Category Archives: politics

Paul and Kucinich

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If neither Dennis Kucinich nor Ron Paul is your first choice in this year’s civic decision that you should be making, I suggest that one of them should be.

There is no doubt that democracy has been diminished for their exclusion from multiple debates. The reasoned arguments from the edges are what sometimes steers a ship of state in the right direction.

BillMoyers.jpgIf you won’t support either of them, you owe your country at least to listen to them. You don’t have to agree with them. Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are voices we need.

And maybe when you listen, you’ll remember how media is supposed to work. An airing of ideas, not a lashing of tongues. It’s hard not to interpret the exclusion of candidates by large corporate “sponsors” of debates to be anything but silencing of voices of dissent.

This country was built on dissent.

I’ve put Bill Moyer’s Journal in my RSS aggregator, and the audio podcast in my iTunes. If you still prefer the cathode ray, they do allow him on the air waves, but only on a station funded by the public.

There are several other ways to expose yourself to real discourse,… if you choose civic responsibility.

Political Appointees Eviscerate Science

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This is actually more of a free speech case. It’s disappointing on both levels.

I just found out that Ms. Chris Comer was forced to resign as the director of the Texas Education Agency. (I wished she would have forced a firing – but everyone much choose their own battles.) She was forced to step down for forwarding an email about a lecture.

Her interview on NPR’s Science Friday was horrifying to listen to. I had to respond to the chron’s Science Guy, who reads as defending the state’s stance, with the following:

Eric,
You’re going to invoke Richard Smalley, born in 1943 in Ohio, raised in Missouri, schooled at Hope College, University of Michigan, and Princeton – as proof that today’s state of public science education is healthy?

The mere fact that Ms. Comer was ejected from the Texas Education Agency under such ridiculous circumstances is case enough to state that there is a HUGE problem!

It’s also sad, that the link you had to provide was from the Austin American-Statesman, and a google searching of chron.com provides me a dead link.

Did the editorial board address this issue? Though it’s of minimal effect, it’s something they should have done!

I expect heads to roll over this. I will be sorely disappointed.

Select a Candidate

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A few days ago I was listening to a podcast while biking through Memorial Park all the way to the West Loop and in an extended PBS interview with Mike Gravel I was struck by how much I liked him (and of course how he had no chance in hell of being taken seriously, much less elected).

So, I was not surprised when he ended up at the top of the list after a short quiz on political views. There was also a perfect stratification of Dems at the Top and Reps at the bottom, with Ron Paul being the highest (R). It would have been interesting to have some 3rd party candidates in there, but with over a year until the election they’re not stupid enough to have any candidates yet (much less 10).
Mike Gravel
Score: 49		 Agree
Iraq
Immigration
Taxes
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Social Security
Marriage
Death Penalty		 Disagree
Line-Item Veto
Energy
Chris Dodd
Score: 49		 Agree
Immigration
Taxes
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Social Security
Line-Item Veto
Marriage
Death Penalty		 Disagree
Iraq
Energy
Dennis Kucinich
Score: 49		 Agree
Iraq
Taxes
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Social Security
Line-Item Veto
Marriage
Death Penalty		 Disagree
Immigration
Energy

— Take the Quiz! —

Here’s the entire list:
Mike Gravel – 49
Chris Dodd – 49
Dennis Kucinich – 49
Barack Obama – 42
Hillary Clinton – 42
Bill Richardson – 39
John Edwards – 36
Joe Biden – 32
Ron Paul – 28
Rudy Giuliani – 20
John McCain – 11
Mitt Romney – 10
Sam Brownback – 7
Jim Gilmore – 5

Bye Rove

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Bush RoveFrom the chron, David Corn:

But leaving is too good for Rove. He was Bush’s partner in the Iraq war, yet he [is] abandoning ship before the fight is done. Rove has argued that the Iraq war is essential for the survival of the United States. So how can he walk away with the war not won?

It is a mixed emotion to see Rove leave the White House. I certainly would have preferred it to happen years ago, and perhaps hanging from the gallows (or perhaps his own office ceiling, like a Chinese business man).

Just because he’s gone, doesn’t mean we can’t indict him for something.