A Class Act

Dear Reader,

Today I received a letter from Mike McGavick's campaign.

I've been around campaigns for more than 40 years. So this letter really surprised me.

"With the benefit of three months of hindsight, it is now evident that our effort to better Washington State's representation in the U.S. Senate succumbed to national political currents. What a very different perspective from the optimistic days of the campaign!

"Yet even knowing what I know now, I am honored to have had the chance to run as your candidate in a statewide election, and I know we did the right thing in running. I am grateful for your generosity and personal support.

"Gaelynn and I spent the weeks following the campaign focused on our family and on the joys of the holiday season. It was a wonderful and restorative time. We are only now starting to think about what comes next, but we can assure you that we will always try to find ways to use whatever gifts God has given us to better our community.

"I reflect often on the remarkable generosity and many kindnesses that you and so many others offered to me and my family throughout last year's effort. It is not so remarkable that there are so many good people, but to experience that collaboration and support in such an intense way was a wonderful revelation. Truly, the central blessing of this nation is the quality of the people who give their time and resources to democracy.

"There are always many opinions about why campaigns fail. Given the national sweep this time around, there are fewer second guesses about the cause of my defeat. Yet one question does arise with respect to my tactics: "Doing it over, would you still make and stick to a pledge of civility?" Without reservation, my answer is "Yes." I firmly believe we need to attack problems, not personalities. The challenges facing our nation will require a new era of civil discourse and positive leadership. Our timing may have been off, but good ideas, as with the truth, will always find a way.

"Thanks again for your help and your fiath in our message. My family and I are forever humbled by, grateful for and changed by your generosity.

"Best, Mike McGavick"

One, you're welcome, Mike. I saw your campaign as having one of the better chances of overcoming the media campaign against common sense. There are so many educated and talented people living in Washington, that given the chance to vote for smart and honest you'd have to fight, but I thought you would win.

Two, I have, as I said earlier, been around a lot of campaigns. Taking the time to write a letter to your supporters and contributors was never expected. Usually, you only get this letter when your candidate wins. And, they're looking for more money. You never asked. Perhaps you will. But you didn't this time. No twofers.

Three, one of my earliest memories of political scandal was the horrible experience suffered by Sherman Adams. And this from a guy who grew up reading Jack Anderson's columns! But the media isn't going to pick up stories that parallel the Jack Anderson/Sherman Adams embroglio that would benefit a Republican. The purported corruption of your opponent got absolutely no play in the press. Your opponent was never dogged by her own purported corruption. As far as I know, no investigation of your opponents actions or ethics has ever been undertaken. That is what a campaign is for. How does the gifts accepted by Sherman Adams compare to what is purported was accepted by your opponent? And the litany of claims of corruption have never ceased. It is as much a part of the American political scene as is kissing babies. There is no clean politics. There's just winning and losing. As Justice Brandeis said, "A little sunlight is the best disinfectant."

Next time, let your campaign turn the bright light of truth on the actions of your opponent. Or, as Jefferson once said, "It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself."

April 14th Is Gonna Be Totally Post-Normal!

Is it too early to talk about the "Big Meetin'" planned for April 14th?

In this, the Post-Normal World, it's important that Post-Normal People get together and talk about the needs of Post-Normal Politics.

And April 14th is supposed to be the day. One of the supposed meetin' places? I guess the epicenter of the Global Warming Debate, Ashland Plaza. Or, if you're a little more upscale and can afford a weekend in Cannon Beach, how about Whale Park? If you're a little more Post-Normal than average, you can take the Three Day Walk to Salem.

Before you head off for one of these Post-Normal fests, make sure you bone up on the fundamental beliefs of the Post-Normal World. Post-Normal Science. It's the best kind of science of all, because it isn't so mathy. Under Post-Normal Science you take actions that aren't supported by any common sense delimiter of action based upon a percieved imperative that may or may not be real. I mean Post-Normal is the bomb!

I plan to attend at least one of these "actions". (When you're a Leftie, the stuff you do isn't silly or trite. It's an "action".) For one, to photograph the cars the Hippies will drive to clean up the environment. Another reason? Chicks dig the Enviro thing. I'm gonna get all Post-Normal and party. (I was going to post a picture, but my AltaVista image search for "Pretty Hippie Chicks" showed no "0 results". Oh well, another day.)

But if you don't have the budget for travel, you can also protest on-line. To find out how, type "useless waste of time April 14" into your search engine. Follow the link.

He's Post-Normal, She's Post-Normal, wouldn't you like to be Post-Normal, too?

It's Really Amazing to See Where You Are

Thank you.

I'm really flattered.

I live in a very small town on the coast of Oregon, USA. For those of you who have taken the time to view this small work from France, Denmark, Canader, Buda Pesht, England...especially, those of you from the Far East, China, Malaysia, thank you.

Good government isn't aboot getting it right all the time. Good government is about getting it right, maybe wrong, but moving ahead.

The biggest problem we're having in America right now is, treating politics as parents at a 5th Grade basketball game, not as a discussion among adults. Trust me. Trying to interpret our behavour as either Liberal or Conservative is a mistake, because you'll find out that American Culture is a real, discreet set of rules that outsiders can't understand. Every day I hear perjoritives about the Left and the Right. Being an American has "special rules". We're all equal. When you bump it down, we're all Americans. It may not last long, but it will last long enough.

There are lots of Americans who know our President. Not just rich guys, not just poor guys, but your usual bump into on the street kinda guys. For us, knowing the President isn't about anything more than just knowing a hard working guy who worked to get elected, and was/is

President of the United States of America.

I remember back in 1976 when I took my little sister to meet the President. Gerald Ford was nothing but a bump into kinda guy. I know his sons. I never met his daughter. But I knew that she was okay. Besides, didn't she marry a photographer?

I've still got the picture of my sister with the President running around somewhere.

I introduced my sister to the President of the United States.I wasn't special. She was, she was my little sister, but beyond that, she wasn't "special" either. But she talked to the President, and shook his hand.

Being an American doesn't make you special. Meeting the President doesn't make you special. Giving money to elect the President, the Governor, a Congressman, doesn't make you special.

Some make think so. But, thought is cheap. Talk is cheap.Who we are isn't.

We have "special rules". We are Americans. We argue with strength. We disagree with vehemence. But this, this is for Americans. American rules.

Mess with the rules, and we'll be all over your butts.

Everybody in America is treating teh war, taxers, abortion,enerji as if we don't do something now, the world will end. Of course, this view is silly. This is how we argue.

Sherman Adams resigned back in what, 1958? Did you ever hear about old Sherm? If you get a chance, read the old Newsweek articles from 1958. They're probably still in a library near you. My point is, cutthroat politics has existed since the beginning of time. Don't be surprised when you hear coursing arguments against people you trust. The term argument ad hominem is in Latin, fer chrissakes. How many years must an argumentative style be presented before you find that you're subject to it, too? A thousand years? Two thousand?

All I'm trying to do is remind you about argumentation. You don't have to read.

But, thank you for doing so. Just so you know, there is a method I employ. It is the apodictic argument.

'Member the old line, "We hold these truths to be self evident"?

Why? Why are they self-evident? What is the evidence of self? What is the nature of man, that you are substantively different than I? How can you claim a better starting point in your argument than I can? Both you and I start at the same place. We are born.

Your birth and my birth mean nothing to the other billions of people on this earth.

But in America, it means everything.

Oregonians in Space!

Normally, you can discern the cartoon from the real. Not so much in Oregon. Enter Oregon's own "Zap" Kulongoski.

Global issues are his. Sitting aperch the throne of the Oregon Empire's 3 point 5 million citizens, the mighty Zapster is handing out policies and taking positions. It won't be long before We, as Oregonians are sending Mandates to the Galaxy!

Soon after the Oregon Space Fleet is inaugurated Commander Kulongoski will be able to take his policies and plans to the far reaches of outer space!

Take another look at the "Zapster's" New Energy Plan.

In the first graph comes this, " The skyrocketing prices of gasoline, diesel, and other forms of energy hamper Oregon’s economic recovery. " Agreed.

Here's the Triple A's latest on gasonline in Oregon. "Up, up, and up. Oregon average price up 17-cents in a week. Forecast is that price increases should slow for remainder of the month and remain flat at least until midsummer. We'll have to wait to see."¹

Yeah, well we'll wait. But who needs to see.

Here's the Zapster's Plan.

Step A: "Governor Kulongoski has committed to helping Oregon achieve real energy independence." (This is from his website. I'm not making this up. Drop dead USA! Washington! Idaho! We're going in alone!)

And not fake energy independence. Real independence. The only good kind.

Step 2: "This means keeping energy prices competitive over the long haul, reducing dependence on energy sources from overseas, and protecting Oregonians from expected spikes in the prices of fossil fuels." So maybe building a coal-fired electrical generating plant? Hmm? No! Coal is from Montana, and who knows how long our relations will remain friendly with Montana.

Next step: "The Governor seeks to reduce emissions that lead to global warming." The man is a genius. And of course, this is where the Governor's Space Fleet will come in most handy. As soon as we're able to control Solar CR we'll be able to implement every Progressive Plan of

Tomorrow, today.

And Step Next!: "He also seeks to invest in clean energy and create new jobs; for every $100 million invested in clean energy, Oregon creates more than a thousand new jobs."

Every word in quotes above comes from teh Zapster's website. I can find no evidence of it being hacked and this wacky stuff being placed there without the Zapster's knowledge.

But you give me One Hundred Million Dollars and I'll getcha your Thousand Jobs.

Here's the opposition to Zap's energy plan, from Republican Chuck Burley. "Cleaner forms of energy are essential to reducing our dependence on foreign oil. By passing this bill, we in the state of Oregon have one more tool in our toolbox to achieve this goal".

Chuck!

Wake-up and smell the CO²!

Raising the cost of energy doesn't lead to reduced dependence on any other energy that's cheaper!

Reread the above quotation.

Ask yourself, how does having a bigger toolbox make things cheaper? And building the FlibberGibbett Gasket Tool for the 2049 Ford Rexausauras doesn't make sense, does it? What if, by the year 2049, FlibberGibbett gaskets are no longer used? You have an additional tool in your toolbox.

And Chuck's "the opposition"? No, he's found new friends. The Team at Onward Oregon. If it were me, I'dda added some exclamation points. Onward! Oregon!!! But what bugle call is OO trumpeting to show a commitment to lower energy costs?

"Onward Oregon members played a part in the recent decision by the PUC to reject PacificCorp's proposal to build two new coal fired power plants."²

That's right. Your power company wanted to build two new plants to give you more, cheap power. But the Zapster and his friends killed it.

Cheap, fungible energy. For jobs. For investment. For Oregon.

And so, Zap moves on.


¹Elliott Eki
AAA Oregon-Idaho
Public & Gov't. Affairs Director
(503) 222-6729
elliott.eki@aaaoregon.com

²the_team@onwardoregon.org

If Beavis Was Real He'd End Up Teaching

Lefties want to kill education. They're vested. Teacher unions are big business. And the Lefties in the union control the dough.



So what better way to kill the challenge of Charter Schools than by requiring charter school teachers to join the teacher's union.



I had an interesting conversation with an instructor at our local community college, yesterday.



We were talking about how whacked out the local high schools are. With few exceptions, more kids are doing less, more of the time, than ever before. So, more than ever, community colleges become the bridge from our high schools to our universities.



Home schooled kids are generally the best prepared for high levels of learning. Where they fall short, and I agree, is in their socialization. The grubby taunts, the winning and losing, the embarassment and failure...these are all good things kids need to experience. And home schooled kids miss out. And life, after school, is all about grubby taunts, winning, losing, embarassment and failure. And on a good day, it's a good day.



And the top kids, rated by GPA and number of advanced placement classes, are best determined by the amount of involvement the parents have in their children's lives. Smart kids are going to get good grades even with lousy teachers. It's parenting.



But as local schools move more from teaching to managing outcomes...the kids in the middle and the kids at the bottom suffer more and more. Not in class. Heck, class where nothing is done is fun. But they suffer in ways that may only be known as they become adults.



Imagine. Schools don't teach civics. Schools don't teach philosophy, logic or critical thinking. What they do do is fill space as calmly as possible.



Until, and unless, a substitute for public schools is found, or in the case of Charter Schools, allowed, this waste of time will increase for our kids.



Think I'm kidding? Drive by the high school parking lot a one o'clock in the afternoon and ask yourself where all the kids' cars are? They're gone. Done for the day. Unbelievable.



So, Senate Bill 621 requires charter school teachers to join the teachers' union. It's a twofer. Who wants to spend private dollars to create a parallel monster to the public schools. And if the effort is still made, the teachers' union is there to kill creativity.



Wanna sign the petition opposing this bill? It's here. Until there's a practical alternative to public schools, the schools will never reform.

The Submission Curve

Freedom.........................................................Slavery
Apostacy.........................................................Submission
Libertarian.....................................................Totalitarian
Tolerance........................................................Intolerance
Rights..............................................................Obligations

The the great majority of us live within the area bounded by the First Standard Deviation (+/-).

The question was asked "Where is the line between humanity and inhumanity?"



It's asked a lot. Has been for thousands of years. Without going into a history of philosophy--well, and exhaustive history--we need only take a look at the ideas that motivated the formation of this country. I don't think today's high school history teachers present enough information about the political state of the colonies prior to our Revolutionary War. There were some extremely significant ideas posited by Rene Descartes, 1596-1650, the most revolutionary of which was his statement, "cogito ergo sum". I think, therefore, I am.



To the casual observer this simple statement of truth may be seemingly insignificant. But for those who look to the simplicity of the apodictic argument, the results are shattering to ideologies and religions. This simple phrase codified the expression of will in Martin Luther's, 1483-1546, posting at Wurms. Luther's criticism of the Church was based upon his own reading of the Bible. I think, therefore, I am.



Apostacy and submission. If you will, the Yin and Yang of the Human Condition. It is with a certain amount of humorous intent that I submit this link from a Protestant which describes the "sin" of apostacy. Luther was able to tip-toe through the brambles of apostacy and submission. ("I am ready, and will rather obey than perform miracles in my justification.") So, here's a Catholic link on Martin Luther, and a contrary Protestant link on submission.


For religious and political ideologues, apostacy and submission were, and remain the primary tools for enforcement of a system of hegemony. Take this from Canadienne (why won't they learn to spell?) Ghost of a Flea:

"I am delighted to present Flea-readers with two heaping scoops of William F. Buckley. His subject, an interview with Kenneth Minogue* on the question: "Is there a conservative ideology?" Semantic games follow; to keep out of the tall grass it is useful to keep a Gramscian use of the term "ideology" in mind. To Antonio Gramsci, an "ideology" is a system of worldviews, beliefs and assumptions which provide a symbolic explanation and underpinning for the rule of one class (an "hegemonic" class) over another (a "subaltern" class). A feudal mode of production, consequently, will encompass a feudal ideology in which the rule of the aristocracy over the peasantry is ordained by God. Here the social order on Earth is mirrored by - and indeed is a reflection or extension of - a transcendent social order. A common mistake among jejeune leftists is to imagine this state of affairs is some sort of trickery, i.e. Pharaoh knows perfectly well he is not a god but he and his family and the priests need everybody to think he is a god to keep the beer and pyramids rolling in. Far from it."

What Descartes manages so well in three words takes thousands from others. Cogito, ergo Sum is the single most revolutionary statement in the history of the world. No longer does it require an externally imposed ideology to justify existence, right or wrong. Freedom, for thought, from the external.

It's going to take John Locke, 1632-1704, to put together the consequence of State and the antecedents of apostacy and submission into a Rational form for governance. Here's a rather good, quick summary of Locke's Second Treatise, while I recommend you disregard the conclusion drawn by its author. This guy does a remarkable job of reduction, but it's clear his professor let him know what conclusions needed to be made to "get the grade". It's okay with me, I had a couple of psycho profs who wouldn't mind the argumentation as long as the conclusion stuck to the syllabus. So, disregarding the writer's last nine graphs, look at what Locke has come up with. (I can't believe he did such a good job writing about Locke without seeing the logical incongruities he was able to introduce in his conclusory remarks to arrive at a "politically correct" conclusion.)

"A civil society is an entirely human endeavor constructed out of a consenting populous with the sole intention of preserving personal assets and is thereby restricted in the reach of its power. Locke’s argument concludes that man directly or tacitly gives himself to the rule of a state with an established purpose to “no other end but the peace, safety, and the public good of the people.” Such a public good is to be known as the entitlement and security of private property and the commonwealth has a duty to the preservation of these basic rights. Locke holds the protection of assets equivalent to the protection of life, and in principle, he believes it is to the benefit of all men to remove themselves from the state of nature and enter into a secure civil authority to remedy and protect the inconveniences of the original state of nature."sic

"...he that will not give just occasion to think that all government in the world is the product only of force and violence, and that men live together by no other rules but that of beasts, where the strongest carries it...must of necessity find another rise of government, another original of political power..."--The Second Treatise of Civil Government.

We submit to the State as it serves its purpose, as distinct from that of the State of Nature. So the above curve can be viewed as the Submission Curve. In a Normally Distributed World, the Bell Curve works well to show how populations "are". "This theorem states that the mean of any set of variates with any distribution having a finite mean and variance tends to the normal distribution. Many common attributes such as test scores, height, etc., follow roughly normal distributions, with few members at the high and low ends and many in the middle." Even if skewed, the value of sd remains constant, neh?

Not only do we submit to the State, we do so voluntarily. We do it voluntarily and rationally.
This is the anvil and forge of the state. Where we wright state from apostacy and submission,
freedom and slavery, the confluence of Libertarian and Totalitarian. That is to say, most of us accept limits to our behaviour. Most of us subscribe to the belief in limits to our government. In the United States these beliefs are incorporated within our Constitution.

So, I would posit that the line between humanity and inhumanity is to be found on the left. It is to be found in those who would offer you slavery and submission. Where disagreement is met with intolerance.

Here is what I find most disturbing about those on the Left. It is the attempt to re-impose ideology over the political process. It is the attempt to invoke spirituality into the political debate. It's done with fear, with pity, with lies and distortions. It takes the theme of the Common Man and orchestrates the discovery of the Needful Few. Rich versus poor. Rights versus obligations. My being the final arbiter of what is good for me versus the Government as The Final Arbiter of what is good...Saint Peter at the Golden Gate.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

See, you're covered if you're a Leftie. Your right to have whatever God-forsaken religion you choose is protected by the Constitution of the United States of America. Likewise, I'm protected from having your religious views foisted on me by law.

Unless your religion is Global Warming. Because, frankly, the science doesn't add up. Again, believe all the nuttery you want to believe. Call yourself Progressive. Or Post-Modernist. Or, dufus. It's all the same to me.

Bottom line is, you want the power. All you're lacking is the science. But as any good theologian will point out, for the faithful belief, not proof, is all you need.

Run time: 1:15:56

Google link down...try this from Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler.