TDB | Quote of The Day

From the Economist:

Ohio is also a bellwether. It has voted for the winning candidate in all 11 presidential elections since 1960. In doing so, it has deviated from the national vote shares by only a couple of points. In 2004 it matched the national average exactly. The reason is that it is such a microcosm of America. Ohio is a surprisingly diverse state—with everything from big cities to rolling fields, rustbelt industries to Appalachian poverty. In the Cup-o-Jo Cafe in Columbus, the state capital, 20-somethings sit around eating vegetarian food and talking about how much Mr Obama inspires them to hope for a better world. Out in the rural areas the signs on the road tell a different story—“Hell is real,” reads one, and then, a few miles later, “Repent!”.

ike/Quote of the Day

"these days i find myself working harder than ever at being at my best, overcoming my fears and pushing myself creatively in my every endeavor. my only wish after the work is completed is that it may prove further evidence that no matter how isolated we all may all feel at times, as sad or misrepresented, we are not alone. there's hope for and within each of us. I've been dealing with the truth that i have at times been a bad example and/or glorified self destructive behavior. this was never intentional, but rather a consequence of leading a public life in plain sight and never expecting any sort of preferential treatment, isolation or protection. Regardless of varied judgments as to my cultural relevance, i am thankfully alive and exercising my joy in creating. i only hope anyone who hears, reads or sees any of my contributions will permit the work to speak where i cannot. i've realized and accepted that if people decide to dislike me, they're going to find reasons to justify disliking me. there's nothing i can do about that. that said, it still does pain me to be accused of fictional crimes against innocents or to be implicated in romantic gossip involving the possibly reality-challenged--however unreliable the source or outlandish the accusations. in the end, however, i know that i have never done or even meant anyone any harm. anyway, the lives of public figures are so much more boring than anyone can imagine. honestly. and also i like metal. A LOT. (even more than last time)."

--Ryan Adams

TDB | 'Food For Naught'

If the goal in Iraq was to create a government like ours in America, it looks like we can say (again) 'mission accomplished.' From today's Los Angeles Times:

Iraq's parliament ended its summer term Wednesday without passing legislation setting up provincial elections this year, forcing the government to call an emergency session for the weekend. However, a positive outcome remains far from certain...

They have created, it seems, a perfect replica of the American government - one which ends its legislative sessions without having accomplished the work at hand, which consequently calls emergency sessions (and thus governs mostly through ever-deplorable omnibus and stop-gap legislation), and which raises questions of whether the ultimate outcome of governmental activity is indeed at all 'positive.'

Maybe we should think twice about remaking the world in our own image...

One would be fairly justified, I think, in saying that this has been the essential but unexpressed (maybe even unrealized) goal of American foreign policy - at least until the Bush people clarified things in their most foul (and mis-characterizing) way. The basic idea has always been something like, 'If the world were simply more like us, foreign policy would essentially take care of itself.' This has been the case since before our founding, when the land that became America was to meant become, in one of Reagan's favorite phrases, as a shinning city upon a hill.

I paraphrase Churchill on Democracy: America's is the worst system of government except for all the others. And I am something of a Patriot and a Nationalist - but really, we can do better! We are, after all, Americans! (and Americans are, in case you've managed to miss the point, better than everyone else)

Is the problem Democracy itself? I'm naturally skeptical of things (especially concepts) that have elicited universal praise. I mean, Pakistani or Palestianian democracy has, so far at least, not merited praise. One can't escape the ultimate (and unsavory) implication: Maybe (and contrary to our long-held goal) Democracy is something only Americans should have!

But, in light of my last post, even that, it seems, is less than shinning and quite unworthy of being atop any respectable hill!

Again, I have no answers. Only prejudices, skepticism and time to write a few things down.

TDB | 'Food For Naught'

Josh Patashnik, writing on 'The Plank' blog over at the New Republic, makes a terrific point that I've not really thought of before:

[Frankly], outside of Washington, I'm just not sure how much of a market there is for any coverage of Congress besides scandals and the occasional huge, easy-to-understand policy fight, like health care in 1993 or Social Security in 2005. This contributes hugely to Congress's approval ratings being chronically in the toilet: It's the epitome of an organization that gets noticed only when things don't go smoothly. And the institutional architects of Congress specifically designed it to ensure that things usually wouldn't go smoothly. Granted, I'm not sure they envisioned quite the level of dysfunction and gridlock that's characterized the last few years, but they surely would have preferred it to the alternative of an impulsive Congress unconstrained by many veto points.

His argument that there probably isn't much of a market out there for congressional coverage implies something even bigger: most citizens aren't interested in how their country is run - they're just interested about complaining when it's not running well - or, rather, when they THINK it's not running well. And, sadly, most citizens are simply not very good at thinking - at least not about this 'boring stuff.' But just such thinking is the essence of our system of government. People need a) to be informed, whether they like it or not; b) to understand what specific information implies or means when they are informed of it; and c) care enough to vote for people whose thinking is in line with their (now enlightened) thinking. As things stand, that just doesn't happen.

I don't have any solutions, really - so I'm open to at least listening to anything. I do think the heart of the problem lies with the media and with education - we could blame people, but people aren't fixable, really; institutions are. Though I hate to force the media to run specific stories - seems a bit authoritarian to me, even if its for 'good'. So I guess the only answer is to do something magical during a citizen's education to create a sincere and significant interest in politics - and in congressional and local politics, specifically; not just the alternative 'celebrity showdown' that the presidency has in essence become.

I've got nothing but complaints, it seems. Sorry - don't hate me.

ike/Quote of the Day

“I can’t say I know how the current president looks on the rest of the world. I am determined and sometimes stubborn, and he is, too, but I don’t look on the rest of the world as he does, despite our shared Christian faith. For instance, I worry about our endangered values. I worry about nuclear-weapons proliferation. I worry about our torture of prisoners and how that affects our commitment to human rights. I believe in waging war only when our security is in danger. I believe in taking care of and preserving the environment. On these issues, he and I are almost diametrically opposed. Certainly, I do not profess to understand his motivations. As Christians, yes, we worship the same savior, Jesus Christ, and I think we worship Christ in the same way. I look on some aspect of Jesus Christ perhaps differently from him: I worship the Prince of Peace.”

--Jimmy Carter

TDB | Quote of the Day

From the front page feature article in today's Washington Post:

Thanks to the rapid and sustained rise in prices, oil-producing countries are also accumulating vast reservoirs of money in one of the most massive transfers of wealth in history. Every day, oil consumers pay $6 billion to $7.5 billion more for crude oil than they paid six years ago. At the current rate, they will pump more than $1.5 trillion a year into the coffers of OPEC, Russia and other oil exporting countries.

ike/Quote of the Day

"The election remains Mr. Obama’s to lose, and he could lose it, whether through unexpected events, his own vanity or a vice-presidential misfire. But what we’ve learned this month is that America, our allies and most likely the next Congress are moving toward Mr. Obama’s post-Iraq vision of the future, whether he reaches the White House or not. That’s some small comfort as we contemplate the strange alternative offered by the Republicans: a candidate so oblivious to our nation’s big challenges ahead that he is doubling down in his campaign against both Mr. Maliki and Mr. Obama to be elected commander in chief of the surge."

--Frank Rich