A quick hit on the latest scandals

Robert Reich, who’s actually a pretty smart guy, correctly pointed out something about the current scandal at the IRS, which was posted to a blog I frequent: “Keep your eye on the big scandal. Although the IRS was wrong to target conservative groups for review based on their names, the bigger wrong was its failure to investigate the major groups — such as Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS and Priorities USA — that falsely claimed to be ‘social welfare organizations’ under 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code in order to hide the names of their donors…”

Again, mostly correct, but incomplete. 

Ground suggestions

There are some things in the public consciousness and discourse right now (articles, newspapers, random yawps on the social network squawkbox) that I feel compelled to comment on, because there are some ground rules about things, and we apparently need to restate them.  So please take heed:

If something happens right in front of your face and you pay it no particular heed and make no comment…and some time later, an opinion piece proclaims that thing as offensive (or whatever) – and then, and only then, you make some public pronouncement that you are offended…then you are not really offended.  You are, however, guilty of groupthink.

Beyond the ledge

Every so often, one catches a glimpse of the distance we’ve fallen…a look up at the cliff edge now far above us which we took for granted that we would never stray over in times past.  Back then, to have done so would have been considered criminal, unconscionable, foolish – and yet here we are, far below, blissfully taking the ride down.  And of course it’s a truism that when one is on a ride, very, very few people actually look backward at where they’ve come from – which is one of the main reasons why the driver for this particular ride sought to take people that way in the first place. 

The ego has landed

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to the Green Party National Convention this weekend – an embarrassing turn of events, since I’m a former co-Chair of the Party and here it was happening in my own city.  Furthermore, I was actually in downtown Baltimore on Saturday night, but fates conspired such that I found myself cruising all over the city, ending up in a number of locations where family members were, none of which was the Holiday Inn on Howard Street at Lombard.  It wasn’t a huge loss for the Party, at least, or for Jill Stein: no one asked me to speak, or even comp’ed me a ticket to attend, and I expressed my preference to the Maryland Green Party that I not be selected as a delegate for the Convention.  Further, I didn’t have my podcast, The Secret Frequency, back up and ready to go, so I couldn’t really attend as a member of the press, either.  I don’t feel bad about it because I want to know that the GPUS is capable of dealing with things given a dynamic leadership, and isn’t relying on me for anything special.  No problems there.  I do, however, wish I could have said hello to some old friends.

Green VP pick: it’s Honkala

Jill Stein has selected her running mate the day before the convention opens: Cheri Honkala, of Pennsylvania.  CBS has the story, in the inimitable style that is the Mainstream Media attempting to understand something that hasn’t been gatekeeper-approved yet.  At least CBS isn’t openly mocking Stein, but read the story and see if there isn’t an undertone there of, “Wait…who are you again and what are you doing in our election?”

The choice is mildly interesting.  Honkala is National Coordinator of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, among other accomplishments in a fairly impressive resume; I’d put her up against Joe Biden, certainly, and whomever Mitt Romney chooses.  Her record and speaking style (I have heard her speak briefly) suggest someone who can stand her ground, and her choice highlights Stein’s commitment to domestic economic issues as the primary focus of her campaign.  It also represents something of a reversal for Stein, who during the primaries suggested she would be looking for geographic balance for the ticket, which seemed to indicate Kent Mesplay of California, who ran a distant third in the voting in his third attempt at the nomination.  Mesplay certainly would have been the better choice in terms of foreign policy and environmental policy, but wasn’t a dynamic speaker, sometimes coming across as awkward and ill-prepared.

And now, every atheist comment thread on the Internet, ever

“Oh, those silly Christians!  Look, here are several contradictory passages from the Bible, which I have taken out of context!  Never mind that the fundamentalist Christians – those whom I am subjecting to my public ridicule, along with the many Christians who do not identify in that way (not that I care) – do precisely the same thing with precisely the same work to justify their beliefs…when I do it, it’s really justified, because I’m one of the Brights!  You know, the sole repositors of wisdom and knowledge in our otherwise hopeless and doomed society!  Good thing I’m not a fundamentalist!”

Wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’

I’m headed down an alley to get where I’m going, to the thoroughfare at the end, where traffic can move freely.  I turn the corner and I’m struck by an unusual sight: there’s a car stuck in the alley, crossways.  The front of the car is obviously badly damaged, with a crumpled bumper and the headlights bashed in, no doubt from previous collisions with the wall of the alley that is in front of them.  The rear of the car is equally damaged; it rests against the high alley wall behind them, and it’s obvious it’s not the first time it’s met that wall.

The occupants of the car are engaged in a huge row – bickering, yelling, gesticulating wildly about what they must do next.  Finally, the driver of the car, somewhat tentatively, reaches down and shifts the car into its forward gear.  Several of the car’s passengers cheer, slap the driver on the back for choosing that gear, and settle back into their seats, smiling and confident; a few in the back seat cover their eyes with their hands, dejectedly.  The driver, now also bearing a confident grin, stamps on the accelerator.