The Screaming Centrist

Kudos to John McCain

2006-10-31T17:24:00.000-07:00

I admit, I've been criticizing Senator McCain kind of harshly recently due to my disillusionment with his indiscriminate support of the right-wing, social conservative extremism he used to speak against. At the same time, I'm figuring he's doing what he's gotta do to win the '08 primary. It sucks that our political system works that way.

Getting back to the kudos: My girlfriend and I flew to Munich for a two-week vacation around central Europe a couple of weeks ago. Who should we see on the Phoenix to D.C. leg of our trip but the aforementioned senator himself. I was surprised not to see him in first class when I first boarded the flight and thought he must be getting on later. I was even more surprised later in the flight when I got up to use the lavatory and saw him sitting about 10 rows behind us--in coach. Awesome.

By the way, he sleeps on planes much better than I do. Sitting in coach, if I don't move around every minute and a half or so, my left leg starts to hurt like hell.

Side note: Now that I'm no longer planning/going on my European vacation, I should be posting more frequently. Though I realize I'm still a slacker when it comes to blogging.

Letter to the Editor (Technically) Published

2006-09-09T23:05:00.000-07:00

This appeared in the Chandler Republic print edition Friday. Picky as I am, I'm somewhat irritated in that I apparently used the Southeast Valley submittal form instead of the general submittal form. Until I heard that it was going to be publish in the Chandler Republic, I didn't realize there were different submittal forms. I'm irritated, not because I think the community papers are "beneath" the paper as a whole--not in the least bit--but because the topic I wrote about is relevant state-wide, not just locally.

The letter didn't appear online, just in hard copy form.

War on Terror Doublespeak

2006-09-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

The Cato Institute analyzes some of the terms frequently tossed about in discussing the War on Terror. Particularly infuriating is the allocation of some of the homeland security funds. Among other things, it explains why, tragically, I've grown sick of hearing the word "freedom" all the time.

As author James Bovard has observed: "For Bush, freedom seems to be whatever extends his own political power. Whatever razes any barriers to executive power--that is 'freedom'"

Bush Learns a New Word

2006-09-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

Caliphate.

Bush quoted extensively from bin Laden's videotaped messages and writings, comparing him to 20th century dictators like Russia's Vladimir Lenin and Germany's Adolf Hitler.

Yes, bin Laden is evil. We knew that. So why the hell have we let him get away with the murder of thousands of innocent people these past five years?!

Bin Laden has declared Iraq "the capital of the caliphate," said Bush, who has often faced criticism for trying to tie Iraq into the broader "war on terrorism."

Well I'm sure bin Laden is damn pleased with the fact that we've diverted our resources from bringing his head home on a platter to a wasteful, unnecessary undertaking having nothing to do with 9/11. This administration's "War on Terror" is nothing short of pathetic.

Posting at Watchblog

2006-08-31T17:23:00.000-07:00

I've recently been given permission to post at Watchblog in the middle column. I'll be posting there at least a couple of times per month since I'll losing my posting privileges otherwise. Check out my first post, entitled Educated Voter Lottery?

Primaries: My Letter to the Editor

2006-08-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

With September 12 fast approaching, Independents need to be aware that they too can make their voices heard in the primary. When you obtain your primary ballot, either by mail or at the polls, simply specify which party's ballot you would like. The only restriction is that you are limited to a single party--Republican, Democrat, or Libertarian.

It is also important that moderates research the candidates and participate in the primaries, if we are to temper the extremism that has characterized political discourse over the past few years. The primaries have frequently played a larger role in determining our office holders than the November elections have, and thus demand the full participation of eligible voters.

We'll see if it gets published and, if so, if it does any good.

More on the Marijuana Party

2006-08-04T21:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, I posted about the Marijuana, and heard from Marijuana Party candidate Cris Ericson herself! From her first comment:

Hi! I'm Cris Ericson, and I am going to Make Marijuana Legal.
At the moment, I'm on the Republican Party ballot in the State of Vermont as a United States Senate candidate:
http://www.vtgop.org/Candidates/
and I will be on the September 12, 2006 Primary Election ballot.

So, now you will have it, coming from a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, that marijuana should be legalized.
If I lose the Republican primary,
then I will be going on the General Election ballot on November 7, 2006 as the Marijuana party candidate. Only major party candidates compete in the primary election, and if a candidate loses the primary, they can go on to the general election for a minor party.
Okeedokee? You bet!
http://crisericson.com

Now I personally do not chase the Dorito, however I fully support the legalization of marijuana (as do several of my registered Republican friends, apparently). However, the Marijuana Party strikes me as being a little too single-issue for my taste. Either way, best of luck to you, Ms. Ericson. If I lived in Vermont, I'd definitely be studying the rest of your platform.

Election Fasting and Praying

2006-08-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

The Center for Arizona Policy, which Len Munsil resigned as president from to run for AZ Governor, has begun 40 days of prayer and fasting for the Arizona elections.

This freaks me out. Even when I was at my most devout, this would have freaked me out.

Marijuana Party

2006-07-29T00:46:00.000-07:00

I was checking out potential 2008 presidential candidates at Politics1 when I noticed a candidate from the Marijuana Party (Cris Ericson-Marijuana, Vermont). I had never heard of such a party, so I did a little research. Turns out, it's for real! How 'bout that.

Metapost: Slack Blogger

2006-06-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm gaining some readers, I admit that I've slacked off a bit on my posting. I apologize and will try to do a better job of updating this--at least a couple of times per week.

I have a pretty good excuse though, I think. You see, I'm planning to visit Europe for a couple of weeks in October. So, lately when I'm on the computer, rather than update the blog, I've been Googling places I'd like to see. I'm getting it figured out though, so I imagine I'll be picking the pace up here soon.

Flag Amendment

2006-06-29T22:39:00.000-07:00

I love the flag. I love the country for which it stands. I also love the Constitution, and don't want to contaminate it with the excrement of political pandering.

Within the United States, I've never seen nor heard of a flag being burned. That may have to do with the fact that I was born in the Midwest and grew up in Georgia, but it's still a non-issue. That doesn't mean I haven't seen the U.S. flag being defaced; I most certainly have. I've seen flags hanging in tatters from lofty poles after being left up day and night through rain and dust storms. I've seen a United States flag hanging from a makeshift pole mounted in the bed of a pickup truck, ripped apart by the wind until only about a third of it remained. I've seen the flag being written upon by someone who should know better. Why isn't the government going after these people? Who knows.

I get offended when I see the flag being defaced, whether it be deliberate or a thoughtless display of so-called "patriotism." But I'm also offended by the thought of defacing our Consitution with an unnecessary revocation of our first amendment.

Terrorist Having Nothing to do with 9/11 Killed

2006-06-19T22:47:00.000-07:00

Now don't get me wrong. Zarqawi was a scumbag of the highest order, responsible for numerous deaths, and he most certainly needed killing. I'm glad he's dead and I'm glad our troops were able to uncover so much intelligence in the bombed ruins of his "safe" house.

Even so, I can't tell you how much I wish one candidate, Democrat, Republican, or otherwise, would stand up before the American people, and assert the following:

That we have egregiously misallocated our resources and misfocused our priorities in the War on Terror, by diverting our military to a region having nothing to do with 9/11 before capturing the man who was truly responsible.
That by doing so, we have sent a message to terrorists, that if you execute such a devastating assault, you can get away with it for almost five years and counting.
That this is completely unacceptable and that his or her first priority would be to refocus our military on what it should have been doing--leaving no stone untouched until Osama bin Laden and his remaining deputies (Does he have any left? I keep losing track.) are killed or brought to the US to face the consequences of their crimes.

Not anywhere did I say or imply "cut and run" or even "bring the troops home." I'm fed up with wasting our time and people on the Iraqi boondoggle, and I'm fed up with the fact that after five years, the man responsible for the worst attack on US civilians, on US soil, is still at large.

Arizona Republic Conservative Columnist Heaps Criticism Upon Bush and Blair

2006-06-03T00:35:00.000-07:00

Robert Robb, conservative columnist for the Arizona Republic, today delivered an outstanding commentary heaping criticism on Bush and Blair for their handling of the war on terror, namely, their misinterpretations of history to further their own misguided agendas. He states:

Afghanistan would have served as a highly effective deterrent against state support for Islamic terrorism if the threat of similar action in the future hadn't been largely dissipated by the Iraq war.

This is exactly what has troubled me ever since early 2003 (or was it late 2002?) when Bush started rattling his saber at Iraq. However Robb is much more articulate about it than I would've been, which is why he's a columnist and I'm just a blogger.

He goes on:

Islamic terrorism is primarily rooted in the Arab Middle East. Since the end of World War II, the West has sought to manage affairs in the Arab Middle East. And the most important lesson of history is that we regularly have botched it.

There are aspirations to modernity in the Arab Middle East that are incompatible with militant Islam. Rather than trying to manage affairs in the Arab Middle East, the West would be better off allowing the peoples of that region to sort out their future for themselves, in their own way, and on their own timetable. (my bold)

Although I don't always agree with what he has to say, I'm frequently surprised by what we do agree on. I think this is because Robb is a true conservative, rather than a Kool-Aid imbibing sycophant.

Bill O'Reilly Slanders the Greatest Generation

2006-06-03T00:02:00.000-07:00

Keith Olbermann recently called Bill O'Reilly out for falsely stating--twice--that American soldiers murdered German prisoners at Malmedy. In fact, it was the Nazis who murdered captured Americans at Malmedy. On both occasions, the analogy came up while O'Reilly was arguing with Wesley Clark about alleged American war crimes in Iraq. Essentially O'Reilly has twisted a tragic historical event into a complete fabrication in order to support his own specious argument.

Whether you like Olbermann or not, how can you not agree that Bill O'Reilly is a despicable, traitorous bottom feeder after seeing that clip? If Fox News had a tenth of the integrity a news organization should exhibit, O'Reilly would be out on his ear. And therein lies the problem.

(Hat tip: AZPlace.)

Political Independence: Cyber Style

2006-05-30T23:58:00.000-07:00

Some Republicans, Democrats and Independents have joined together online in an effort to provide a third option and promote online balloting in 2008. The project: Unity08. The Washington Post has a good article about it. Looks like something I could get behind. Tell your friends.

Ben Stein on Enron

2006-05-30T22:55:00.000-07:00

::Enthusiatic applause::

Now, it would be nice if the Lay and Skilling convictions marked the end of this kind of fraud. The terrible part is that it's still going on in a huge way. Lately, investigative reporters at "The Wall Street Journal," aided by university professors, are discovering that top executives at some of the biggest companies in the nation are looting their companies in an almost unbelievably brazen way.

Regardless of your party affiliation, I think you'll find the entire article to be outstanding.

The whole executive-compensation culture has become insane, with corporate executives draining the lifeblood of the nation while worker salaries stagnate, and employees lose their jobs and their pensions (just talk to the people at United Airlines or Delphi).

Easy there, Ben. You almost sound like a liberal. ;-)

Competitive Enterprise Institute "Confuse(s) and Mislead(s)" the Public about Global Warming

2006-05-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is pretty despicable. From Factcheck.org:

The business-backed Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released two ads last week to "counter global warming alarmism."

One of the ads says research shows "The Antarctic ice sheet is getting thicker, not thinner. . . Why are they trying to scare us?" Actually, scientists say increased snowfall in Antarctica's interior [due to increased moisture in a previously arid region] is evidence that global warming is taking place. Scientists also say that the ice sheet is melting at the ocean's edge and a recent report says it is shrinking overall.

The ads drew a protest from a University of Missouri professor who says they are "a deliberate effort to confuse and mislead the public about the global warming debate." He said one of them misuses a study he published in Science magazine last year on the Antarctic ice sheet. An editor of Science also said the ads misrepresent the findings of that study as well as a second study on Greenland's glaciers.

The second CEI ad notes that carbon dioxide (CO2) is "essential to life," and says, "they call it pollution. We call it life." That ad fails to mention that too much CO2 can cause global temperatures to rise or that there is more of it in the atmosphere than any time during the last 420,000 years.

CEI, which gets just over 9 per cent of its budget from Exxon Mobil Corporation, said it was only trying to make sure the public hears "both sides of the story."

Energy Independence

2006-05-27T01:34:00.000-07:00

The Cato Institute has an interesting article on energy independence. I'd say they're right when they say that oil is currently the cheapest source of automotive fuel (emphasis on "currently"). I also agree with the problems they note regarding other potential fuels.

However, they neglect to mention biodiesel, specifically biodiesel created from oil-producing algae. The claims in that article are pretty astounding. I truly hope this approach pans out. It looks very promising.

I'm environmentally conscious, but I'm certainly not Greenpeace material. Still, if we're going to find alternative to petrofuel, it's going to have to be economically viable, not just environmentally friendly. Economics are a large part of the problem when it comes to oil and coal retrieval: exploration, equipment, manpower, safety issues, etc. together serve to make these options less than desirable, especially as oil and coal stores become more difficult to access. Imagine, though, a high output, renewable source that requires little upkeep and can be simply skimmed off the surface. That would be fantastic and a direction I hope this oil producing algae is able to take us.

Incidentally, Arizona Senators and Congressmen, I noticed in the article that this type of algae grows well in desert climates. Perhaps you could, you know, propose a little tax break for those of us who are willing to grow this stuff on our land for experimental purposes? Just an idea.

Napolitano Scrutinzed by Clean Elections

2006-05-27T00:05:00.000-07:00

Shortly after she announced her run for gubernatorial reelection, Governor Napolitano's campaign web site was up, apparently before public funds were available to cover it. Naturally, the Arizona Republicans have worked themselves into a tizzy over this matter. Now, I don't think the Governor is above the law, but in my mind this incident is about 1/100th as scandalous as Bill Clinton's involvement with Lewinsky's oval orifice.

If the Republicans want me to vote against the governor in November, they're going to have to use a different tactic, such as running someone who's worth a damn.

Recent Article on Engineering Shortage Propaganda

2006-05-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

For many years, corporations, universities, and the National Science Foundation have been up in arms about severe shortage of qualified engineers and scientists. Bull pucky. Several articles effectively denouncing this claim have come out over the past few years. Here's the latest one I've found.

Do these bogus claims of a scarcity of skilled technical workers constitute a campaign to avoid having to pay market price for white-collar labor? Yes, but there's more to it than that. Corporations legitimately can anticipate a shortage of such workers in the future, because their own actions are setting the stage for one....most significantly, they have done away with job security -- a critical blunder because product-development cycles are often longer than economic cycles.

This link contains the Wall Street Journal article Mr. Moylan referred to. Here is the Washington Post article.

While I'm at it, a recent study conducted at Duke University has concluded that the number of engineers graduating in China and India relative to the U.S. is grossly inflated.

Bottom line, there is no shortage of engineers and scientists. Just look at the economic indicators. I make a comfortable salary, but the law of supply and demand dicates that I'd be making a hell of a lot more if the so called "engineering shortage" were actually true. What many corporations are bemoaning is a lack of cheap engineers--engineers willing to work for fast food wages.

Rimsza Job

2006-05-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

Espresso Pundit, who is much more conservative than I am, and yet, probably the only blogger linked from Arizona Congress Watch who's more conservative than I am, has a hilarious analysis of Skip Rimsza's campaign sign.

I saw another of his campaign signs on the way home from work today. It still has the ugly yellow lettering on purple background, but to Mr. Rimsza'a credit, the picture is much more flattering. He's wearing denim and a plaid shirt, standing in the desert looking rugged, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

NSA Phone Records Purchase

2006-05-14T23:52:00.000-07:00

Even though I haven't managed to work myself into a frothy rage over it, what can I say? It's a clear violation of the Fourth Ammendment. That is, illegal, pure and simple.

Know what else it is? A goddamn waste of time, money, and effort. So, millions of phone records are going to help us pinpoint the terrorists how? Oh yeah, computers. That should work perfectly. I'm sure we'll zero in on all the terrorist cells in the US with no false positives. Are we actually improving upon our shortfalls from the 9/11 Committee report card, or are we just going to keep going with this phone list wank-fest?

Colbert Roast

2006-05-14T23:42:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've seen the video of Stephen Colbert's scathingly ironic roast of George W. at the White House Correspondents' ~~circle jerk~~ Dinner. Speaking from a centrist libertarian-leaning point of view, I thought it was pretty funny--and bitingly accurate too. To anyone who was actually shocked--SHOCKED--by Colbert's speech, he was putting on the same act he puts on every night on his show. I wasn't the least bit surprised by his presentation.

I saw the GW impersonation thing too. Hokey, cheesy, vomit-inducing lameness. Even if I liked Bush, I think I'd still prefer Colbert's routine. My sense of humor is more edgy that way.

And yeah, I'm blogging about an event that's two weeks old. I only get, like, about two hits per day--what do you expect?

Protect Marriage Amendment Signatures Falling Short

2006-04-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

Boo hoo hoo, the Pharisees over at the Center for Arizona Policy are bemoaning the lack of signatures they need to put the Protect Marriage Amendment on November's ballot. They whine, "Some churches have refused or appear to be reluctant to hold petition drives."

Some churches are refusing to "protect" marriage from TEH GAY? The horror! Which churches would these be?

Incidentally, besides denying marriage to gay couples, it would also deny civil benefits to unmarried domestic couples period, homosexual or heterosexual.

McCain Sucks Up to the Religious Right

2006-03-28T23:12:00.000-07:00

Senator McCain is playing nice-nice with Jerry Falwell by speaking at Falwell's Liberty University graduation ceremony this spring. Unfortunately you have to whore yourself out to the Religious Right in order to win the Republican presidential nomination anymore, which is why I'm not a Republican...anymore.

By the way, did you know that Jerry Falwell started off his career by preaching against desegregation (source: Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism by Bishop John Shelby Spong)? He toned down that message when it became unpopular. Now he directs his ire at homosexually. He's still a bigot. However in order to maintain his popularity, he only overtly supports the bigotry du jour. Some Christian.