If you have nothing to hide, why worry?

Supporters of the NSA wire-tapping and of the PATRIOT Act assert that if we have nothing to hide, why should we be concerned.  Consider that an administration may construe any criticism of itself to be criminal and covered by the PATRIOT Act.  Don't laugh, but there have been people who have privately called their leaders jerks and put in prison for it.  Don't laugh, Joseph McCarthy hounded people for their political beliefs.  Don't laugh, Richard Nixon had his enemies list of people who were critical of his policies.  Don't laugh, George W. Bush said, "You are either with us or against us."

But how many of these same people don't apply the same reasoning to corporate labels.  If a corporation has nothing to hide in its products, then why is it concerned about laws concerning labeling?  If GMO foods are good for you, then what do corporations have to hide in having laws past to prohibit labeling foods as GMO?

If various political front organizations of any stripe have nothing to hide, why do they need 501(c) status?  Could it be that the law requires candidates to give the names of their donors but a 501(c) organization doesn't have to?  If you live in California and want to contribute to a candidate in Wisconsin, why do want to hide that you are an out-of-state donor?

Consistency has never been a hall-mark of those with uncompromising political mind-sets.

Quote of the day: foreign policy tantrums

"Unfortunately, U.S. policy towards Cuba resembles a 50-year tantrum, rather than a coherent plan for encouraging a transition to democracy. "The Castros, Cuba, and America: On the road towards capitalism", The Economist, 2012-03-24, reprinted in the Star Tribune, 2012-03-27

I am always amazed as to how long the U.S. government holds grudges; these put it in the same play pen as North Korea, Venezuela, and Iran.  I suppose internal U.S. politics has more to do with this silliness than practical diplomacy.  I hope it doesn't take another Nixon to take the initiative like he did with China.

I've been wondering lately why the U.S. doesn't say to Iran, "We are sorry that we overthrew Mossadegh and supported the Shah.  Now would you apologize for the taking over of our embassy?"  Oh, but I forgot internal U.S. politics!

If you want to lead you need to read

"I'm a leader, not a reader.' - Herman Cain, Nashua NH, 2011-11-17, quoted in Union Leader. This is probably a swipe at Barack Obama who reads a lot. Cain went on to say that he would surround himself with "good people" who we can rely on for good advice. Excuse me, Mr. Cain, but how are you going to know they are giving good advice if you are not somewhat conversant with the subject matter?

Some of our best leaders have been voracious readers. Teddy Roosevelt, the second good Republican president, sometimes read several books a day. Thomas Jefferson had a very large library. Even leaders that are disparaged by some as anti-intellectual read lots of books - Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush. Richard Nixon said, "I am not educated, but I do read books." See "For Obama and past presidents, the book they read shape policies and perceptions", Tevi Troy, Washington Post, 2010-04-18.

Is Rick Perry anti-Constitution and anti-Republican?

One of the two departments that Rick Perry could remember that he wanted to abolish was the Department of Commerce. He seems to forget that Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the power "To regulate Commerce … among the several states…" He also forgets that the Department of Commerce and Labor was created in 1903 during the tenure of the second good Republican President, Theodore Roosevelt. He forgets also that TR was the trust-buster, but Perry wants to be the lackey of today's trusts.

The department whose name he forgot is the Department of Energy. He probably wants to abolish it because, among other activities, it seeks to find alternatives to oil, something that made Texas rich, and to coal, something that made his bosses, the Koch brothers, rich.

The agency that he named to eliminate rather than the Department of Energy was the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that was proposed by President Richard Nixon. Its charge was to protect human health and the environment. So, he wants to stop the regulation of commerce that prohibits polluters, using Texas oil and Koch brothers coal, from putting their pollution in states downwind or downstream of the polluting sites.

If Perry is a favorite of some in the Tea Party who want a strict interpretation of the Constitution, where is his civic virtue? Civic virtue and common good are something stressed in the Federalist Papers, written by three of the signers of the Constitution: James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.

Health care "debate"? Walter, where are you when we need you?

If you think the health care "debate" has gotten out of hand, be sure to read
"In America, Crazy Is a Preexisting Condition", Rick Perlstein, Washington Post, 2009-08-16

This so-called left-right divide is more of a cosmopolitan-crazy divide. According to Perlstein, Walter Cronkite would not have treated some of this controversy as serious public debate; he would have called much of it crazy.

Some is what some people really believe; some of it is pandering to these people and feeding them misinformation that they are ready to believe.

There are many legitimate issues to be discussed about health care, but the discussion has degenerated into a shouting match by a minority. It is not helped by those in the media who continue to consider such shouting matches as legitimate political expression. I think the correct name is mob rule, something the Founders worried about.

It has been made worse by a party that panders to this minority and calls itself a major party. When will the honest members of that party break away. Sen. Arlen Specter was one who broke away, but he didn't seek enough independence.