Red State Rebels

(Almost) apolitical holiday weekend edition

Here are some websites and blogs you deserve to know about, if you don't already:

@BookCrossing.com's mission is to turn the whole world into a library. It works like this: You read a good book. You go to the website, log your comments, and get a Book Crossing ID number to post in the book. You leave the book in a conspicuous public place - a coffee shop, park, thrift store donation, etc. Someone finds it, reads it, logs their own comments, leaves the book for someone else to find, and so on. The process is eve taking on a geocaching/letterboxing twist of sorts as people can post "release notes" on the website to help others find the books they've set free.

Naturally, as a working writer who loves it when people buy - rather than borrow or barter or otherwise recycle - my books, I have some tiny reservations about how BookCrossing could affect my livelihood and that of other authors. But I figure that BookCrossing is also like free advertising: Someone might pick up a book, realize it's the perfect gift for someone they know, and buy a copy (or more). So on balance, BookCrossing.com strikes me as fun and cool.

@The WiFiGuy was in Boise this past week and gave our fair city his highest rating: seven body piercings out of seven. (Why that's not seven green bars out of seven, I don't know.) A few excerpts from his report:

... there were already indications I was going to like Boise. I couldn't put my finger on it ... I was taking it all in. Then I saw what to me was the perfect metaphor. This is how cool Boise is. I passed a thrift store along the way ... I'm sure it was filled with '70s polyester and '90s flanel like all thrift stores ... but on the sidewalk out front, there was a used kayak. The thriftstores sell kayaks ... how cool is that! ...

... (Flying M) has a cool little antique vending machine. It look like an old cigarette machine, but it is filled with packets of art. The sign said something like "Fresh art added daily," or something like that. I wondered if the art was stamped with a "enjoy by June 1" message, on the outer wrappers. ...

... Desperately seeking to blog, I snuck into the computer lab of the Business School, one evening at Boise State University. Great campus, nice people, and a strong, very strong Wi-Fi signal in the student center ... Read his whole write-up here.Thanks to The Idaho Statesman for the tip on this.

@OK, just a bit of politics - but mostly fun. Check out the Leader of the Free World. With all the fundraising appeals I've gotten recently from the Kerry camp, his picture could be here, too. Thanks to Kelly Brickner for bringing this to our attention. My daughter Natalie and I had a heckuva time quitting the site last night! You will, too.

@Finally, thanks to fellow Boisean Tom von Alten for alerting me to his blog, a sweet-and-sour mix of musings on the state of the world, blended with piquant local flavor and some fine photography, besides.

Bush's plan and McClure's last-minute run, revisited

Time for some Saturday-morning review on two posts from earlier this week.

In the comments under "What bothered me most," fellow blogger Brad from Oregon disputed my statement that it would be unpatriotic to wish failure on Bush's nebulous plan to hand Iraq over to the Iraqis, writing:

If we can justify making war on Iraq with the justification that, at least we are killing fewer people than Saddam would have, then is it so unthinkable to suggest abject failure in Iraq, with all the attendant bloodshed, would be preferable to a world where George Bush and his cronies are rewarded and emboldened for mass murder? Just asking...

Brad, you have me in a corner here - and I don't mind, even if it exposes my muddled intellect. Earlier this week, I saw a poll from MoveOn asking what we should do in Iraq. One of the options was "I don't know. It's a mess," or words to that effect.

That's where I stand - or squirm. The United States should have never begun this war. Part of me agrees with the "You broke it, you bought it" stand once advocated by Thomas Friedman. (Now that the NYT columnist as admitted the war was misbegotten, I'm not sure he still feels we're morally responsible.) But I also see the moral irresponsibility of continuing to pursue a failed policy, especially when it gives credence to the neocons' agenda. Oy vey. The one thing I do know with absolute certainty is that Bush must go.

On the Scott McClure matter ("Idahoans, write in Scott McClure"), several people asked me about the success of the Magic Valley Democrat's last-minute effort to mount a write-in campaign against Mike Crapo. I never did see any numbers, and an inquiry to the Idaho Dem party brought this reply from exec director Maria Weeg: "Unfortunately, it was too late for him to be a write in candidate for the primary. He is still planning on running, and will be a great candidate, but will have to mount a strong write in campaign in the fall."

I'm not sure Maria meant it was too late because no one heard about his run until Monday night at the earliest (and many not at all until after the polls closed) or because - under Idaho law - one must file papers even to be a write-in candidate. (Can someone with a better grasp of state election law enlighten me?)

In any case, at this point, I sadly have to agree with "Embarrassed Dem," who had this to say:
OK, we dropped the ball against Crapo. Now we are going to go public and show everyone we don't even understand the LAW. McClure missed all the deadlines, 3 in all to file. THERE IS NO WAY he can be elected. It is an impossibilty under Idaho election code. Geez, let's focus on a better fight.

Mea culpa.

Fearless

Yesterday, Al Gore gave one of the bravest speeches any Democrat leader has yet given on the war. He boldly said the sort of things John Kerry needs to start saying about how badly our nation has been tainted by the Bush administration's foreign policy of arrogance and deception. He called for the resignation of Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz, Tenet, and others. The whole thing is a must-read, but here are a few excerpts:

"How did we get from September 12th , 2001, when a leading French newspaper ran a giant headline with the words “We Are All Americans Now” and when we had the good will and empathy of all the world -- to the horror that we all felt in witnessing the pictures of torture in Abu Ghraib?

"To begin with, from its earliest days in power, this administration sought to radically destroy the foreign policy consensus that had guided America since the end of World War II. The long successful strategy of containment was abandoned in favor of the new strategy of “preemption.” And what they meant by preemption was not the inherent right of any nation to act preemptively against an imminent threat to its national security, but rather an exotic new approach that asserted a unique and unilateral U.S. right to ignore international law wherever it wished to do so and take military action against any nation, even in circumstances where there was no imminent threat. All that is required, in the view of Bush’s team is the mere assertion of a possible, future threat – and the assertion need be made by only one person, the President.

"More disturbing still was their frequent use of the word “dominance” to describe their strategic goal, because an American policy of dominance is as repugnant to the rest of the world as the ugly dominance of the helpless, naked Iraqi prisoners has been to the American people. Dominance is as dominance does. ..."

"... what happened at the prison, it is now clear, was not the result of random acts by “a few bad apples,” it was the natural consequence of the Bush Administration policy that has dismantled those wise constraints and has made war on America’s checks and balances.

"The abuse of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib flowed directly from the abuse of the truth that characterized the Administration’s march to war and the abuse of the trust that had been placed in President Bush by the American people in the aftermath of September 11th.

"There was then, there is now and there would have been regardless of what Bush did, a threat of terrorism that we would have to deal with. But instead of making it better, he has made it infinitely worse. We are less safe because of his policies. He has created more anger and righteous indignation against us as Americans than any leader of our country in the 228 years of our existence as a nation -- because of his attitude of contempt for any person, institution or nation who disagrees with him."

Read the whole transcript here.

Silly Statesman poll

The Idaho Statesman has an online poll today asking whether President Bush's decision to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq has helped or hurt the war on terrorism. With 625 votes, "helped" is narrowly edging out "hurt."
But what an inept question. Going to war in Afghanistan was justified: We were looking to root out Osama bin Laden, who boasted of his sucesses on September 11. War on Iraq, however, is a whole 'nother story. Why would the Statesman combine the two? If they'd posed the question just on Iraq - and whether the war there had helped or hurt the fight against terrorism - you can bet that even here in Idaho, the "hurts" would win in a walk.

What bothered me most

Listening to Bush's speech last night, my overriding reaction was: The plan to hand over sovereignity to the Iraqis must work, for all our sakes. It'd be petty and unpatriotic to wish for failure just so Bush's approval ratings can continue to plummet.
Still, it bothers me that Bush began his address by speaking of the increased brutality of recent weeks - of US deaths and Nicholas Berg's beheading - without even a veiled reference to the prison scandal. Yes, the abuses happened months ago ... and Bush briefly mentioned them later, but with no sign of contriteness or culpability over what had happened.
A few hours after Bush's speech, I read Peter Beinart's recent TRB editorial in The New Republic (May 24 issue; available only to subscibers online) in which Beinart argued that while Bush and company have struck many of the right notes in the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib scandal, the one false one they've struck over and over is the idea that "This is not America." In this manner, the Bushies are basically denying that any Americans are capable of heinous acts, despite evidence to the contrary. "We must admit what the rest of the world knows - that Americans do evil, and oppose freedom, just like every other peope on earth," Beinart wrote. "What makes us different is a political system open and accountable enough to restrain our abuses and correct our course."
There's a bit too much American exceptionalism in there for my taste; I would argue we are not the only country with such a system and, indeed, its openness and accountability have suffered terribly these past three years. But I take Beinart's point, and so should Bush. As June 30 looms, we cannot pretend we know the only path toward democracy and freedom.

Idahoans, write in McClure

This just arrived from Lin Whitworth, candidate for Idaho's 2nd congressional district. It turns out Mike Crapo has some willing opposition after all - but only if 2,000 of us write in Scott McClure's name in tomorrow's primary:

Dear Friends,

I know many of you weren't planning on going to the polls tomorrow because there are few primaries(except in Boise) on the Democratic ticket. In case you were going to ignore this year's Primary election here's a flash - WE HAVE A CANDIDATE TO RUN AGAINST MIKE CRAPO. His name is Scott McClure and he's from Jerome. I have attached his bio below.
The key here is that we have to write his name on the Democratic ballot "Write-In" line. PLEASE SHARE THIS E-MAIL WITH DEMOCRATS ONLY! If everyone would pick up the phone and call friends and relatives this evening we will have an amazing turnout tomorrow.

From Scott McClure:

Dear Fellow Democrat,

My name is Scott Fredrick McClure, P.E.

I am a resident of Jerome, Idaho and President of McClure Engineering, Inc., a consulting engineering firm located in Twin Falls, Idaho which has been in existence for over twenty-five years.
I was raised on a farm near Jerome and attended school in the Jerome School District through high school graduation. I attended Idaho State University where I served as Student Body President, and Chairman of the Idaho Student Governments Council. I graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering.
Following graduation, I was commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps. where I served as a combat engineering officer. Billets included platoon commander with the 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division and Assistant Division Engineer, 1st Marine Division. Following discharge of the Marine Corps I was employed for three years as a Plant Engineer for U& I Sugar Company.
In 1978, I created McClure Engineering. This firm has been in existence since that time providing engineering services in mechanical and structural engineering.
I have served as President of the Idaho Society of Professional Engineers and the Consulting Engineers of Idaho. In 1998, I was appointed to the Idaho State Board of Registration of Professional Engineers and
Professional Land Surveyors and I am currently serving as Secretary of the Board.
My reason for running for the U.S. Senate is that I believe there are too many issues facing this State and this Nation to allow such an important position as a seat in the U.S. Senate to go uncontested.
The direction that this State and this Nation will take in the next six years is too critical of an issue to allow any one point of view to go unexamined and uncontested.
Therefore, I am declaring my candidacy, as a write-in candidate for the Democratic Party for Mr. Crapo’s seat in the U.S. Senate.

Personally, I am thrilled to have a reason to vote tomorrow. McClure, a Magic Valley Democrat with a long history of military and professional success, sounds like an ideal challenger for Crapo. Let's make sure he gets the 2,000 write-in votes, then look toward the fall. If ever Idaho Dems have a shot at winning uphill battles, it's this year.

10,000+ hits

Sometime in the past day, Red State Rebels logged its 10,000th visit. That's no doubt small potatoes compared to Daily Kos or Talking Points Memo, but it's still cool. (As a comparison, my work-related Lewis and Clark travel site has been online for years and has only had 3000-some hits.) So rebels, thanks for visiting and thanks especially for sticking with me over the past two months as I've been blogging irregularly. Life is getting a bit more settled, and I aim to post more (and more often) as this election year unfolds. Peace, y'all.

A sobering read

Kurt Vonnegut has always been a tough - but rewarding - read for me. His prose meanders all over the place, and yet he always, ultimately, makes his point, which is usually a fearless defense of intellectual and artistic freedom, a devastating indictment of foolishness, or both.

"Cold Turkey," his essay in the current issue of In These Times, pinballs from Gilbert and Sullivan to Mel Gibson's cinematic assault on Jesus to why we ought to be thankful the Arabics invented numerals. But at its root, the essay is Vonnegut's take on why and how a nation of addicts faces the prospect of getting off the sauce of fossil fuels, with the day we're yanked into sobreity close at hand.

I'd post an excerpt here, except no snip will do the whole thing justice. So just go read it.

"Cold Turkey" is both maddening and hopeful. You'll get mad when you read it, but maybe - if enough people read it - we can do a course correction. We'll start by ejecting the thugs and reconnecting the burglar alarms.

Must-see TV re-airs tonight

Check your local listings for tonight's PBS rebroadcast of The Jesus Factor, the recent Frontline show on George W. Bush's religious journey and the growing influence of evangelical Christians in American politics. Or if you can't tune in, you can watch the whole show online here.

Dean for VP?

Conventional wisdom says you don't want to have two people from the same geographical region on a presidential ticket. But a movement is afoot to draft Howard Dean for VP.
I got an email from Hillary Rodham Clinton today begging for money for John Kerry. "A year ago everyone had written Democrats off. The media had taken for granted the reelection of George Bush. Isn't it fun to prove them wrong?" she began.
Well ... not so fast. No one I know is genuinely, passionately excited about Kerry. Yeah, we'll vote for him, given the alternative. But contrast this ho-hum attitude to last summer and fall when hundreds of thousands of people plunged into politics for the first time - more than a year before the election - because Howard Dean dared to stand up and ask why Democrats were capitulating to the GOP's every wish. Dean gave the party a spinal transplant and that, Sen. Clinton, is why the Democrats now have a chance to unseat Bush. (That, and Bush's miserable record ...)
I'd still love to see Dean take over for Terry McAwful as head of the DNC. But VP would be cool. Check out the case for Dean as veep and the "draft Dean" petition here.