pro-life and Pro-Obama
There was an interesting article in today's LA Times by a Catholic Obama supporter. He addressed a lot of my own issues, and I wanted to share the article with you. Basically, he asks whether someone who is pro-life, as I am, can really support Barack Obama. I think he made a good case that yes, you can. I know most of those who read this blog are pro-life, just like me. So it might speak to you in the same way it did to me.
Lizard Loaf Update 2
Today was a very busy day, and I think I should post some kind of update. Lizard Loaf now has his own team of doctors to look after him. Today he was seen by an ENT, several cardiologists, a pulmonary specialist, and his primary care pediatrician. I'm not sure if there were more, since I had to go to work today and make sure that I got a few things done. I might not have listed them all. We're at a teaching hospital, so each doctor has his own team of interns, residents, and med students as well, so I'm confident that everything possible is being done for our boy. Here's the long and short of it.
There are two distinct issues that they are trying to assess: 1) Lizard Loaf is exhibiting signs of hypothyroidism, which if left untreated can lead to a significant increase in mental retardation. 2) His blood-oxygen level is low, so he is on oxygen and they want to figure out how to help him breath on his own. As frustrating as this entire experience has been, I'm grateful that we have such good doctors around to treat our boy, and I'm confident that we are getting close to some kind of resolution.
Oh, yeah, the other doctor who came was an endocrinologist, who is looking into the thyroid thing. He thinks we should wait a few weeks and retest, since sometimes newborns have a natural abnormality in their hormone levels, and in two weeks we'll have a better sense of what's going on. The levels aren't outrageously off. They're just playing it safe, and I'm happy for that.
The oxygen issue is a bit trickier, since Lizard Loaf has a couple of things going on. First, he has an artery growing across his trachea, and it might be constricting things. Having seen the specialists, we are now confident that this isn't a problem, which is good because it might have required surgery to repair. There is also some possibility that he has a heart problem. When babies are in the whom there are some built-in "shortcuts" for moving blood to the body before the lungs work. One of them is a flap between the two sides of the heart. They did an echocardiogram on the boy after he was born, and while there is no evidence of a "hole in the heart," it looks like the flap hadn't closed up yet, and blood was flowing both ways across the barrier. The long and short of it is that they are going to check his heart again to make sure it has now closed up. Most likely, it will now be fine, and it still won't explain the oxygen problem.
Now then, the most likely candidate at this point is aspirated fluid in his lungs, which got there either during childbirth of from reflux. If it got there during childbirth, then it isn't going to recur most likely, and as soon as we can get the fluid out of his lungs he'll be fine. If it's reflux, then we'll have to treat the reflux with medication and other things until it goes away and there is the outside chance he might need surgery to repair something. I'm not willing to speculate about that.
The long and short of all this is that the likely culprits have been narrowed down significantly, and Lizard Loaf's pediatrician here at the hospital is now starting to feel confident we're getting at the answer. Consequently, he's started to loosen up when we ask about going home. Unless the boy needs the reflux test, we should be headed home tomorrow afternoon after the echocardiogram. I don't want to jinx it, so I'll stop there, but I'm getting secretly excited inside.
Now that you've read through my 1:30 AM musings on Lizard Loaf's health, I'll reward you with a short video of him sucking on his own lips. It's a few days old, but I really like it still. Make sure you have the volume on to appreciate the noises.
There are two distinct issues that they are trying to assess: 1) Lizard Loaf is exhibiting signs of hypothyroidism, which if left untreated can lead to a significant increase in mental retardation. 2) His blood-oxygen level is low, so he is on oxygen and they want to figure out how to help him breath on his own. As frustrating as this entire experience has been, I'm grateful that we have such good doctors around to treat our boy, and I'm confident that we are getting close to some kind of resolution.
Oh, yeah, the other doctor who came was an endocrinologist, who is looking into the thyroid thing. He thinks we should wait a few weeks and retest, since sometimes newborns have a natural abnormality in their hormone levels, and in two weeks we'll have a better sense of what's going on. The levels aren't outrageously off. They're just playing it safe, and I'm happy for that.
The oxygen issue is a bit trickier, since Lizard Loaf has a couple of things going on. First, he has an artery growing across his trachea, and it might be constricting things. Having seen the specialists, we are now confident that this isn't a problem, which is good because it might have required surgery to repair. There is also some possibility that he has a heart problem. When babies are in the whom there are some built-in "shortcuts" for moving blood to the body before the lungs work. One of them is a flap between the two sides of the heart. They did an echocardiogram on the boy after he was born, and while there is no evidence of a "hole in the heart," it looks like the flap hadn't closed up yet, and blood was flowing both ways across the barrier. The long and short of it is that they are going to check his heart again to make sure it has now closed up. Most likely, it will now be fine, and it still won't explain the oxygen problem.
Now then, the most likely candidate at this point is aspirated fluid in his lungs, which got there either during childbirth of from reflux. If it got there during childbirth, then it isn't going to recur most likely, and as soon as we can get the fluid out of his lungs he'll be fine. If it's reflux, then we'll have to treat the reflux with medication and other things until it goes away and there is the outside chance he might need surgery to repair something. I'm not willing to speculate about that.
The long and short of all this is that the likely culprits have been narrowed down significantly, and Lizard Loaf's pediatrician here at the hospital is now starting to feel confident we're getting at the answer. Consequently, he's started to loosen up when we ask about going home. Unless the boy needs the reflux test, we should be headed home tomorrow afternoon after the echocardiogram. I don't want to jinx it, so I'll stop there, but I'm getting secretly excited inside.
Now that you've read through my 1:30 AM musings on Lizard Loaf's health, I'll reward you with a short video of him sucking on his own lips. It's a few days old, but I really like it still. Make sure you have the volume on to appreciate the noises.
Lizard Loaf Update
Thins have improved significantly overnight. Lizard Loaf just ate 2 ozs., which is six times what he was eating at a time yesterday. He's more awake and alert, able to wake me up with a single cry. He's moving around better as well. I am very happy about this. Now we just need to find out what was wrong to make sure he doesn't end up back here again. He'll be here one more day at least, then we can take him home.
So far I am very happy with the doctors and nurses here. It's now 6:38 AM, and one of the ENT doctors who is going to look at Lizard Loaf's trachea this morning has already come by to check on him. All of the doctors have told us what a worst-case scenario might be, and it's reassuring that they were willing to tell us, even though it won't likely get to that point. If it does, we will have had some warning and will better be able to make informed choices about how to proceed.
Here's hoping he can go home tomorrow.
Lizard Loaf back at the Hospital
This morning, Plainbellied was feeding Lizard Loaf and thought he felt cold, so she took his temperature. It was low, and the doctor said we should take him to the emergency room. This was 4:00 in the morning. When we got to the hospital, someone met us at the door, and he was whisked into the back while I signed him in. In the back, they put him under a warmer and ordered blood tests, and it came back that he was dehydrated. They also took a spinal tap and admitted our little boy to the hospital for 48 hours while they grew cultures to rule out infection. It's definitely an overwhelming feeling, but I feel confident that the doctors will do their best to make sure he is healthy.
Most of you know that Lizard Loaf has Down syndrome, and that can bring its own challenges. We thought we had gotten past them when his echocardiogram came back negative for holes in his heart, but to return to the hospital just days after we had brought him home was a reality check. We're in this for the long haul.
So what's the good news? Well, at 9:00 Lizard Loaf ate three times as much as he had eaten at any other feeding. That's a good sign, as is the fact that his temperature is up. I think he might have turned the corner. He'll still be here a couple of days, but I feel much more confident that he will pull out of this and get better.
Stay tuned. I'll update as things develop. Sorry if this post is a bit disjointed, but I haven't had much sleep today.
Most of you know that Lizard Loaf has Down syndrome, and that can bring its own challenges. We thought we had gotten past them when his echocardiogram came back negative for holes in his heart, but to return to the hospital just days after we had brought him home was a reality check. We're in this for the long haul.
So what's the good news? Well, at 9:00 Lizard Loaf ate three times as much as he had eaten at any other feeding. That's a good sign, as is the fact that his temperature is up. I think he might have turned the corner. He'll still be here a couple of days, but I feel much more confident that he will pull out of this and get better.
Stay tuned. I'll update as things develop. Sorry if this post is a bit disjointed, but I haven't had much sleep today.
Lizard Loaf Is Here
Last Thursday at 12:19 PM, we welcomed Codename: Lizard Loaf Popo Buns to our family. We've decided that he needs a new name, so I've been tasked with choosing it. It's late and I haven't got the brains to make such an important decision tonight, so you'll have to wait until another time for the actual name. For now I'll keep using Lizard Loaf, but stay tuned to learn his new codename.
The Fear Factor
I'm not surprised that the presidential campaign has taken a decidedly negative turn in the past few days. This has a lot to do with the economy. I think my father put it best when he said that the economy is "going sideways." There is no clear direction for the financial system of our country. While I believe the bailout was necessary to protect the investments of Americans, there is a lot more that needs to happen. If the polls are to be believed, many more people trust Barack Obama to fix the economy than trust John McCain, whose primary financial advisor, Phil Gramm, said that the recession was all in our minds.
Because more Americans trust Barack Obama on this point, the McCain campaign is desperate to change the subject. So they have given new life to long-discredited attacks on Obama's character because of his associations with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground, and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. In response, Obama has mentioned McCain's association with Charles Keating, an instrumental part of the savings and loan failure in the late 1980s and a man who was sentenced to prison time for committing fraud. The interesting thing to me is that McCain said months ago, when Hillary Clinton tried this tactic (or is it a strategy?) on Obama in the primaries, that he would never engage in this kind of campaigning. Well, he's doing it now. And it is shameful. McCain is solely to blame for this negative turn.
There is a difference in their attacks. Obama's attacks have a foundation in reality. McCain really was admonished by the Senate for his role in the Keating scandal. It really does reflect directly on his character. Obama had nothing to do with Ayers's violent past, and his pastor's sermons have been taken wildly out of context. More than anything else, Obama has been attacking McCain for running a negative campaign. I think this is relevant because it points out McCain's hypocrisy and his lack of original ideas for solving our financial dilemma. Hopefully, McCain's poll numbers will continue to plummet and he will realize that the only way to save his legacy will be to stop attacking and return to an honorable campaign.
But it gets worse. Sarah Palin is using this garbage in her stump speech and inciting radicals in the crowd. It is now public knowledge that her rally in Clearwater, Florida attracted a bunch of racists who hurled epithets at black camera crews and one audience member yelled that they should kill Obama. Audience members at McCain's rallies are calling Obama a terrorist. This is just wrong. I know some of my readers support McCain, and I think you need to ask yourselves: do I really support a man who is inciting violence against his opponent?
Found this
VP Debate
Last night's debate was a little surreal. The expectations for Sarah Palin were set so low that anything better than a complete meltdown would have been hailed as a success. Everyone was talking about how Joe Biden has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth and waited for him to say something stupid. In the end, however, I think we got a really good sense about which of them was prepared to be Vice President. I'll give you a hint: it wasn't Sarah Palin.
Probably the most aggravating part about it was the Palin steadfastly refused to answer the questions posed to her. Essentially, she took every question and brought it back to her predetermined talking points. It troubles me that we are one month from the election, and we still have not had clear answers from her on a range of important issues. Her ridiculous attempt to portray the media as "out to get her" got even worse last night. Let me put it this way: we already have a "Joe six-pack" in the White House, and he's done a terrible job. Do we really want Sarah Six-Pack anywhere near the Oval Office?
I think Biden did a tremendous job overall. I've been trying to learn more about him lately, and I have found myself liking him more and more. Yes, he can say some ridiculous things, but he is a genuinely thoughtful and caring person. I didn't know he was a widower, and when he brought that up, I thought he did so in a careful and respectful way, not the way John McCain keeps making a fool of himself by constantly talking about his experience as a POW.
The one thing I will say about Biden is that I wish he had called Palin out more. For example, when she called the US commander in Afghanistan by the wrong name. Or when she talked about reducing taxes in Alaska, when she in fact raised taxes in Wasilla to pay for a sports arena that is still losing money years later. Or when she cited Al Qaeda . . . AL QAEDA! . . . as her source for saying that the primary front in the war on terror is in Iraq. And I wish he had pointed out more forcefully that she was not answering the questions--questions that we need to have answered.
My favorite parts of the debate: when Palin used Al Qaeda as her source, when Biden challenged Palin to explain how a McCain administration would differ from the Bush administration, and when Biden gave his vision of the office of Vice President while Palin aligned herself with Dick Cheney. And who will ever forget Sarah Palin blaming climate change for affecting the activities of humans (she clearly got that backward). Palin did nothing to distinguish herself last night other than not completely falling apart. She added nothing substantive to the debate.
Overall, I think that the debate was a study in contrast between Joe Biden, who knew what he was talking about, and Sarah Palin, who once again demonstrated that she has no knowledge about some of the key issues facing our nation beyond some sycophantic talking points. The fact that Palin avoided a meltdown did nothing to dispel my doubts about her. The New York Times gave an excellent editorial on this today, and I agree with it wholeheartedly.
New on Youtube
Not only is Sarah Palin a totally unqualified candidate for Vice President, but she's also a pretty terrible flute player. Here's proof from the talent competition in the 1984 Miss Alaska competition.
Wall Street "Bailout"
Much has been said about the potential government bailout of Wall Street investment companies who made bad decisions on purchasing mortgage securities. It has been called the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. I'm not an economist, but I have looked at what has been going on, and I have a few comments I would like to make. Let me be clear: I support the government's efforts to apply a short-term band-aid to the banking industry and keep it from failing if adequate safeguards are put into place on issues like executive compensation and oversight. Not to do this could potentially lead to disastrous financial consequences that affect not just rich investors, but everyone who has a retirement plan.
First of all, the root causes of this crisis are obvious, and there is no need for John McCain's "9/11 Commission"-type investigation. The Bush administration and Republican-led Congress loosened the rules for mortgage lenders and other types of investments, which made it easier for more people to qualify for mortgages, regardless of their ability to pay them back. This artificially inflated the value of homes, creating a "bubble" effect. It took a few years, but the market finally slowed down when people realized that they could no longer pay their mortgages. In many cases, these people got their mortgages based on bad information. they assumed (with some reason) that home values would continue to rise at a consistent rate. In other cases, the mortgage companies engaged in fraudulent practices like increasing the stated income of an applicant so that he/she could qualify for a larger loan. They began the practice of interest-only loans, no-money-down home purchases, and other risky type loans that would eventually come back to haunt people when the amount due suddenly increased to the point where they could no longer afford it. Now the banks that made those loans are looking for a handout from the government.
But the problem does not stop there. Those mortgages were "bundled" and sold as investments to other firms, many of which take care of retirement funds. Now that many people are no longer able to pay the loans back, the banks have significantly reduced operating capital, which is leading to a "credit freeze." While I am as opposed to excessive credit as the next guy (still paying for school), I have to say that the credit markets are what make business, and therefore growth, possible. Some of Wall Street's largest firms have already collapsed, beginning with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, giant mortgage lenders, Lehman Brothers, one of the oldest investment banks in America, and AIG, an insurance giant (thank goodness I didn't hand them my retirement last month). Washington Mutual, a bank, failed as well in the largest bank failure we've ever seen.
Scary things are happening, so what do we do? In the Great Depression, there were two approaches, that of Herbert Hoover, a fiscal conservative, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was more of Keynesian. Hoover, by allowing the markets to "correct themselves," actually triggered an even worse fall than would have occurred had some safeguards been in place to shore up troubled banks and investment groups. Roosevelt undertook a massive restructuring of the economy, in which government took a role in insuring bank deposits and other measures to promote confidence in the markets. While the country did not truly come out of the Depression until World War II led to a massive increase in productivity, the reforms created by Roosevelt (as much as I hate to admit it) have kept our country from having any total meltdowns on the same scale. In case you did not know, financial meltdowns were common before increased regulation, with at least two major Panics (Depressions) in the 1800s. While we have faced numerous "recessions" since 1940, none have come close to the problems of the 1930s or the 1800s.
The Reagan years and the Bush years have been times of de-regulation of the markets, with troubling consequences. First came the Savings and Loan scandals during the late 1980s, in which John McCain played a prominent part as a member of the Keating Five, a group of Senators who received money from a Savings and Loan owner. They tried to keep federal regulators from investigating Keating and were ultimately reprimanded by the Senate Ethics Committee. Next came the Bush years, during which John McCain was a champion of the de-regulation efforts that led directly to this crisis.
Allowing the market to correct itself is a good idea in theory, but the problem in this is that the federal government was complicit in the de-regulation of these industries and therefore at least somewhat culpable for the fact that many peoples' retirements are at risk. Sweden went through a similar crisis in the early 1990s and used a similar plan to help reform the banking system. They made their money back relatively quickly. I think our country should do the same.
So where do we go from here? I'm not one of those who thinks that any plan is a good plan. I think there needs to be a prudent injection of capital into the credit markets to keep things going. Having looked at the draft bill that was rejected yesterday, I was struck by the fact that they had taken the initial administration proposal and added significant modifications to it, including the creation of an oversight board, limitations on executive compensation, and a decision to dole the money out slowly, rather than all at once. It's not a perfect plan, but it is a good plan, and it is a necessary plan. I am appalled that the "maverick," John McCain, decided to insert himself into the negotiations for political gain, apparently derailing an agreement in principle. The bailout plan is necessary to protect the life savings of working Americans, and provisions were put in place to limit the abuse of funds in granting "golden parachutes."
I don't know what will happen, but I hope a resolution is reached soon.
Palin the Debater and Interviewee.
If you are interested in knowing what Sarah Palin is like as a debater, here is a short clip from one of the debates she had when running for governor of Alaska. Keep in mind that the debate format used then was different than what she will face on Thursday, because there are only two candidates this time (which will force her to give longer, more expansive answers). I'm curious as to how it will work out this week. I hope that Joe Biden 1) has no mercy and 2) doesn't say anything stupid. If he can stay gaffe-free, I think he'll win, especially given Palin's recent Katie Couric interview, which I've added below the debate video.
Post-debate Impressions
Plainbellied beat me to it again, but I still have to post my thoughts on Friday's presidential debate. We don't have cable, so we watched the debate on the computer through the NY Times webcast. I think next time we'll do CBS, which we could expand to full-screen. So here's what I think: If John McCain wants to paint Barack Obama as inexperienced and naive, he'll have to try much harder. I agree whole-heartedly with Plainbellied's assessment of the debate so I won't belabor the point, but even on foreign policy, I felt that Obama came across as more informed and especially more reasonable. He wants to change our approach to foreign policy to include more room for diplomacy, without resorting so quickly to military action.
While McCain tried to wow the audience with a travelogue of all the trouble spots he has visited, he did nothing to convince me that he actually understood the realities of our world. By refusing to speak with our enemies until they meet vaguely defined "preconditions," I believe that McCain's approach might actually induce them to work harder to obtain nuclear weapons. And what the heck was he talking about when he was saying that "The average South Korean is 3 inches taller than the average North Korean, a huge gulag." This hardly seemed relevant to the issue of American responses to North Korean sabre-rattling.
McCain was even more out of his depth when discussing the economy. His much touted plan to "freeze spending" on everything but defense, veterans benefits (which he has opposed in the past), and entitlements is entirely wrongheaded. The worst thing for the government to do in the event of a recession is to stop spending. In fact, it was spending that brought the country out of the Great Depression. Obama, while recognizing that he won't be able to do everything he wants right away, has a well-conceived notion of how our economy works, and his argument that trimming the budget requires a scalpel rather than a hachet rings true. John McCain's ranting about earmarks will only resolve so much, and a spending freeze would have disastrous consequences. Who do you trust on the economy?
In addition to the substantive differences between the candidates, their style was markedly difference. I am admittedly basing my vote in this election partly on personality, and I will take the guy with an even temper over the guy who seems to be trying to teach some whippersnapper a lesson. He needs to understand that being a "maverick" can only take him so far. Obama, on the other hand, was much more poised and calm throughout the debate. He certainly came off as more "presidential" and less "crotchety."
For a factcheck on some of the claims bandied about at the debate, Factcheck.org has a pretty good summary.
While McCain tried to wow the audience with a travelogue of all the trouble spots he has visited, he did nothing to convince me that he actually understood the realities of our world. By refusing to speak with our enemies until they meet vaguely defined "preconditions," I believe that McCain's approach might actually induce them to work harder to obtain nuclear weapons. And what the heck was he talking about when he was saying that "The average South Korean is 3 inches taller than the average North Korean, a huge gulag." This hardly seemed relevant to the issue of American responses to North Korean sabre-rattling.
McCain was even more out of his depth when discussing the economy. His much touted plan to "freeze spending" on everything but defense, veterans benefits (which he has opposed in the past), and entitlements is entirely wrongheaded. The worst thing for the government to do in the event of a recession is to stop spending. In fact, it was spending that brought the country out of the Great Depression. Obama, while recognizing that he won't be able to do everything he wants right away, has a well-conceived notion of how our economy works, and his argument that trimming the budget requires a scalpel rather than a hachet rings true. John McCain's ranting about earmarks will only resolve so much, and a spending freeze would have disastrous consequences. Who do you trust on the economy?
In addition to the substantive differences between the candidates, their style was markedly difference. I am admittedly basing my vote in this election partly on personality, and I will take the guy with an even temper over the guy who seems to be trying to teach some whippersnapper a lesson. He needs to understand that being a "maverick" can only take him so far. Obama, on the other hand, was much more poised and calm throughout the debate. He certainly came off as more "presidential" and less "crotchety."
For a factcheck on some of the claims bandied about at the debate, Factcheck.org has a pretty good summary.
Palin At It Again
This story broke today. Apparently the McCain campaign wanted to keep the press away from Sarah Palin's meetings with foreign leaders. But CNN finally grew a backbone and told them to give access or there would be no coverage.
It got me thinking about an alarming trend in this election: the Republicans have tried to bury Palin and keep her away from the press. I'm not sure why that is, but if I had to guess, I would assume that they know how incredibly unqualified she is and worry that she would say something totally ridiculous. John McCain himself is about to give his first press conference in three weeks. I give him a bit of a pass because he has appeared on several television programs and taken questions. He also has a track record in national politics that we can use to assess him, though he has become increasingly inconsistent and has started refusing to speak with the press (a troubling sign). Sarah Palin's national record includes an interview with Charles Gibson, who let her get away without answering any questions with any kind of substance, and with some guy on Fox News, who structured his questions in such a way that she could speak in vague platitudes (I did watch some of this). When will the media play "stump the candidate" with Palin? They've done it with McCain and with Obama and with Biden. Why does Palin get a pass?
I read this comment on a news website today, and it troubles me:
It got me thinking about an alarming trend in this election: the Republicans have tried to bury Palin and keep her away from the press. I'm not sure why that is, but if I had to guess, I would assume that they know how incredibly unqualified she is and worry that she would say something totally ridiculous. John McCain himself is about to give his first press conference in three weeks. I give him a bit of a pass because he has appeared on several television programs and taken questions. He also has a track record in national politics that we can use to assess him, though he has become increasingly inconsistent and has started refusing to speak with the press (a troubling sign). Sarah Palin's national record includes an interview with Charles Gibson, who let her get away without answering any questions with any kind of substance, and with some guy on Fox News, who structured his questions in such a way that she could speak in vague platitudes (I did watch some of this). When will the media play "stump the candidate" with Palin? They've done it with McCain and with Obama and with Biden. Why does Palin get a pass?
I read this comment on a news website today, and it troubles me:
Why should Palin grant those lying b*****ds any time at all? I refer to the Charlie Gibson "attempted murder" interview. He didn't want to interview her--he wanted to destroy her.This is an incredibly dangerous point of view. If we just "let her do her thing," that means allowing her to use private email to conduct government business in an attempt to hide from open records laws. It means allowing her to continue asserting that she turned down government money for the "bridge to nowhere" when in fact she only killed it after Congress had removed the earmark and made it a national embarrassment. We need to know why she needed so much federal money (our money) for Alaska when Alaskans have no state income or sales tax, and in fact were given 2000 dollars each last year as a bonus--money she could have used instead of federal money (possibly 80 million dollars). If the media doesn't publish something, chances are only a few people know about it. It is the media's job to provide us with enough information to make an informed choice in the election. If they don't force Palin to speak with them, how informed will our votes be?
Screw the media.
Let Sarah Palin do her thing.
Stump The Candidate
This video epitomizes something that drives me crazy about Sarah Palin. She refuses to answer questions directly. In this instance, she forgoes a chance to explain her foreign policy credentials and simply declares, "I'll be ready." Wow. That's very reassuring.
Pranksters
This is one of my favorite skits on Saturday Night Live in recent years. It's not political.
Her Nibs, At It Again
On Saturday, Her Nibs got in trouble. She has learned how to make "designs" on the computer, by which I mean she sits at the computer, types away on a blank word processor document, and calls it a design. Saturday morning, Her Nibs asked us (before we got up) if she could make designs. Plainbellied told her that she had to wait for one of us to go downstairs and supervise. When I got down a little while later, she was sitting at the computer, typing. Of course she got in trouble, compounded by the fact that she lied and told me that Plainbellied had authorized the activity. So I gave her a timeout. When that was over, she was still sad, so she stomped off up the stairs, looking for her mom.
This is where it got fun. She was supposed to go to a friend's birthday party that afternoon, and she started saying, "I don't feel like going to the birthday party anymore!" (sniff). So Plainbellied said, "That's OK. You don't have to go to the party." We both figured she would change her mind and everything would be all right, but we had no idea how funny it would be when she did. About two minutes later, I heard her come out of her room, still crying, but shouting, "But what if they need me, Mummy? What if they need me at the party?" Needless to say, she decided to go, if only to help the mermaids find their treasure (it was a pirate-themed party).
McCain on Spain
I had decided not to post anything negative today, but I just couldn't let this slide. Many of you know that Plainbellied and I spent a year living in Spain, and my brother and his wife both spent two years there. My primary research specialty is Spanish history. So you can imagine that my ears perk up when that country is mentioned.
Senator McCain did an interview with a Miami affiliate of Cadena Ser, a Spanish news radio company. When the interviewer asked him about the Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Luis Zapatero, it sounded like McCain thought Spain was in Latin America, and he never responded directly to questions of whether or not he would meet with Zapatero. I don't really believe that McCain doesn't know where Spain is, but his evasive answers were troubling nonetheless.
The Washington Post wrote about it this morning.
Here is the English audio if you are interested:
If you prefer the Spanish version:
Senator McCain did an interview with a Miami affiliate of Cadena Ser, a Spanish news radio company. When the interviewer asked him about the Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Luis Zapatero, it sounded like McCain thought Spain was in Latin America, and he never responded directly to questions of whether or not he would meet with Zapatero. I don't really believe that McCain doesn't know where Spain is, but his evasive answers were troubling nonetheless.
The Washington Post wrote about it this morning.
Here is the English audio if you are interested:
If you prefer the Spanish version:
Troopergate
Maybe you've heard of "Troopergate." If you haven't, read this article from the Anchorage Daily News. It gives a good sense of what is at stake. The part that has always stuck out to me is the accusation that Wooten used a Taser on his 10-year-old son. Today, curiosity got the better of me, and I found this article, also from the Anchorage Daily News and written well before Palin was chosen as McCain's running mate.
Read them for yourself and decide. Wooten is definitely no prize, but was Palin justified in going after him and firing Walter Monegan for refusing to bend to her will? Hopefully we'll start getting some answers soon, though not if Palin insists on her refusal to cooperate with the probe.
Read them for yourself and decide. Wooten is definitely no prize, but was Palin justified in going after him and firing Walter Monegan for refusing to bend to her will? Hopefully we'll start getting some answers soon, though not if Palin insists on her refusal to cooperate with the probe.
John McCain and Marital Fidelity
I was going to do some kind of blog today about the failure of John McCain's first marriage, so I tried to find this article from the LA Times. It took me a while, and I found this article in a British newspaper. So I've decided not to do any kind of extensive rant or anything, and just let readers see what we know about it. If you're interested to know how he treats his current wife, then you should look at this article (beware as it contains some filthy language--just as it came out of McCain's mouth).
The bottom line here is that McCain has been less than honest about his motives for divorcing his first wife, he was clearly unfaithful to her, and he dumped her as soon as he found a richer, more attractive woman. While this has no bearing on the issues of this campaign, it has bearing on the character of the man. Distasteful.
The bottom line here is that McCain has been less than honest about his motives for divorcing his first wife, he was clearly unfaithful to her, and he dumped her as soon as he found a richer, more attractive woman. While this has no bearing on the issues of this campaign, it has bearing on the character of the man. Distasteful.
Classic Jibjab
Plainbellied sent this link to me yesterday. It's another political parody from the guys at Jibjab.com. I hope that you enjoy it. It's fun no matter which side you are on.
My Take on Sarah Palin
When John McCain announced his choice of running mate several weeks ago, I think I had the same reaction as most people. "Who???!!!" Granted, she is a governor, but how many governors can you name, let alone the governor of one of our least populous states (ahead of only North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming)? Since that time, I have been doing everything I can to learn more about her. I do not like what I have found. There is a lot to say about Sarah Palin, and very little of it is good. Plainbellied already wrote about this on her blog, but I thought I'd give my two cents as well.
Let us examine some of the issues at play:
1) Experience. The McCain campaign spent all summer telling us how inexperienced and dangerous Barack Obama would be if elected. Then, he chose Sarah Palin, who spent two terms as a mayor of a town with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants and 20 months as governor of the 47th most populous state. Immediately the McCain campaign changed its tune and declared that her "executive experience" outweighed Barack Obama's eight years in the Illinois State Senate and four years in the US Senate. To put it bluntly, I believe that Sarah Palin is woefully unprepared to be anywhere near the Presidency of the United States. Remember what happened with the last governor we elected?
2) Record. Over the past few weeks I've noticed a number of worrisome trends in Sarah Palin's record. The main problem I see is her penchant for fiscal irresponsibility. In Wasilla, the tiny town she controlled, she inherited a situation in which there were real infrastucture problems with things like sewage treatment, and she focused her attention not on these issues, but on the building of a sports complex for the community. While it was intended to bring more money into the municipal coffers, the plan for this structure was poorly designed and executed, and it was constructed on land that the town did not clearly own. Years and millions in legal fees later, most recognize the complex as a money pit. While mayor, she hired a Washington lobbyist to bring earmarked funds to Wasilla, succeeding in getting some 27 million dollars for the town. Even so, she left the town, which had about 1 million dollars in debt at the beginning of her term, more than 24 million dollars in debt. Even the conservative Wall Street Journal has exposed this problem. Why? Big ticket items like the sports complex and parks, leaving things like a sewage treatment plant undone.
As governor, Palin has proclaimed herself a maverick and a reformer. Neither is true. It is true that she launched herself into the limelight by exposing the unethical behavior of a rival who was using his government office and time to campaign. Of course, she did the very same thing while she was mayor. This, along with numerous other examples from her political career show her to be a conniving opportunist who does not play by the same rules she sets for others. While she did raise taxes on the oil industry, she also continued the practice of getting huge amounts of government earmarks, including championing the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere."
Since she joined the campaign, the level of untrue attacks has risen alarmingly. While both campaigns have distorted their opponents' record to some extent, the McCain campaign has aggressively sought to present a totally incorrect image of Obama and his record. When the McCain campaign quoted factcheck.org (a nonpartisan group) in support of its ads, factcheck denounced the ads as false and misleading. The campaign has also misled the public on Palin's record, having to admit that she never traveled into Iraq and stopped in Ireland only for refueling on her trip.
3) Ethics. Governor Palin is currently under legislative investigation for ethics violations. It appears that she fired the state Public Safety Commissioner for refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper. While the trooper in question is clearly problematic, he was suspended for some of his activities, and the Commissioner considered the matter closed. When Palin was elected governor, she almost immediately began (along with her husband and numerous staffers) pressuring the Commissioner to fire the trooper. When he would not, she fired him. Before she was chosen as McCain's running mate, Palin agreed to fully cooperate with the probe. Once McCain made the announcement, her aides pulled out of scheduled meetings with the legislature's investigator. Today she announced that she would not cooperate. This is a terrible precedent. The current president and his staff have done the same thing by invoking "executive privilege" to avoid answering congressional subpoenas. Do we want more government secrecy in the future?
Speaking of secrecy, Palin and her aides also championed the use of personal email accounts as a way to circumvent open records laws, even though this is an egregious violation of the law and the public trust. One of the reasons we don't know much about Palin's dealings with her aides is her use of private, unaccounted-for email addresses.
Equally troubling is the record of how many people she has fired. In her time both as mayor and as governor, Palin has wielded executive authority as a weapon to silence her critics and promote her allies. In Wasilla, she totally gutted the town's leadership, seeking to fire the librarian, and successfully firing the local museum director, plus the police chief and some of her own advisors who opposed her policies. Those who oppose her are branded "haters" and eliminated as soon as possible. Not only does she fire her enemies, but she appoints unqualified friends to important positions, such as her friend that she hired as the head of the State Division of Agriculture whose primary qualification appears to be her childhood love of cows.
Just a few months ago she said she didn't know what the Vice President does.
More recently, she couldn't explain her position on the Bush Doctrine. (I wouldn't have known the answer either, but I'm not running for VP!) Notice how totally surprised Charlie Gibson was when she couldn't answer his question:
After all is said and done, what do those close to Sarah Palin think? Well, one of her friends from Wasilla wrote an email for her friends outside of Wasilla who kept asking about Palin. The message has been confirmed by numerous sources to be true. If you want to know more about the type of person we have running for Vice President, go ahead and read it.
In beginning the process of learning about Palin, I tried very hard to be dispassionate, but having learned more about her, I must conclude that she should not be placed a heartbeat away from the presidency. If nothing else, such a reckless and unconsidered choice must reflect badly on John McCain, who has a penchant for high-stakes gambling. This time, he's not gambling with his wife's millions. He's gambling with our future.
Let us examine some of the issues at play:
1) Experience. The McCain campaign spent all summer telling us how inexperienced and dangerous Barack Obama would be if elected. Then, he chose Sarah Palin, who spent two terms as a mayor of a town with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants and 20 months as governor of the 47th most populous state. Immediately the McCain campaign changed its tune and declared that her "executive experience" outweighed Barack Obama's eight years in the Illinois State Senate and four years in the US Senate. To put it bluntly, I believe that Sarah Palin is woefully unprepared to be anywhere near the Presidency of the United States. Remember what happened with the last governor we elected?
2) Record. Over the past few weeks I've noticed a number of worrisome trends in Sarah Palin's record. The main problem I see is her penchant for fiscal irresponsibility. In Wasilla, the tiny town she controlled, she inherited a situation in which there were real infrastucture problems with things like sewage treatment, and she focused her attention not on these issues, but on the building of a sports complex for the community. While it was intended to bring more money into the municipal coffers, the plan for this structure was poorly designed and executed, and it was constructed on land that the town did not clearly own. Years and millions in legal fees later, most recognize the complex as a money pit. While mayor, she hired a Washington lobbyist to bring earmarked funds to Wasilla, succeeding in getting some 27 million dollars for the town. Even so, she left the town, which had about 1 million dollars in debt at the beginning of her term, more than 24 million dollars in debt. Even the conservative Wall Street Journal has exposed this problem. Why? Big ticket items like the sports complex and parks, leaving things like a sewage treatment plant undone.
As governor, Palin has proclaimed herself a maverick and a reformer. Neither is true. It is true that she launched herself into the limelight by exposing the unethical behavior of a rival who was using his government office and time to campaign. Of course, she did the very same thing while she was mayor. This, along with numerous other examples from her political career show her to be a conniving opportunist who does not play by the same rules she sets for others. While she did raise taxes on the oil industry, she also continued the practice of getting huge amounts of government earmarks, including championing the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere."
Since she joined the campaign, the level of untrue attacks has risen alarmingly. While both campaigns have distorted their opponents' record to some extent, the McCain campaign has aggressively sought to present a totally incorrect image of Obama and his record. When the McCain campaign quoted factcheck.org (a nonpartisan group) in support of its ads, factcheck denounced the ads as false and misleading. The campaign has also misled the public on Palin's record, having to admit that she never traveled into Iraq and stopped in Ireland only for refueling on her trip.
3) Ethics. Governor Palin is currently under legislative investigation for ethics violations. It appears that she fired the state Public Safety Commissioner for refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper. While the trooper in question is clearly problematic, he was suspended for some of his activities, and the Commissioner considered the matter closed. When Palin was elected governor, she almost immediately began (along with her husband and numerous staffers) pressuring the Commissioner to fire the trooper. When he would not, she fired him. Before she was chosen as McCain's running mate, Palin agreed to fully cooperate with the probe. Once McCain made the announcement, her aides pulled out of scheduled meetings with the legislature's investigator. Today she announced that she would not cooperate. This is a terrible precedent. The current president and his staff have done the same thing by invoking "executive privilege" to avoid answering congressional subpoenas. Do we want more government secrecy in the future?
Speaking of secrecy, Palin and her aides also championed the use of personal email accounts as a way to circumvent open records laws, even though this is an egregious violation of the law and the public trust. One of the reasons we don't know much about Palin's dealings with her aides is her use of private, unaccounted-for email addresses.
Equally troubling is the record of how many people she has fired. In her time both as mayor and as governor, Palin has wielded executive authority as a weapon to silence her critics and promote her allies. In Wasilla, she totally gutted the town's leadership, seeking to fire the librarian, and successfully firing the local museum director, plus the police chief and some of her own advisors who opposed her policies. Those who oppose her are branded "haters" and eliminated as soon as possible. Not only does she fire her enemies, but she appoints unqualified friends to important positions, such as her friend that she hired as the head of the State Division of Agriculture whose primary qualification appears to be her childhood love of cows.
Just a few months ago she said she didn't know what the Vice President does.
More recently, she couldn't explain her position on the Bush Doctrine. (I wouldn't have known the answer either, but I'm not running for VP!) Notice how totally surprised Charlie Gibson was when she couldn't answer his question:
After all is said and done, what do those close to Sarah Palin think? Well, one of her friends from Wasilla wrote an email for her friends outside of Wasilla who kept asking about Palin. The message has been confirmed by numerous sources to be true. If you want to know more about the type of person we have running for Vice President, go ahead and read it.
In beginning the process of learning about Palin, I tried very hard to be dispassionate, but having learned more about her, I must conclude that she should not be placed a heartbeat away from the presidency. If nothing else, such a reckless and unconsidered choice must reflect badly on John McCain, who has a penchant for high-stakes gambling. This time, he's not gambling with his wife's millions. He's gambling with our future.
Turtar Enters the Arena
John McCain's decision to make Sarah Palin his running mate has caused me to become more politically involved. Unfortunately for them, this is a negative. I believe that our nation would make a tragic mistake by electing John McCain and Sarah Palin to the highest offices in the land.
First, a little background. . . In 2000, I voted for President for the first time (I could have voted in 1996 but was overseas and failed to get an absentee ballot). In that case, I was living in Florida and voted for George W. Bush. Primarily, I voted for him because I am mostly a moderate conservative (I straddle the fence on a lot of issues). I had serious problems with the way the Clinton administration had behaved itself, and I hoped that Bush's presidency would bring real change to Washington. Then the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks intervened, and everything changed. Bush spearheaded a campaign to introduce a wildly invasive domestic spying law, and he began to play a zero-sum game with politics. You were either for him or an enemy. Incredibly, I had failed to learn my lesson, and I voted for Bush again in 2004. I remember thinking, "We have a population of nearly 300 million people, and these two idiots are the best we can do for President." Sadly, I believe that I was swayed, at least in some measure, by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who spread lies and rumors defaming John Kerry's military record. But I wanted a certain type of Supreme Court Justice, which I got in John Roberts and Sam Alito, who I think are excellent judges.
However, I now wonder if I made the right choice. In exchange for those two judges, important as they may be, we now have a crippled economy due to an aggressive policy of government deregulation, a war that is dragging on due to inefficient management, government spying, a secretive military prison allowing the torture of prisoners who are kept for years without being charged or tried, and an incredibly secretive government bent on hiding its actions from the public. This is not what I wanted when I voted for George W. Bush, and in many ways I regret that I did not fully comprehend what his government was doing over the past few years.
Because of my disillusionment with the failed policies of George W. Bush, who I helped to elect, I have vowed to make a more careful choice in the future. As a result, I have changed my criteria for voting to reflect a candidate's potential governing style, preferring honesty, integrity, and openness whereas in the past I focused on a narrow range of policy positions. Because of my new criteria, I support Barack Obama for President of the United States.
I have been an Obama supporter for many months now, though I have never donated to his campaign. I disagree with Senator Obama on numerous issues, but I agree more than I disagree. His opponents have criticized him for being "just words." However, they miss the larger message of his campaign. They miss the concept of togetherness and unity, of bipartisanship and civility in government. During the 1990s, the Republican Party made politics in the United States a culture war, trying to contrast righteous "conservatives" with underhanded and immoral "liberals." This dichotomy is false. Too many "conservatives" have shown that they pay mere lip service to the values they espouse, and too many "liberals" have proven to be much more honest and thoughtful than their political opponents.
I do not know if Barack Obama will be a great president, but of the remaining candidates, he is the only one who has tried to put aside partisan rancor. I believe that an Obama presidency would restore, honor, dignity, and openness to the office of President. I cannot say the same of John McCain, who glorifies in promoting his own ignorance and stoops to new levels of subterfuge and dishonesty in attacking his opponents.
Over the next weeks, you will hear more from me on these issues. I will try to post relevant topics in this space every day, complete with useful links.
Down Syndrome Hoe-Down
For those of you who follow Plainbellied's blog, you will know by now that our unborn son has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome. While there was an elevated risk for Down Syndrome in our case, you can imagine how difficult it was to learn that our child would be born with this disability. I feel for those who don't find out before the child is born. Soon after we received our diagnosis, a colleague of mine told me that his sister had given birth to a child with Down Syndrome. They had no idea until the baby was born, when the doctor told them. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to hear such news at that time. By the time our son is born next month, we will have had months of mental and emotional preparation. I hope it serves us well when the time comes.
When I first heard the news, I remember feeling shock and disappointment. I hadn't set any specific goals or had any specific hopes for our child, but I realized that his life was going to be a challenge, not just to him, but to us, too. Because children with Down Syndrome have such a wide range of capabilities and challenges, we still don't know what is in store. It will take years before we truly understand what developmental and physical challenges he will face. It is daunting to know that your child will have something wrong with him, but that you will only discover what exactly it is over a long period of time. There will always be the potential for a new wrinkle.
I'm still apprehensive about what the future holds, and in learning more about the problems my niece (who has Down Syndrome) is having with seizures, I find myself worrying about how we will deal with such challenges. I don't doubt that we will figure it out as we go along, but from here, it sure seems like a big mountain to climb.
Thoughts on Moving
So here's how things have panned out (I'm the least consistent blogger in the world, if you haven't noticed). My dissertation won the award it was nominated for, I got a job, and we're moving back east in a week and a half. The two most terrifying parts of this are: 1) we're going to be broke for another year and 2) we still don't have a place to live yet. Hopefully we'll have our living situation worked out soon, but it's going to be a rough year. Who would have thought it would cost so much to live near the ocean?
In other news, we're expecting another child, a boy, in October, and he's been diagnosed prenatally with Down Syndrome. We're still learning to cope with this news, and we are learning all we can about the disease, so I'll likely have some blog entries about that coming up.
I'd say to stay tuned, but if you're reading this you know it might be a while.
Whither Turtar?
I'm realizing that this is my second "where did I go?" post in a row. Well, the last months have been pretty rough. I finished my PhD last summer, and I've been working as a visiting instructor at a major university in the Rocky Mountains. In case you're wondering, "visiting" really means "replacement faculty, so there's not really a chance we'll keep you beyond the limit of your contract." In other words, you are employed by a history department, but you don't really "belong" there. You don't get the research or travel budget regular employees get, and they stick you with whatever courses they want, rather than letting you choose what you will teach. Then they boot you to the curb. And we thank them for it because really, it was better than nothing. I'm in a job market where there are about 30 regular tenure-track jobs per year, and some of them have upwards of 200 applicants. Unless you do something to really stand out, then you won't get a job.
So I'm starting to panic a little bit that I don't have a job lined up for next fall yet. I have a young family, and no matter what, I need to get something with benefits, even if that means stepping out of my chosen profession for a year or so. Now, all of this is build-up for something that may not have an actual payoff. Anyway, in this state, I got word yesterday that my dissertation has been nominated for a prize. Like I said, everything that makes you stand out is a great thing. I don't think it will have much of an impact on my CV, but hey, it's something. Who knows? Maybe I'll even win the prize.
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