Hillary, Pillory, Shrillary

Hillary Clinton is fully engaged in the politics of personal destruction. She cannot win the popular vote or the delegate count unless she destroys Obama. So, with no sign of compunction, she targets Obama with the vigor and zeal of a fully committed Republican partisan.

Democrats should remember that John Kerry came as close as any challenger ever to unseat an incumbent president at war. His fatal flaw was his vote to authorize the war. Hillary has the same flaw. She has two choices: either repudiate her vote and echo Kerry's infamous 'voted for it before I voted against it', or try the too-subtle dance of saying it was right to start the war but the management was wrong. Being a Clinton, she will choose a third way, triangulating between truth and lies, deceit and honesty, trying to confuse just enough people for just long enough.

Nietzsche, Democrats, and Spring Football

How hard should you practice? Nietsche wrote “Out of life's school of war: What does not destroy me, makes me stronger” (Twilight of the Idols). College football coaches, the premier modern philosophers, know better. They protect their star in practice for fear of a career-ending misstep and injury.

Some of Hillary Clinton's supports defend her relentless attacks because they say the attacks will toughen Obama for the general election. There may be some truth in this, because most voters will find these petty issues 'old news' (Reverend Wright, former Weather Underground neighbor, lapel pin etc. etc.), depriving the Republican attack ads of some traction. More likely, it will drive a brilliant but over-tired Obama to state the truth poorly ('bitter'), providing ammunition to those pitiful, craven few who want status quo.

Boeing, boing, splat!

Airbus, Boeing's arch competitor, won the competition for an Air Force tanker contract on "four key areas -- mission capability, past performance, cost/price and integrated fleet aerial refueling". Details, details, details... don't let the facts confuse you. The real competitor is patriotism, the scoundrel's last refuge.

You will recall that John McCain led the fight to expose and block the original deal with Boeing. That was a corrupt, sole-source (no competition) swindle that landed a couple people in jail. Now congress is falling over itself decrying any competition the French can win. The French! Could it be better? A Republican being caught on the wrong side of such demagogy is all the more delicious for its rarity. Ya gotta feel a little bad for poor ol’ John but you can save most of your sympathy for the misused Boeing worker and abused American taxpayer.

Semmelweis Redux

Dr. Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis is a hero who saved the lives of countless mothers. He was an Austrian pediatrician practicing in Vienna around 1850. He discovered that simply by having physicians wash their hands they could stop the spread of infections that produced fatal fevers (childbed fever). For his insight, he was ridiculed and hounded from the medical community and died in oblivion.

Infection remains an enormous problem in healthcare, accounting for an “estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths each year” in America alone. To reduce catheter-related infections, doctors from Johns Hopkins tested a simple procedure that included having clinicians wash their hands. There was a “dramatic decrease in catheter-related infections”, all the way to zero! Despite the obvious improvement, the inaptly-named Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP), a proud part of the US guberment's Department of Health and Human Services, decided that the procedure had not been properly reviewed and stopped the test.

Ah, the wonders of modern medicine, layering bureaucratic blundering atop simple age-old stupidity! With the attention of the New England Journal of Medicine making things uncomfortable, administrators at OHRP will learn anew the benefit of washing their hands of this mess.

McCan't

Let's see, McCain:

• is a Senator with no executive experience;
• defends the morally dubious, disastrously mismanaged, monstrously expensive, and unpopular war in Iraq;
• supports the escalation (permanent surge) in Iraq;
• believes adamantly our troops should remain in Iraq 100 years;
• jokes giddily about 'bomb-bomb-bomb'-ing Iran;
• is eager to practically give a 3rd term to George W. Bush, who has earned his record low popularity and is considered a failure even by conservatives;
• has no experience, knowledge, or even interest in economics, beyond his unethical and probably illegal involvement in the Savings and Loan scandal;
• is anathema to half his party's base for having sponsored bipartisan legislation with arch-Liberals Feingold and Kennedy;
• does not motivate evangelicals, another key part of his party's base;
• has problems controlling his anger, according to many.

If Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee,

• expect a record low election turn out.

If Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee,

• tall, elegant, young man vs. short, sloppy, old guy;
• optimism (yes, we can) vs. pessimism (fugetaboudit);
• enthusiastic, united party vs. disillusioned, fractured party;
• rhetorical superstar vs. competent, but uninspiring and easily tired, speaker;
• right from the start on the war vs. wrong, wrong, wrong.

But we can't count these chickens since it will be up to the dubious “wisdom of the crowds”, AKA the American electorate.

'Good', the enemy of 'Great'

Supporters of Hillary Clinton are reading the writing on the wall and crying “foul”. They claim that Obama supporters attack Hillary unfairly and constitute a “cult of personality”. She is certainly a victim – but of fate alone. Unquestionably, she is better able to lead our nation than John McCain, who is apparently eager to continue Bush's disastrous policies. In an average election, she would have our votes. And voter turn-out would set record lows. But this is not an average election.

Senator Clinton's frustration is understandable. She is (relatively) charismatic, she can light up a (good size) room. But we're all adults here and we know that life ain't fair. Genius is a gift: all your hard work can only help you fulfill their potential. We all wish we could think like Einstein, act like Burton, speak like...Obama. The emergence of Barack Obama has made this a once-in-a-generation election.

General Motors & Divorce

In a move to cut the fat and improve productivity, GM is offering many of its workers $140,000 to sever all ties.

My wife wanted to sever all ties but she demanded a lot more. Maybe the GM workers should hire her lawyer.

Me? Next time, I'm outsourcing. Strictly mistresses. Sure the up-front costs are higher, but the close-out costs are low. And think of the value!