Mr. Glock goes to Washington

POLITICO reports that in the wake of the Tucson shootings, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) will be packing heat in their home districts for protection. Both lawmakers hold “conceal and carry” permits. On the one hand, I don't blame them. On the other hand, would turning a town hall meeting into the O.K. Corral – with shooters and lawmakers exchanging gunfire – make anyone safer? Leave your 9mm Glocks at home, gentlemen.

In defense of vitriol

Slate's Jack Shafer flips the argument on its head. He argues that "our spirited political discourse, complete with name-calling, vilification — and, yes, violent imagery — is a good thing."

Shafer writes:

The great miracle of American politics is that although it can tend toward the cutthroat and thuggish, it is almost devoid of genuine violence outside of a few scuffles and busted lips now and again. With the exception of Saturday's slaughter, I'd wager that in the last 30 years there have been more acts physical violence in the stands at Philadelphia Eagles home games than in American politics.

Any call to cool "inflammatory" speech is a call to police all speech, and I can't think of anybody in government, politics, business, or the press that I would trust with that power.

Point taken. But Shafer is being selective with history and naïve about the power of words. Lest we forget, America has already endured a time when hateful, incendiary rhetoric provided the kindling if not the fuse for “genuine violence.” The year was 1861. The “scuffle” was the Civil War. No one is calling for censorship or the muffling of spirited debate. I, too, would entrust no elite with such a portfolio. But Shafer’s idealism is wrongheaded. History has repeatedly shown the tragic consequences of underestimating the power of violent speech. There must be a democratic middle ground for the sake of comity and our national survival. Not seeking it only invites disaster.

What vitriol has wrought

The New Yorker's George Packer argues it doesn’t matter why the Tucson shooter did it.

He writes:

This relentlessly hostile rhetoric has become standard issue on the right. (On the left it appears in anonymous comment threads, not congressional speeches and national T.V. programs.) And it has gone almost entirely uncriticized by Republican leaders. Partisan media encourages it, while the mainstream media finds it titillating and airs it, often without comment, so that the gradual effect is to desensitize even people to whom the rhetoric is repellent. We’ve all grown so used to it over the past couple of years that it took the shock of an assassination attempt to show us the ugliness to which our politics has sunk.

The massacre in Tucson is, in a sense, irrelevant to the important point. Whatever drove Jared Lee Loughner, America's political frequencies are full of violent static.

I doubt the Tucson massacre will induce political comity. That outcome requires the emergence of adults on the right -- in politics and the media -- willing to truly put country ahead of self-empowerment or ratings. So far, I see few such persons.

By dawn’s early light

ONE never knows what the dawn will bring. In Tucson, and here in Phoenix, Saturday brought calm, sunny weather and promised to unfold like any other. For Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the morning routine meant meeting constituents outside a local supermarket where the rising Sonoran sun competed with the warmth of her beaming smile. Normality ended when shots were fired, abruptly changing the course of her life and perhaps history. As of this writing, there are at least 12 casualties and six dead, including a federal judge. Giffords, shot in the head at point blank range, is in critical condition. She may or may not live.

The tragedy appears to be the work of a lone gunman, the bane of our democracy. We do not know whether his actions were politically motivated. But they easily could be. Giffords was one of the Democratic incumbents targeted by the notorious “crosshairs” ad promoted by Sarah Palin’s PAC on the heels of her “Don’t retreat — reload!” admonition. It’s telling that rightwing groups abruptly removed the ad and scrubbed their websites of other incendiary rhetoric today. Tomorrow will bring a new dawn. Will we use its early light to fully recognize that words matter in political discourse – and that their misuse can cost lives?

On violence

As the news about Rep. Gabrielle Giffords unfolds, several quotes are worth contemplating again:

"The main goal of the future is to stop violence. The world is addicted to it." -- Bill Cosby

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." -- Isaac Asimov

"Who overcomes by force hath overcome but half his foe." -- John Milton (Paradise Lost)

"Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary." -- Gandhi

Just a thought

THOUGH now largely resigned over the president's decision to hire William Daley as his new White House chief of staff, many progressive activists forlornly pine for a "West Wing" version of Barack Obama. But isn't Daley essentially the Leo McGarry character (Jed Bartlet's chief of staff), right down to the expensive suits? Just sayin'.

Quote of the Day

"We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special." -- Professor Stephen Hawking, born this day in 1942, turns 69 today.

My Pet Celebrity

I hope it all works out for insta-celebrity Ted Williams, the “golden-voiced” homeless man who’s gotten a new lease on life. He’s landed voice-over work from MSNBC and job offers from ESPN, MTV and other outlets. The media is fawning over Williams as if he is some cute, long-lost puppy. But Williams is no innocent. Thanks to drug and alcohol abuse, he wrecked a previous radio career, racked up a criminal record, spent time in prison and ended up sleeping under bridges in Cleveland. How did that happen? Has Williams cleaned up his act or is rehab still on the menu? Can someone really go from panhandling to “America’s hottest star,” as MSNBC breathlessly put it, literally overnight? Is it even wise? And what teachable moments can be drawn from his troubled life? Those are stories worth pursuing. Instead, Williams gets the patronizing pet celebrity treatment from the press, duly filed under “weird news.” Providence has given Mr. Williams a second chance. "God gave me a million-dollar voice, and I just hope I can do right by him," he said to the Associated Press. I hope so, too – especially when the media inevitably yanks away the Krieg lights to focus on the next shiny object.

How to become irrelevant

As P.M. Carpenter noted today, the progressive activist community has "launched into orbital unhingement over the [William] Daley pick." Making him White House chief of staff is a cataclysmic mistake, the lefties say. Yet, for each dire mistake or failure predicted – from Iraq to healthcare to DADT – Obama has proven them wrong. Why would any sane president listen to them now? Yes, holding Obama’s feet to the fire is both healthy and appropriate. But to be effective, progressives would be wise to heed the words of poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “Advice is like snow - the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper in sinks into the mind.”

Quote of the Day

"Obama's White House 2.0 is not being staffed to stage flamboyant ideological displays. The president is bringing on staffers to fight a war with a new set of rules." -- John Dickerson, Slate.com

Huck Finn and the N-Word

Per the New York Times, a new edition of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" will replace the word "nigger," which occurs 219 times in the book, with "slave." The news has triggered a debate among black and white readers alike about the appropriateness of doing so.

As profoundly offensive as that damnable word is, I do not think we should tamper with Mark Twain’s classic work. Read in context, one quickly learns Twain was not out to malign a race of people. On the contrary, the noblest character in the book (Jim) is black. Sadly, it is also historically accurate in terms of how a great many people (North and South) referred to African Americans in Twain’s time. And that fact should never be forgotten. That said, I loathe the n-word and sympathize with black readers who might celebrate its total eradication from all written works of art.

Author Francine Prose also opposes the word changes, but for wholly different reasons:

What puzzles me most about the debate — I’m not trying to sound willfully naïve — is why the word “nigger” should be more freighted, more troubling, the cause of more (to paraphrase the edition's introduction) “resentment” than the word “slave.” Racial epithets are inarguably disgusting, but not nearly so disgusting as an institution that treats human beings as property to be beaten, bought and sold. “Nigger” and “slave” are not synonyms by any stretch of the imagination.

Jim’s problem is not that he is called a “nigger” but that he is chattel who can be freed or returned to his master. Instead of excising the word from the novel, students should be reminded that however uneasy the word makes us, what should make us much more uneasy is the fact that we — the United States — were a slave-holding society.

Prose, who is white, can perhaps be forgiven for being baffled about the extra baggage the n-word carries. She has never faced the business end of this epithet, let alone felt its painful discharge. Yes, the word is connected to “slave” in a historical sense. But slavery ended in 1865. The use of the n-word did not. “Nigger” was and is another way of calling someone subhuman. Only when viewed in this light can one begin to understand the heavy, centuries-old “freight” it connotes for black folk.

The Daley Show

At first glance, Obama’s decision to make William Daley his next chief of staff strikes me as sound. The president opted for a political grown-up who knows Washington but is not of it. His outside-the-bubble perspective will be invaluable. Like Obama, he is a pragmatist. He leans center-left politically. Daley, a member of the famous clan that has run Chicago for decades, is known as an open-minded problem solver. The ex-Commerce Secy (under Clinton) is currently a JP Morgan-Chase executive. Daley’s extensive business ties have already triggered whining on the left. Per the New York Times, Adam Green of BoldProgressives.org said the pick was “a real mistake” and essentially called Daley a corporate lackey. Let's face it: There’s no pleasing those on the starry-eyed left still yearning for Obama to govern West Wing-style. But I do hope Daley turns out to be Obama’s real life Leo McGarry.

Mouthing the words

Today, House Republicans will take turns reading the US Constitution aloud as a first order of business. It is, of course, a cheap political stunt. As one Dem strategist said, it is the latest example of the right's "I am patriotic and you are not" worldview. The Founders, I am sure, are spinning in their graves. On the other hand, if ever there was a moment for Republicans to look foolish, this is it. For example, I wonder which lucky politician gets to read Article 1, Section 2? That’s the item dealing with my ancestors, the folks who were considered "three-fifths" persons in 1787. Who, pray tell, will stand on the House floor to read the 18th Amendment, the one that abolished liquor and inaugurated Prohibition? Jon Stewart is going to have a field day with this. The ridicule will be well deserved. The genius of the Constitution lies in its Darwinian nature. It’s too bad that so many on the right refuse to evolve with the living document they claim to worship but clearly do not comprehend.
------------------------------
UPDATE: It turns out the Republicans will read a politically correct version of the Constitution. Only sections and amendments that were not later changed will be cited. It's yet more proof that this was a farce to begin with.

Founder’s advice

When the Republicans conclude their dubious reading of the Constitution on the House floor today, Democrats should rebut with the words of James Madison: “Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government.”

The Outer Limits

According to the Star Tribune, Congresswoman and certified whack-job Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) is seriously weighing a 2012 presidential bid. Yes, really. “Aides say she has made no decision. But nothing is off the table,” the Trib reports. Imagine, if you will, a nightmare scenario where we had only two choices for president: Bachmann and Sarah Palin. Whom would you pick? For me, the decision is easy: Seppuku.

Hello 112th Congress

New members of the House and Senate (looking every inch like the overachieving, high school student body presidents that many once were) are being sworn in today on Capitol Hill. The media coverage, of course, has been breathless and over the top. That clicking sound you hear is America changing channels or turning television sets off. And that is appropriate. They want action not political theatrics. If history is any guide, today’s events will be remembered as a minor footnote. But history will expend volumes judging what this 112th Congress does with its legislative power in the Age of Obama. Let’s hope they don’t blow it.

Goodbye Gibbs

Gibbs who? That’s the likely response you’d get from the average American about the news that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is headed for the exits. Though the media is covering the long expected move as if Zeus himself is descending from Mount Olympus, the indifference beyond DC isn’t surprising. America’s eye is on the bigger picture. Nevertheless, Gibbs’ departure is good news. His communications prowess on the campaign trail never translated well in governance. When clarity was needed, Gibbs too often muddled the White House message. When toughness or boldness was called for, he too often crouched and played defense. A White House Maginot Line was the net effect. And the blitzkrieging Republican army simply drove around it. It’s one reason the GOP won the messaging battle on healthcare. Mysteriously, Gibbs never learned the sad adage that in politics perception is reality. I hope the next press secretary understands that today's political/media game is like nuclear war. There are no winners, only survivors.

Enterprise skipper sunk

As predicted, Capt. Owen Honors got torpedoed today. Per the The Virginian-Pilot (which broke the story over the weekend), "Adm. John C. Harvey announced today that he has permanently relieved Capt. Owen Honors as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier Enterprise for showing 'exceptionally poor judgment' in producing and broadcasting a series of raunchy videos to his crew in 2006 and 2007 [as executive officer]." But a core question remains: How on earth did Honors win command of the Enterprise in the first place? The Navy still has some 'splaining to do.

--------------------
UPDATE: Out of fairness, here is an impassioned defense of Capt. Honors by someone who knows him. It's rather compelling, and a reminder that things are rarely as black & white as they are often portrayed.

'Plump' Fiction

I really, really want to believe that the apocalypse is not nigh. Then I learn this: Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi has written a novel, slated for release this week. I didn't know she could read, let alone write -- even with the help of a ghostwriter (Valerie Frankel). It's entitled "A Shore Thing." Get it?

Going all comparative lit on us, one blogger (AOL's Sarah Crow) cleverly contrasted Snooki's work with the literary greats. Behold a sample.

On love:

Steinbeck: "Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love."

Snooki: "Yum. Johnny Hulk tasted like fresh gorilla."

It gets worse, much worse, as Snooki's prose is contrasted with Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Faulkner -- all of whom are spinning in their respective graves. Read the entire piece here.

Palin Addiction

Glenn Greenwald flagged this headline on CNN's Political Ticker website: "Palin re-tweet raises questions." Stopping the presses, CNN reported that the "former Alaska governor Monday relayed a comment from gay conservative pundit Tammy Bruce, who was expressing her criticism over continued Republican opposition to the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell military policy that won congressional repeal late last month." It then asked: "Now the political world is wondering just what Palin meant to express." No, CNN, it is not. It's just you. Or as Greenwald put it, the "CNN headline by itself pretty much proves imminent doom."

Quote of the Day

"I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people." -- Sir Isaac Newton (Born this day in 1643)

The day the statue fell

On April 9, 2003, we all saw the broadcast images of happy Iraqis toppling the colossal statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad’s Firdos Square. It was a perfect "Mission Accomplished" moment tailor made for TV. I remember thinking at the time that it seemed a bit too perfect. We’re now learning that it was. In a well-researched piece, New Yorker writer Peter Maass reports that the toppling was largely staged for the cameras. He also indicts the Western media for erroneously covering it like the Allied victory parade down the Champs-Élysées in WWII Paris. Maass, who was there, described the day the statue fell as an “illusional intermission between invasion and insurgency.”

Maass writes:

“The toppling of Saddam’s statue turned out to be emblematic of primarily one thing: the fact that American troops had taken the center of Baghdad. That was significant, but everything else the toppling was said to represent during repeated replays on television—victory for America, the end of the war, joy throughout Iraq—was a disservice to the truth. Yet the skeptics were wrong in some ways, too, because the event was not planned in advance by the military. …

Very few Iraqis were there. If you were at the square, or if you watch the footage, you can see, on the rare occasions long shots were used, that the square was mostly empty. ... Closeups filled the screen with the frenzied core of the small crowd and created an illusion of wall-to-wall enthusiasm throughout Baghdad. It was an illusion that reflected only the media’s yearning for exciting visuals.”

Read the entire article here. It's an excellent first draft of history.

Captain Dufus

Navy Capt. Owen Honors: "This evening, all of you bleeding hearts ... why don't just go ahead and hug yourself for the next 20 minutes or so, because there's a really good chance you're gonna be offended." So began a 2006 video skit produced and starred in by Honors, then the executive officer of the USS Enterprise. Today, he commands the mighty carrier. But I suspect his tenure is about end abruptly. You’ve probably heard the story by now (read about it here if not). To put it mildly, the Navy is less than honored about Honors making it the subject of the New Year’s first tabloid scandal. It has quickly (and rightly) condemned the videos. Clearly, Honors has shown a spectacular lack of judgment. Did the Navy know about the skits before they gave him command of the carrier? Has Honors, 49, demonstratively grown beyond his juvenility and inappropriate attitudes? Can we now fully trust him as an officer who leads by example? He certainly did not do so as XO. The Navy has some major league ‘splaining to do.

White House meets RE/MAX

The Los Angeles Times reports that the lovely property at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has dropped in value. The 132-room White House — 16 bedrooms and 35 bathrooms on 18 acres in the heart of the nation's capital — was worth $331.5 million at the top of the housing boom, per the Times. It’s only worth $253.1 million today, a 23.6% drop in value. Real estate bargain hunters are no doubt salivating. However, reliable sources say the current occupants have no interest in selling before 2016. To be sure, this news item demands, nay screams, to be filed under: World’s Most Useless Trivia. But I’ll cut the Times some slack. They get points for originality.

'The Old Year'

A poem by English poet John Clare (1793–1864):

The Old Year's gone away
    To nothingness and night:
We cannot find him all the day
    Nor hear him in the night:
He left no footstep, mark or place
    In either shade or sun:
The last year he'd a neighbour's face,
    In this he's known by none.

All nothing everywhere:
    Mists we on mornings see
Have more of substance when they're here
    And more of form than he.
He was a friend by every fire,
    In every cot and hall--
A guest to every heart's desire,
    And now he's nought at all.

Old papers thrown away,
    Old garments cast aside,
The talk of yesterday,
    Are things identified;
But time once torn away
    No voices can recall:
The eve of New Year's Day
    Left the Old Year lost to all.