Op-Ed
AUSTIN, Texas -- In Texas, where the border is a constant presence in our lives, no one is mistaking President Bush's immigration proposal for a brilliant new departure in immigration policy, or even for a ploy to get Hispanic political support. What we have here is the old bracero program, a guest worker program, and it primarily benefits one group and one group only -- big business. And that would be OK, if other parts of the program totaled up to a net improvement in the current situation. That's what we need to look at and weigh.
Ralph Nader plans to announce this month whether he'll be running for
president in 2004. Some believe that such a campaign is needed to make a
strong political statement nationwide. But if Nader does run this year,
what kind of support -- in the form of volunteers, resources and votes --
could he reasonably expect?
Results of a nationwide survey, released in late December, provide a stark look at the current inclinations of people who've been part of his electoral base. After receiving about 11,000 responses from readers on a core e-mail list, the progressive online magazine AlterNet reported back: "While 27 percent of you voted for Nader in 2000, only 11 percent say you would vote for him in 2004."
This year, Nader would be lucky to receive 1 million votes -- a far cry from his 2000 total of 2.8 million.
Results of a nationwide survey, released in late December, provide a stark look at the current inclinations of people who've been part of his electoral base. After receiving about 11,000 responses from readers on a core e-mail list, the progressive online magazine AlterNet reported back: "While 27 percent of you voted for Nader in 2000, only 11 percent say you would vote for him in 2004."
This year, Nader would be lucky to receive 1 million votes -- a far cry from his 2000 total of 2.8 million.
AUSTIN, Texas -- Mr. Bumble observed that the law is an ass, and he'd never even seen the congressional
redistricting plan drawn by Texas Republicans. Sigh. I just hate when Tom DeLay and Karl Rove get away with a dirty deal
like this. The University of Texas is now represented by Lamar Smith of San Antonio, I'm in a district that runs to the
Mexican border, and two blocks north of me, they're in with Houston. Help!
As one who relishes our state's incontrovertibly bizarre political mores, I must confess I love the sheer awfulness of this map. It is, in its own way, totally awesome and worthy of the truly noble tradition of lunacy for which Texas is so noted.
Speaking of said tradition, I have failed to give sufficient recognition to our only governor, Goodhair Perry, who is adding to the old je ne sais quoi in truly impressive quantities. Goodhair gave such an amazing performance at his end-of-the-year press conference that I was forced to call a perfectly reliable reporter for the Dallas Morning News and ask if it was a joke.
As one who relishes our state's incontrovertibly bizarre political mores, I must confess I love the sheer awfulness of this map. It is, in its own way, totally awesome and worthy of the truly noble tradition of lunacy for which Texas is so noted.
Speaking of said tradition, I have failed to give sufficient recognition to our only governor, Goodhair Perry, who is adding to the old je ne sais quoi in truly impressive quantities. Goodhair gave such an amazing performance at his end-of-the-year press conference that I was forced to call a perfectly reliable reporter for the Dallas Morning News and ask if it was a joke.
Freep Hero -- Bill Moss, Watchdog for the Children
Let’s see, it took the collusion of the Democratic and Republican parties -- both who refused to fill out a full slate of four Columbus School Board candidates and instead picked two each to create their notorious “Gang of Four” -- along with the Chamber of Commerce, the Dispatch, the Democratic Mayor Michael Coleman and $357,000 to defeat Bill Moss in the last election. Despite the fact that many white liberals who distrust everything that the Dispatch says tend to believe the paper when it comes to Moss, he remained the only School Board member unbought, unbossed and unbowed by Columbus’ power elite. Moss’ courageous last electoral battle against the pay-to-play forces of corruption will be remembered, while the unprincipled policies of Mayor Coleman will have passed into history.
Free Press Salutes -- Tom Siemer, Protester for Peace
Let’s see, it took the collusion of the Democratic and Republican parties -- both who refused to fill out a full slate of four Columbus School Board candidates and instead picked two each to create their notorious “Gang of Four” -- along with the Chamber of Commerce, the Dispatch, the Democratic Mayor Michael Coleman and $357,000 to defeat Bill Moss in the last election. Despite the fact that many white liberals who distrust everything that the Dispatch says tend to believe the paper when it comes to Moss, he remained the only School Board member unbought, unbossed and unbowed by Columbus’ power elite. Moss’ courageous last electoral battle against the pay-to-play forces of corruption will be remembered, while the unprincipled policies of Mayor Coleman will have passed into history.
Free Press Salutes -- Tom Siemer, Protester for Peace
AUSTIN, Texas -- Good grief, the tree's not down yet, the bills aren't due and the diet doesn't start until the bowl games are over, so what's with the unseemly haste? Not even time to take a deep breath here in 2004, and already we're like the white rabbit -- behind, breathless and late.
Not that I suspect this administration of managing the news -- horrors, no -- but a number of unusual objects were dropped into the holiday punch bowl whilst the rest of us were still caroling and wassailing, including quite a few bad nooz items for the Bush team.
One interesting piece of information that got completely lost earlier in the capture of Saddam Hussein was the resignation of David Cay, the guy in charge of the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The search for WMD in Iraq has effectively ended. (Liz Carpenter said, "I must have seen 20,000 shots of them looking through Saddam's hair and into his mouth -- they're not gonna find the WMD in there.")
Not that I suspect this administration of managing the news -- horrors, no -- but a number of unusual objects were dropped into the holiday punch bowl whilst the rest of us were still caroling and wassailing, including quite a few bad nooz items for the Bush team.
One interesting piece of information that got completely lost earlier in the capture of Saddam Hussein was the resignation of David Cay, the guy in charge of the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The search for WMD in Iraq has effectively ended. (Liz Carpenter said, "I must have seen 20,000 shots of them looking through Saddam's hair and into his mouth -- they're not gonna find the WMD in there.")
We can argue about George Will’s political views. But there’s no need
to debate his professional ethics.
Late December brought to light a pair of self-inflicted wounds to the famous columnist’s ethical pretensions. He broke an elementary rule of journalism -- and then, when the New York Times called him on it, proclaimed the transgression to be no one’s business but his own.
It turns out that George Will was among a number of prominent individuals to receive $25,000 per day of conversation on a board of advisers for Hollinger International, a newspaper firm controlled by magnate Conrad Black. Although Will has often scorned the convenient forgetfulness of others, the Times reported that “Mr. Will could not recall how many meetings he attended.” But an aide confirmed the annual $25,000 fee.
Even for a wealthy commentator, that’s a hefty paycheck for one day of talk. But it didn’t stop Will from lavishing praise on Black in print -- without a word about their financial tie.
Late December brought to light a pair of self-inflicted wounds to the famous columnist’s ethical pretensions. He broke an elementary rule of journalism -- and then, when the New York Times called him on it, proclaimed the transgression to be no one’s business but his own.
It turns out that George Will was among a number of prominent individuals to receive $25,000 per day of conversation on a board of advisers for Hollinger International, a newspaper firm controlled by magnate Conrad Black. Although Will has often scorned the convenient forgetfulness of others, the Times reported that “Mr. Will could not recall how many meetings he attended.” But an aide confirmed the annual $25,000 fee.
Even for a wealthy commentator, that’s a hefty paycheck for one day of talk. But it didn’t stop Will from lavishing praise on Black in print -- without a word about their financial tie.
No doubt Lenny Bruce would have laughed with at least a tinge of
bitterness if -- like millions of Americans -- he picked up a newspaper
the day before Christmas 2003 and read that he’d been “pardoned” by the
governor of New York for an obscenity conviction.
In their own time, people who are stubbornly ahead of it usually get a lot more grief than accolades. And decades later -- in this case, 39 years after Bruce’s bust for a nightclub performance and 37 years after his death -- the belated praise from on high is predictably insufferable.
The New York Times lead sentence on Dec. 24 called Bruce “the potty-mouthed wit who turned stand-up comedy into social commentary.” Actually, far from being “potty-mouthed” in an emblematic way, Lenny Bruce was a Fool in the Shakespearean sense, jousting with a society dominated by various aspiring Lears -- and quite a few Elmer Gantrys.
In their own time, people who are stubbornly ahead of it usually get a lot more grief than accolades. And decades later -- in this case, 39 years after Bruce’s bust for a nightclub performance and 37 years after his death -- the belated praise from on high is predictably insufferable.
The New York Times lead sentence on Dec. 24 called Bruce “the potty-mouthed wit who turned stand-up comedy into social commentary.” Actually, far from being “potty-mouthed” in an emblematic way, Lenny Bruce was a Fool in the Shakespearean sense, jousting with a society dominated by various aspiring Lears -- and quite a few Elmer Gantrys.
Please note I avoid the phrase "Happy Holidays." Can we please deep-six this trite "non-denominational" greeting, designed to alert the world that those uttering the salutation are sensitive people aware that the recipients of the greeting might not be Christians but Jews or Muslims who have a low opinion of J. Christ and no desire to celebrate his birthday? The Muslims think Christ was not divine, and the Jewish sacred writings say likewise, and that for the sin of getting ideas above his station J.C. is being pickled in excrement for all eternity.
But my Jewish friends say "Happy Hannukah," with no nonsense about saying "Happy holidays" out of sensitivity to the fact that the festival of Hanukah is derived from the Maccabees' triumph over the bestial forces of Hellenism in 165 B.C., said Hellenism being in its neo-Platonic guise, one of the central components of the Christian religion. An irony is that there's no mention of Hanukah in the Torah but only in the Books of the Maccabees, an annex to the Bible.
But my Jewish friends say "Happy Hannukah," with no nonsense about saying "Happy holidays" out of sensitivity to the fact that the festival of Hanukah is derived from the Maccabees' triumph over the bestial forces of Hellenism in 165 B.C., said Hellenism being in its neo-Platonic guise, one of the central components of the Christian religion. An irony is that there's no mention of Hanukah in the Torah but only in the Books of the Maccabees, an annex to the Bible.
The P.U.-litzer Prizes were established more than a decade ago to
give recognition to the stinkiest media performances of the year.
As usual, I have conferred with Jeff Cohen, founder of the media watch group FAIR, to sift through the large volume of entries. In view of the many deserving competitors, we regret that only a few can win a P.U.-litzer.
And now, the twelfth annual P.U.-litzer Prizes, for the foulest media performances of 2003:
MEDIA MOGUL OF THE YEAR -- Lowry Mays, CEO of Clear Channel
While some broadcasters care about their programming, the CEO of America’s biggest radio company (with more than 1,200 stations) admits he cares only about the ads. The Clear Channel boss told Fortune magazine in March: “If anyone said we were in the radio business, it wouldn’t be someone from our company. We’re not in the business of providing news and information. We’re not in the business of providing well-researched music. We’re simply in the business of selling our customers products.”
LIBERATING IRAQ PRIZE -- Tom Brokaw
As usual, I have conferred with Jeff Cohen, founder of the media watch group FAIR, to sift through the large volume of entries. In view of the many deserving competitors, we regret that only a few can win a P.U.-litzer.
And now, the twelfth annual P.U.-litzer Prizes, for the foulest media performances of 2003:
MEDIA MOGUL OF THE YEAR -- Lowry Mays, CEO of Clear Channel
While some broadcasters care about their programming, the CEO of America’s biggest radio company (with more than 1,200 stations) admits he cares only about the ads. The Clear Channel boss told Fortune magazine in March: “If anyone said we were in the radio business, it wouldn’t be someone from our company. We’re not in the business of providing news and information. We’re not in the business of providing well-researched music. We’re simply in the business of selling our customers products.”
LIBERATING IRAQ PRIZE -- Tom Brokaw
The last time I saw pictures of a man in need of a haircut being so memorably displayed as a trophy of the
American empire it was Che Guevara, stretched out dead on a table in a schoolhouse in La Higuera, a little village in the
Bolivian mountains. In those edgier days, in late 1967, the Bolivian Army wanted him dead, the quicker the better, though
the CIA wanted him alive for interrogation in Panama.
After a last chat with the CIA's man, Felix Rodriguez, George Bush Sr.'s pal, a Bolivian sergeant called Jaime Terran shot him in the throat, and Rodriguez got to keep his watch. They chopped off Guevara's hands for later, checking to make sure the ID was correct. Years later, his skeleton, sans hands, was located and flown back to Havana for proper burial.
"It is better this way," Guevara told Rodriguez at the end. "I should never have been captured alive," showing that even the bravest weaken at times. At the moment of his capture by the Bolivian army unit, a wounded Guevara had identified himself, telling the soldiers he was Che and worth more to them alive than dead.
After a last chat with the CIA's man, Felix Rodriguez, George Bush Sr.'s pal, a Bolivian sergeant called Jaime Terran shot him in the throat, and Rodriguez got to keep his watch. They chopped off Guevara's hands for later, checking to make sure the ID was correct. Years later, his skeleton, sans hands, was located and flown back to Havana for proper burial.
"It is better this way," Guevara told Rodriguez at the end. "I should never have been captured alive," showing that even the bravest weaken at times. At the moment of his capture by the Bolivian army unit, a wounded Guevara had identified himself, telling the soldiers he was Che and worth more to them alive than dead.