Bush had Greek columns in 2004

Many Republicans are trying to stretch Obama’s parthenon-like structure that is being constructed in Invesco Field for his acceptance speech into some kind of symbol of his arrogance.  Of course, they must have checked that one of their own had not used a similar set in the past, right?

Oops… 2004 must have been too far back to remember.

Thanks to Ben Smith at Politico for digging this up.

Dissatisfaction with the convention

A couple days into the convention, I’m feeling… okay… about it.  I think that it can probably improve in the next couple days.  I also think that the criticisms of the convention’s lack of anger are unneeded.

Unfortunately, I’m not lucky enough to be in Denver to enjoy the convention in person.  But from what I am gathering through the blogosphere and through MSNBC — the only cable news I will watch — things do seem a bit more unorganized than the 2004 convention, but I suppose that’s what happens when the party has a protracted primary fight that goes into the summer.

The speeches have been decent.  I remember not being too impressed by President Clinton on the first night of the 2004 convention, and so comparatively, Michelle Obama did pretty well.  Some clamored for her to attack McCain and the Republicans, but I actually find that suggestion idiotic.  Why would Michelle Obama, who the Republicans are making out to be a witch, feed them all the material they need?  Her expertise is her knowledge of her husband, which other people need to have.  Last night’s speech by Hillary Clinton was, again, decent.  I thought she did a great job filling it with soundbytes for TV.  The criticism there is that she didn’t validate Obama’s qualifications to fill the commander-in-chief role.  However, 1.) I think that’s probably better coming from a former commander-in-chief like her husband, and 2.) including that in her speech would have obscured her message of unity.  Hillary needed to focus on unifying the party, and she did a pretty good job doing that.

The major criticisms of the convention so far largely focus on the lack of anger.  There’s probably been more anger displayed on the MSNBC set than there has been at the podium.  And actually, I can’t say that I mind.  I think this is what we get when we have Millennials packing this convention.  This is a comment included in a Matt Stoller post on Open Left describing the convention — it sounds like a Boomer upset with the changing of the times:

My take on the convention so far is that we are being WAY too low key. Other than Kuchinich [sic], I haven’t seen anyone get genuinely angry. We’ve been pissed off and pissed on for 8 years and everyone I know is mad as hell. Where’s the passion? How can you incite the people to act up if you won’t remind them WHY they need a change? It’s almost as though the whole party is afraid that Barack will get labelled [sic] “the angry black man.” Sooner or later, they’ll throw that one out…why not seize the label and embrace it first?

I’d respond by noting that Obama is running the largest grassroots operation in history.  Perhaps we Democrats don’t visibly show our anger as much as we channel it into the work we do.  And perhaps those at the convention realize the amount of work already being done on Obama’s and the party’s behalf.  Again, this is the youngest convention in the history of the DNC, which means lots of pragmatic, teambuilding, institution-minded, work-within-the-system Millennials.  Problems are solved not by complaining, demonstrating, or putting pressure on the political system, but working within it.

I actually think that with the three big speeches left to go (Bill’s, Biden’s, and Obama’s) the anger will pick up a bit.  But I think the determination is going to be there more than anger.  I’ve written about this before, but I think that everyone but the political elites know about the latent army Obama has up his sleeve — the mammoth operation he is running that is flying completely under the radar.  This will make more difference than any political convention.  We won’t see this come into play until the climax of the campaign, mid- to late-October, and I think the punditocracy and talking heads on TV have a hard time understanding that.

Akron, OH plan to fight brain drain

What’s the expression.. shit for brains?

Check this out:

[Akron] Mayor Don Plusquellic has proposed leasing the city-owned sewage system to a private contractor for up to $200 million and using the money to finance college scholarships for Akron’s public high school graduates.

…

He said money for the scholarships would help students attend the University of Akron or a trade school in the city, and turning over the system to a contractor would include rate caps and service guarantees.

Plusquellic said the plan would address brain drain — a migration of talented students out of the city. About 18.6 percent of Akron residents are college graduates, compared with 27 percent nationwide, according to the Census Bureau’s estimates for 2006.

The city’s population also has dropped 9,140, or 4 percent, to 207,934 since 2000 because of a decline in the manufacturing industry.

Normally, I resist taking something that is publicly owned — like most sewage treatment plants — and privatizing it.  But I do care enough about brain drain and the northern industrial cities, that I’m just not sure what to think about this plan.

I do like the connection with the University of Akron.  There’s a lot to lose for a mayor when he or she steps up and proposes a partnership with an institution of higher education that dominates his or her city.  In Plusquellic’s case, it’s kind of a no-brainer.  The University of Akron is growing at a fast pace and becoming a more significant presence in the city year by year.  Partnering with the University and other smaller colleges in the area would be a smart move because of their reach into other communities in the region.  The city of Akron could soak up the talent of other smaller communities around it by utilizing its own education resources.  Akron could seize this opportunity and take the lead among other surrounding cities, such as Youngstown, Warren, and Canton.

The other thing I like about this is that it gets people off the manufacturing shtick.  Those living in Northeast Ohio can’t seem to take their focus off of years past because it’s so woven into the culture.  So many people made their living in factories that for many communities, it is hard to move forward and develop economies around industries that are foreign.  But this starts the process.  Akron invests in young people who are either from the community, educated in the community, or both, who can inject the area with positive ideas in addition to their money.

Unfortunately this plan does hurt the jobs of others.  And it’s understandable that people would be opposed to this idea on that basis if their jobs are the ones on the line.  But this is similar to any situation in which something needs to be taken away before rapid growth can ensue.  And I think this is one of those situations.

What do you think?

Sheesh

It’s been quite a long week at work and it’s only Tuesday. I apologize for the lack of posts for, really, these past two weeks.  I’m optimistic that things will calm down soon.

Please keep reading!

CBS: Obama to announce VP selection on Friday

CBS reports that Sen. Barack Obama’s announcement of his choice for running mate will come Friday afternoon.

CBS News has confirmed that Barack Obama’s campaign now plans to announce Obama’s vice presidential choice to supporters via email and text message on Friday afternoon. (This plan could change, of course.)

He will then appear with his running mate at noon the next day in Springfield, Illinois, CBS News chief political consultant Marc Ambinder reports.

As CBS goes on to note, media reports have narrowed the field down to Virginia governor Tim Kaine, Indiana senator Evan Bayh, and Delaware senator Joe Biden.

Biden, however, has told the media that it’s not him.

Explanation

I feel like I should explain my absence the past week or so.

I work at a college as a coordinator in residence life.  This means that I supervise RAs, and since I do that, I have the shared duty of training them.  Said training is happening this week, which means very few posts for this blog and its readership.

I will try to monitor news and post my own original thoughts as much as I can, but it’s difficult when there’s such an intense week to get through.

Please be patient, and I will be back next week and posting more and more over the next couple of weeks.

Thank you!

McCain and Bush

Why aren’t we seeing any of this from Democrats and from the Obama campaign?

Some show McCain as among those leading the charge to segue from attacking Afghanistan to attacking Iraq. On Jan. 2, 2002, he yelled to sailors and airmen on the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt in the Arabian Sea, “Next up, Baghdad!”

And while McCain later came to criticize the Bush team, he early on told CNN he would have named Donald Rumsfeld to his cabinet and would also have offered Dick Cheney the vice presidency.

If this is true, I wonder why Democrats aren’t using this to tie McCain to Bush?  This stuff is gold, yet voters aren’t hearing anything about it.

Romney missed the last eight years

I think the Republicans are trying to be oblivious to everything going on because that’s the only thing left to do.

Mitt Romney, appearing on “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos, told George what he thinks the country needs in its next president with regard to foreign policy.

Former Republican presidential hopeful and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney promoted Sen. John McCain’s foreign policy experience Sunday, arguing that “judgment comes from experience,” and that “when the people of America are reminded of how dangerous the world is, they recognize the importance of selecting a person that has experience and judgment and wisdom.”

Romney, appearing on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” on behalf of McCain, argued that the situation in Georgia “shows one more time that, in a dangerous and troubled world, it’s helpful to have a leader of the nation that knows these places, knows the people, understands the setting.” Romney added of McCain’s response to the conflict, “John McCain didn’t have to search around to figure out what to say about what was going on.”

Emphasis added.

Ah, the experience argument — we meet again.  Dick Cheney.  Donald Rumsfeld.  They had the experience.  What the hell happened there?

Experience is not the be-all, end-all of presidential politics.  Experience and judgment aren’t directly related, and the latter can be present without the former.

“In a dangerous and troubled world,” perhaps voters should think about what group of people made it that way before going to the voting booth.

Infrastructure and Its Importance to our Future

I’ve recently become interested in urban planning and the impact of the Millennial Generation on its future.  I’m originally from an area smack dab in the middle of the rust belt.  I’ve read about and observed the many mid-size industrial cities around my hometown, especially Youngstown, Ohio, struggle with keeping crime under control, working around massive population loss, and selling people on the notion that it is important to rebuild these cities’ urban cores.

Luckily, many of these cities are already getting back on track.  Youngstown, for example, is being guided by the Youngstown 2010 project, a community-drafted plan established in 2002.  Cleveland’s downtown got an overhaul in the early 1990s.  But there is still more work to be done.  In doing this work, we need to make sure we understand what resources these communities need in order to solidify plans like these and put them into action.

Many people might ask why this has any connection with Millennials — why is it important to rebuild these cities when its citizens have been moving to suburbs for years?  Why is it important to invest in these urban areas when those young people fortunate enough to go to school will just move away after school?  An article in the Washington Business Journal about the connection between the future of urban planning and its connection with Generation X and Millennials gave me an answer.

Millennials are actually pre-disposed to living in urban areas.  Their focus on community and convenience demands a short commute to whatever resource they need in their community.  Ask any Millennial who uses the Internet to do research for a school project, chats on AIM with two friends, listens to music, and checks on the score of his favorite team’s baseball game all at once — they like to multi-task; they like productivity.

The most important factor in figuring out where we’ll be living in the future is to look at how we’ll be living. Just as the automobile in the 1940s and ’50s and racial turbulence in the 1960s and ’70s drove their parents and grandparents to the suburbs, look for today’s younger generations to affect what tomorrow’s communities will look like.

Just consider developer Jim Abdo’s successful bet in the late 1990s that Gen X-ers (born from 1965 to 1980) would line up for new places in the city if he helped remake Logan Circle.

“Generation X and Generation Y are putting much more emphasis on life-work balance,” says Adam Ducker, managing director at Richard Charles Lesser & Co., a real estate firm based in Bethesda.

One of the main ways to achieve a better life-work balance, Ducker says, is foregoing a large home in the suburbs and the long commute it carries for a smaller home closer to work. Commuting in exchange for a bigger house was a deal baby boomers were willing to make for their family. For younger generations, that’s not a reasonable trade-off.

As you read, a community re-formed on the basis of convenience is a necessary ingredient in rebuilding our urban areas.  In addition, their dedication to the environment is another reason why Millennials might be interested in living in an urban community.  An overhaul of the mass transit system would appeal to younger people in this time of high gas prices and environmental concerns.

So where does infrastructure come into play?

Well, the problem with urban redevelopment is that, many times, the projects that are a part of the process get stalled in Congress or other legislatures because they are labeled as “pork.”  For example, John McCain is on record saying that he will pay for many of his own plans — like reinstating Bush’s tax cuts — by eliminating the pork from Congress.  And while you can already see the problem developing there, McCain adds to it by advocating for a gas tax holiday; this will eliminate the funding for many of the projects involving our nation’s infrastructure, further paralyzing development (while not getting any economic benefit).

Bob Herbert wrote a terrific piece for his column in the New York Times about the importance of infrastructure and its tendency to fly under the rader due to its… unsexy… nature.

I sat in on a meeting Thursday as Mr. Diaz and several other mayors, including Michael Bloomberg of New York, met in Manhattan to discuss ways of getting the federal government involved in large-scale infrastructure and transportation initiatives. The mayors are trying to spread the message that investing in a sound infrastructure is essential for continued economic development.

This may seem obvious, but infrastructure proponents are having a terrible time getting traction on this issue. Infrastructure initiatives are expensive, and not sexy. But there are powerful returns on these investments. They tend to pay for themselves many times over (can you imagine New York City without the subways?) and the projects are job creators.

With President Bush on the way out, the burden of leading an effort to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure would fall on either Barack Obama or John McCain. Representatives of each candidate attended Thursday’s meeting but did not participate.

The mayors talked about clogged highways, the high price of gasoline and an air transportation system that seems to get more pitiful by the day. Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, Miss., called on the presidential candidates to take a bold, creative approach to the nation’s transportation needs, including substantial investments in railroad infrastructure.

Mr. Smith believes the nation should devote the same level of commitment to developing a first-rate passenger rail system as was marshaled for the interstate highway system in the Eisenhower era.

My whole point in writing about this issue today is to articulate the link between progress for the future (and we have to look at what Millennials will want, since, according to the Washington Business Journal article, they’ll be 30% of the population and transitioning to homeowner status by 2012) with the need for infrastructure.  Bob Herbert is write — it’s not an attractive issue to talk about, just like it’s not fun to sit in construction delays on a highway, but placed in context, it’s crucial for our future.

We could have vibrant communities, with small grocery stores, coffeehouses, laundry facilities, movie theaters, drug stores, and apartments all included.  We could have a state-of-the-art mass transit system linking these communities in many of our urban areas. We could have a light rail highway set up in the mold of the Eisenhower highway system.  But without a focus on infrastructure, none of this will get off the ground.

McCain’s Depth Problem

I’ve determined that John McCain has a depth problem.

Over the past few weeks, I have written a few times about McCain’s lack of familiarity with technology — specifically e-mail and the web.  In a New York Times interview, the candidate told a reporter that he’s working on that whole internet thing.

Q: But do you go on line for yourself?

Mr. McCain: They go on for me. I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need – including going to my daughter’s blog first, before anything else.

Q: Do you use a blackberry or email?

Mr. McCain: No.

Emphasis added.

But let’s not forget another interview Senator McCain gave with the San Francisco Chronicle.

GOP presidential candidate John McCain, fundraising in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the nation’s technology capitals, acknowledged Monday that he isn’t a “tech freak” or entirely comfortable with the Internet, BlackBerrys or e-mail. But he strongly disputed criticism that he is “out of the loop” as unfair.

As former head of the U.S. Senate Commerce committee, McCain said, he has been a driving force to oversee legislation that helped the Internet flourish - even as he is still learning to get comfortable with it himself.

“Am I a tech freak? No,” he said in an interview Monday with The Chronicle. “And I don’t like to text message because I’d rather call somebody on the telephone.”

“I do understand the importance of the computer. I understand the importance of the blogs,” he said.

McCain said he is well aware that technology “does drive the news. It is changing the shape of the news. … It’s changing the information age, and I’ve got to stay up with it.”

He added, “But I am forcing myself … let me put it this way, I am using the computer more and more every day.”

And that’s where we were a few weeks ago.  A 72 year old Republican candidate that was simply technology deficient.  A candidate of the “olden days,” as Paris Hilton might say.

But then something troubling happened.  McCain gave an otherwise innocent speech in Erie, PA on August 11th regarding the Georgia-Russia conflict.  Reports then surfaced linking McCain’s speech to the Wikipedia entry for “Georgia.”  Remarkably similar passages were laid out, side by side, at some websites; this revealed an uncanny similarity, familiar to college professors who have been victims of plagiarism:

First instance:

one of the first countries in the world to adopt Christianity as an official religion (Wikipedia)

vs.

one of the world’s first nations to adopt Christianity as an official religion (McCain)

Second instance:

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Georgia had a brief period of independence as a Democratic Republic (1918-1921), which was terminated by the Red Army invasion of Georgia. Georgia became part of the Soviet Union in 1922 and regained its independence in 1991. Early post-Soviet years was marked by a civil unrest and economic crisis. (Wikipedia)

vs.

After a brief period of independence following the Russian revolution, the Red Army forced Georgia to join the Soviet Union in 1922. As the Soviet Union crumbled at the end of the Cold War, Georgia regained its independence in 1991, but its early years were marked by instability, corruption, and economic crises. (McCain)

While the campaign, of course, has tried to muddle this controversy, I think the phrasing similarities speak for themselves.  There’s no doubt that the source was relied upon; as for whether it was careless research or a calculated effort, we don’t really have the ability to know.

But let’s assume, at the minimum, that this was a result of careless writing by the McCain campaign.  No other act could be further from their campaign message, could it?  They are running on the senator’s foreign policy experience, his ability to rely on his knowledge of countries around the world and the web of geopolitics linking them.  They’re also running against someone they portray to be a lazy celebrity.  The “life must be grand in the spotlight” McCain ad comes to mind here.  Obama, they’re trying to argue, is merely a lightweight, an empty suit, who can do nothing more than string words together.  But McCain’s problem here is that he couldn’t even do that.

If one wishes to be viewed as a foreign policy heavyweight, he or she should be able to put their own views into their own words.  I, and many other Millennials, want the best person for the job.  We don’t want someone who can’t provide the country with original thought.  We’re not looking for someone who can’t communicate with us at our level.  We’re looking for someone with depth, who can make sound decisions based on statistics, data, advice from the best and the brightest.

After his interviews revealing technological ignorance, after his attacks on Obama void of any logical justification for his own candidacy, and after this Wikipedia incident, John McCain is not proving to be a deep candidate.

The Five Minute University

FMU sounds like a pretty fun place:

McCain: ‘In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations.’

Yup, he said it.

Check it out:

Matthew Yglesias on this:  “We all recall, of course, John McCain’s outrage when the United States violated this rule back in 2003.”

Powell to endorse Obama, speak at convention?

According to Bill Kristol — take with two grains of salt — it’s true.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell will endorse Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, Weekly Standard Publisher Bill Kristol told FOX News exclusively on Thursday.

“He may well give a speech at the Democratic convention explaining his endorsement of Obama,” Kristol said, citing inside sources. “For whatever reason I think he has decided he’s going to endorse Obama. I think [Powell] has a high respect for Senator McCain, they go back a long way.”

Kristol continued, “This is not an absolute done deal, but these people are very confident that Powell will endorse Obama.”

Kristol said sources told him Powell will “quite possibly” speak at the Democratic convention on the same night as Obama’s vice-presidential selection and former President Bill Clinton.

When asked about this, Powell’s spokeswoman thoroughly denies it.

Powell spokeswoman Peggy Cifrino strongly denied the report.

“There’s absolutely no truth to it whatsoever,” Cifrino told FOXNews.com. “Colin Powell will not be at either convention. There’s absolutely no truth to this.”

Powell would be a nice boost if this was true.  But I’m not holding my breath.  It’s Bill Kristol and FOX News for crying out loud.

UPDATE:  Powell himself denies any speaking role at the convention, saying he will not be there at all and calling Kristol’s reporting “musings.”

Gen. Colin Powell told ABC News on Wednesday that he will not be going to the Democratic National Convention, disputing a suggestion made earlier in the day on the Fox News Channel by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol.

“I do not have time to waste on Bill Kristol’s musings,” Powell told ABC News. “I am not going to the convention. I have made this clear.”

Obama’s ads improving

A terrific ad linking Iraq to the economy, and linking George W. Bush with John McCain.  Kudos to the Obama campaign.

What I like about this is that they went right after McCain, they used a narrative — literally — by using the book to frame the attacks, yet they didn’t sacrifice the emotion in the ad while trying to be logical.

More of this, please.

High speed trains through the Rust Belt?

Being originally from the Youngstown, Ohio area (in the middle of the Rust Belt), this idea excites me.

The potential of high speed passenger trains becoming a reality in the Valley was discussed by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, Mayor Jay Williams, Mayor Michael O’Brien of Warren and members of the Ohio Rail Commission during a press conference at 11 a.m. today.

The project is part of the Ohio Hub which has been in motion since 2000, said Matthew Dietrich, executive director of ORDC.

Five or six stops would be included in the rail service from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, including Youngstown and Warren. The high speed trains would travel at approximately 110 mph and could accommodate about 300 passengers, said Don Damron, ORDC passenger rail planning manager.

The novelty and immediate access to industrial cities like Youngstown would be a boon, I think, to this area.  This is a start to conquering the suburban sprawl that has risen over the past few decades as the cities have declined.