Political mechan-ics

If the Republicans wish to persist in shorting the Democratic Party a syllable by referring to it as the "Democrat" Party, those Democrats should return the favor, and give the Republicans that missing syllable.

Say hello to the ... 'Republicanics'.

Differences Do Not Define Us

From the Washington Post, Letters to the Editor, today, 14 February:

As I was leaving a Barack Obama rally, a young white woman caught up with me and said: "It's so nice to see someone your age [emphasis mine]. I thought it would be all young people."

I'm 72 years old and fit into several of the demographic groups (white, educated, female, retired, urban, middle-income) that are constantly polled, second-guessed and analyzed in the election campaign coverage. But these labels are not particularly relevant to my vote.

I wish people would understand that older people care about the same things as everyone else. I have an adequate income, health care, and a home, but I worry about those who don't. I worry about education. civil rights, economic disparities and the endless, unconscionable war in Iraq. I've lived most of my life, but I care about the future. I long for a country where people place the common good above their own needs.

Sophisticated polling based on ever-smaller slices of the population exaggerates our differences and mistakenly assumes that our differences define us. We have much more in common than the polls suggest. I will be glad that an old, white woman goes to a rally for the person who someone else has decided is the candidate of the young, black, and male population.

Our Differences Do Not Define Us
GEORGIA LEWIS

My mother agrees (as do many of us). But, Georgia, you are yet young!

Past Valentine

And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart.
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart.

You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die.
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by.

Sometimes I wonder why I spend
The lonely night dreaming of a song.

The melody haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration.

But that was long ago.

Now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song.

Beside a garden wall
When stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale tells his fairy tale
A paradise where roses bloom.

Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody ...

The memory of love's refrain.

With thanks to Hoagy Carmichael who wrote Stardust, and, of course, to Nat King Cole who sang Stardust better than anyone else ever could.

Beagle wins!

Ethel Mae is a very proud beagle this morning.

Uno — her breed kin — has won best of show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. In fact it's the only time that a beagle has won there ... ever!

Barking and baying up a storm, Uno lived up to his name Tuesday night by becoming the first beagle to win best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club.

The nation's new top dog was clearly the fan favorite and drew a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden when he was picked.

Uno got right into the act, jumping up on handler Aaron Wilkerson and confirming his other title: noisiest in show. Years from now, he'll be known for the "ah-roo" heard 'round the ring.

The only dog consistently listed among America's most popular breeds for nearly 100 years, a beagle had never won in the 100 times Westminster picked a winner.

More...

Ethel Mae let go with several good "ah-roos" of her own this morning chasing a squirrel in the snow.

BREW is a beagle rescue and adoption agency with a chapter located in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Its acronym (appealing to the beer guy in me) stands for Beagle Rescue, Education, and Welfare. Go to http://brewbeagles.org for more information.

Bye, Bye WYPR

Listening yesterday to the Diane Rehm Show on WAMU-FM — a Washington DC National Public Radio (NPR) outlet — I heard a caller refer to himself as a disgruntled and former WYPR listener.

The reference was to the firing last week of long-time Baltimore NPR station WYPR-FM talk show host Marc Steiner.

In fact much more than just a host, Steiner had been the public face, if you will, of that station for many years, and had recently guided it into its current independence and format.

As Dan Rodricks of the Baltimore Sun put it:

The dumping of Marc Steiner as host of the midday show at WYPR-FM -- a public-radio station that very likely would not exist were it not for him -- is sad and infuriating. Steiner was blessed with the brains, heart, pipes and civic interest for a great talk-show host, and he had a long run of good work.

[By the way, it's interesting to note that Rodricks may be invited to host Steiner's former noon to 2pm time-slot.]

Although I don't live in Baltimore, I am able to access the station while driving through some areas in which I work. But now, I won't. WYPR has lost this customer.

Steiner's website — The Center for Emerging Media — lists some of his other endeavors.

[UPDATE 2008.06.11: Steiner returns to airwaves, but NOT at WYPR.]

Separation of Huckabee and state

Considering tonight's close choice between Senator McCain and Minister Huckabee in Virginia, here's this from a blogger who once posted a Flickr photo of my front window and who recently wrote about my First Amendment rights:

On January 14 in Warren, Michigan, Huckabee was speaking to a large crowd about proposals for a constitutional human life amendment and an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. I knew his position on those issues, but nothing had prepared me to hear him say this:

I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God. And that’s what we need to do is amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than trying to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family.

I have no idea what Huckabee truly meant by this ominous assault on the "wall of separation" between church and state. Even the evangelical magazine Christianity Today seemed troubled by his statement, noting that it may cost him more votes among evangelicals than help him. One can only hope.

The constitutional doctrine pertaining to the separation of church and state is certainly a complex topic and, like all constitutional issues, is part of a living document. We are fortunate that Americans have recognized that amending the constitution is a grave matter and should not be a way of resolving parochial differences on cultural or religious concerns.

I know that many so-called mainstream people of faith are appalled at this dangerous statement from a presidential candidate. We must now hope that evangelicals will see beyond the rhetoric and recognize that Huckabee's position puts their own freedom of religion at risk, and not just that of people whose theology differs from theirs.

More.

Ways out of the recession

From smarter minds than mine:

No Quick Fix to Downturn

Peter S. Goodman and Floyd Norris

The question is not whether we will have a recession, but how deep and prolonged it will be,” said David Rosenberg, the chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch. “Even if the Fed’s moves are going to work, it will not show up until the later part of 2008 or 2009.

Stimulate the Economy, Don't Play Politics With It

Steven Pearlstein

Look, folks, this ought to be an easy one. Almost everyone agrees that recession is likely and a modest amount of fiscal stimulus could provide an economic cushion. It won't prevent a recession, but fiscal stimulus could be an insurance policy against the economy spiraling out of control. And it could take some of the pressure off the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, which could stoke inflation, prompt a run on the dollar and reinflate the credit bubble that got us into this mess.

And, of course, vote the bums out!

Potomac Primary: a split decision

Enjoying their cups of victory joe at Stacy's Coffee Parlor, Gene Cizauskas (on the left) — the matriarch of the Cizauskas clan — and Y.F.G.F. (on the right, and that's not metaphorically) had split their votes earlier on primary day in Virginia.

When reminded that the pollsters were saying that it's the young that were voting for Senator Obama, Gene agreed. She had!

• Today is Lincoln's Birthday
  
• Respect for Democracy
• A toothy smile for Prez
• Barack Obama
  
• Shakepeare and beer, wine, and victory

Lincoln's birthday

Tuesday is the 199th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birth.

And, Tuesday, three options at the Virginia presidential primary polls will include an African-American man, a Caucasian woman, and an American war hero.

This will be an historic day on which I will feel very proud and fortunate to be an American.

Is fascism an impeachable offense?

The spelling isn't quite right, but the rant is ... and it is frightening in its implication: degradation of the Constitution has been so blithely accepted or shrugged as off as 'whatever' during the last 7 years.