Rowhouse Logic - Breathtaking Inanity

Having accidentally caught a little of Barbara Walters’ special on Heaven, I’m reminded that it’s not an entirely bad thing that I enjoy a stiff drink from time to time. Now is the time.

I had the misfortune of watching a little more of the Katrina coverage on television than I otherwise might have cared to. I woke up around 3:00 AM after having gone to bed at about 1:00 AM and didn’t sleep a wink thereafter. I tried to read myself back to sleep, but I couldn’t find anything that didn’t bother and agitate me. Stress from various projects I’m working on has probably caught up with me, so I did what I always do in these sleepless situations; worry about deadlines, drive myself crazy, watch cable news and, if I’m lucky, NFL films on ESPN Classic.

Getting back to Katrina, I don’t really want to critique the coverage as I’m sure anybody with half a brain knows how silly it is to send blow dried debutantes out into a hurricane in their slickers, emblazoned with the corporate logo, to look brave. Whatever.

The thing that really bothers me, and I know bothers a lot of people, was the knowledge that some 100,000 people were not able to evacuate from a city which quite reasonably could have been sunk beneath a toxic brew of petrochemicals, sewage and corpses right now. Fortunately, today’s storm was not as bad for New Orleans as it could have been, though that’s little consolation to the dead, the wounded and the people who have lost every worldly possession.

The people left behind were those who do not own cars and could not afford to leave. They were provided with a football stadium located beneath sea-level which began to crumble mid-hurricane. Had catastrophic flooding occurred with the ensuing petrochemical water pollution, one struggles to imagine how these people could have been saved. Surely we cannot allow for anything like this to ever happen again. While the very worst did not happen today, a very realistic scenario would have involved the deaths of a large portion of an entire class of people in one American city.

For whatever reason, Americans continue to inhabit parts of our nation which are prone to catastrophic natural disaster, and will continue to do so. As we learned today, decent insurance policies with government backing simply isn’t sufficient. Will Bunch points out some areas where the Federal government could and should have done better to prevent catastrophe, but it needs to be pointed out that it is also the responsibility of municipal and state governments to create realistic plans to evacuate those people who cannot, for whatever reason, evacuate themselves. Anything less is inexcusable. Twenty thousand people don’t need to die in order for us, as a nation, to say never again.

Susie shares a classic CNN viewing moment when she recounts Soledad O’Brien questioning Sen. Mary Landrieu about why so many people remained in New Orleans after it was evacuated. Her exact words were “Are they just complacent?� A not so stunning display of what strikes me as upper class indifference towards and ignorance of people of more meager means. More likely, it was just an example crass stupidity uttered mid-blather by and middling broadcast talent. I should mention that she asked the question in the context of the discovery that the roof of the Superdome was being ripped off and collapsing in sections. The superdome was, and is still, housing over 20,000 people who had no way out of town.

Back to the sleepless night; sometime around 4:30 AM, ESPN Classic broadcast Superbowl 13 between the Cowboys and the Steelers in its entirety. One pleasant thing on a night I’d rather forget.

I don’t mean to seem callus by talking about sleeplessness and football at the begining and end of this post. I’m simply not gifted or experienced enough a writer to articulate the absolute horror that needs to be expressed over something that could have been so very much more awful. Natural disasters will continue unabated for as long as any of us will live, but the shameful planning for such disasters needs to come to an end starting today. Storing people in what strikes me as a concrete death trap located below sea level is not a solution; it’s careless disregard for human life and we can do better.

Update: Sadly, it looks as though I may have spoken too soon:

The sense of relief that residents felt Monday morning when the city was not immediately inundated by a storm surge overflowing its protective levees was replaced late Monday night and Tuesday morning with dread because of a levee that was damaged by the hurricane.

Water flowing from the damaged levee near Lake Pontchartrain could have equally catastrophic effects, only unfolding more slowly.

Andrea Mitchell discovers the Downing Street Memo (Via Susie). Matt discovers that Scott McClellan is a tool and tears him a brand new, shiny orifice. As always, I recommend you read your McClellan like this. As I noted last night, Chris Bowers has discovered that there may be a problem with the ward system in Philadelphia and he’d like to do something about it. If I recall correctly, ACM has a pretty good solution.

Heinrich:

Four score and seven weeks ago our state legislature brought forth on this commonwealth, a new casino, conceived in Harrisburg, and dedicated to the proposition that all money is created equal.

Legalized gambling is one of those issues where I’m never quite sure where I stand. It’s really pretty hard to get a grip on it. Gambling is one of the few vices I’ve never picked up in my life, and while I do understand the appeal of instant riches, I’ve never really indulged, other than blowing twenty bucks every other year or so in Atlantic City. If I recall correctly, Hunter S. Thompson described the phenomenon of casino gambling as “dry humping the American Dream,” which seems fairly accurate to me. One only need look at the number of pawn shops hawking pawned diamond rings and Rolex watches a block from the casinos in Atlantic City, or any other gaming town, to understand that lives are destroyed and minds are lost in the quest for instant wealth. At the same time, criminalizing vice and leaving its profiteers totally unregulated seems as poor a choice as betting the profits from the sale of your wife’s engagement ring. Some things never end, and an individual’s desire for instant wealth may well be one of those things.

The idea behind legalizing gambling in Pennsylvania, beyond the state lottery, is to provide property tax relief in all of the counties save Philadelphia, where the funds would be directed towards reducing the city wage tax. The money generated will be used to fund the education system. All of which is well and good if works. Just another boon, at citizen expense, to corporate entities if it doesn’t. Whatever.

The issue here, that Heinrich brings up so beautifully, is that a hotel/casino/spa has been proposed just over one mile from the Gettysburg battlefield which, if you recall, has a certain significance in our nation’s history. For example Lee’s first strategic mistake of the Civil War, tremendous casualties on both sides of that war, the tipping point of the American Civil War as well as a pretty famous speech by some Republican President or another all occured there. Seems an odd spot to try and dry hump the American Dream if you ask me.

The first and likely only televised debate between Seth Williams and Lynne Abraham will broadcast at 11:30 AM Sunday on Channel 6. It will last 30 minutes and should be loads of fun for the hardened political junky. Just a guess here, but I would imagine the fact that Abraham has agreed to a debate is a pretty good sign for Williams. Earlier in the week I was considering trying to do some type of a debate party, but my place isn’t really in shape for visitors. That said, if you’d like to pop by for the debate, you’re more than welcome. Just keep in mind that we don’t keep non-alcoholic beverages in the house other than milk, the cat is really mean, and you have to smoke outside. A sorry state of affairs.

In bloggy news, The Suburban Guerilla has moved, be sure to bookmark to her new site and update your blogroll if you are the sort of person who bookmarks and blogrolls. The All Spin Zone also has a new home and The Tattered Coat has a new design, go have a look. (Via Philly Future)

I’m very tired and in dire need of a long nap. I’m not going to get one.

I had a big octopus dinner last night and it got me thinking evil thoughts - I’m almost tempted to describe it as a crisis of faith. You see, I’ve long considered the octopus to be the very tastiest of the tentacled beasts. But is it really as tasty as I believe, or is it just a suitably bland vehicle to which tasty sauces are applied?

This may seem silly. If it does, I don’t really much care what you think.

Why doesn’t Philadelphia have a major street named for John Coltrane, one of the major innovators in the only truly American art form? When the United States, as we now know it, is just another chapter in some kid’s history book, Jazz will be listed as our nation’s artistic contribution to humankind and yet somehow, in the town he claimed as his home, there is no major street or building or transit line or bridge named for John Coltrane. More fool us. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, more fool you.

Not that the naming of a street, or bridge, or whatever does any work of art, or any person’s body of artistic works, let alone any human being’s existence, justice…

Good night.

Happy hunting:

A majority of Wisconsin residents support a plan to legalize wild cat hunting, according to voting results released Tuesday.

At meetings across the state Monday night, residents in 72 counties were asked whether free-roaming cats should be listed as an unprotected species. If so listed, the cats - including any domestic cat that isn’t under the owner’s direct control or any cat without a collar - could be hunted.

Zoey, my chubby, feral cat is, no doubt, pissed.

The following is a sample conversation between the blogmaster and me:

Me: Hey Chris….

Him: Fucking Goatfucker!

Me: Umm, Chris, you okay?

Him: God damned fucking fuckwad goatfucking goatfuckers!

Sometimes, talking to the Blogmaster is like, well, running into a wet-brain on some skid row in cyber space and watching him wander around aimlessly while he screams at anyone in the near vicinity.

But y’know, he’s not a bad guy, and he runs a tight ship. When I first received posting rights, he laid down some simple rules: No porn, and no picking on non-public figures such as your baby sitter, your barber, your butcher, etc. I was a little upset by the last rule, because I believe that I had a legitimate gripe with my butcher, but I understand where Chris is coming from.

Chris has since told me that it is “uncool” for a blogmaster to post a picture of himself or herself on a blog. Well, fine. It is my contention that, since the blogmaster of this blog is a public figure, I mention him here and am posting this naked picture of him.

I’ll admit do being a little jealous whenever The Liberal Avenger announces that he’s the first hit on Google for something neat like Tom Delay Asshole. Not bad. Not bad at all. Well just today I discovered that I’m number 22 on MSN Search for the search string parasite removal for pets. I couldn’t be prouder.

I used to have this girlfriend. She had a dog. I used to call it the dog.

The dog.

The question I used to have (and I never got answered, at least not satisfactorily) was whether or not I was engaging in minimalism or post-modern minimalism when I said “The dog” over and over again.

“The dog.”

“The dog.”

Not in an elongated way, nor in a short, truncated manner, but in a flat utterance that barely passed for speech.

“The dog.”

“The dog.”

Over and over and over.

Interestingly enough, my girlfriend never saw fit to engage me in conversation about pure minimalism vs. post-modern minimalism, but instead asked me over and over why I insisted on talking about the dog, which, as I have previously stated, I referred to simply as “The dog.” As a result, we failed miserably to communicate in a manner that satisfied either of us, and as a result, the dog issue was left unresolved.

Since David is on a bit of a Robert McNamara kick, I thought I would recommend Errol Morris’ documentary The Fog of War which is a really nice piece of work. I’ll have to ask him to know for sure, but I suspect David may have rented it recently. As David points out, McNamara suggests, in the movie, that the reason the United States succeeded in the Cuban Missile Crisis but failed in the Vietnam War was that its leaders fully understood the motivations and goals of their adversary in the former but did not in the latter. Interesting stuff regardless of how you feel about McNamara himself. I discussed this in more detail here.

Um…am I late?

I have to admit that I really hate the New Years holiday and have ever since I was a little kid. I usually spend the day moping and complaining and being a general pain. I know that hating New Years is kind of like hating Arbor Day in that only a fool would really care. Well, if you ever find yourself in need of a fool, I’m your guy.

I’ll go back to moping now.

Bigotry becomes no more appealing when a vocal proponent on its behalf is resting in a casket.

-James Capozzola, on Reggie White.

I’ve always been curious about the tendency to quickly forget or dismiss all that is negative about a person as soon as that person’s life is over. The phenomenon is certainly not limited to the public square, as we’ve surely all had the experience of listening to warm, glowing eulogies of rather unpleasant people whose actions in life left much to be desired. I’m not saying that we should be indiscriminant in airing our grievances, or cause further pain to those who are suffering over the loss of a loved one. We should, however, look at a person’s life and actions realistically and honestly and not be indiscriminant in our lionization.

That brings us to Reggie White. White surely was a great defensive end, likely the best of all time, and he did some fine work in the community, but that doesn’t make his views or his advocacy of bigotry and discrimination any less rotten — even now that he’s dead. The media tributes to White have been so one dimensional as to be silly. Nearly all have neglected to mention the speech which is partially quoted by James and is quite vile. It’s worth a read.

[Update] The Aggressive Progressive has a very different take on this. I hope I didn’t come off as vile as the person he quotes does, but if I did, that certainly wasn’t my intention.

This Washington Post article, on the dangers of teenagers driving sport utility vehicles, focuses almost exclusively on the rollover issue, but I think there is a much bigger problem on the horizon.

With the proliferation of Sport Utility Vehicles over the last decade, there are a huge number of used SUVs, which are about to be turned over to suburban teenagers for use as their very first car. As we all know, teenage drivers, especially males, are more aggressive and more reckless than older drivers. The combination of heavy trucks with big engines and equiped with high bumpers that impact at the windshield level of passenger cars with teenaged boys whose veins course with testosterone should disturb everybody.

I don’t drive much anymore, probably a good thing since I’m an awful driver and I don’t have a driver’s license, but I recall being 17 and driving around like an angry speed freak and having more than my fair share of minor accidents. Taking into account public welfare, I probably shouldn’t have been driving at all and the results may well have been deadly had I not been driving a small, slow Chevy. Obviously, not all 17-year-old boys are as reckless as I was, but I’d bet that a sizable minority is. I foresee many weepy 20/20 segments on this issue in the coming years.

How am I supposed to make overly obvious observations about current events if I’m not smoking? I hate quitting. I really, really do. I quit about six times a year, using every ill advised strategy conceivable, and I’ve gotten pretty damn good at it. It’s just that I wouldn’t expect much from me until I start smoking again. Should be soon. Real soon.

Sorry for the lame personal post, I’m having a hard time getting back into the swing of things.

Make that a few more than a few days. I should be back to normal by Tuesday or Thursday or the day that comes between the two.

First of all, what sort of fool doesn’t know he has the day off and spends five hours at work before he realizes he shouldn’t even be there? In case you didn’t guess, the fool in question is me. Feel free to snicker. Secondly, I’m going to be busy with Christmas stuff with my wife, assorted family members and in-laws for the next day or two so I won’t be posting much. I hope all goes well for you and please remember to check your schedule as you may well have a day off.

According to this Washington Post \ ABC News poll, 74% of those polled believe that the Social Security program is in crisis or has major problems. Given that level of concern, it will clearly be difficulty to convince a sizable portion of the population that there is, in fact, no crisis. As has been pointed out in numerous places recently, most of us have been told for so long that insolvency is looming that even a clear recitation of the facts is greeted with skepticism. For that reason I’m doubtful that simply proclaiming that there is no Social Security crisis and pressuring wavering Democrats will stave off the President’s attempt destroy the program.

I think that in order to be successful we do need to acknowledge a crisis in the Social Security program and start hammering away at it, just not the crisis Mr. Bush has in mind. The average monthly Social Security payout at $922 is woefully inadequate. That’s the crisis. I think that figure needs to be doubled, at the very least, in order to afford retirees even a modest standard of living in most of our large metropolitan areas.

The obvious question is how we would pay for this. I think the answer is simple, although it would be highly unpopular in some quarters. Repeal the Social Security tax cap, which currently stands at $87,000, and make all income taxable. Additionally, increasing the 12.4% Social Security payroll tax to a more significant percentage for earned income over $250,000 would provide a nice cushion. This would obviously constitute a significant change in the very nature of the Social Security program, but would represent social progress in lifting many of America’s elderly out of poverty or near poverty.

Would something like that ever get passed into law? Of course not. Is it even a good idea? I’m not convinced. The point is this; the problem with the current strategy (if there is one) is that it involves overcoming serious misconceptions in order to defend the status quo. This administration has proven itself adept at kicking the ball forwards, or backwards as the case may be, and letting others run and catch it. They are doing it again and, in this case, the public is already primed to hear solutions to a perceived crisis. If Social Security is to be saved a mere defense of the status quo will not be enough. I believe the ball needs to be kicked in another, more progressive direction.

People like ideas, even bad ones.

But not today:

“Robert Novak’s arrogance — its origin and staying power combine to create a legend that common folk can’t begin to comprehend.”

- ESPN’s Tim Keown