Seeing the World Through Our Unique Eyes!

I really don't know much about Sonia Sotomayor, the newly named Obama nominee to the US Supreme Court. Some say she's a liberal, the WSJ says she supports business, but Newt Gingrich says she's a racist.

Gimme a break!

How desperate will the Republicans get over challenging this nomination? Apparently, they can't mount much of a challenge when on two separate occasions, Senate Republicans approved her nomination to the Federal Court system. As the party of the "big tent" (the biggest euphemism in the world), and with the recruiting hand out to bring Hispanics into the Republican Party (the party opposed to meaningful immigration policies), opposing Ms. Sotomayor is another kiss of death for the party of Lincoln as they become more and more the party of no and tired old white people found primarily in the south.

So, one of the Republican talking points will be Ms. Sotomayor sees the world through her unique eyes: A Latina who sees the world differently from a white guy. I hope so!

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Let Cheney Talk All He Wants: He'll Destroy His Own Party!

After about a month of non-stop Cheney speeches, talks, interviews, and blogging, I really want to tell Darth Vader to shut the F**k Up! On reflection, however, and bolstered by the latest polls, all Cheney is doing is making the base of the Republican Party smaller and smaller.

The Pew Research Center today released a poll showing that Americans self-identifying by ideology is about the same as it has been for the past decade. That is there are about the same percentages for "conservative," "liberal," with an increase in "independents." However, the same poll shows the Republican Party faithful has dropped from "26% to 22%, ...this represents the lowest level of professed affiliation with the GOP in at least a quarter century. Moreover, on nearly every dimension the Republican Party is at a low ebb – from image, to morale, to demographic vitality."

Is there a correlation between Cheney's constant presence and the demise of the Republican Party? While there probably isn't a one-to-one correlation, it's a good bet Cheney isn't helping his Party much. So, keep talking Darth Vader!

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Alexis de Tocqueville on America!

The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.

Frank Rich of the NY Times, writing in the Saturday edition, strongly believes that the Obama administration won't, or can't, turn the page on past Bush administration "sins." Torture is but one aspect of how bad the nightmare of the last eight years has been.

As I described in one of my very first blog posts in 2005, there will be a "drip, drip, drip" effect from each and every one of the Bush blunders, both through incompetence (no sin) and by commission (sins of the first order). Frank Rich uses the same "drip, drip, drip" description to detail most of the abuses of power that the arrogant, swaggering, Bushies used to politicize the Justice Department, authorize eavesdropping, illegal no bid contracts, Pentagon corruption, missing CIA videotapes, and, of course, torture of alleged enemies.

Nancy Pelosi and Dick Cheney, an unlikely pair, will lead the way toward this eventual investigation as each has now argued for the release of more and more documents to "prove" their role in torture and other governmental misdeeds was the correct interpretation of events.

De Tocqueville wrote about the United States in 1832, one hundred and sixty-seven years ago. His words will be even more prophetic when Obama, and anyone else trying to stem the tide of an eventual, thorough investigation of past sins occurs, results in the repair (of) our past faults.

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All in Favor of a Pelosi Torture Investigation Say, Aye!

While the Republicans, led by Newt Gingrich and the rest of the usual suspects, try very hard to shift the focus of the torture debates off of the Bush administration, they keep saying they want to investigate the current Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for her possible role in authorizing torture.

I agree!

I think Nancy Pelosi is a great Speaker. But, if the Obama administration doesn't want to confront the issue of torture head-on, then the Congress should start an investigation into Pelosi's role in this torrid affair exposing Bush, et al, in the process. Pelosi says she has nothing to hide. If so, bring on the investigation so we can see all of the details of how the United States got into the business of torturing people.

It's the back door approach, but I'm in favor of it if we can't come through the front door and make the investigation about the former President and Vice President directly. All in favor say, Aye!

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DiamondBacks Fall to Cincinnati 13-5!

There have been eight MLB games won with a score of 13 thus far this season. And, last night, my favorite team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, fell to the Cincinnati Reds, 13-5. Hey, wait a minute! The Diamondbacks are supposed to win with a 13 run score not lose!

Well, the way the Diamondbacks are playing this season on and off the field it was no surprise that another team would come along and lay a 13 on them. The D-Backs are the first team this season to change managers, only six or seven weeks into the season. The D-Backs have the lowest batting average in the majors; the highest earned run average; the team is in last place; and, they have left the most runners on base without scoring of any team. These are just some of the lousy statistics the 2009 D-Backs are creating. And, oh, the new manager? 34 years old, never managed at any level in his life, and the team owners believe he's a winner. With no record as a manager, their argument is just as valid as anyone else's. In his first four games, however, he's 1 win and three losses. That's about the way it's been going.

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Letter to the Editor!

All politics is local politics, Tip O'Neill once said. So, I've been writing to the editor of our local paper, The Casa Grande Dispatch, about this and that. This week I wrote to the editor about the possible opportunity to bring a four-year college to our community. Neither the city nor the county has a four-year public or private college or university. Pinal County sits between Maricopa County (Phoenix) and Pima County (Tucson), the two largest metropolitan areas in the state of Arizona. ASU is in Phoenix and serves about 66,000 students. The UofA is in Tucson and serves about 34,000 students. The two cities are about 120 miles apart. The following was my submission and was not printed:

To The Editor:

Yesterday, the president of the Arizona higher education board of regents said he thought it was just the right time for a different kind of university system in Arizona; namely, there should be “regional colleges and universities” that would be authorized to grant baccalaureate degrees emphasizing teaching and not research like ASU, UA, and NAU where costs are very high. Mr. Calderon, the board president, emphasized the cost factor in his proposal. However, there are so many other benefits to creating a different system of higher education in Arizona.

Many states have such arrangements. California probably started the trend in the 1930’s and 1940’s with the creation of the State Colleges, such as Fresno State, San Diego State, and San Francisco State. Today, there are more than 30 state colleges in California alone. Washington and Oregon, similar in size to Arizona, have three state colleges and universities each. All of these state colleges and universities are stand-alone institutions mostly serving their regional populations and emphasizing teaching rather than research. Arizona, in contrast, only has the three public research institutions and no stand-alone four-year teaching colleges. ASU has managed to create three major branch campuses for different majors but still emphasizing research and all in the Phoenix area.

One of the highest priorities in all of the Pinal County development plans is to create a four-year baccalaureate college should the county want to see positive, professional growth in the coming decades and in the twenty-first century. The arguments for a four-year institution are numerous. One of the most compelling arguments is that a public, four-year, non-research baccalaureate college or university would bring long-term sustainable development to Pinal County.

The Casa Grande City Council today, this very moment, should be seriously exploring the possibility of bringing a new, public four-year college to our area. With the economic down-turn driving such a concept at the board of regents level, it behooves our city and county leaders to really get behind bringing a university to our area. When the economy turns around, and it will, the temptation to go back to the current higher education system will be “business as usual.” Strike now while the fire is hot!

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Sheriff Joe and the Swine Flu!

By now you probably know who Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Phoenix (Maricopa County, to be precise) is. Well, his latest excuse for going after undocumented Mexican workers is that they are obviously the carriers of the swine flu. So, in the next couple of days, Sheriff's deputies will be watching for sneezing Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and anyone who doesn't look like Sheriff Joe. When they find them (isn't there a little problem here of profiling?), they'll ask for documentation to be in the United States. If they can't produce papers, they'll be subject to deportation or jail time or both. There is no end to Sheriff Joe's imaginative pursuit of "illegals" in his jurisdiction!

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Blessedly, the 100 Days Chatter Is Over!

It was beginning to get on my nerves every time I heard some talking head or saw some headline indicating the first 100 days of the Obama administration was upon us. Thank goodness, it's now behind us.

Let's get some work done now!

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