Back from 12 day in NYC. (I hope to blog about some stuff regarding our largest city later)
The news is a few days old, but it doesn't make it any easier. The Cleveland Indians traded Cliff Lee earlier this week to the Philadelphia Philles. The best pitcher, former Cy Young winner, and my fan favorite are gone. What a bummer. As if this season could get any worse for an Indian's fan. Well, my third favorite Indian, Victor Martinez, could be traded by tomorrow. This is all so Cleveland. They are pretty much throwing away 2010 as well. GM Mark Shapiro has made great trades before but this is a long work in progress.
Charles Krauthammer dedicated his latest editorial to the 4oth Moon Anniversary that is rapidly coming up and he got me to thinkin'. I have to agree with him. It is sad that so many Americans have become ho-hum regarding space travel and the potential glories that exist beyond our own planet. I can't tell you how many students (a least six a year) who insist the US government faked the moon-landings. It is pretty frustrating. I imagine there is a small (and annoying) minority in this country who believe the same thing. Thanks a lot Fox!
I also wish President Obama would embrace a new interest in space travel and all its possibilities. I would think it a tragedy if we abandoned the lead to China or India. Many wags lament the decline of American engineering and innovation (though this is certainly over-exageraged). What better way than the rigor and challenge of space? of a moon base? of the exploration of Mars? I would love to live long enough to see humans on Mars. And for it to be an American crew would be better yet. I'm just not sure that's going to happen at this pace.
So as our youth and country are obsessed with fantasy and science-fiction (see TV, Comic books, Summer Movies) they are barely turned on about the science-reality staring them in the face. I don't know where the fault lies but hopefully we can come up with a solution.
Robert Samuelson at Newsweek has been writing some of the most profound short-length essays about the economy the last nine months or so. I have posted many of them. I think what makes them strong is his total lack of agenda beyond a sound economy. He has acted like one of the few level two thinkers out there. He poses questions without getting partisan or angry. He's not a Paul Krugman who clearly has an agenda and blathers it out to everyone who will hear. And he's not a Republican hammering away at the President and Congress for purely politically reasons. Instead he gathers the data, looks towards the future, and asks the hard questions Americans of all stripes wish to avoid.
His latest essay poses the one question every American must answer and I hope everyone who voted for Obama will seriously ask themselves and then answer the tough follow up questions.
That question is How big a government do we want? On the surface this is clearly a level one question, but it really is a reflective one when you take the time to break it down. This was really the question people should have been asking themselves going into the voter's booth last November. And then the second question is how do we pay for an expanded government flush with even more entitlements. USA Today had a series of polls regarding Health Care and low and behold it found the majority of Americans want better health care but don't want to pay for it.
Right there is a big problem that has been plaguing the Republic for some time. Too many people believe they are entitled to stuff on someone elses dime. As Samuelson states, "We face an unprecedented collision between Americans' desire for more government services and their almost-equal unwillingness to be taxed." Something has to give. Our president, the Democrats, and too many Republicans in Congress seem to want it all. This isn't practical or realistic. Though it is how many get elected. Unfortunately someone always has to pay and the Democrats' old song and dance about the rich paying only works for so long. The middle-class will have to pay as well down the road. And then free people will find ways around tyranny. They will even move with their feet if they have to.
So I ask merely for all the Obama voters out there to read Samuelson's article and reflect on the only question and then for them to formulate a real answer--not merely a level one response but also on the consequences of an expanding Federal Government today and in the future. Unfortunately I don't think anyone will step up to the plate.
Big decisions need to be made. I only hope they are the right ones.
I would like to highlight 3 recent albums. Each falls comfortably into the singer/songwriter--Adult Alternative--Dream Pop category.
The first is the new album from Regina Spektor--called Far. Her last album was fantastic. My wife loved it. Her new album continues Regina's dominance of the quirky pop song. Anyone who has enjoyed Regina in the past is guaranteed to enjoy her new effort.
The other two albums I have only listened to twice each, which is very low to actually get a firm feel for, but I feel they both have potential. I was just looking at new releases on iTunes and both of these were only $7 for a dozen or more songs. After listening to a few samples I was sure I would enjoy the whole albums and committed. I was right. If you enjoy Ivy or Great Northern or the Pierces or Shawn Colvin then you'll like both Slow Club's Yeah So and Elizabeth & The Catapult's Taller Children.
If you are looking for one song from each I'd try...
Regina Spektor's Laughing With
Slow Club's Giving Up on Love
Elizabeth & The Catapult's Taller Children
PS: Better than Ezra has a new album too. I've only listened to the track, Absolutely Still. Classic BTE.
The Fourth of July is tomorrow and in honor of our 233rd birthday I have written a small piece on Liberty.
Eternal Liberty
Mark A Trexler
Eleven score and thirteen years ago our fathers in liberty shaped on this continent a new world—a republic to enlighten and enrich mankind. Rejecting the tyranny and monarchy of a centralized power they reached deep into antiquity to usher in a new age of reason and humanity. More importantly they hitched our future onto the radical truth that all men are created equal. Not equal in ability or talent but in birth and law. Men and women would live their life free of despotism and pursue their happiness in the way they choose, free from the whims and decrees of kings and dictators. Happiness wasn’t guaranteed, failure sat next to success as equals, but the choice to pursue one’s own fate through freewill was a centerpiece of the republic. Knowing that men were not angels and would never live in an idealized utopia and also knowing that anarchy was a twisted cousin of freedom, they fashioned a government, for the people and by the people, limited in scope, but strong at heart to maintain our precious and fragile natural rights. That government, always run by men and not by angels, has been far from perfect—it too has momentarily succumb to the will and corruption of selfish interests and the mania of war, but has always righted the ship with modernization and hardship. The continual restoration of our traditions, our humanity, and our government is never done. Folly is ensured to those people who embrace the lightly proferred laurel, the easy, ungrudged praise.
Across the decades we as a people have struggled and travailed to live up to the maxim all men are created equal—a task each generation seizes and battles. We have nobly won great advancements, we have cauterized the original sin of slavery, and widened the franchise of suffrage, but we have let slip the other half of the equation, no less in value. And that is the notion of liberty—the freedom to live one’s life without the burden of others dictations, freedom from coercion of the bayonet, and freedom from the manipulation and caprice and impulses of so-called great and powerful men. When individuals and communities, through reason and spirit can govern the republic we will flourish as we have for hundreds of years. When the shackles and lash of oppression are given reign, however slowly, we must be ever vigilant to strike down dangers to the republic, especially those that initially seem like benefits of the greater good.
I ask all Americans and future Americans to remember on this Fourth of July the long-standing faiths of our blessed nation—those natural rights and national values that are more than mere dusty words from bygone eras. Our liberties have long ago given us power, but only if we trust in them and maintain them and use them in our daily lives. Once embraced we can forever dip into that stream of liberty cascading across the ages and refresh our government and ourselves. We must remember that all of this, large and small, is no accident. Through our collective freewill we make choices that herald the future. Let us make those choices wise and fruitful ones. Bear in mind we always have the opportunity for disastrous lapses in judgment as well as bold deeds and exceptional achievements. We must hold tight our convictions and conserve the lifeblood of our revolution—a moment in time when we cast off tyranny and the dictations of faraway kings through suffering and sacrifice and established here, on this soil, a republic cast in justice, nurtured in equality, and conceived in eternal liberty.
This piece was posted in the Wall Street Journal this morning, a wonderful reminder of our Founding in 1776 on this July 4th weekend. Noonan praises (in her opinion) our greatest living historian: David McCullough. He certainly is right up there. If anybody would rank such things I would probably put him second behind Gordon S Wood. I'll have to think more about that for a future post. McCullough certainly has the best speaking historical voice.
I was looking for the origin of the phrase "Clothes make the man" and stumbled upon this related quote by Mark Twain. I found it quite funny. (and curiously enough I've been rewatching Ken Burns' Mark Twain documentary this week.)
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
Mark Twain US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910)
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