There’s a lot more to say about Ron Paul between now and the January 3rd Iowa caucuses, but it’s too funny that Newt Gingrich finds Paul objectionable to ‘virtually every decent American.’ Gingrich – a man of plentiful hyperbole – held back with virtuallyevery decent American? Who’s beyond virtuallyevery – Paul’s family?
Gingrich has been at the top of national polls only for about two weeks or so, and if you’re wondering why his reign will be brief, hysterical statements like this are why:
Newt Gingrich has finally found a politician he considers even worse than the president he calls socialist, anti-colonialist and radical. That would be his fellow Republican Ron Paul.
“I think Barack Obama is very destructive to the future of the United States. I think Ron Paul’s views are totally outside the mainstream of virtually every decent American,” Gingrich said Tuesday in a CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer.
There’s an even-handed story at the Janesville Gazette about Wisconsin’s non-partisan local elections. Some of those interviewed are sure that partisanship is a bad thing, and that it gets in the way of serving citizens, etc. I understand this view, and however well-intentioned, it’s one with which I strongly disagree. (The story presents diverse points of view, and something of our history.)
There’s a distinction, of course, between political partisanship and ideological commitment. One may not be a partisan of the Republican or Democratic parities and yet be ideologically-oriented (right, center, left, libertarian).
Unfortunately, non-partisan elections have the consequence of discouraging ideological and philosophical professions in favor of empty, platitudinous declarations about doing the right thing, etc. It’s false, though, to say that the zealously non-partisan or non-ideological have no commitments — in all too many cases they replace ideology and principle with the self-interest of being re-elected again and again.
They have a party, a philosophy, and a faith in their own incumbency.
This is far worse than being a political partisan. We have seemingly cast out ideology, but we have established a veiled selfishness. That’s why so many conservatives come to office, only to become big-government Republicans. It’s why so many liberals set aside a defense of civil liberties for fear of aliening majority opinion. Principle gives way to re-election.
More than once I’ve heard the declaration that a candidate would like to run for office so that he or she could be an ‘adult in the room.’ What else would one be? I’d rather know what kind of adult, with what opinions and views. Politics should be more than a sometime exercise of self-affirmation through government office.
We’d do better with more, and clearly-defined, professions of ideology in our politics.
I wrote last week about a video from CNN, in which Gloria Borger asks Ron Paul about his old newsletters.
A Paul supporter wrote in, with a link to raw video of the interview, contending that the full video shows Paul didn’t walk away from the interview. (I’ve embedded the raw clip at the end of this post.) The correspondent suggests that I admit that, in fact, Paul didn’t walk away.
I originally remarked of the CNN clip that
If so [that Paul’s newsletters are no issue], why walk away from an interviewer? It’s a bad move: one should never walk out. If anything, one should insist on staying longer, and talking about more things, to compensate for talking about what one contends is a bogus issue.
This was a rookie mistake, from a man whose age and experience leave him anything but a rookie.
While the post’s headline was too much (Paul didn’t ‘storm out’ as Mike Riggs and I wrote), he most certainly did walk away – in both videos he takes off his microphone and walks away. If the Paul supporter’s contention is that Paul didn’t storm out, then he’s right. If the contention is that Paul didn’t walk away, because he walked back, he’s wrong. One can walk away and then walk back, as Paul plainly does.
I was clear and right about staying longer, too: it would be better to cancel the next event than flub the CNN interview. Borger, by the way, isn’t rude, she’s just persistent. If anything, in CNN’s finished video and in the raw footage, she’s solicititous of Paul. (Far more so, really, than other interviewers would have been. Paul’s been around a long time; he surely knew that Borger’s questioning was persistent but relatively mild.)
Finally, thanks to the Paul supporter for pointing me to the raw video of the interview. The video was linked through Drudge, a site that the supporter assures me is from an ‘a lister.’ There’s a bit of irony in this, for while Drudge is an alister, he’s one in the corner of MittRomney. (See, a June 2011 story that’s still true: Mitt Romney leads the Drudge primary.)
When Matt Drudge bolsters Paul in a multi-candidate field, it promotes the idea that the race is between the well-funded Romney and Ron Paul. Romney supporters are sure they’ll win that contest in the end. I’d guess they’re right, and that the GOP will go for Romney, but in any event Drudge is not boosting Paul for the sake of Paul.
So we’re clear, I don’t think Paul’s a racist because of the newsletters; I do think he’s handled the issue very poorly. Of the newsletters themselves, and also of Paul’s anti-market views on immigration, I’ve been critical before.
Whitewater will look forward today to a mostly cloudy day with a high temperature of thirty-six, and a slight chance of rain or snow. In Portland, it’s a rainy day with a high of forty-six.
On this day in 1979, “Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal.”
The trailer for The Hobbit is out, and from this brief clip, the film looks intriguing —
— one of the many things to look for in the new year. more >>
It’s a day in the low forties in store for Whitewater, but a day of snow showers and a high of thirty-five for Bangor.
The Cassini spacecraft snapped a photo of Saturn’s moons Titan and Dione in front of Saturn’s rings, and it’s a lovely and (by definition) other-worldly photo:
Google’s question for today comes from Tom Arnold (the actor and comedian): “What American pastime incorporates the use of a prolate spheroid with pointed ends?” It’s not a hard question, but it’s a hard fact for a baseball fan. Baseball was once America’s pastime, but Arnold’s certainly not asking about baseball.
I’m sure to have questions about why I’m reading Sacha Scoblic‘s Unwasted: My Lush Sobriety. The answer is that I saw an essay Scoblic wrote around the time of Amy Winehouse’s death, on sobriety and the false notion that art somehow justifies (or requires) addiction. (See, Amy Winehouse: The Insidious Response to Her Addiction and Death.) She wrote well and persuasively. I made note of her book, and now I’m reading it.
I offer no claim to a special understanding of alcoholics, recovering alcoholics, or afflicted artists. Yet, having met people who are those things, one sees the great gap between policies that address substances, and other policies that treat addicts.
We talk less about alcoholics than we do about alcohol, yet it must be addiction that matters. I’m curious to see what Scoblic has to say, of her experiences, both drunk and sober.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
According to viewer reactions measured by TV ad analysis firm Ace Metrix and released on Friday, Apple’s commercial collected enough points to be named the most effective ad during the crucial holiday season, beating out advertising veterans like Coca-Cola, Pillsbury and Nintendo, reports GigaOM.
I use an Android tablet, a Mac, and an iPhone (after having recently switched from an Android phone). I like my tablet well enough (it’s an Acer Iconia), but I’m not sure whether to switch to an iPad or wait for a promised Android 4.0 upgrade on the Acer.
In any event, lots of choices listed in the review, linked below.
Here’s a poll and comment forum topic for the weekend of Christmas: What’s your favorite holiday film?
I’ve a poll with a few choices, and a comment form below. Some of the poll choices come from a list of top Christmas films at Collider.com.
I’ll put in my pitch for Elf: it’s a light and funny film, and offers proof that, like Buddy the Elf, one really can make a song out of anything. More about the film is online at Wikipedia.
the experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completed the first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refueling as it landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Google’s daily puzzle is a straight-forward one, and one that also points out how many and diverse are the uses of plants: “Strong, durable, and deciduous, with samara fruits that spin as they fall. What is the name of this tree that has many uses — it can be made into bats, violins and beautiful veneers?”
