Insight. Antics.

Archive for 2011|Yearly archive page

Been Laden, With Bullets.

In Global Politics, Media, War on May 3, 2011 at 5:03 am

Sunday night, when President Obama came to the podium, the world learned that America has killed Osama bin Laden. And Americans learned that their tax dollars really work, save the ones that go to aid for Pakistan.

I’ve been reading so much I can barely tell if I have anything original or nuanced to say on the matter, but I think in order to process it all, I have to put some of this down…

The Administration needs to release evidence of bin Laden’s death, and soon: I have zero doubt that Osama bin Laden is dead. However, I am not a conspiracy theorist, or a citizen of a Middle Eastern country with uneasy feelings towards the U.S. When Saddam Hussein’s sons were killed, graphic images of them were released within a few days to show the people of Iraq. Bin Laden is a bigger deal, an almost mythical figure, and if this story is to resonate accurately through the Arabic and Islamic worlds, we need to deliver the goods. This story could also take on even greater meaning when juxtaposed with the movement towards freedom and democracy that is percolating in the Arab world, but not if they perceive some sort of cover-up. So, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham and I agree on this one: we need pictures. You can’t expect everyone to take it on faith.

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The Halal Belt.

In Global Politics on April 7, 2011 at 2:36 pm

Loyal readers, “mea culpa, mea culpa,” I say. My unannounced hiatus is over. Do not judge harshly: the Ides of March were particularly tough on me this year.

Also, it’s Brief Wit’s birthday!… so I get a free pass. That’s right people, we’re two years in, and the Times still hasn’t called to switch out one columnist named Ross for another. Maybe we can at least do A Parent Trap thing one day.

In case you weren’t here at the get-go, or wanted to remind yourself what got this all started, here’s a link to my first post: You’re Smarter Than The Experts.

Lest we waste any more time, let’s get back to the action. There’s plenty going on, perhaps too much: Japan is still in tragic limbo, federal budget negotiations are reaching a climax, and Charlie Sheen has taken his full-blown jackassedness on the road. Plus, Barack Obama is running for president again. But he needs you to do all the campaigning.

I’m going to leave it at that for now on those topics, and instead offer some thought nuggets on another subject.

You’ve heard of the Bible Belt. You’ve heard of the Borscht Belt. Welcome to 2011: Year of the Halal Belt.

That’s right, when it comes to the Middle East and North Africa these days, we’re way beyond street meat. (But, damn, those Halal Guys on 53rd Street are tasty.)

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Will Obama Get En-Gay-ged?

In Politics on February 16, 2011 at 7:28 pm

While the world focuses on Egypt and new uprisings in other Middle Eastern countries (and boy that sure is incredible), I was wondering if you wanted to join me in changing gears to broach a domestic social issue. I can’t hear you. What’s that? Muffled acquiescence? Smashing. Let’s get started.

Okay, here we go: by the way, the topic is gay marriage. Oh, don’t tiptoe backwards, I already lovingly dragged you here under vague pretenses.

The last time I let the neurons fire on this one was when DC voted to make same-sex marriage legal. After nobody in Congress raised enough grief to strike it down (yes, they get to do that), it became law last March. Since then, there have been a few major developments in the debate to allow guys-who-like-guys and girls-who-like-girls to be like us.

The unlikely, Unambiguously Straight Duo of David Boies and Ted Olsen, prominent Bush v. Gore nemeses in 2000, joined together to push back hard on Proposition 8’s repealing of California’s gay marriages. And they were successful last summer when judge Vaughn Walker, a reportedly gay man himself who was orginally nominated by Reagan and opposed by Pelosi, agreed with their side.

That District Court of Northern California ruling decreed that Prop 8 “violates due process and equal protection clauses in the U.S. Constitution.” However, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (one rung up the ladder) stayed (aka paused) that ruling as it is appealed. Whatever happens there, betting men say this one is going to The Supremes. And it’s hard to say which way the Court would go. Based on our law there appears to be a convincing case; based on its composition is another story.

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A Cents Of Entitlement.

In Economy, Government, Television on January 25, 2011 at 8:04 pm

The State of the Union address is less than an hour away and there have been hints and suggestions from the president as to what major themes and issues he will highlight. Republicans have been laying down the sand and salt to contain any new spending proposals slipped in by Obama tonight.

I’m taking a year off from live-blogging the event, because I haven’t yet mastered how to juggle that task while engaging in a rigorous drinking game, rife with sips and gulps on buzzwords like “bipartisan” and “competitiveness,” and selected prepositions like “by” and “on.”

Undoubtedly, the horrific shootings in Tucson will be referenced in the speech. Job growth and American perseverance will be a key component, with the unemployment rate stubbornly in the 9%-range, and China, brimming with production, on the brink of becoming a full-fledged global rival.

Other topics that will likely be broached are Social Security, Medicare, the national deficit, and tax policy. The debate around these subjects has increased in the last few months, not only with the November elections, but with the plan unveiled by a bipartisan panel on addressing the debt, commissioned by the White House.

The panel released an extensive set of recommendations to bring our maxed out credit card into balance. I wonder if anyone on it considered redeeming our Membership Rewards points to do this. We must have enough now to at least pay for the flight to China, so that we can then bust open the main cabin door and hose them down with all their gobs of money. If they did mull this one over, they didn’t opt for it. Read the rest of this entry »

Third And Wrong.

In Media, Sports on January 6, 2011 at 10:23 pm

I took a Daily Show-like end-of-year hiatus, but have returned to let you know what’s really grinding my gears with the new year afoot. It’s not the Republican House or the trash piling up on the streets. Instead, it’s the NFL.

If you recall, just before Thanksgiving, I engaged in a lengthy analysis of the harassment allegations against QB Brett Favre dating back to his season with the New York Jets in 2008. I favored Jenn Sterger, then in-house sideline reporter for the Jets, for a number of reasons, one of which was we happened to meet once, and I came away thinking she was “smart, kind, and principled.” No legal case was brought at the time. Rather, all parties relied on the NFL, which conducted its own investigation… and dragged its feet so hard they resembled a wide receiver trying to make sure both his were in-bounds for a touchdown.

Nearly three months passed since Deadspin broke the story using questionable practices. Favre’s seemingly-genuine retirement loomed. Injury caused his streak of consecutive starts to snap. His current team, the Minnesota Vikings, whimpered into a playoff-less postseason. The two-year statute of limitations in New Jersey to bring a workplace sexual harassment claim appeared to expire.

And then, buried just before New Year’s Eve, the NFL finally issued a decision: a supremely underwhelming and perplexing ruling. Read the rest of this entry »