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Thursday, October 19, 2006
Celebs who adopt, Reid, traffic relief
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thinking Right’s free-for-all Friday. Pick a topic:
• Good question posed by Pam Wilson of the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society in South Africa on the news that Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie have adopted a 1-year-old Malawian child: “Are celebrities doing it for the right reasons and not to make a statement?” A child rights group in Malawi asks Madonna to help fund programs that allow children to stay in their own communities. Methinks celebrities are making statements.
• Adults can spend their discretionary income on high school booster clubs. Or sports cars or lottery tickets. To excess, there’s danger in all. Otherwise, it’s just another way to connect parents to schools.
• Ten brides in 12 months, including two within four hours. In a world of marriage fraud and mortgage fraud, Democrats are appalled that anybody would suggest that vote fraud is real and that a photo ID is necessary. They don’t kid themselves. Us, they do.
• In metro Atlanta, 4.5 percent of commuters say working from home is a better congestion-relief solution than the 3.7 percent who think public transit is the answer. Makes sense. It’s not a “choice” or “alternative” if transit service doesn’t come where we are, go when and where we want and free up space on the freeway. An option that serves only 3.7 percent of commuters fails the test.
• When Fulton Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall says “now it is my time to speak,” watch out. With repeat-offender child molester Michael J. Pearson, he got right to the point: “Your perverted and morally repugnant conduct is most repulsive and despicable and cuts to the core of evil. Clearly you have no conscience. What you are and do and what you are all about is offensive to the souls and the conscience of a civilized society.” He gave Pearson life without parole. “I am vehemently, adamantly, without equivocation of any kind or type whatsoever, opposed to parole for this defendant ever.” Put him on the high court.
• One good reason not to name buildings, roads and bridges for living politicians: Former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland praises Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as “one of the most ethical men I know” in an op-ed that ran just as the news broke that Reid had used campaign contributions for Christmas gifts for the hired help at his upscale Washington condo. Earlier, the Associated Press revealed that Reid collected $1.1 million on Nevada property that he hadn’t personally owned for three years. Reid reveals why naming honors should never go to the living. The breathing can embarrass; the dead can’t.
• Come December, when the partisan political operatives are back in their lair for a season’s sleep, we will reflect on the most-hyped stories of the season. Top candidate now is former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley’s e-mail sex talk. It should be evident to all, as a venter observed, that House Speaker Dennis Hastert would have been “drummed out of office because of his homophobia” had he attempted to punish Foley in 2003 for overly friendly e-mails to young men.
• Wall Street money-changers failed to get the word that they’re supposed to favor Republicans. Democrat congressional candidates got $6.1 million from bigwigs at 11 securities firms, while Republicans got $5.1 million, according to Bloomberg Markets. Money has no conscience, loyalty or party affiliation. It goes to power.
• If Powder Springs can convey to an individual the privilege of parking and flying his helicopter in another jurisdiction, Cobb County, without its approval and contrary to its zoning, the General Assembly needs to act. Good to know he’s decided to ground his chopper for the time being.
• A Lovejoy City Council member, allegedly a cantankerous sort, is said to have announced “I’m resigning — right now” before leaving a council meeting. Overjoyed, other city officials took him up on it and called a special election. The councilman, Arlie Aukerman, has been wronged. Hotheaded comments in public debate may be dumb, but unless he formally quits, his enemies are just playing games. The dispute is now in Superior Court. Verdict for Aukerman.
• Verdict for Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman, too. Whatever his failings in managing the jail or his department, voters had the chance to inspect the goods prior to delivery. They saw, they considered, they bought. If he’s a lemon, he’s their lemon.
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The stakes in November
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With elections three weeks away, everybody’s jittery. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had to be reassured in a 15-minute phone call with President Bush on Monday that the U.S. won’t leave his govenment hanging. Some Republicans in Congress, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner R-Va., have given signals that they would be receptive to a course change — a timetable, perhaps — and there’s the independent commission that includes former Secretary of State James A. Baker III that’s due to make recommendations, probably in January.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, Ramadan and the run-up to U.S. elections contribute to an escalation in violence, with 70 U.S. servicemen killed this month, second highest since the siege of Falluah nearly two years ago.
It’s still clear to me: the U.S. doesn’t leave Iraqi until its government is reasonably capable of standing on its own and until it’s evident to the world that we haven’t been driven out. A defeat there is a guarantee of another generation of terrorism.
The Iraqi phase of the war on terrrorism increasingly is an issue, like abortion, where it’s doubtful that the left and the right have anything left to say to each other. We are at the point now where a traffic accident on Peachtree Street or a cool breeze in the air is the signal the anti-war left was looking for, the “final straw” bit of evidence, of a need to abandon the cause in Iraq as “unwinnable.”
As I read the daily blog, MSN commentary and listen to the talking heads, it’s pretty clear that we’re now talking past each other to the extent that November’s election needs to provide a clear winner and a clear loser. This election is about one thing: Are we more secure with Republicans or Democrats in control of Congress? If anybody else sees a solution that’s not clear winner/clear loser in November, we’re listening.
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