(Throat-clearing)

I think that every three years or so, I should add a new post to this blog. Well, actually, I sort of forgot about this blog, but, by darn, I'm going to rev up again. When I have something to say.

Stay tuned.

Liberal or Conservative?

I’ve been thinking about political labels lately and trying to figure out where various people fit in. Perhaps you could help me.

If someone believes strongly in preserving the U.S. Constitution, especially the individual protections offered by the Bill of Rights, is that person a conservative or a liberal?

What about someone who believes that the best way to achieve peace is to prepare for war? And that if the country does commit itself to war, it should do so only when it is prepared to go all out and win the damn thing as fast as possible?

Are you liberal or conservative if you want to conserve the environment? Are you Republican or Democrat if you believe the government should not spend more than it takes in, except in cases of national emergency?

If you believe the government should leave people alone and let them live their lives the way they see fit (i.e. “the pursuit of happiness”) so long as they aren’t harming someone else, does that mean it’s okay for people to marry whatever consenting adult they so choose? And if not, why not?

Should schools be allowed to favor one student over another based on race, and, if so, is that a liberal or conservative stance? And then there’s health care. Is it liberal to leave millions of fellow citizens uninsured and dependant on, say, Parkland Hospital, at the taxpayers’ expense, rather than insure them and keep costs down? Or is that conservative? Or is it just bad fiscal policy, regardless of your political persuasion?

Is it liberal to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages but conservative to prohibit marijuana? Or is it the other way around?

Is it liberal or conservative to crack down on companies that manufacture dangerous products that harm people in their intended usage? It’s conservative, isn’t it, to allow the lawyers who take on all the risks of a personal injury lawsuit for a client to reap her bargained-for reward, right? Or is it liberal because the lawyer sued a corporation?

Of course, slapping a label on someone rather than listening and thinking is easy. But is that liberal or conservative?

Bush's Apology (Not)

The text of the national address you should see, but never will, from George W. Bush.


My Fellow Americans:

Good evening.

I apologize from the bottom of my heart. The most difficult thing for a President to do is make the decision to send our nation to war. It is a decision that should only be undertaken with the greatest care and with the greatest certainty that war is the correct, and last, option. Never should our great nation invade another country on anything but the most solid, indisputable evidence of a threat to us or one of our close allies.

As you know, I came before you in the Spring of 2003 to tell you of the grave menace that Saddam Hussein and Iraq posed to the United States. I told you, and I dispatched then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations to tell them, that Iraq posed an immediate threat to our people. I told you then that we had good intelligence that Iraq possessed stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and was ready to use them. I led you to believe that there was a connection between Saddam and the same group of terrorists who inflicted such horrible damage to our country on September 11, 2001. The United Nations told you otherwise. They said there was no solid evidence that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. The UN, and others, said there was no solid evidence linking Saddam to al Qaeda in a significant way.

They were right, I was wrong. It wasn’t just me, of course. The majority of Congress, from both parties, supported me in this venture. As your President and the Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces, though, responsibility lies with me, and I take the blame.

My administration promised you that Saddam would be swiftly conquered and the country of Iraq would gratefully accept our guidance toward becoming a peaceful democracy in a matter of months. I promised “shock and awe,” but now I must admit that I am the one who is shocked and awed at how badly things in Iraq have gone. We should have foreseen the sectarian strife that was held in check for so many years, in a brutal manner, by Saddam, and we should have had a better plan for dealing with it. Foremost, though, the United States should never have invaded Iraq to begin with.

I apologize to you, the American people, and I apologize to the families of countless others who have lost their lives because of my mistake. May God bless, and forgive, the United States of America.

Republicans Cast Their Lott

I’m concerned, as an American citizen, about the Republican Party’s mindset. If I were an actual Republican, I’d be even more concerned.

Just a few days after suffering one of the most thorough political routs this country has seen, the Republicans just voted in Sen. Trent Lott as their No. 2 man in the Senate. Was there something about the recent midterm elections they didn’t understand? Four years ago, those same Republicans voted to dump Lott as their Majority Leader because of remarks he made praising racial segregation in the South. Well, actually, they dumped him because of the furor over Lott’s comments more than for the comments themselves. Still, doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is good enough for me.

Now, just after the rest of the country joined those Republican Senators in dumping many other Republicans around the country, I’ll be damned if they didn’t just put the man back in a leadership position. Did Lott admit he was impaired, check himself into some sort of rehabilitation program, and get well, while no one was looking? That seems to be the modus operandi of disgraced political leaders these days.

The smarter Republicans will understand what the 2004 elections meant. The others have cast their Lott elsewhere, showing once again that you just can’t help some people.

Judge not. Oh, what the hell, go ahead and judge.

I just released my second novel, Running for the Bench (A Brief Political Comedy). You can buy it now on Amazon .

Modesty prevents me from telling you how good it is, but you should know that the novel is damn funny and insightful. I can tell you that the book is about a Dallas divorce attorney running for judge.

And this brings me to my non-personal-aggrandizement point. Why in the world do we elect judges? Those of you who have read my previous blogs (God bless you) might have recognized my left-leaning tendency, and Dallas County just elected 42 new countywide officeholders, each and every one of them a Democrat. It was an unprecedented clean sweep.

So, if there were any time for me to gloat and praise the wisdom of the voters, this would be the time. But it isn’t, and I’m not.

The fact is, the average citizen, not to mention the average lawyer, has no idea who these people are whom we’re putting into office. As in every judicial election, some good people were put in place along with some bad, and some good judges lost their spots along with some bad. And it’s all just a crapshoot.

It doesn’t make any logical sense to elect judges. In a republican (little “r”) form of democracy, like ours, we elect people to represent us in state legislatures and congress and so on, because each person can’t be present to deliberate and vote on each decision. But judges don’t “represent” us. They aren’t supposed to be swayed by us at all. A judge is supposed to do one thing: apply and interpret the law (okay, two things).

Even most lawyers don’t know the identity or qualifications of judicial candidates outside of their own specialty area of practice. It would be like me, a lawyer, voting for who the best doctor is, and using a political party affiliation to do it.

Okay, end of tirade. For now.

Buy the book. Please.

Big Mouth, Small Hands

Here's my quick-take sports opinion after watching the Cowboys lose a game to Washington that Dallas should have won. Perhaps Tony Romo should consider throwing toward Terrell Owens' mouth. It's always open. God knows hitting TO in his hands isn't good enough.

Sorry, Your Vote Will Not Be Counted At This Time: Please Try Again Later

So I did my civic duty and voted early this week. After all the build-up to this mid-term election, it felt great to vote and get it over with. It gives me a license to ignore all political chatter between now and Election Day if I want to. (Being a politcal junkie, though, I probably won't be able to). Anyway, I highly recommend this voting thing.

There is one thing, though, that is bugging me. After I finished making all my selctions on the multi-page Dallas County ballot by touching my finger to the screen, I pushed a big, red "Vote"button on the top, and that was that. What assurance do I, or any voter, have that my ballot will actually be counted, and counted correctly? None whatsoever.

I'm a big fan of technology, but anyone who has used a computer (including you, presumably, if you're reading this) knows that they malfunction frequently. I think we really need a paper back-up system in voting, even if it does slow things down.