The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Politics

I Loved This George Will Essay

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This is fine essay recounting some of the events of 2008. It is worth looking at. Here are a few excerpts:

“If 2008 were not divisible by four, this would have been The Year of Gen. David Petraeus. During the presidential contest between an African-American from Chicago and a plumber from Toledo, eros reared its beguiling head, so: Coming soon to a Cineplex near you, “Republicans in Love,” a romantic comedy about conservatives who advocate extravagant presidential powers and who this autumn favored putting the governor of a national park (the federal government owns 63 percent of Alaska) in close proximity to those powers.“

and

“Peanut allergy had its 15 minutes as a cause of public health hysteria, long enough for the vigilant schools of Union County, N.C., to ban PB&J sandwiches. In New Haven, Conn., an eighth grader was suspended, removed as class vice president and banned from a school honors dinner because he bought a banned substance from a classmate. The substance was Skittles, the fruit-flavored candy. A food fascist explained that candy sales violate the school system’s wellness policy. In Prince William County, Va., police were called when Randy Castro, 7, a first grader, became the subject of an incident report titled “Sexual Touching Against Student, Offensive.” While still 6 he had smacked a classmate’s bottom. Residents of New York City are becoming obese almost three times faster than other Americans, which is probably partly explained by nanny-mayor Michael Bloomberg’s jihad against smoking. Compulsory calisthenics—”Central Park at 6:30 a.m. Be there or be fined!”—cannot be far off.”

How To Deal With Pirates

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Michael Oren has an essay in the WSJ that discusses how to deal with pirates. Oren provides a historical context in which he addresses what a young U.S. did then and offers a suggestion for the current situation as well.

If you read the essay you’ll see that somethings never really change. Here is a brief excerpt.

The choice was excruciating. No longer protected by the British navy and lacking any gunboats of its own, the U.S. had no ready military option. Nor did it have international support. Jefferson’s attempt to create an international coalition together with European states was summarily rejected. Defenseless and internationally isolated, most Americans were opposed to devoting their scarce resources to building a navy and instead favored following the age-old European
custom of bribing the pirates — the euphemism was “tribute” — in exchange for safe passage. “Would to Heaven we had a navy to reform these enemies to mankind or crush them into non-existence,” an exasperated George Washington confided to his old comrade-in-arms, the Marquis de Lafayette.

Washington’s frustration could well be echoed today in the face of escalating assaults by pirates from Somalia. Over 90 such attacks have occurred this year alone — a three-fold increase since 2007 — resulting in the capture of 14 ships and 250 of their crew members. Among their prizes, the pirates have seized a Ukrainian freighter crammed with Soviet-made battle tanks and, most recently, the tanker Sirius Star with $100 million worth of Saudi crude in its holds. These shipments are now being held off the Somali coast where the pirates are bargaining for their return.

Superficially, at least, there are many differences between the Somali pirates and their Barbary predecessors. The Somali bandits have no declared state sponsors and no avowed religious pretext. Their targets are no longer principally American ships but flags of all nations, including those of Arab states. And they are more interested in ransoming cargoes of arms and oil than hapless sailors. Yet, no less than in the 18th century, 21st-century piracy threatens international trade and confronts the U.S. with complex questions.

Should the U.S. Navy, for example, actively combat the pirates, emulating the Indian warship that destroyed a Somali speedboat earlier this week? Can the U.S., which is already overstretched militarily in two conflicts, afford to assume responsibility for another open-ended operation in the same area? Or should America follow the example now being set by Saudi Arabia and various Asian states which, according to United Nations statistics, have paid $25 million to $30 million in ransoms to the pirates this year alone?

Crossposted here.

Post Election- Sour Grapes

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“The election was stolen.”
“The people have proven themselves to be stupid.”
“He is not my president.”
“I am in disbelief. Americans deserve what they get.”
“He is going to destroy the country.”

Those are a small sample of some of the comments floating around the blogosphere regarding the election. I find them to be disappointing and in some cases disturbing but not necessarily surprising.

They mirror many of the comments that were made after the last election, only instead of coming from the left they are now coming from the right. You can call me naive or unreasonably optimistic but I am not real worried that the country is suddenly going to implode. There is more strength and fiber here than that.

It is disappointing that some people have to label those who disagree with them as being stupid. It is too bad that they don’t believe that someone could come to an educated decision that disagrees with their own perspective.

It is my hope that if you don’t like what happen you’ll suck it up and deal with it. I found eight years of listening to people constantly carp and bash Bush to be tedious. Many of those who yelled the loudest did the least to try and help change things.

I rather expect that we’ll see that happen again, but I hope not.

All this nonsense is what made me become an Independent. I don’t trust either party. They are both riddled with issues. So I suppose that I am going to continue to cross party lines and vote issue by issue. If that means that you continue to label me as a fencesitter, so be it. I am comfortable with it.

If I go through the archives I know that I wrote a similar post about the crap I heard after Dubya’s re-election. So now I am going to try and repeat some of what I said there.

There is no time like the present to try and help improve things. Get involved with your community. Help clean the beaches, wash away grafitti and do things to make life better in your town/village/city. Volunteer at a school and help teach kids to read.

Just get out and do something to make a difference. Cliche or not, it doesn’t take much to make a change, just a few people to try.

And now if you’ll excuse me I am going to climb down from my soapbox.

What Benefits Do You Receive From Being President

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So the election has come and gone and Obama is now the president elect. It leads me along a line of thought that I have two stepped through before and that is what sort of benefits do you get by being president.

Before we go any farther, yes Shmata Queen that is a reference to two stepping, or don’t you remember that night… 😉 Hah, I am laughing. Richard Dawson is still dead.

Anyhoo, here is a short list of things that I wonder about.

Does the president carry a wallet?
Does the president carry house keys?
Does the president have the option of driving his own car?
How much freedom does the president have to alter his own schedule?
How much vacation and sick time is the president allotted?
Are those tallied up separately or do they come from one bucket of personal time?
Does the president accrue vacation time?

Sometimes I have wondered what would happen if the president decided that he didn’t feel like working and just started delegating responsibility. As things stand the president has to delegate a lot of the responsibilities. I know that in some companies senior management can sluff off a ton of work on subordinates to the point that they hardly have anything to do.

Does the president pack his own clothes for trips to summits and the like or is that something that goes to a trusted aide?

I have a ton of other questions, but I’ll save those. For now here is some information that I came across that you might find to be of interest.

Here is a link to White House Facts:

There are 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 6 levels in the Residence. There are also 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators.

At various times in history, the White House has been known as the “President’s Palace,” the “President’s House,” and the “Executive Mansion.” President Theodore Roosevelt officially gave the White House its current name in 1901.

Presidential Firsts while in office… President James Polk (1845-49) was the first President to have his photograph taken… President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) was not only the first President to ride in an automobile, but also the first President to travel outside the country when he visited Panama… President Franklin Roosevelt (1933-45) was the first President to ride in an airplane.

With five full-time chefs, the White House kitchen is able to serve dinner to as many as 140 guests and hors d’oeuvres to more than 1,000.

The White House requires 570 gallons of paint to cover its outside surface.

For recreation, the White House has a variety of facilities available to its residents, including a tennis court, jogging track, swimming pool, movie theater, and bowling lane.

For those who are curious about the V.P. here is a relevant link.

Before 1974, Vice Presidents and their families lived in their own home, but the cost of securing these private homes had grown substantially over the years. After years of debate, Congress agreed to refurbish the house at the Naval Observatory as a home for the Vice President.

Although Number One Observatory Circle was available to the Vice President in 1974, three years passed before a Vice President lived in the home. Vice President Ford became President Ford before he could use the home, and his Vice President, Nelson Rockefeller, only used the home for entertaining. Vice President Mondale was the first Vice President to move into the home. It has since been home to the
Bushes, the Quayles and the Gores.

This link has all sorts of information about the benefits. I haven’t had time to properly vet all of the information so some of this might need to be doublechecked. Some of it seems to be in line so we’ll cite a few sections.

Modern Presidents enjoy many non-salary benefits such as living and working in the spacious White House mansion in Washington, DC. While traveling, the President is able to conduct all the functions of the office aboard several specially built Boeing 747s, which take the call sign Air Force One when the President is aboard. The President travels around Washington in an armored Cadillac limousine, equipped with bullet-proof windows and tires and a self-contained ventilation system in the event of a biological or chemical attack. When traveling longer distances around the Washington area or on presidential trips, the President travels aboard the presidential helicopter, which takes the call sign Marine One when the president is aboard. Additionally, the President has full use of Camp David in Maryland, a sprawling retreat occasionally used as a casual setting for hosting foreign dignitaries.

The President and his family are protected at all times by an extensive Secret Service detail. Until 1997, all former Presidents and their families were protected by the Secret Service until the President’s death. The last President to have lifetime Secret Service protection is Bill Clinton; George W. Bush and all subsequent Presidents will be protected by the Secret Service for a maximum of 10 years after leaving office.

Presidents continue to enjoy other benefits after leaving office such as free mailing privileges, free office space, the right to hold a diplomatic passport and budgets for office help and staff assistance. However, it was not until after Harry S. Truman (1958) that Presidents received a pension after they left office. Additionally, since the presidency of Herbert Hoover, Presidents receive funding from the National Archives and Records Administration upon leaving office to establish their own presidential library. These are not traditional libraries, but rather repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, and other historical materials for each President since Herbert Hoover.

Crossposted here.

Politics- I Don’t Care

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With the election literally around the corner the amount of noise has increased tenfold. Noise is the term that I am using to describe all of the new coverage, campaign ads and conversation that is specifically about the election.

Frankly I am tired and bored of it all. I made my decisions about who I am voting for, what my positions are on the various measures and now I am ready for this all to end. It is time to be done with it and get back to living our lives.

That being said I want to make a comment about political discussions. I readily admit to at times being a gadfly and someone who will provoke conversation. It is my nature to push the envelope and test my limits. It is not necessarily the most mature thing, but it has its moments.

If I buy the story that some of my friends are selling this is the most important and most divisive presidential campaign ever held. I won’t spend much time on whether it is important or not because I think that every presidential election is important. When you have the ability to pick up the phone and send troops into battle you swing a big stick. So it really doesn’t matter what the situation is, a bad president can do a lot of damage.

The thing that really gets me about this election is the number of times I have heard people say that they can’t stand Democrats/Republicans. Call me what you will, but I don’t make judgments on whether I like people based on their politics. I suppose that you could argue that politics delineate value sets and that based upon those value sets you can say yea or nay, but I don’t really see most of these conversations going that way.

I really don’t care if my friends have the same political views as myself. Now maybe that is because I cross party lines, I have voted for both Democrats and Republicans. I’ll have to think about this a little bit more.

Crossposted here.