One of my favorite 60 Minutes correspondents, Ed Bradley, died of leukemia today at the age of 65. He was always great at keeping such a cool exterior while asking hard, probing questions. Rarely combative, he'd get people to own up to things, and say more than they probably would have liked to, just because they were having an intimate conversation with such a likable guy. Thanks for all your hard work, Ed.
For the first time in 42 years, the Governor's job and both houses of the Iowa state legislature will be in the hands of Democrats. David Yepsen, of the Des Moines Register, has a look at what this should yield. Of particular interest to us is the bullet point about spending more money on the state universities, so that we can attempt to slow the rate of tuition increases we've inflicted on the students. Here in the IT department, our budgets have not kept pace with the technologies we've implemented, we have several programs that we initially started small (and cheap) that have turned out to be quite popular, which turns out to not be such a good thing, when you don't have the money to grow the programs that rapidly. Here's to hoping the Democrats make good on that, and we can get our house in order.
Today's New York Times Editorial highlights a trend in President Bush's speechs that makes me queasy:
In Mr. Bush’s world, there are only two kinds of Americans: those who are against terrorism, and those who somehow are all right with it. Some Americans want to win in Iraq and some don’t. There are Americans who support the troops and Americans who don’t support the troops. And at the root of it all is the hideously damaging fantasy that there is a gulf between Americans who love their country and those who question his leadership.
This rhetorical device, that somehow anyone who doesn't agree with him is at best unpatriotic, and at worst, treasonous, is extremely dangerous and divisive. While Bush can't actually produce any of these straw men who want the U.S. to fail, he always attempts to make it seem like anyone who questions his actions or policies is anti-American.
What really frightens me, is that he might actually believe what he's saying. For if, his political opponents support terror, as he insinuates, then what's the next step?
If Mr. Bush truly believes that his political opponents want to to encourage terrorists, want the United States to fail in Iraq, and that want our soldiers to die, then why isn't he imprisoning them?
Are we a democracy or a dictatorship? Do we treasure the free exchange of ideas and differing opinions, or are those who would dare to question him going to be declared enemies of the state?
For your Halloween enjoyment, a snarky history of Halloween:
Its that time of year again, when the trees vomit colorful dead leaves all over your lawn and the weather can’t decide if it’s hot or cold, or even both at the same time (as Lewis Black once said, "it’s not weather, it’s malaria"). Yes, it is fall and we all know what that means -- Halloween, that festive time of the year when kids dress up in fantastic costumes, bob for apples, and go trick-or-treating. Well, unless they live in a community that has done away with Halloween because some Christians say it’s a holiday for Satan, or some Jews say it’s too Christian, or some Wiccans say it makes fun of their religion (which has as much to do with ancient witchcraft as P. Diddy has to do with Bluegrass, but that’s neither here nor there). Actually, all of those people are wrong about Halloween (plus they are morons). The real roots of Halloween dig deep into the past and are entwined with more than one culture and religion, with Satan and witches nowhere in sight -- well, until the Middle Ages, anyway.
Keith Olbermann continues to be one of the loudest voices opposing this administration, and the damage done to the writ of Habeas Corpus:
We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who may now, if he so decides, declare not merely any non-American citizens "unlawful enemy combatants" and ship them somewhere--anywhere -- but may now, if he so decides, declare you an "unlawful enemy combatant" and ship you somewhere - anywhere.
And if you think this hyperbole or hysteria, ask the newspaper editors when John Adams was president or the pacifists when Woodrow Wilson was president or the Japanese at Manzanar when Franklin Roosevelt was president.
And if you somehow think habeas corpus has not been suspended for American citizens but only for everybody else, ask yourself this: If you are pulled off the street tomorrow, and they call you an alien or an undocumented immigrant or an "unlawful enemy combatant"--exactly how are you going to convince them to give you a court hearing to prove you are not? Do you think this attorney general is going to help you?
