The Voice of Treason

Since I don’t believe I’ve purchased anything manufactured in Aruba and I had no intention of ever visiting Aruba, I guess in a way I am boycotting Aruba. It’s on the bottom of my list of things to do. Say, I didn’t particularly like the way the O.J. trial turned out - should I boycott California, too? This is precisely the silliness that bogs down our government. And I don’t mean to diminish Natalee Goneaway’s family; this has to be extremely painful for them - and expensive, too.

Kinda like spending months planning your wedding - the happiest, most hopeful day of your life - then having some nutjob position himself in the middle of the ballroom, under the chandelier, and detonate himself. Every new couple wants to spend their honeymoon going from funeral to funeral to funeral, burying friends and family. Well, who wouldn’t?

This act was particularly vile, particularly cruel. Like they say about pornography, you might not be able to describe it exactly but you definitely know it when you see it. This act is pornography. And Jordanians, evidenced by their protests, must see it that way, too. This has simply crossed the line.

The terrorists feel justified, though, blowing up the “backyard for the enemies of faith — the Jews and the crusaders.” Crusaders? They talking about us? These loons certainly hold a grudge. Oops - sorry. They’re just “persons of a certain ‘faith tradition’” who are loving, peaceful, and not at all crazed lunatics. But seriously, is there anyone they do like?

No, I never planned to go to Aruba, but after seeing that travel special with King Abdullah, I seriously considered a trip to Jordan. And if the Jordanians keep up the protests and continue to chant “Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!,” I will definitely keep Jordan on my list of places to visit.

A list that gets shorter every day, incidentally.

We had our election a few weeks ago — if I remember correctly. It’s all a blur. I was just about to forget the details when I was reminded that there was going to be a run-off election because two city council candidates ran and failed to secure fifty percent of the vote. Thankfully, I don’t live in that district. Both candidates are Republicans, so I should be supportive. But it’s difficult to root for candidates when one holds a press conference just to compare rap sheets. Seems one has more misdemeanors than the other and she just thought the public should know about it.

And speaking of comparing rap sheets, why is the Senate grilling oil executives? Why is profit a bad thing? And, if oil companies are so evil, what is the Senate doing to solve the problem? Are we going nuclear? Drilling the caribou? Going offshore? Looking for alternatives?

In California, my mother’s house had no working furnace. It didn’t work when she bought the place and she never had it fixed. She relied on a wall heater in the family room to stay warm. It was a two-story house and there was only one warm room in it.

My sister, who moved into my mother’s old house that had belonged to my stepfather, had no working heater either. My other sister, who still resides in California - but in the part that tends to get really cold in the winter and really hot in the summer - hasn’t turned the heat on in three years. She can’t afford the PG&E bills. What she’s noticed is that she, her husband, and their kids haven’t had colds in three years.

T and I are waiting to see how long we can go this year before we break down and turn on the heat. We don’t use the gas fireplace, we don’t drive around aimlessly, and we don’t waste water either. Considering neither one of us will ever breed, we’re doing a fairly decent job of conservation.

I don’t think our Senators can say the same. They’re wasting energy simply by holding these hearings. Why aren’t they addressing the real issues? For instance, there was a time in this great nation of ours when a person could buy a cheap domestic beer in a 12-pack for $5.99. Those days are over. The price of a 12-pack gets higher and higher, and the taxes on alcohol are nuts.

And speaking of nuts, how can people afford to smoke? I’m not a smoker, but back in the days when I thought it would be cool to become one, I could get Benson & Hedges out of a machine with two quarters. What does a pack of cigarettes cost today? After taxes?

Senators, cut the taxes on gas before you chastise the oil execs. Better yet, focus on the big stuff. And no, I’m not talking about boycotting Aruba.

We aren’t voting here, so I have to watch elections in other states. The races to watch? New Jersey (Will Corzine win?), New York (Will Bloomberg win?), Virginia (Will Kaine win?), and California (Will Californians do something stupid?); and the answer is yes, yes, yes, and yes.

No surprises here. What’s disturbing, however, is how San Franciscans - who are usually quick to point out something they feel is unconstitutional - wasted no time in banning handguns and ammo in the city. As if people who frequent the Tenderloin are going to follow this particular law.

I spent a lot of time in the city by the bay and I always enjoyed summers there. Teeth shattering at the ballpark, watching the Cubs lose to the Giants. But there’s a thick fog that covers that town and I’m not talking about the stuff that rolls in from the Pacific.

Jacques Chirac has been strangely silent this week, and I can’t imagine it’s because he’s still smirking about Katrina. Donald Sutherland told the French press how horrible we Americans are, how racist, and I’m sure Johnny Depp has had the same interview. But if it’s true that these riots are purely socio-economic and all about race and not about - as National Review calls them — “persons of a certain ‘faith tradition,’” then who are the real racists here?

At least now I know where I can get the black knit face masks. The “youths” had plenty of them stored in a bomb factory in Paris. Jars, rags, flammable liquid, black knit face masks. All you need to start a revolution.

Of course that’s what it is. Just disenfranchised youths who want change. Has nothing to do with…uh, “persons of a certain ‘faith tradition.’” Well, hell’s bells, if that’s the case, there’s good news for Chirac and Villepin. The city of Baltimore has hired a consulting firm to improve its image. Residents are tired of having their town referred to as “Heroin City” and “Murder Capital.” Perhaps Jacques can give Mayor O’Malley a call and get that firm’s number. Tout de suite.

T likes tornadoes. He watches tornado footage and thinks that it would be cool to see one up close and personal. This is proof that he wasn’t raised in the Midwest. I, on the other hand, was raised in the Midwest and, to this day, think The Wizard of Oz is terrifying. And not because of the Wicked Witch of the West or those flying monkey creatures.

Earthquakes and hurricanes don’t bother me much. I lived through several quakes in California, and unless we’re talking huge temblor, chances are you’re going to be fine. The walls may crack and you might lose a few breakables, but that’s about it. Hurricanes happen where there’s water. I don’t live near water. And hurricanes aren’t surprises. In most cases, you can watch the path of a hurricane for days and can pretty much tell how violent it will be.

Not so with tornadoes. In late afternoon sometimes there’s a clue. The sky turns greenish and there’s a funnel shaped cloud. But at one or two o’clock in the morning when you’ve been in bed for several hours and suddenly it feels like a train has just run over your house, this is a storm that likes to jump out and say BOO.

There is just something diabolical about a storm that can send a stick of wood through a house, a refrigerator, a cow, or a closet door - the closet you’re hiding in - and kill you. This is why when I woke up to hear that people in Indiana and Kentucky were sound asleep and had twenty-two seconds to react and get out of harm’s way, I felt like Dorothy.

Chances are this tornado won’t get a fraction of the coverage the last twenty hurricanes got, but the devastation is every bit as awful. No one had an opportunity to evacuate or decide to stay, collect their things or prepare. It just came, in the night, and wiped out everything in its path. Tornadoes have no sense of fair play.

And this is why I worry when I hear that Californians are leaving the Golden State and moving to the Heartland. I know what it’s like to feel nostalgic for the place. It’s green. There’s no end to the great food. Nice people. Professional sports. Ballparks, museums, public transportation, sidewalks, brick, water. Even after spending most of my life west of the Mississippi, I find that most of the people I’m drawn to are Midwesterners. There is much to like.

So much, in fact, that when T and I decided that if we had to spend any more time in this state we would probably snap, we started to look at Midwest states. And the Plains. I can see why Californians want to leave the Left Coast. I left. But I also left the Midwest - and that was when I was much younger. I lived a block from Lake Michigan and walked to school in snow drifts that were taller than most people my age. The wind would blow me across streets and into traffic. When it was icy, all I could do was close my eyes and hope for the best. I couldn’t stop the Chicago winds.

There was great grey slush. It was rare that I’d make it to school without slipping and falling into a huge puddle of it in the middle of an alley. I remember ruining a favorite pink dress. There was dirt and car grease mixed in with the slush. Oh, and rocks.

I also remember when my sister rinsed out a pair of socks one night and put them over the back of her bedroom chair to dry. When we got up in the morning, we discovered that they had frozen and were stuck to the chair. It wasn’t unusual for us to hover near the radiator to try to get warm. Washing or getting dressed anywhere other than in front of the radiator was painful.

But really all I had to worry about was getting from home to school and back again without slipping and falling and not being able to get up and keep moving. I didn’t have to worry about keeping a car running when it was below zero or taking a bus or train across town during a blizzard to go to work. I didn’t have to scrub that dress or pay for it or walk it to a laundromat.

Now if a Californian can sell his house and buy one that’s five times bigger and five times cheaper, and then have the luxury of keeping it heated and working at home, then it all makes perfect sense. But having to drive over icy bridges, dealing with frozen pipes, and scraping ice off your windshield are all very unpleasant if your joints rebel when it’s under seventy-five degrees.

And then there’s summer. Most Californians know that when the sun goes down the temperature will drop. That’s what happens in California. That is not a Midwest thing. And then there are the storms. The tornadoes. The ones that sneak up on you while you’re tucked in your bed, sound asleep, dreaming of orange trees and lemon bushes.

I feel so totally out of the loop. When Chuck and Camilla were sitting down for a buffalo dinner at the White House the other night, protestors were gathered in the park across the street chanting something about Ethiopia. In Mar del Plata, masked hoodlums set fire to a bank, burned and ransacked businesses, and threw rocks at police officers. Some describe the riots in Paris - now spreading to other areas of France - as a protest.

When do I get to hit the streets and destroy property? You know, turn over cars, kick in a few plate glass windows, set fire to a city bus, pull people out of coffee shops and club them, throw bricks at cops and firefighters, loot, scream obscenities, spray paint walls, and make a statement?

Where does one buy one of those black knit face masks? Terroristapparel.com?

Wow! And you thought America was a hotbed of racism and oppression! A group of thugs ran through the streets of Toledo, Ohio a few weeks ago, setting fires and lobbing rocks at police cars and emergency vehicles. About the time most people were getting wind of the story it was already over. So what’s taking the French so long to put a lid on their riots?

A handicapped woman was doused with gasoline and set ablaze…a nursery school was destroyed…hundreds of vehicles have been smashed and burned - mon Dieu, Baghdad’s looking better every day!

And John Kerry wanted France’s permission to make foreign policy decisions for America? I’m so confused…isn’t Socialism supposed to solve all these problems? Maybe Mr. Kerry can explain why there’s so much unrest in Utopia this week. Oh, wait - he’s too busy accusing George Bush of stealing the election and lying us into war. Would someone on the Left please tell him he can stop campaigning now?

Bill’s got ‘08 in the bag.

It’s a chilly, overcast day in the desert and it looks and feels like Northern California. Amazed that I still have an appetite after hearing Bill Clinton’s comment at the Parks funeral, but that’s all I’m going to say because I don’t get paid to keep his name in the news. We walked the dogs, then I watered the roses and cooked up a frittata. A day to look at other blogs and give ‘em a nod.

On POWERLINEBLOG.com, November 2, 2005

“DEMOCRATS DEFEAT ONLINE FREEDOM OF SPEECH ACT IN HOUSE

Apparently the Online Freedom of Speech Act failed to pass in the House of Representatives tonight. I infer this from a statement we got a few minutes ago from Minnesota Congressman Mark Kennedy, a leading proponent of free speech, including free speech on the web. Mark writes:

‘I’m horribly disappointed that this important measure failed to pass. This bill was designed to protect the free speech rights of Americans whose only alleged crime is wanting to use the Internet to express their opinions.

I disagree with the mainstream media elites who seem to think that an unregulated media is dangerous, unless it is them who are being regulated. What is disturbing and dangerous to me, and to the constituents I represent, is the ease with which so many advocate government regulation of speech.

Bloggers are everyday citizens. They are our neighbors, friends, and coworkers who want to be able to share their ideas without asking permission from a gatekeeper in the mainstream media and certainly not from a government official. They are the historical descendants of Founding Fathers like Thomas Paine and other pamphleteers who contributed enormously to our democracy.

We are trying to spread a message of hope, opportunity, and freedom around the world. I supported this legislation so that we don’t lose the ability to have that message shared among the American people, and I am frankly disappointed that a majority of Members don’t see it that way.’

Mark Kennedy is staking out a position as one of the leading advocates of free speech in America today. What is happening here is that certain people–the editorial board of the New York Times, the Democrats on the Federal Election Commission–are trying to put sites like this one out of business. Frankly, I haven’t followed the progress of the Online Freedom of Speech Act closely because I thought the idea that the FEC would try to shut down political discussion on the web was ridiculous. It appears that we have to take the threat to our First Amendment rights more seriously.

…The vote indicates which party favors free speech; the Republicans voted in favor, 179 to 38, while the Democrats opposed the measure, 143 to 46. A stark contrast. We will try to track down some of our friends in the House and find out the story behind the vote.

UPDATE: Patriot Blog has more on the bill’s background.”

On PATRIOTBLOG.com:

“Why the Act is Necessary:

* There are a few thousand political blogs, with millions of viewers. Blog definitions are fluid, and anyone can set up a free, largely unregulated blog on the Internet.

* The Internet enables people to participate in the political process extremely cheaply. Blogs attract a lot of first-timers to the political process, as well as politically active individuals who lack the funding to buy ads in the media.

* Compelling content determines how many people follow a blog. In other words, demand more so than funding increases the exposure and success of bloggers.

* FEC regulation of the Internet would impose arbitrary definitions on blogs and other web content. Since bloggers would fear being sued, regulation would deter participation.

* Independent bloggers push the dialogue beyond what campaigns might want voters to know. This is good for the electoral process and good for democracy.

* FEC regulation will mean bloggers need lawyers. But only the wealthy can afford them - therefore regulating the Internet stifles free speech and limits what the voting public knows on election day.

* Since its creation, the government has never regulated lawful, non-commercial activities on the Internet. Forcing bloggers to pass a government-imposed litmus test for what they could otherwise legally say while not a computer is the first step in a slippery slope towards ending freedom on the Internet as we know it.”

I’d like to thank these guys for the good info. Let’s make sure they keep on keepin’ on!

After I sat through Bill on C-SPAN, I caught Dick Morris at a Santa Monica bookstore, discussing his new book. The Democrats are already campaigning for 2008 and I’m even hearing ads to re-elect our governor on the radio this week.

I think the Republicans are gearing up as well, but they’re just not being as overt. The usual suspects come up in conversation: McCain, Romney, Frist, Giuliani, Jeb, Pataki, Gingrich. George Allen comes up a lot.

I like George, but I can’t help think that Condi would be an interesting choice. Dick makes a good case for her, but he said something over the weekend that really stuck with me. The line between domestic and foreign policy is blurred now. Domestic policy is foreign policy and foreign policy is domestic. I think he’s on to something here.

I’m watching the riots in the suburbs (read projects) of Paris. Doesn’t Condi speak Russian, Spanish, and…French?

Closed session, eh? Go ahead and play your silly games. The Left is quick to say that the Right is imploding because the Republicans broke the 11th commandment. They got the memo that said Reagan’s rule was never to speak ill of another Republican. Fine. So who spoke ill of Bush? As far as I can tell, only Michael Savage was threatening to turn on Bush and walk off his radio show if Miers was confirmed. But Savage is neither a Republican nor a conservative.

What I heard from the Right wasn’t an attack on Bush. It was merely a complaint. There are better, more qualified people. We’re disappointed and wish the president had chosen someone else. And we’re not going to back down until this little problem is addressed.

Whoa, look! It’s been addressed! And now the Right is right behind Bush again. In fact, this week has been pretty good. Bush is talking about my three Ts this week. He’s out there about terrorism, tax reform, and tort reform. (By swiping at litigation during his bird flu speech and nominating Alito to SCOTUS, I figure he’s keeping the courts in mind.) Why, all he has to do now is address energy (hey, gas prices are plummeting since I last filled up) and the border.

Dems are preparing for a fight, and the Republicans are loaded for bear. Bring it on.