More lost time

When Bush was elected President in 2000, my first thought was that we had lost four more years to address the issue of global warming.  Then Bush beat Kerry in 2004; four more years of inaction.  It was such a relief when Obama was elected in 2008--at last the issue would be dealt with in a meaningful way.  Obama tried, but as with so many of his policies, the Congress has not been helpful.

Yesterday the Senate did defeat a proposal to block the E.P.A.’s efforts to limit greenhouse gases.  The vote, however, was 50-50.  Not only that, but a measure to impose limits on E.P.A. regulations drew 12 Democratic votes.

As Mitch McConnell noted, “Altogether, more than 60 senators voted in favor of four amendments that, to one degree or another, would restrain the E.P.A.’s power to regulate carbon emissions from farmers, manufacturers and power plants.”  He is optimistic that the E.P.A. will be stopped.

In the House, in the meantime, the debate was on a bill to repeal the E.P.A.’s scientific findings on greenhouse gases.

I thought about Galileo when he had to recant his theory that the earth revolved around the sun.  He is reputed to have muttered under his breath, “But still it moves.” As for the earth, but still it warms.  And now Democrats are joining with Republicans to water down already weak regulations.  I only hope they live long enough to see what they have done.

Upcoming Election

On Saturday, March 26, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada would be holding a national election on Monday, May 2.  Harper attacked the Liberal Party, the largest opposition group, charging that the Liberals had a hidden agenda to form a coalition with the New Democratic Party, an organization backed by organized labor.  The leader of the Liberals, Mr. Ignatieff, criticized the Conservatives for running a “secretive” government.

I certainly don’t have any insight on which party will win on May 2.  I do wish to point out a number of items, however.  

     1.  The campaign period lasts five weeks. 

     2.  Organized labor in Canada has its own party.

     3.  Neither of the two main party leaders is comparable to Palin or Trump or Huckabee or Gingrich or Barbour or Rickie Santorum.   

What a wonderful country.  Plus they have better health care.

Voter Suppression in Pennsylvania

A reader sent along a press release from the group Democracy for America detailing plans by the Pennsylvania House Republicans to require voters to produce an approved picture ID to be able to vote. In 2006 a similar bill was vetoed by Governor Rendell, who called it “a solution in search of a problem.”   

I know there are people who say, “Well, what’s so hard about that?  Doesn’t everybody have picture ID?”

Actually no.  The people least likely to have ID with them--the elderly, racial minorities, people with disabilities--are also the most likely to be voting Democratic.  

I observed a Republican poll watcher at the Rod and Gun Club last November.  He was not there merely to check off the voters.  He was there to intimidate both the poll workers and the voters.  This is what a party does when it has a hard time winning on the merits.  Instead of real reform--making it easier to vote by absentee, insuring a paper trail for voters--the Republicans are doing their best to decrease turnout. 

The Recovery and Those Who Hate It

Last Friday the latest job figures were released, showing that March was the 12th consecutive month of continuous private sector job growth.  This is good news for the country, the President’s reelection campaign, and most importantly, to the 216,000 employees who found jobs.

This recovery is still fragile, however.  The problems in Japan, the speculative rise in oil prices, unrest in the Middle East--all could derail the improvement.  There is another factor, of course.  As Republican governors cut budgets and lay off state workers, as Republican Representatives push for massive federal cuts, as programs to limit foreclosures are killed, as unemployment benefits are curtailed, the economy can very well see a bounce in unemployment and a deepening of the recession.

Only people who would put their election prospects ahead of the good of the nation would hope to see a rise in unemployment and do what they can to ensure it.  To pursue policies that result in increased joblessness, one would have to be either unpatriotic, or stupid, or a moral pygmy--or all three.  

Teachers

Readers who know me personally know me as a hard tough guy who shows no emotion. OK, I wept at the growing old sequence in the movie “Up,” but you’d have to have a heart of obsidian not to do that.

It is with some trepidation, therefore, that I report getting all teary while reading a wonderful essay by Marie Myung-Ok Lee entitled “What I Learned at School” that appeared in the March 31 New York Times. Ms. Lee, who teaches writing at Brown, details how two English teachers in the Hibbing, Minnesota, high school turned her life around.

Almost every successful person can point to teachers along the way who saw something others didn’t, who took the time to encourage, who allowed an odd-ball student some slack, who made room in class for creativity, who saved us. I can name some myself--Mrs. Brown in elementary school, Mr. Gordos, Mr. Geiger, and Mrs. Kittleberger in high school, Dr. Zucker in college, Dr. Eisenach in grad school.

Across the country teachers like those are now under attack. Consider--how many people’s lives were improved by hedge fund managers, bankers, or Republican legislators in Ohio? Who has Corbett inspired? Gov. Christie? How many kids have they saved?

Here’s how Ms. Lee’s essay ends: “While the love of literature and confidence I gained from Ms. Leibfried’s class shaped my career and my life, after only four short years at Hibbing High School, she was laid off because of budget cuts, and never taught again.”

Burning the Koran

A new musical by the creators of the Comedy Central show “South Park” recently opened on Broadway. The play, entitled The Book of Mormon, pokes fun at LDS beliefs and missionaries. Mormons who have seen the play have given it, as might be expected, some mixed reviews. The LDS hierarchy, to its credit, has not urged its members to boycott the production.

I have always had problems with authority, religious and otherwise. I probably would answer the old question, “Is there nothing sacred?” with “Not that I can think of.”

If you as an artist want to put a crucifix in urine and call it “Piss Christ,” I think you have that right. While I personally doubt the artistic merit of that installation, I am close to being an absolutist on First Amendment freedoms. It is one of the reasons I am a proud card-carrying member of ACLU, and I carry that card right next to my Pennsylvania license so the TSA guys at the airport see it when I show my ID.

On the other hand, having the right to do something does not mean you should do it. Other considerations apply. One is being polite. I see no reason deliberately to insult people with deep beliefs. There are also practical considerations. For example, you have a right to burn an American flag in protest, but in doing so you will almost always bring disrepute on the cause you are trying to advance.

I’m getting to the point here--bear with me. I don’t think the preacher in Florida should have burned the Koran. It is a book revered by millions, considered to be god’s word, and it was not a polite thing to do. However, there is a fundamental craziness about people in Afghanistan who, in retaliation for that burning, would murder innocent United Nations workers who had nothing to do with the incident in Florida.

When religious adherents are willing to kill for their beliefs--whether it be UN personnel or abortion providers--that kind of fanaticism must be opposed. It cannot be excused. As President Obama noted in a statement on the killings in Afghanistan, it is “an affront to human decency and dignity.”

Household incomes

One of the more irritating themes of Republican legislators is that the government needs to be like a household. They note that citizens have to balance their household budgets, so why shouldn’t the government?

Except that citizens don’t. Almost every home buyer in America takes out a mortgage. Citizens spread out expenses with credit cards, they buy cars with payments, they take out home improvement loans, they borrow from their brothers-in-law. One time I took out a loan to pay for dental work.

Actually, I’ll probably have to do that again. Every time I read of the stupid and irresponsible Republican proposals I grind my teeth. They’ll soon be little nubs.