Yearly Archives: 2009

Benefits of the Doubt for Iran

As much as I would like to despise Iran, I can’t help but think they aren’t quite the Picture of Evil that we commonly see portrayed in the United States.

Don’t get me wrong. Iran is no knight in shining armor. At least some elements of Iran are helping the insurgents in Iraq kill US troops (though, in the 1980s, we helped underground groups assassinate numerous Iranian politicians). Iran is the force behind Hezbollah, which is a big threat to Israel. They have human rights issues. And they’re trying to develop The Bomb. 

But:

1. Iran, I read some time ago, has one of the world’s highest proportions of blogs. Blogs are a sign of free speech, a vehicle for dissent and robust discourse. How authoritarian can you be when you allow so much free speech? When so many of your citizens roam the internet? 

2. Prior to 2002, when George Bush placed Iran in his Axis of Evil, Iran was pursuing a moderate course and was helping the United States. Dick Cheney, according to David Sanger’s “The Inheritance,” continually shot down any attempts to reach out to Iran (others in the administration favored reaching out, but Cheney, in those early years, held virtual veto power).

3. The current presidential election shows a vigorous democracy, wrapped in an Islamic package. Ahmadinejad is on the ropes, his political life coming to an end against a more popular opponent.  “His reformist and conservative opponents alike have criticized him publicly for spending too much time agitating the U.S. and Israel and not enough trying to fix the crumbling economy,” writes Middle East expert Fawaz Gerges on CNN.com. 

Plus, Ahmadinejad is losing both the youth and the women’s vote. Half of the country’s eligible voters are women. His opponent promises to loosen restrictions on women, and pretty much publicly mocks those restrictions.

Now, Ahmadinejad’s role is mostly domestic. He’s not the commander in chief, not the country’s top executive. It’s a different role than being president in the US. But it’s still the top job subject to the will of the people, and the president is the face of the country to the rest of the world. (David Sanger’s book includes one chapter about Iran. While it focuses on Iran’s efforts to build nuclear weapons, he also tells some stories about Ahmadinejad that confirm how much of a total idiot he is.)

4. This is worth repeating: Half of the country’s eligible voters are women. So don’t call them a fundamentalist Islamic state. There is a very strong women’s movement in Iran. Iran does not like being described as an Arab state or being lumped in with other Arab states.

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Book: Robert Parker’s “Resolution”

resolution.jpegYesterday, after returning from National Conference, I finished Robert Parker’s western, Resolution. I started it just before heading off to the conference, and read about 100 pages while there. It’s a pretty quick read, and reads fast. You don’t lose interest.

Resolution is a sequel to Appaloosa, which was made into a movie starting Ed Harris and Aragorn…I mean, Viggo Mortenson. They are a team of freelance lawmen who hire themselves out to towns as sheriff and deputy. It’s not what they do in Resolution, but it’s what they’d done for 15 years.

The books are told first-person by Everett Hitch, the sidekick, a graduate of West Point and veteran of the Indian Wars. Mortenson played him expertly in the movie. Parker strictly follows the first-person approach, not alternating between first- and second-person, ala Richard Patterson. Hitch is in every scene, and you see nothing that Hitch doesn’t see. (Appaloosa actually started with a second-person back-story scene, but once Hitch appears, it’s all his point of view.)

Ed Harris played the part of Virgil Cole, the truly expert gunslinger–a very quiet, introspective fellow. He is an utterly fascinating character.

I’m trying to remember how I mentally pictured Virgil Cole when I read Appaloosa, Because throughout Resolution, I could only see Ed Harris. That’s one of the curses of Hollywood. I could only picture Viggo Mortensen as Hitch, too. I initially had trouble seeing Ed Harris in that role, but his performance redeemed it. 

I’m sure Resolution will become a movie, and I hope Harris and Mortenson return. Parker has written a third book, Brimstone, now in hardback. This raises the possibility of a western movie franchise. When has that happened last? John Wayne did two Rooster Cogburn movies. Before that, you had Clint Eastwood’s Spaghetti Western flicks, where he basically played the same character. It would be great to see a 21st Century western series. I don’t imagine Westerns are expensive to make. 

Resolution makes many references back to Appaloosa, particularly regarding Virgil Cole’s lady friend there. Since “Appaloosa” religiously followed the book, I would imagine they would do the same in Resolution. I just hope they can get Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson back. They played their roles in an appropriately understated, but convincing, way. I’m sure that when I read Brimstone, I will again be picturing them.

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I’m Feeling Cranky

Yesterday, once again, the Office Depot at Covington didn’t have what I needed. And once again, they offered to order it from their website. Several times, it’s been computer monitors (even though they had plenty of those slips which indicate that they’ve got extras in the back). Once it was a laser printer (again–plenty of slips). Yesterday, it was color toner cartridges.

News flash: there’s a reason I make a special trip to your Big Box. If I want to order from a website, I won’t GO TO THE STORE.

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Kelsey’s Graduation

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Kelsey with her proud parents, Jim and Kelly.

Last night (Friday) we attended the graduation ceremony at Whitko High School in South Whitley, Ind. Kelsey Mize, Pam’s niece (daughter of her brother) was graduating. And she was valedictorian! She had to give a speech! So of COURSE we went.

Her speech was delivered with confidence (or fake confidence) and full of wit. She did great. Toward the end, she rattled off a barrage of cliches, like, “If at first you don’t succeed, try again,” probably 15 of them all strung together. Ratatatat. That was my favorite part.

The graduates were all dressed in red or blue gowns, depending on whether they were Republicans or Democrats. Curiously, all of the girls were Republicans, and all of the guys were Democrats. Maybe I was missing some hidden symbolism in those colors.

I’d like to say South Whitley is heartland America. It felt like my stereotypes. But the high school gym was lilly white. I saw no blacks among the graduates, though I’m told there was one. One. I mentioned that to Pam’s oldest nephew, Spencer. “It’ll hit them when they leave. If they leave,” he said.

Can you be heartland America when you’re entirely Caucasian? I don’t know. It certainly doesn’t seem representative of today’s America. A bigger question in Indiana is: can a school like that actually win basketball games?

Make no mistake: this was a quality group of graduates. They gave a lot of statistics about academic accomplishments and college plans and such. Real high academic achievements. Lots of tassels and medallions and such. A good share no doubt headed to college. Four entering the military.

As for Kelsey: full ride to Indiana University. She’s a great girl from a great family.

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Joe Klein is a Fan of Robert Gates

Excellent article about Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush Administration. The piece, by Joe Klein, is called “Robert Gates: The Bureaucrat Unbound.” Here’s one excerpt:

A military intelligence officer who was an Iraq specialist told me he had been pleading for more resources throughout the Rumsfeld years: “Iraq was Rumsfeld’s fourth highest priority, after China, North Korea and Iran,” he said. “But Gates called me in and asked, ‘What do you need?’ And he gave us everything we requested.”

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Sotomayor and the Character Assassination Follies

We’ve launched another game of “Assassinate the Supreme Court Nominee’s Character.”

Nobody plays this game better than the Democrats. Just think back to Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. They went after Samuel Alito pretty hard and unjustly, too, though nothing stuck. 

But what Republicans are doing right now is way over the top, in my book. It disgusts me, in fact. They’re not attacking Sonia Sotomayor’s decisions, but her basic character.

  • She’s a racist.
  • She’s a bigot.
  • She’s an angry woman.
  • She’s treats other people badly.

Sotomayor is no racist. Republicans are taking one quote out of its context. If you read the whole text of what she said, it’s exactly what you would want someone in her position to say. But the right-wing pundits lack intellectual integrity. They aren’t interested in helping viewers get a true picture of this woman. They just want to destroy her reputation. And for no good reason. Because in the end, she WILL be confirmed. Yet both parties always feel duty-bound to destroy a nominees character and distort his/her record.

I wish we could just stop it.

None of the justices are bad people. They rose through the ranks because of their brilliance and competence (with or without help from political connections). They’ve distinguished themselves. All of them have issued rulings that angered people on the right and on the left. 

Sonia Sotomayor is not a conservative, certainly. But I’m not afraid of her, either (like Rush et al want me to be). I’m not afraid of any of The Nine. When you’re one of nine, any radical leanings get averaged out. I want diversity on the court. I would be afraid of having nine conservative justices, or nine liberals, or nine moderates. That wouldn’t be good for America. We’re a diverse country. The Court needs to reflect that diversity–not only in politics, but in gender and race. 

The Democrats won the election. One of the spoils is the privilege of nominating Supreme Court nominees. The lunatic left fringe of the Democratic Party wants a flaming liberal on the court. Instead, we’re getting a moderate liberal. I think Republicans should be content with that (and privately, they probably are).

And yet, we still go through this character assassination charade. Most Supreme Court nominees emerge relatively unscathed. Ginsburg, Breyer, Kennedy, Alito–they all endured fierce attacks from the opposition party, but who, now, can even remember what the charges were? I can’t. 

It would be nice if the Republicans could just say, “We’re okay with Sotomayor. She’s not who we would have picked, but it’s not our choice, because you won the election. Thanks for not choosing a radical liberal. We can live with this pick.”

But that’ll never happen. Instead, Sotomayor will endure months of unfair criticism from Republicans, who will make her sound like the absolute Worst Person in the World. But in the end, she’ll WILL become a Supreme Court justice, and she will serve my country well for many years. She won’t represent my views all of the time, but she will represent the views of many other Americans in this richly diverse country. 

But for now–she’s evil and must be destroyed. And when Republicans regain power and nominate someone, Democrats will do the same thing. 

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Hoop Dreams

We could have a very interesting, highly-watched NBA finals, Lakes vs. Cavs, Kobe vs. Lebron, dueling superstars.

Or, we could very well have the Denver Nuggets vs. the Orlando Magic. Just the thought makes me want to go to bed.

Which matchup you think TV execs are praying for?

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Sunday Afternoon Nap, with Molly

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Books: Invisible Prey, Body Copy

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John Sandford is among today’s best mystery/detective writers. His Lucas Davenport mysteries, set in Minneapolis, are always  good reads. I started with his first book, “Eyes of Prey,” many many years ago. I’ve missed a few in the “Prey” series (all of his titles use the word “prey”), but I think Pam has read them all.

“Invisible Prey” is one of those mysteries where the reader knows who the killer is long before the protagonist does. We follow along, watching Davenport go down some blind alleys, yet inch closer and closer. And yet, there are still plenty of surprises.

There are a number of big-time, prolific mystery writers today. I read just four of them: James Patterson’s Alex Cross mysteries; Robert Parker’s Spencer, Jesse Stone, and Sunny Randall books; and John Sandford’s Davenport books; and Lee Child’s Jack Reacher thrillers. That’s enough to keep anyone busy. Of those, Davenport is probably the least interesting to me, which may explain why I’ve missed some of the Prey books. I would never, ever, skip an Alex Cross mystery.

“Body Copy” is the first novel by Michael Craven. It’s hero is Donald Tremaine, a former world champion surfer turned Private Investigator. He’s an interesting character. I enjoyed the book, with its mystery that really didn’t unfold until near the end. For most of the book, I just watched Tremaine follow lead after lead, none of which really seemed to be going anywhere. 

I suspect this is only the first in a series. Craven writes with some quirkiness, with some similarities to Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen. I’m not a big fan of either of them, but if another Tremaine book came out, I’d probably have to read it.

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Remembering Chuck

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Pam and I visited the grave of Chuck, Pam’s Dad, who died in December 2007. He’s buried in the veteran’s section of the cemetery, having been drafted and served during the Vietnam era (though never in Vietnam itself). Pam laid a red, white, and blue wreath at his gravestone. Four roses already lay there. We assumed they came from Dave, Chuck’s brother, and his wife Elaine–one rose for each of the surviving siblings.

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