As has been widely reported James Carville (he of Clinton stratergizing) came out in defense of John McCain in saying that he was too honorable to have known about the ridiculous Obama kindergarten ad.
The ad - this season's version of the 1988 Willie Horton ad - charges that Obama wants to teach kindergarten children sex education when in fact he sponsored legislation to teach children how to identify sexual predators. It is ludicrous in its interpretation of the facts in an obvious attempt to scare people into thinking Obama is a superfreak Liberal.
But, to stay on point, what the feazy is Carville talking about?
First, if you put your name on something you might want to watch it and approve it before it goes out the door. At worst McCain believes the salacious attacks will get him elected; at best McCain has no control over his staff. Neither trait sounds like the kind we'd like in a President.
Second, the bill that was signed into law to force a candidate to take responsibility for ads aimed at another candidate was called the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act - AKA the McCain-Feingold Act. I'm going to go out on a limb and say if you sponsored the bill then maybe, just maybe, you are fully aware of these rules.
Ignorance is not an excuse. Time to take some personal responsibility. McCain should know about these ads which is tantamount to agreement. The alternative is incompetence.
How are you going to deal with that Religious Right?
OK, if you are one of the however-many-millions using BlueTooth(tm) headsets with your cell phones - stop now!
We get it. You are _SO_ important that someone may call at any moment and you must be able to answer the call at a moment's notice. Nevermind that your phone actually rings 4+ times before you need to answer it and that the time it would take to life a phone to your ear or - heaven forbid! - remove a headset from your pocket and insert it into your ear.
Now what I'm talking about is not opposition to BlueTooth(tm) headsets or headsets in general (we'll get to that in a moment). I am opposed to people that walk around with these things in their ears like they are jewelry.
My favorite was a couple of years ago on a flight. After the "you can now get up and walk around" message was broadcast to the passengers some dude comes walking up the aisle with a BlueTooth(tm) headset in his ear. Really? You going to take an important call mid-flight?
Another fine example is when attending the Tacoma Days festival (yes, I will admit the irony of me passing judgement on people from the Tacoma Days festival) the number of people walking around just "waiting for the call." Clearly I don't get enough phone calls - I just don' get it.
But while we're on the subject - stop talking in elevators and inside public places ESPECIALLY if you are in line. My immediate reaction is to start conversing with this person. After all they clearly are unconcerned with my personal space so why should I be concerned with theirs? And if you are in line at a store is there a more demeaning act than treating the checker like a 2nd class citizen?
This of course makes me long for the days when you actually might not be home when someone called. Don't get me wrong, I would hate to not have my cell phone but this is just swinging too far.
Now onto BlueTooth(tm) itself. First, it's dangerous. My old boss of course got himself all hooked up with the BlueTooth(tm)/BMW integration - a nice feature that hooks your phone into your car's speakers and displays caller ID on your radio display. A nice feature until you happen to be driving around with a date and another girlfriend calls.
Second - what's the point? Yippee, I can have a 5' wireless network around me. I have exactly three cables coming out of my laptop at the moment which somehow are not creating a huge burden for me from a clutter perspective. Last time I checked a wired mouse was about the same size as a wireless mouse. Outside of a wireless headset for my phone I don't feel any more mobile with BlueTooth(tm) in my life.
In a nutshell - I'm impressed. I don't get BlueTooth(tm) at all and yet they've somehow convinced us all that it's the next best thing.
But I digress. Where was I?
Oh yeah - you look stupid with that thing in your ear.
FEDERAL EXTORTION
This is the text from the RealID bill...
: "SEC. 203. LINKING OF DATABASES.
(a) In General- To be eligible to receive any grant or other type of financial assistance made available under this title, a State shall participate in the interstate compact regarding sharing of driver license data, known as the 'Driver License Agreement', in order to provide electronic access by a State to information contained in the motor vehicle databases of all other States.
(b) Requirements for Information- A State motor vehicle database shall contain, at a minimum, the following information:
(1) All data fields printed on drivers' licenses and identification cards issued by the State.
(2) Motor vehicle drivers' histories, including motor vehicle violations, suspensions, and points on licenses."
This is what it boils down to - the states have the "option" to not go along with this provision but only if they don't want the Federal money. They called this "strong arming" in Chicago in the twenties - but it was the mob that was doing it.
FindLaw's Writ - Leavitt: The REAL ID Act How It Violates U.S. Treaty Obligations, Insults International Law, Undermines Our Security, and Betrays Eleanor Roosevelt's Legacy
Even more reasons to vote against the REAL ID or NATIONAL ID - great article!
UnRealID.com
Want to get the word out to as many as possible (hopefully someone reads my blog :-)). This bill supports the troops in Iraq, which is a good thing. The problem is that it also supports the concept of a "Real ID" which is a thinly veiled way of saying "National ID."
Why is this bad, you ask?
First, this is being snuck onto this bill as a rider. A rider is an unrelated amendment to a bill - usually it's something not large enough to be a bill in and of itself but often it's a way of getting something unpopular greased through the system. That is happening here.
As such, this amendment has never been debated on the Senate floor. The Senators voting on this bill may not even know of this amendment. Yes, our legislators vote on things they know nothing about all the time. This is the rider system.
Second, this ID card takes us in a dangerous direction. We live in a Federal system - this means that the national government and state governments share power. This is a healthy checks and balances system. In general, it is good to have governmental decisions being made closer to where you live, however some government must exist nationally so the local governments are not abusive.
That being said, this is scary because the National ID establishes a national database of people. This is a scary step towards a police state.
For more on why this is a bad idea.
Ironically enough, our troops are overseas fighting to protect this exact type of problem.
So please get the facts and email/FAX your Senators and tell them:
Have the amendment removed from the Iraq support bill. We prefer to support our troops but we don't support this amendment. Vote against the bill if the amendment is not removed. Sponsor a bill that will disallow the use of Riders - FOREVER.