The Right Thing to Do

Tonight, (Tuesday) President Obama will address a joint session of Congress and, through the magic of television, the rest of the country as well. Although technically not a State of the Union address, it might as well be. It will be broadcast on every major television network (no, the CW is not a major television network), every cable news outlet and every politically-related blog on the Internet. But, I’m going to save everyone a lot of time by providing a summary of the night’s events. Ready? Here goes. The President will stand up in the house chamber and tell everyone that things are pretty bad right now. But with the hard work and sacrifice of the American people, and the policies of his administration, things will turn around and America will once again lead the world in everything, just in time for the next election. After which, a representative of the opposition will sit in front of a television camera and explain how everything the President just told us was a lie, and that only by cutting taxes will we solve the economic crisis, eradicate poverty, find a cure cancer and stop global warming - if such a thing actually existed. There you go. The State of the Union in two sentences. Now you can use that hour you would have wasted watching it on television to laugh at YouTube clips of skateboarders sliding down handrails and face-planting in the concrete.

There is very little more entertaining than political hypocrisy. A handful of Congressional Republicans are now attempting to take credit for any economic benefit brought to their districts by the very stimulus bill they fought tooth and nail to obstruct. It must be liberating not to be weighed down by ethics or a conscience. In a related story, about a half-dozen Republican state governors seem prepared to take up the challenge issued by several last week and stand on principle and refuse federal stimulus money if they so opposed the bill - sort of. They intend to accept some of the money, but decline anything they don’t view as stimulus. Unfortunately the President doesn’t have the same option to veto portions of legislation he dislikes, but I guess there are advantages to not holding the highest office in the land. I’m sure it’s also no coincidence that the governors in question all have designs on the White House.

Just when you were beginning to miss disgraced former Governor Rod Blagojevich, someone else has stepped in to fill the void. We don’t even have to waste time getting acquainted. That special someone is the new junior Illinois Senator Roland Burris. Oh yes, the same Roland Burris appointed to the vacant senate seat under dubious circumstances just weeks ago by the afore mentioned Blagojevich. When he was deposed regarding the scandal, Burris insisted he had no contact with anyone associated with Blago, and certainly never discussed anything to do with fundraising. Well, turns out that wasn’t entirely accurate. In fact, not only did Burris have extensive contact with the Governor’s brother, but he also raised upwards of $10,000 for the Blagojevich campaign. Awkward. This new information has forced even some of the characters who insisted Burris be seated despite Blagojevich’s troubles to change their tune and call for his resignation. But for his part, Burris has plucked a page from his appointer and refuses to step down, claiming he’s done nothing wrong and blaming the media for distorting the facts and exaggerating his misdeeds. If only Senate Democrats had stood on principle and denied him the seat in the first place, he/we could have been spared all this additional embarrassment. Wait, did I just use senate and principle in the same sentence?

General Motors and Chrysler returned to Capitol Hill last week with their restructuring plans in one hand, and their stick-up notes in the other. After telling everyone they planned trim their fleets and lay off almost 100,000 employees between them, they also added a request for an additional $21.6 billion in government loans, just to stay afloat. I think we’ve seen this movie before. I’m not sure this sequel will end as well for Detroit as the original. You can only go to the well so many times before you find there’s no water left. Unfortunately, before this is all over, it is likely that the Big Three will become the Big Two, and Detroit’s influence over the automotive industry will diminish significantly. Sad for them. Worse for hundreds of thousands who used to work for them.

Early this week, Indiana Senator Richard Lugar called the 42-year-old U.S. embargo of Cuba “ineffective.” Really? Is there a school these guys go to where they learn different ways to state the obvious? Of course the Cuban embargo has been ineffective. It’s been an absolute failure. If the best way to open closed societies and closed markets like communist China is through free and fair trade, why would the opposite be true for communist Cuba? Hasn’t this farce gone on long enough?

California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa has demanded the new administration establish procedures to ensure all government e-mail communications are preserved, whether they were sent on official government accounts or not. He might have more credibility on this issue had he not ridiculed this very concept for the past eight years.

There has been a significant amount of chatter in recent days about the possible nationalization of several of the nations largest banks. The President, the Treasury Secretary and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve have stated repeated that they have no interest in nationalization, but that doesn’t seem to matter. Part of the problem might stem from the fact that there is a significant portion of the population that has no idea what the term actually means. USA Today reported a poll in which 54% of respondents indicated they approved of the government “temporarily taking over major banks in danger of failing.” However, only 43% of respondents in the same survey approved of the government “temporarily nationalizing major banks in danger of failing.” Apparently, 11% of respondents didn’t realize they were asked the same question twice. That survey is more than just an illustration of Americans’ lack of understanding of the concept of nationalization, it is a microcosm of our collective political and economic illiteracy. Too many Americans don’t seem to understand how serious this problem is and just how close this economy came to - and hovers around - complete financial collapse. This is so far beyond simply punishing people who made bad decisions or bought more house than they could afford it isn’t funny.

Two Pennsylvania judges have plead guilty to receiving $2.6 million in kickbacks to send about 5,000 juveniles to two privately run youth detention centers. You just can’t make this stuff up. Did they seriously think no one would notice two-and-a-half million dollars? I hope they get sent to boot camp.

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was released from jail today. Rumor is he is off to Texas to try to find employment in the private sector. Good luck Texas. He’s your problem now. Unfortunately, due to some stupid election rules, the city of Detroit must hold two elections to determine who will finish Kilpatrick’s current term, then two more elections to decide who the new mayor will be. Four elections in the space of one year, at a cost of $6 million dollars. Three guesses as to why Detroit is such a mess.

To aid in closing budget shortfalls, a California state legislator has offered a solution. Legalize marijuana, then tax the hell out of it. According to this particular lawmaker, weed is a $14 billion-a-year business in the state and if it were legal, and taxed at a rate of $50-an-ounce, it would net California an additional billion dollars in revenue. That’s a pretty big pot of money. (Sorry. I couldn’t resist.) But noting that the deficit California just closed was in the neighborhood of $42 billion, and additional billion dollars hardly seems worth it.

Finally, last week an Illinois high school boys basketball team provided us a poignant lesson in sportsmanship. Rival Milwaukee Madison senior Johntell Franklin, who had lost his mother to cancer the previous week, decided he wanted to play in a game against DeKalb, Illinois. He arrived at the game - from the hospital - in the second quarter. But because his coach was not expecting him to play, his name was not listed on the roster. In order to place Franklin in the game, Milwaukee Madison would be assessed a technical foul - two free throws and the ball to the opposition. DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman and his team knew of Franklins situation and told the referees they did not want the penalty assessed. But the rules are the rules, and DeKalb was instructed to select someone to shoot the two free-throws. Darius McNeal walked to the line, spotted up to take the shots, and intentionally missed them both. “I did it for the guy who lost his mom,” McNeal said after the game. “It was the right thing to do.” Even though Milwaukee Madison won the game, no one from DeKalb regrets their decision, or would do anything differently given the opportunity. Madison coach Aaron Womack was so impressed with the gesture, he wrote a letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle praising the DeKalb players and coaches and thanked them for not only coaching their young men, but teaching them how to be leaders. Compare that story to the story out of Dallas a few months ago in which a Christian high school girls basketball team defeated a vastly inferior rival 100-0, jacking up three-pointers with less than five minutes remaining in the game and tell me which kids and coaching staffs acted more Christ-like. Christians do not have a monopoly on values.