No Respect

Last week, it was have your children boycott the President's First Day of School Speech.

Then before a joint session of Congress, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) upstaged President Barack Obama’s healthcare speech to a joint session of Congress. Wilson cried out, “You lie,” when Obama claimed illegal immigrants will not be eligible to receive any new government health benefits.

Then on Sunday, there were dueling displays of disrespect. Angry mobs of grassroots (?) converged on the Capitol to protest President Obama, health care reform, big government and anything else they could think of. A sign was being handed out, and photographed that read, "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy.”

Then Sunday night came Kanye West's rant.

No matter where you are on the political spectrum, or what you feel about health care reform, or music, aren't we -- or shouldn't we be better than that.

It seems to me, implicit in the sign’s message is an act of violence against the President of the United States. These angry right-wing mobs want to see harm come to our President. Is it wrong, or am I wrong? Is it racist? let me know what you think.

But it's not just Congressmen and political right-wingers showing disrespect. Kayne West, who had been known to lampoon President George W. Bush, was embarassing last night at the MTV awards.

The Washington Post asked today:

Separated at Birth: Kanye West and Joe Wilson?

Is Kanye West the Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) of the music world?

Last night's ill-mannered interruption of Taylor Swift's VMA acceptance speech was eerily reminiscent of last week's similarly unwelcome outburst from Wilson during President Obama's health care address to a joint session of Congress. So what does that say about us?

voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2009/09/separated_at_birth_kanye_west.html?hpid=talkbox1

For a lighter take on this comparison, watch this excellent mashup -- obviously rushed into production -- in which West interrupts Obama's speech, it's at the end of the link.

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More about Joe (Has He No Shame)Wilson (R-SC), here are some more links to help you.

First off he first gained fame as a state senator by strongly supporting and then voting for the continuance of flying the Confederate flag over the SC state house. His remarks, though, have helped his 2010 (and 2008) opponent, Rob Miller, had raised $500,000 in the past 24 hours and the DNC has raised over a million (before it sends out the appeal letters using Wilson). Not to be left out of it, Joe Wilson has already released a commercial where he begins by noting his apology and then proceeds to attack Obama's health care plan and ask for your pledge (as you can see above). Finally, here is PolitFact which is a source that checks comments made by politicians and you can see it disputes Wilson's side.

A World of Halves and Have-Nots

The following FRQ will be due on Thursday (9/3). Answer the question completely, using supporting examples:

(A) Define the concepts of: globalization; sovereignty and civil society.

(B) Identify the IMF and the World Bank and describe 2 goals of each of these international organizations.

(C) Explain how each of the goals has or has not contributed to concepts defined above.

Kernel Clunk

He was a victim of his own success.

According to Colonel Klink of Hogan’s Heroes fame, “There has never been a successful escape from Stalag 13.” If only the Commandant had known the whole truth. Stalag 13 was anything but secure. In the popular television show Hogan’s Heroes the POWs of Stalag 13 operated a full-scale underground espionage unit under the nose of the nincompoop Klink. Klink was blinded by his own success.

Similarly this week we learned of another “victim of its own success.” President Obama announced that the popular “Cash for Clunkers” program ends at 8 PM on Monday night. It has "run out of money."

The Administration will boast of its success. It will be argued that hundreds of thousands of gas guzzling cars have been permanently removed from the streets. Manufacturing in America is up. Thousands of workers have found new jobs. The auto industry is saved. The American consumer is confidant again. Happy days are here again.

In such claims kernels of truth can be found.

To date close to 500,000 clunkers have been turned in due to this program. Over $2 billion of the appropriated $3 billion has been claimed by auto dealerships around the country. A $4,500 government subsidy proved to be a powerful incentive to buy a new car.

The long-term affect, however, may prove to be more revealing.

Of that $2 billion owed to dealerships, less than $200 million has been distributed. The thousand or so employees of the Department of Transportation dedicated to this program are swamped. Seemingly the program was ended less because of a cash shortage and more because of a manpower shortage. The government cannot keep up with the requests and the dealerships are beginning to toot their horns. Many dealerships are worried that Obama has sold them a lemon. Obama cannot afford negative feedback from a relatively small program with his health care debate on the horizon. Quit while you are ahead.

The lessons here are plentiful.

Public policy ain’t beanbag. The idea behind “Cash for Clunkers” proved to be a bulls-eye. Interest exceeded expectations. Overwhelming participation in the program undercut the Department of Transportation’s readiness to fulfill its obligations. The symbolic success of the program soon exceeded the reality of implementation. Claim success and get out before a good thing turns bad.

When searching for ways to fundamentally transform the American economy in the 1930s President Roosevelt said, “It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”

President Obama hasn’t let Roosevelt down. He has been open to many ideas. Acknowledging the limitations of his ideas, however, is not one of Obama’s strong suits. Claiming one thing without recognizing the truth of another will ultimately dog this president like it has for all of the others. Playing politics at the expense of governing cannot last forever.

If Obama cannot be frank with the American people he will lose our trust. Then he too will become a victim of his own success.

A Complicated Life

(From CBS2School)
Like Senator Ted Kennedy, representative democracy has led a complicated American life.

Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1962, Kennedy became the model for what some of our Constitutional Framers envisioned as the best way to serve the Republic. But others contend that this unbeatable incumbent reflected a darker side of our democracy when entrenched politicians stay in power for decades.

While serving as lawmakers, elected representatives must constantly weigh two sides when casting each of their legislative votes.

On one side, the delegates attempt to vote identical to popular will.

These representatives keep a close watch on opinion polls and will often consult their constituents for guidance as to the stance that a majority of voters.

Critics contend that the popular democracy which flavors the delegate approach can water down bold initiatives and give too much power to the masses.

The delegate approach to representation can also result in a legislator who waivers in between two ideological camps. American popular opinion often sits on the fence between ideological extremes, and representatives voting with the delegate approach often gain the reputations of being politically independent.

Ted Kennedy was no delegate.

Kennedy was a classic example of a legislator who votes as a trustee.

He was one of 23 Senators who voted against the war in Iraq when nearly 70% of Americans favored war. He consistently used this trustee approach to vote his conscience, not to cater to public will.

Kennedy often spoke about working for the common good when it came to expanding the role of the federal government into education and healthcare. And he advocated for the marginalized in pushing for expanded protections of ethnic minorities and homosexuals.

Some of our Framers might have seen Ted Kennedy as their model of legislator who could avoid voting with special interests and vote for the common good. But conservatives in Massachusetts who opposed his ideas, would likely say that Kennedy’s approach left them without a voice in the Senate since 1962.

Regardless, it’s important to remember Kennedy apart from his brothers and his prominent political family.

Kennedy should also be remembered as another one of the prolific members of Congress from Massachusetts. And like John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Daniel Webster, Kennedy’s public service offers much for us to reflect about the complexities of our Republic.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=300059

Jihad vs. McWorld

Benjamin Barber outlines threats to democracy in a globalized world in his classic, Jihad vs. McWorld. Read & CODE and summarize the article and be reading to discuss on Tuesday. You may also be quizzed on this reading. Also, think about the tone titles like, "Jihad vs. McWorld," or "Clash of Civiliations," set in the world today.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199203/barber

Milton Gladly

(From CBS2School)

Political gamesmanship is at play when watching the media hype over rambunctious Town Hall meetings. A boisterous gathering to voice protest is not new. Using them for political advantage, however, seems to be the newest game in town.

Fox News and other like-minded conservative outlets use the rowdy footage to exaggerate animosity toward Obama’s health care policy.

CNN and other more Obama-friendly media use the Town Hall outbursts to suggest a right wing conspiracy has been organized. Republicans, they claim, orchestrate Astroturf hostility in desperation before facing another defeat to a popular president.

Wonderfully for us we have both options to consider. It has not always been so.

Freedom of speech has faced great opposition throughout history. One of its greatest defenders, however, was English polemicist and poet John Milton (1608-1674). Areopagitica, published in 1644, was Milton’s most ardent defense against the tyranny of censorship and government-controlled speech. In particular Milton was speaking out against Parliament’s Licensing Order of 1643. Despite his loyalty to Parliament during the English civil war, Milton disagreed with their new found power of censoring the written word. Protecting it against dissent never protects truth. He wrote:

“Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously by licensing and prohibiting to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter.”

Unfettered free speech was not Milton’s end game. Even Milton understood the need for limits. Free speech to Milton did not give license to the inane or foolish. He encouraged some level prudence.

What to do then about these rowdy and raucous Town Hall meetings?

A recent TIME magazine article suggested that the French have learned to adopt a more modest attitude when it comes to swim attire or the lack there of. Traditional two-piece bikinis have replaced the more revealing and revered topless bathing. The French word for this new prim attitude is pudique.

Before our own cultural Star Chamber rewrites the rules for political speech, perhaps a little pudique here in America would help the cause. Recognizing a respectful etiquette when exercising our free speech may go along way in helping to preserve it. When crossing into the busy streets of political discourse adhering to the adage “stop, look and listen” may help advance the truth.

After all, as former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger once stated, “Free speech carries with it some freedom to listen.”

Milton would have gladly agreed and so should we.
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Health Care Town Hall Anger Rages On

Out on the health care firing line, senators and members of Congress continued to get battered by constituents angry over President Barack Obama’s reform plan Wednesday — with voters raising questions about everything from assisted suicide to coverage for illegal immigrants.

Lawmakers insisted over and over that the bills in Congress would cover neither — but their answers did nothing to tamp down the anger from Afton, Iowa, to Hagerstown, Md., to Rocky Mount, N.C.

In Iowa, a self-described “dumb southern Iowa redneck” told Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, “I see nowhere in the Constitution where health care is a right. ... I want to hear it from Obama, I want to hear it from Pelosi, about how this is about ‘We the people.’“

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26049.html#ixzz0O0rR52SG

Eunice Kennedy Shriver transformed attitudes, transcended politics

The health care debate today makes one wonder if politicians can transform attitudes.

The Kennedy Family is one of America's foremost political families, but it may have been the sister of JFK, Bobby and Teddy that had the most influence on changing attitudes in a way that transcends politics. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics, has passed away.

No one paid attention to people with intellectual disabilities before EKS began her mission that became a movement to bring joy, dignity and empowerment to people with intellectual disabilities. Before she pushed her brother JFK to start the Presidential Commission on Mental Retardation, the word "retard" was a commonplace pejorative.

EKS helped us change our attitudes about what's possible. The Special Olympics needed government support. Today it is a worldwide movement that brings joy, dignity and empowerment to people with intellectual disabilities.

Special Olympics chronicles EKS life with tributes here: //www.eunicekennedyshriver.org/

And while some political pundits raised the question of who will be the most influential Kennedy, in light of cancer-striken Senator Ted Kennedy's career fight for universal health care, one should not forget the mission Eunice Kennedy Shriver accomplished over a life that transcended politics and transformed American attitudes.