Richardson 2008: Pitcher Perfect

Bill Richardson was interviewed for a full hour by Tim Russert on Meet the Press (see it here). There were a few uncomfortable moments, as Richardson tried to explain some contradictory comments he has made over his years in the public eye. He admitted to changing his mind some times. I think he did a pretty good job of explaining his positions or explaining why he changed his mind. He admitted to making mistakes. He has taken “nuanced” positions that are not politically straightforward but probably the most sensible: for nuclear power and renewable energy, for some gun controls and against others.

You have to be impressed by his experience not only as a governor and an international diplomat, but also as Secretary of Energy, which is the crux of our national security and our economic future.

Perhaps his most telling comment was that he had to quit his baseball career because he ruined his arm pitching “too many curve balls”. That's a perfect preparation for politics! He even convinced me that he was a Boston Red Sox fan who would love to play for the NY Yankees. That's good preparation for bringing together “blue” and “red” Americans, and maybe the rest of the world.

Indy 500

Though the Indianapolis 500 mile race can no longer claim to be a premier event in motorsports, it's claim of being the “greatest spectacle in racing” is probably legitimate. As a kid, I got to go to the “time trials” (qualifying) and I remember it fondly 40 years later. I went again this year. Former tennis great and Indy neophyte Billy Jean King said it right: the speed and the noise are amazing and they are simply lost on the television.

This race track is huge. At 2.5 miles around, it is about 15 times longer and wider than the biggest football stadium. You can only see about a third of the track at any one time and the cars cover this third in less than 15 seconds, which boggles the mind when you see it (the arrow in the picture points to a race car in corner 4). The amazing noise as the cars pass by communicates the enormous physical forces at work. (I recommend earplugs.) And the people – fellow spectators and workers – were great. I don't know if I could tolerate the crowd of 400,000 people that attend the race on the Memorial Day weekend, but maybe so, maybe so.

TV is just fine for the great traditions of the race. My favorites are Jim Neighbors singing“Back Home Again, in Indiana” before the start and, at the end, the winning driver being offered a bottle of milk to drink. None of that silly spraying around and wasting great Champaign.

Next time, let's hire a gardener...

...or maybe a carpenter, someone who actually builds or grows something in their spare time. Not another cowboy actor or wanna-be rancher who "clears brush".

Tenet's untenable case

It's certainly sad when an willful idiot (Bush) and craven criminal (Cheney) control the country. It's particularly pitiful on a personal level when a well-intentioned and seemingly intelligent person (George Tenet) can deny reality so petulantly and persistently in the face of overwhelming contrary facts. He said in his "60 Minutes" interview that the Bush gang was disturbingly keen on linking Hussein to 9/11, despite abundant contrary evidence. We can believe this because Richard Clarke said the same thing several years ago. Yet Tenet's recognition of this misguided obsession didn't deter him from joining the gang's effort to support a war against Iraq. He also claimed he had believable reports post-9/11 that Al-Qaeda possessed nuclear materials and was planning to use them in the US. This information justified in his mind the use of torture and he said these techniques blocked attacks. Correction: he denies that the CIA used torture, delicately preferring instead “enhanced interrogation” but the distinction is moot since waterboarding was one of the "enhanced" techniques.

Incredibly, after helping lead the country to a foolish and immoral war, this guy can still spout off about “honor” and how “intelligence” was his job, so the interviewer should just accept his assertions. Did Tenet watch Jack Nicholson's misguided Colonel in “A Few Good Men” a few times too many?

In case you forgot, Tenet sat right behind Colin Powell, the other big disappointment of this fiasco, when he presented to the UN the trumped-up argument for war against Hussein. Tenet still defends a National Intelligence Estimate that was over hyped. Someday, he will probably come to his senses and admit culpability. I hope so, for the sake of his own conscience. It will be too late, just like it was too late when the former Secretary of State Robert McNamara admitted his guilt for Vietnam. Or Tenet might simply go on believing he was right, like Kissinger, proudly and profitably and pitifully ignorant to the end of his days.

See also “Tortured Logic” for a rebuttal of the "reason" for using torture to extract information.

Suburban Sprawl, Global Warming, and Childhood Obesity

These trends are linked. People, especially parents, move to sprawling suburban communities for lower taxes, more land, and perceived safety. These enclaves are cut off from the “sidewalk grid” linking older, more urban communities. It is this grid that enables walkers and bikers to actually get somewhere, such as the store, school, gym, or library, instead of just going in circles for recreation. To get anywhere, the enclave adults have to drive and the kids have to be driven.

The extra lawn in these developments is often just enough to justify the purchase of a small tractor lawnmower, contributing more greenhouse gases. City properties are usually small enough that even a manual push mower could do the job and the exercise could save a trip to the gym. Parents may think their kids will play more on more land but that does not seem to correlate.

Being isolated in individual cul-de-sacs, kids must be driven to events at school, for sports, for other classes and even for playdates, adding tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Simultaneously, the kids are not getting that extra exercise that comes from biking or walking or skipping to the school, the practice field, or their neighbor's house. Their movements must be planned and choreographed to accommodate the parental shuttle service.

Sprawling to evade taxes? Dream on. Sprawl just transfers taxes from property taxes, which pay for schools, aforementioned sidewalks, and other social benefits, to gasoline tax. Just an extra 10 miles each way, each day, for 200 working days per year adds up to 4,000 miles per year. At an optimistic 20 mpg, that's 200 gallons and $600. Sure, only part of that is actual federal tax, but does that distinction really make you feel better?

If every family could walk or bike for just 2 trips per week instead of using the car, the US would be independent of foreign energy, thousands of tons of greenhouse gases would be saved, we would be a little healthier, we would know our neighbors and environment a little better, and we could each be about a pound lighter each year. It would be especially nice if many people did this because we would see our neighbors, and not just their cars, more often. But don't wait for everyone to do it... you can do this on your own!

See also “My Car, My Carapace” for an older, related rant.

Blacksburg, briefly Baghdad

The killing of 32 people at Virginia Tech has shocked Americans. The sudden loss of so many vigorous, talented, and promising young adults is deeply saddening. The brief biographies of the students and teachers reveal how truly remarkable these people were and helps personalize the loss.

Is this also a "teachable moment"? We've grown accustomed to hearing about scores of Iraqis killed in the violence triggered by our immoral, illegal, and incompetent invasion. During the occupation, the Iraqis have suffered greater losses than Blacksburg evey day. Imagine twice as many people killed, women and children and men, most of whom just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This comparison should serve not to minimize the loss at VT but rather to dramatize the mess we've made in Iraq.

Obediant Pirate

The most pitiful aspect of the Keith Richards story is not that he has the poor judgment to think his claim to have snorted his father's ashes makes a good joke. No, his eager repudiation is the most pathetic part. Here is a bona fide “bad boy” who could've just told Disney to keep their promotion money for “Pirates of the Caribbean” if they can't take a joke (or whatever). Instead, his feeble and futile attempt to regain their graces just makes himself look a fool and a sellout. What's next, Mick singing “I can't get no satisfaction... without AARP”?