Category Archives: Politics

Voting Your Conscience: Potentially Politically Priceless

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The elected representative to the US Congress from my home district is Virginia Foxx, who won a hotly contested Republican primary last year by defeating Winston-Salem’s blogging city councilman Vernon Robinson.  Until now I’d say that’s been the most newsworthy part of her political career.

Well now she’s done gone and made a name for herself.  She’s one of just 11 US Representatives who voted against the $52 billion emergency-appropriation bill for Katrina victims.  In an article in the Winston-Salem Journal she’s quoted as saying:

"I want to know that
there are safeguards and that there won’t be abuses, and I have to do
what I think is the right thing to do," she said…

Foxx argued that it
would be better to allocate the money in stages. The government’s
approach to spending on Katrina sets a bad precedent for how it deals
with future disasters, she said.

In a sign that voting her conscience might have also been a shrewd political move for Foxx, all 12 of the comments that the story garnered on the paper’s website (as of 5:48 p.m., September 13, 2005) were in support of Foxx’s vote.

Me thinks Ms. Foxx might be getting a call for advice from some of her Republican counterparts in the near future.

Reading List September 12, 2005

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  • Swimming to New Orleans (AlterNet via Moore’s Lore) – A first-hand account of a New Orleans native’s venture back into the city the weekend after Katrina.
  • Hurricane Katrina Timeline (PMwiki) – A wiki with a timeline of the Katrina disaster.  Fascinating, even if a third of it is factually off (which I doubt) due to the "citizens media" aspect of this, it’s a damning statement on the performance of the US government.

Reading List September 1, 2005

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  • Kids Just Get It (The Post Money Value) – While at dinner Rick Segal overheard a child say the following after hearing about benefit concerts being put together for Katrina victims: “How come they have to do music to get help, don’t people just want to help?”
  • Fred Barnes to Katrina Victims: Drop Dead (New Hounds) – Conservative pundits behaving badly.
  • Rant on the Hurricane (The Chairman’s Corner) – The Guilford County (NC) Republican Party is in deep doo-doo.  Why?  Just read a few posts from this guy’s blog for some clues.
  • Wedding Canceled (Patrick Eakes) – Anecdotal testimony from people on the ground in Louisiana.

Mayor of DC Has a Blog

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Anthony Williams, mayor of Washington DC has an official blog.  He’s off to a slow start (one post a week), but let’s give him credit for trying.

Let’s just hope he runs his blog more like his DMV (the only city agency that seems to work) and less like the city school system (so bad it’s a crime).

Googol = Incredibly Large Number or Antonym for Number of Respectable Politicians

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One of the advantages of driving to DC from North Carolina instead of flying is that it gives me time to think.  On this latest trip I spent a lot of time thinking about politics and religion.  (I know it’s sad, but it is what it is). None of the following is earth shattering, but I figured I’d get my opinion on paper before I forget what it is, and yes I reserve the right to change my mind.

I was just reading this piece in the Washington Post about all the perfectly legal ways that politicians can be paid off, uh, I mean incentivized, and it reminded me of my train of thought during the drive up.  That train of thought can be best summarized as: why are so many politicians slimy little bastards?

Harsh words?  Yes.  True?  I think so.

Here’s my stink test: Can you name more than three politicians that you respect?  Note that I used "respect" and not "like" or "agree with."  Really, how many politicians do you believe have well articulated principles, have a track record of sticking to those principles, treat their colleagues and constituents honorably and seem to sincerely have the good of the country/state/county/town at heart as they do their jobs?  How many have the courage of their convictions to the point that they can do what they feel is right even when they know they’re going to get hammered for it? How many have the humility to say "I was wrong" or "I stand corrected?" (That last was for President Bush).

Yes there are good people in politics and I would like to believe that they are the majority, in fact I very definitely used to believe that, but that’s no longer the case.  Here’s why I think most politicians are rather despicable:

  • Politicians, like stars in every other public arena like sports and entertainment, are by nature self-centered.  They are their own "brand", their own "product" and so the only thing they have to promote is themselves. Their own economic and psychological well being must be their top priority, followed by everything else.
  • Politicians are as susceptible as anyone, if not more so, to the human frailties of greed and vanity. They are easy prey for the hucksters, er lobbyists.
  • The traits that help politicians succeed (see above) are the antithesis of many of the traits that most of us value: honor, integrity, humility.
  • Politicians are "me" people, not "we" people.  We’ve all had dinner with "me" people and it isn’t much fun.

A corollary to all if this is the theory that the higher up you go the more pronounced the bastardization seems to get.  In other words I think I’m more likely to meet an honorable politician on the town council than I am in the halls of Congress.  That’s because:

  • The more a person succeeds in politics the more pronounced the personality traits outlined above.
  • If you’re a US Congressman the economic benefits of doing whatever it takes to survive are much greater than if you’re a member of the town council.
  • The member of town council isn’t separated from reality.  A councilperson has a day job, doesn’t generally have a staff and definitely doesn’t have a bunch of groupies telling her how great she is.  Members of Congress are surrounded by sycophants.

So there’s my opinion about politicians.  For the record I have a lot of respect for the people who run the town where I live (Lewisville, NC).  They do a lot for a very little and they truly seem dedicated to building a great community.

Also for the record the only politician on the national stage (US) that I can come up with that I really respect is John McCain, if for no other reason than he seems to be able to march to his own drummer and has the guts to take on anybody.

How about you?  I would love to be proven wrong, so please feel free to nominate a US Congressman, Senator, Vice-President or President for the status of "I’m Not a Sleazy Bastard." You can do it in the comments of this blog or by sending me an email at jon.lowder AT gmail.com. If we can come up with 51 Senators, 218 Congressmen, one Vice President and one President then I’ll stand corrected. In fact if we can come up with that many politicians who would win an "I’m Not a Sleazy Bastard" contest then I’ll have my head shaved.

Reading List July 28, 2005

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  • IceRocket’s Secret Weapon (The Post Money Value) — How saying "Thank You" is a powerful business tool.
  • Tracking is Good (A VC) — Value in targeted marketing, and how customer tracking helps.
  • Onfolio – The Buzz Process (The Post Money Value) — Blogs change the landscape for getting testimonials and paid placement.
  • Cheap Shot in a Good Cause (Moore’s Lore) — Why free trade should not be values free.
  • Becoming an Un-Person (Moore’s Lore) — The ID system in the US is broken and Dana’s experience with the local Social Security Administration office is a good example of why.
  • The Christian Paradox (Harper’s via Chewie) — On American Christians and their un-Christian behavior.
  • Wartime Dispatches (Greensboro News & Record) — Stories about soldiers in Iraq who are from Piedmont Triad area.
  • Economics of Used Books (Boing Boing) — Why Amazon.com isn’t stupid for selling used books next to new books.
  • Spin Sucks (Feld Thoughts) — “First we have to decide what the right thing to do is; then we’ll
    think about the politics.  Otherwise we’ll just confuse ourselves. — Richard Snelling”
  • Acceptable Downtime (Feld Thoughts) — Why 99.999% up time may not be enough for online service providers.  Better said would be the importance of redundancy.
  • Delta and the "Internal" Memo (The Post Money Value) — About the absurdity of the concept of an "internal" memo in a company with more than 10 employees.
  • No More AO-Hell (Jeff Jarvis) — Jeff dumps AOL after a 12 year relationship and in the process of describing the dump he gives a cool retrospective on the evolution of the internet.

Tom Delay Only Person Who Can Make Henry Waxman Seem Likable by Comparison

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Congressman Henry Waxman, who easily holds the title of "Longest Sitting Annoying Prig Democrat", sent a letter to Tom Delay, who easily holds the title of "Slimiest Little Faux-Christian Republican Ass", claiming that a $1.5 billion giveaway was inserted into a recent energy bill in an underhanded fashion.

From the letter:

The provision at issue is a 30-page subtitle called "Ultra-Deepwater
and Unconventional Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Resources." This
subtitle, which was taken from the House-passed energy bill, was
mysteriously inserted in the final energy legislation after the
legislation was closed to further amendment. The conferees were told
that they would have the opportunity to consider and vote on the
provisions in the conference report. But the subtitle was not included
in the base text circulated to conferees, and it was never offered as
an amendment.

Instead, the new subtitle first appeared in the text of the energy
legislation only after Chairman Barton had gaveled the conference over.
Obviously, it would be a serious abuse to secretly slip such a costly
and controversial provision into the energy legislation.

From a Reuters story we find that a spokesperson for Delay retorted with:

A spokesman for DeLay defended the fund, saying it was in
the energy bill approved by the House in April.

"The project is only new to Mr. Waxman if he failed to read
the House bill he had voted on," the spokesman said, adding he
could not explain how the item was added to the final version
of legislation prepared by the Senate and House negotiators.

Uh, correct me if I’m wrong but Congressman Waxman acknowledged that the provision was in the original House bill, but his point is that the provision had not been included in conference and was inserted only after the conference chair had gaveled the proceedings closed.

The purpose of the conference is to remove bits and pieces from each of the House and Senate versions of the bills until the conferees have a version they can live with.  I think it’s called coming up with a compromise in the real world.  Waxman’s point is that the provision was inserted in the final version after the conference was closed, so the conferees never had a chance to approve or disapprove it.

And wouldn’t you know that Delay’s homey’s would benefit nicely from this little $1.5 billion windfall?

For once I’m kind of with Waxman here, but I have to tell you that it’s a sad state of affairs that I actually assumed I’d be on his side when I saw Delay standing on the other side.

I need a shower.

Reading List July 27, 2005

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Reading List July 26, 2005

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Local Politicians Defined

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Lenslinger, a cameraman for a local TV station has a blog and is quite a good writer.  He has an excellent post about local politicians that resulted from a follow up story he and a reporter were doing about some Guilford County commissioners who were attending a National Association of Counties meeting in Hawaii at taxpayer expense.

As a result we have one of the best quotes I’ve ever heard re. local politicians:

How come successful, educated, seemingly rational people run for public
office only to devolve into infantile behavior once they‘re seated? I’m
not just talking Guilford County, either. I’ve done time in County
Commissioner and City Council meetings from here to the coast. No
matter what issue was at hand, I’ve been summarily flummoxed by the
childishness exhibited by the low-level politico. Black, White, or
Plaid, the foolishness knows no racial bounds. Something about
achieving a local constituency makes eight out of ten well-meaning
civic geeks go absolutely bat-shit. Why that is I don’t know, but
commissioner hissies and councilman tantrums are as common an
occurrence as that dork on TV, the one broadcasting live(!) from the
backseat of some housewife’s grocery-getter with a giant thermometer in
his sweaty grip.