Archive for December, 2008
Gov. Blagojevich deserves plenty of criticism for his defiant appointment of Roland Burris to Obama’s Senate seat, but the hits he is taking (by the left!) because Burris has contributed money to his campaigns are ridiculous. There is nothing shocking, unseemly or out of the ordinary for an active Democrat operative to donate and help raise money for a fellow Democrat who happens to be Governor.
To make what amounts to about $10,000 in donations over the course of a few years an issue and imply that it makes the appointment tainted, is to allow leftist “do-gooders” to always use donations as the “proof of corruption” no matter how small.
When Members of Congress can raise $9,600 in one phone call to a wealthy couple, it’s a nearly impossible stretch to claim that Burris’s $10K taints the appointment. Heck, it’d be a stretch if it were $100K. I’m not saying that the appointment isn’t tainted – it is, particularly in regards to race – but it isn’t tainted by contributions, and conservatives would do well to leave that one alone.
Opposition based on substance, not leftist-created straw men, is always better ground from which to fight.
Gov. Blagojevich continues to create major problems for Democrats - and in particular a President-elect Democrat. He brazenly announced the appointment of former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. This after Senate Democrats said they wouldn’t seat anyone appointed by Blago.
However, in a brilliant stroke of defiance, Blago, by appointing Burris, essentially dares the U.S. Senate to deny replacing the Senate’s only Black Senator (Obama) with another Black Senator.
To add even more drama and intrigue, Black Congressman Bobby Rush attended the press conference and said this: “I would ask you to not hang or lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer.”
To which Blago responded: ”That was excellent Bobby. Thank you. Feel free to castigate the appointer but don’t lynch the appointer. I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing!”
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any weirder.
Greg Patterson runs one of the best blogs in Arizona (and maybe the U.S.). He wrote about Noble Thinking in a post today which made me laugh out loud. Here is part of it:
While Sean has a huge advantage over local reporters, I have a huge advantage over him. I don’t think his Bishop will give him an espresso exemption, so he will be writing without that magic buzz that keeps me going post after post.
Of course he can substitute energy drinks. Hey, that’s a great idea because it would allow him to use a better name. Instead of “Noble Thinking” or ”No Bull,” he could call the blog “Red Bull.” Dude, that would be awesome.
For one thing, Greg is way more funny than I am, so he’ll always have that advantage. And, he’s right, given my membership in the LDS Church, I’m not going to get an “espresso exemption” from my Bishop… besides, I happen to be the Bishop in my ward.
I have had an energy drink or two in my day, but I’m not going to change the name of the blog to Rock Star… just seems a little presumptous.
I’ve always been impressed with elected officials who have a listed phone number. Congressman John Shadegg does, and, until this week, incoming-Governor Jan Brewer did. This story says that it’s become too much of a burden because of the huge volume of calls, which I can only imagine. I’m impressed Mrs. Brewer was able to keep a listed number for as long as she has. There is something genuine about people who are elected officials and stay real people at the same time.
2008 will be one second longer than normal. This happens as a result of adjustments that must be made to our time-keeping ability because the earth isn’t completely consistent in its rotation. This article explains it better than I can.
There must be some overarching geo-political angle on this, but I haven’t figured it out.
There is a personal angle, however. Adding one second to a year has happened 24 times since 1972. Since I was born in 1970, that means I’m actually 24 seconds younger than I look. Can’t you tell?
No, I’m not talking about my blog… but it could work.
The Sunday edition of the Arizona Republic devoted a front page, top of the fold, huge headline story to the inaugural run of “light rail” in the Valley of the Sun. An estimated 90,000 people showed up for the free ride. The article was typical “isn’t this great!” hype, but there were a few nuggets that made me crack a smile.
“I was trying to beat the crowd, of course there’s no crowd,” was a comment by a guy who showed up at 6:00 a.m. to stand alone for nearly three hours waiting for his free ride.
Or this lady, “We’re just riding to Tempe, Mill Avenue, for lunch and riding back. And then we can say we did it.” That doesn’t sound like somone planning to do it again.
Of the 90,000 people that officials say rode the rail on opening day, it will interesting to watch what the average ridership is when the novelty wears off and it starts costing money to get on the train.
This graph shows why the push to alternative energy faces a rocky road. We are a petroleum-based economy and $4-a-gallon gasoline had people talking up getting off our “addiction” to oil. I believe we need to be working toward expanding our energy options - but the reality is that cheap gas means low incentive to change.
T. Boone Pickens has picked wind and natural gas as winners in this deal. But world markets still favor oil. I applaud the “Pickens Plan” but it’s harder to sell when gas is less than $1.50-a-gallon.
I still favor nuclear more than anything else. It has smallest footprint-per-kilowatt-hour (yes, I care about unslightly stuff - like windmills and solar panels) and it is pretty much emissions-free. If the French can figure out how to run their country on 80% nuclear (which I have seen first-hand), we have no excuses.
Our family went to see Bedtime Stories starring Adam Sandler and Keri Russell on Christmas afternoon. I’m the world’s worst movie critic (read: not very critical) because I rarely actually dislike a movie – even movies which I should dislike. For me, it is an escape. I never try to think ahead to figure out the plot. I don’t try to find hidden meaning in characters or plot lines or dialogue. I just sit there, turn off my brain and enjoy the show. And I enjoyed Bedtime Stories very much.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)
