Red State Rebels

Full of hot air

Mark and Sisyphus remarked on yesterday's water cooler about the spectacle of Butch Otter, Larry Craig, and Mike Crapo draped across the front of today's Idaho Statesman, bellyaching about how federal government policies helped send a southern Idaho wildfire out of control. Their comments pretty much say it all, but I can't let this pass without my two or three cents.

Shame on the Statesman for its bloated coverage of grandstanding politicians who offered no specifics to back up their claims. Shame on Republicans who - after seven years with George W. Bush in command - continue to blame Bill Clinton anytime they want to score points with Idaho voters. And shame on politicians who put the needs of cattle ahead of people.  (The plight of residents on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation didn't even merit a mention from Larry, Curly, or Moe.) Where are their priorities?

Update Wednesday 8/1/07: The Statesman editorial board today castigated the Republicans for playing politics with fire, writing, "Firefighting doesn't lend itself to soundbite solutions. However, fire season does lend itself to the distracting politics of assessing blame." Good on 'em. Now if only they'd have given the lawmakers a little less space to air their pointless gripes, instead of plastering their mugs and a huge story all over Page 1 ...

Obama team looking at Boise

Barack Obama may visit Boise. According to the campaign website, Raul Alvillar, Obama's Western political director, "is making a personal visit to Boise to see for himself just how many supporters Obama has here in Idaho. If we all attend and show our support is strong, we have a GREAT chance of bringing Obama to Idaho! This event carries the utmost significance and may be the only time we get a chance to show the Obama campaign how much we want Barack to visit Idaho."

The meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. next Monday, August 6, at Pengilly's in downtown Boise. Considering that about 100 people attended the local Obama kickoff last spring, the venue could prove way too small. If you'd like to attend, you can sign up here.

Update: Obama is slated to be in Elko, Nevada, this weekend, either Friday or Saturday. More here.

Monday morning water cooler 7.30.07

I'm back from 17 days on vacation, the longest holiday I've had in 14 years. We started in Portland, spent a week at our beloved Eliot at Seabeck, then headed for a week in British Columbia (where I took the photos at right and below). After a long detour home through the North Cascades and Eastern Washington, we finally made it home. It's good to be back.

It was a vacation from the news, too. For more than two weeks, I savored a nearly media-free existence. It's good to know such an experience is possible in 2007, especially for someone as media-addled as I usually am. I'll be "back in the saddle" within a few days, including  blogging from the Yearly Kos convention  later this week. Meanwhile, fill me in on what I've  missed - and enjoy some images from life in the slow lane! (Top to bottom: sea stars; arbutus tree on Mayne Island, BC; at the Vancouver Aquarium; near sunset, Gailiano Island, BC; view from Mt. Parke, Mayne Island, which I climbed first thing on my 46th birthday last week.)

Time for a break

It's time for my 4th annual midsummer blogging hiatus. But before I leave ...

Forty years ago, we had the Summer of Love. This year, perhaps we'll have the Summer of Reason.

The Idaho Peace Coalition plans an "End the War" meeting next Thursday, July 19, at 7 p.m. at 1520 N. 12th St., Boise. Volunteer organizer Liz Paul welcomes all interested people, noting, "Congress is debating the war, so this is a time for action, not silence. We have the power to end the war if we work together."

If you plan to scoop up the final Harry Potter book next week, here are some good reasons not to buy it at the world's largest retailer. (Visit your local bookseller instead.)

I wouldn't be surprised if the next two weeks are big ones for news in Boise and beyond. Please use the thread below to chit chat on events while I'm away, if you like, but keep it civil - and no book spoilers, please! Peace out ...

Our grandkids at war in Iraq

Seven Republican senators and one independent voted with all 48 Democrats this morning to end debate and vote on an amendment to the fiscal 2008 defense appropriations bill. Jim Webb's amendment would have protected overtaxed American troops by mandating specific minimum intervals between deployments. George W. Bush said Tuesday he'd veto a bill with any such provision, or any timetable to start getting troops out of Iraq.

The Republican defections are interesting news in light of Dan Popkey's column in today's Idaho Statesman, which reports that none of Idaho's four members of Congress plan to question the administration any time soon. One-half of the Idaho delegation - Mike Crapo and Mike Simpson - at least seem like they're getting fed up and might want to take action later this year. Like Bush and the other Republican dead-enders, they're waiting for Gen. David Petraeus' September report on whether Bush's escalation is working.

But senior senator Larry Craig and junior congressman Bill Sali appear ready to fight in Iraq, well, forever. According to Popkey, Sali said Americans "need to accept that the conflict will be 'our children's children's war - that's probably what we're saddled up to right now.'" Craig blames the media for the lack of success in Iraq, adding: "I think Americans sometimes do forget that when you engage terrorists around the world - and this really is an extension of the War on Terror - that this is going to be a long-term approach to a very long-term problem."

That's BS. Yes, we will need to fight terrorism into the foreseeable future, but if Sali and Craig believe that the Iraq War is helping us make progress on that war, rather than inflaming it ... if they believe that preemptive wars based on lies are sound foreign policy ... and if they believe that the media is fueling civil war in Iraq, they are flat out wrong. The decision to invade Iraq was no "extension" of the war on terror. It was a distraction from the real war we were fighting against Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, where Bush chose to drop the ball in March 2003, and it continues not only to be a distraction from the real war on terror but from all manner of problems we face here at home. Maybe George W. Bush, Larry Craig, and Bill Sali are OK with the idea of our grandchildren fighting in Iraq, but I'll be damned if that's the future I see for my progeny, or yours.

Popkey cites Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar's June 25 statement on Iraq as a "sober and constructive case" for leaving Iraq. Unfortunately, Lugar was not one of the senators (Norm Coleman, Susan Collins, Chuck Hagel, Gordon Smith, Olympia Snowe, John Sununu, and John Warner)  who voted with the Democrats today, nor were Sens. George Voinovich and Pete Domenici. But all three have joined with the seven above in at least questioning current policy in Iraq. That's more than we can say for the rubber stampers from Idaho.

The thanks we get

Over the past few years, the Republican-dominated Idaho State Legislature has repeatedly passed big-business tax giveaways to keep top employers happy. And what are the thanks we get?

Last year, Minnesota-based SuperValu - the new parent company of Boise-born Albertsons - announced it would move many Boise employees to the Twin Cities. Now, Micron - the largest private employer in the state - is laying off hundreds of workers, perhaps as many as 1,200. No one really knows, because Micron is apparently telling  dismissed workers that if they talk, they'll lose their severance pay.

Here's hoping all the laid-off Micron workers find good jobs, here or elsewhere. (Few local employers pay as well as Micron, so we may well see families leaving for places where wages are better.) But the biggest lesson we need to take from this is that it's ridiculous to shortchange Idaho families, schools, and small business owners by giving huge tax breaks to corporations. No matter how many times the GOP smooches their butts, big businesses will do what they want. Let's focus on developing small companies - not corporate behemoths that demand discounted meals at the public trough, then skip out on the bill.

Monday morning water cooler 7.9.07

I am still really jazzed about the Live Earth concerts. I rarely watch five hours of TV in a week's time, but I spent that much time in one stretch in front of my set on Saturday night, thrilling to the music and the calls to action to address the climate crisis. Yes, it's true as Roger Daltrey of The Who chided, that these concerts took a lot of energy to produce. But if everyone who attended or watched was inspired to do just one (or one more) small thing to cut long-term energy consumption, the collective results will save manyfold more fossil fuels than the events used and perhaps even usher in a new creative way of thinking that we can live more  and better with less.

From reinvigorated 70s/80s greats like The Police, Genesis, Roger Waters, and Duran Duran to current chart-toppers including Snow Patrol, Kanye West, John Mayer, and K.T. Tunstall, the Live Earth line-ups were like manna to music fans, especially in concert-starved places like Boise. And because Live Earth shows were happening simultaneously all over the globe, the TV coverage provided only a taste of what happened worldwide. If you missed it Saturday, or you want to see more or watch your favorites again, pretty much everything is archived on video here ... including footage of Nunatak, the house band for the British Antarctic Survey. Al Gore and other Live Earth organizers said there'd be a concert on every continent - and they meant it.

Don't forget: Print on both sides of the paper, unplug your phone charger when you're not using it, and above all - as Chris Rock said - "drive a smaller-ass car." What were your favorite moments from Live Earth? What more will you do to save energy?

NYT: Let's get out of Iraq

The nation's newspaper of record has had enough. In its Sunday edition, The New York Times editorial board writes, "It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit."

It's worth noting - and the editorial writers do - that the Times has essentially been on George W. Bush's side throughout this misadventure. But now, they finally admit, "It is frighteningly clear that Mr. Bush’s plan is to stay the course as long as he is president and dump the mess on his successor. Whatever his cause was, it is lost ...

"Continuing to sacrifice the lives and limbs of American soldiers is wrong. The war is sapping the strength of the nation’s alliances and its military forces. It is a dangerous diversion from the life-and-death struggle against terrorists. It is an increasing burden on American taxpayers, and it is a betrayal of a world that needs the wise application of American power and principles."

Read the whole editorial here.

07.07.07

That's all. It's just cool. I am into my fifth straight hour of watching the Live Earth concerts, mostly on Bravo. (I rarely watch five hours of TV in a week.) More on that Monday. Meanwhile, enjoy your weekend!

LaRocco: When will Craig speak up?

U.S. Senate candidate Larry LaRocco issued a statement yesterday asking Larry Craig to join the growing chorus of Republican senators who are expressing support for a change of course in Iraq. LaRocco said:

A number of senior Senators, including Pete Domenici, a conservative Bush administration supporter from New Mexico, are breaking ranks and calling for a new direction. Domenici joins a growing list of senior Republican Senators including John Warner, Richard Lugar and George Voinovich, who have broken with the Bush escalation strategy in Iraq.

Yet Senator Larry Craig continues to be a rubber stamp for a failed foreign policy.  His silence on the most critical issue facing our country is deafening. Even Senators in the Republican leadership such as Lamar Alexander and Robert Bennett have signed on as co-sponsors of the bi-partisan “Iraq Study Group Recommendations Implementation Act.” Today I call on Senator Craig not only to speak out but to join his colleagues in supporting S. 1545 to implement these recommendations. It’s time. It’s long past time.   

The bi-partisan Iraq Study Group bill to draw down the number of troops in Iraq should mark the beginning of the end of the disastrous and delusional Bush Administration policy in Iraq. Because our original reason for going to war in Iraq—removal of Saddam Hussein—has long since been accomplished, Congress should also consider revoking the original authorization for the war in Iraq. Should that effort fail, Congress should reassert its power of the purse over Pentagon appropriations.

There's more here. Also, the MountainGoat Report wonders who's next?