Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Quote for the Day, 6/29/2005   "She didn't even care enough to cut off my head, or set me on fire.  Is that too much to ask?  A little sign that she cared."   -James Marsters (Spike), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Lover's Walk" 9:29:35 PM    comment []

The California Initiatives   Earlier today I mentioned Governor Schwarzenegger and his ballot initiative to change the way Congressional redistricting is done in California.  Last year, the Governator used his own popularity to get a number of initiatives passed by California voters.  The Governator is trying to do so again, but this time his support is considerably more problematic.  Just four months ago, 56% of the voters planned to vote to re-elect the former body builder if he runs again next year, with 42% opposing him.  But in a new Field poll, 57% want him gone, and only 39% have any intention of voting for him.  His support is even lower among women he's groped. It looks like his personal popularity has gone the way of his movie career...it's a thing of the past.  Some of the Governator's initiatives may yet succeed, but if so, it will be despite his support, not because of it. 7:23:32 PM    comment []

The Virginia Governor's Race   In a TV ad in Virginia, Democratic Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine says, "As a Christian missionary in Honduras, I learned that life is sacred.  That's why I oppose the death penalty.  I'll carry out a death sentence because that's the law.  But I won't change my religious beliefs."  First off, I am inspired to wonder, what did he think life was before he went to Honduras?  But it's the latter statement that truly boggles my mind.  He believes that the death penalty is unchristian.  He doesn't waver from that belief.  And he is ready to kill people despite that.  He is actually campaigning on a promise not to respect his own personal beliefs.  A real profile in courage, there. Also, the statement that the death penalty is the law is a cop-out.  It is also the law that the governor can commute a death sentence to life in prison.  Every execution that would occur while he was Governor would be because he wanted it that way.  If elected Governor, Kaine is saying he will gladly get blood on his hands.  One suspects he takes that position because if he said he wouldn't respect the death penalty, he'd probably get beaten like a drum in the election.  His respect for life may be a bit of a peek-a-boo affair:  now you see it, now you don't.  Life is sacred in Honduras; it's not so sacred in Virginia.  But you can't argue that he doesn't have fire in the belly.  Not everyone will betray their bedrock principles for a political campaign.  Bravo! (Yes, I'm still a liberal, but I dislike both hypocrisy and stupid political ads, and this is a double play.) 10:56:09 AM    comment []

An Idea for Congressional Redistricting     Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a plan where judges redraw Congressional districts along nonpartisan lines.  I certainly approve of the stated intention.  The problem with this notion in states where state judges are elected, is that they are about as partisan as any politician; and in states where they are appointed, if anything, they are slightly more likely to be politically partisan, as evidenced by their ability to successfully suck up to a governor to get the gig in the first place. In contrast, I offer an alternative idea:  every ten years, after the census, instead of traditional redistricting, or the Governor's proposal, divide the total number of voters by the total number of Congressional districts, and use a random number generator to produce contiguous districts of equal size.  Yes, occasionally such programs would give one party a gross advantage over the other, but it couldn't possibly do so to the same extent that the current system does.  And because it would draw districts that, at least in large states, would be extremely unlikely to bear any resemblance to the districts it replaced, it means that every ten years it would do a great deal to wipe out the power of incumbency.  As it stands, many members of the House of Representatives never face a competitive race.  Even if they were to do so, it would happen not in a general election, but in a primary.  This means that most Congressmen don't think past appealing to the activists in their party, driving Representatives to the extreme flank of their respective parties.  A random redrawing of the districts would lead to a great many Congressmen facing competitive elections at least once every decade, which would be a huge improvement on today. 6:53:29 AM    comment []

Lost in the Mail:  Bush's Address to the Nation   It's nice that the President has finally begun to talk about the war in Iraq in terms of sacrifice.  The problem is it's unclear the extent to which he's just talking about human sacrifice.  In the Civil War people could get out of fighting for the Union, but they at least had to pay $300.  Maybe someday we'll have another President who will actually talk about shared sacrifice; where the rich might pay some taxes, for instance, in return for their children not going off and fighting and dying for America, as the children of the middle-class, and the grindingly poor, so routinely do.  But that might be too much to ask these days.  They say that taxes are the price we pay for liberty.  Bush's financial backers seem to believe that's too high a price for what they get. 12:07:43 AM    comment []