*Can Buddy Johnson, Hillsborough’s supervisor of elections, quit while he’s merely behind?
Publicly-chronicled personal and professional embarrassments (remember that “details”-challenged deposition?) might have induced a less, uh, determined candidate to step aside. Not incumbent Buddy who elects to press on — in notably high-profile fashion, no less.
In a campaign where the incumbent has been out fund-raised more than two-to-one by his opponent, Johnson has made news yet again. This time with print and electronic voter-education materials that prominently feature — Johnson. The less-than-nuanced brochure message: A vote for the larger-than-life Johnson equates to “A New Vote of Confidence” in the optical-scan machines.
No one is questioning the funding, per se. Most of it is from Help America Vote Act grants that try to prevent the sort of election debacles that, well, Florida is notorious for. But many see Johnson as unnecessarily eponymous with voting – and unnecessarily conspicuous
Arguably — and ironically — Johnson already has a high enough profile.
*Whatever the final details of the massive financial package negotiated in Washington, every member of Congress and the talking heads of cable television will have a ready take on what made it ultimately palatable – fiscally and politically. From higher limits on insured bank deposits to the visceral fright at seeing a trillion-dollar stock market plunge at the initial news of a non-deal.
But one key political tenet ultimately proved catalytic: When in doubt, (including those politicians who knew they would be against it before they were for it) go euphemistic. Except for those escaping in golden parachutes, nobody wanted anything to do with a “bailout,” which was code for “reward those who deserve the most blame – at the expense of those who deserve little or none.”
But once legislation started being referenced as a positive act of “rescue” and “recovery” — with their connotations of inclusion — it became politically viable.
The psychology of semantics is not unlike abortion adherents or opponents preferring their “pro choice” or “pro life” labels or second-hand cars selling better as “pre-owned” rather than “used.”
Once Congress bailed out of the bad rhetoric that precluded political cover and added enough sweeteners, not even Shrieker of the House Nancy Pelosi could prevent a deal.
*Not yet seen on bumper stickers: “Privatize Wealth, Socialize Debt.”
“There are no atheists in foxholes nor libertarians in a financial meltdown.”
*WWMS? Imagine, the turbulence in the financial markets has yielded this from Liu Mingkang, chairman of the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission: U.S. lending standards, noted Liu, had become “ridiculous.” China, he sagely pointed out, has been curbing mortgage lending amid a real estate boom in order to keep debt manageable. Added Liu: “When U.S. regulators were reducing the down payment to zero or they created so-called reverse mortgages, we thought that was ridiculous.” What Would Mao Say?
*By now, most folks have heard of – and many have seen – that DVD about radical Islam that’s been bundled inside a number of newspapers, including the two major dailies in this market. The documentary, “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against The West,” analogizes contemporary radical Islam with pre-World War II Nazism. I had seen it last year when it caused a First Amendment furor at the University of Florida because of those “Radical Islam Wants You Dead” posters around campus.
A couple of points:
First, “Obsession” is what you would expect: heavy-handed, graphic, agenda-driven propaganda. But true enough to impact and scare. Had Michael Moore or Oliver Stone had this same point of view, they could have made “Obsession” – after including damning American foreign-policy context.
Second, it’s unseemly and insulting for the distributor, the Clarion Fund, to deny that it’s trying to influence the presidential election. We’re only a month out, and it’s specifically targeted to swing states, such as Florida, and key electoral demographics, such as Interstate 4-corridor independents. More fear-mongering, dark-side political pandering is not what an already polarizing election needs.
Third, “Obsession” unfortunately leads to an inevitable stereotyping of Muslims, the overwhelmingly majority of which are not radical jihadists. Or even close. But even a small percentage of a billion – who cherry pick the Koran for rationales to murder infidels and apostates — is no trifling number. Would that it were.
Fourth, “Obsession” ends with Edmund Burke’s famous quote: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” It still applies.
*Oxymoron: “Country First”/Sarah Palin for Vice President.
*Here we go again. Another gathering of college admissions officials has stoked the argument over whether standardized tests (principally, the SAT) should be optional. In some institutions, that’s already the case. The other choice: Should they just be jettisoned altogether?
That’s because such tests can be imprecise; they can be culturally biased; and they can be skewed in favor of those taking test-prep courses.
Here’s another option. Make them mandatory – and keep evaluating their relevance in the context of the test-taker. As we know, the task of admissions officials can also be complicated — and undermined — by grade inflation. Not all curricula are created equal. Not all teachers have meaningful standards. There’s always a need for a more objective tool.
But weigh it; don’t overuse it; and don’t overreact to its inherent limits.
*Remember as a kid when a good Halloween fright usually meant scary music and some shadowy, cob-webbed ambience and probably a lurking zombie or a vampire?
I was reading about Florida’s theme parks the other day and all the investments they have to make in new scares to compete. To compete with each other – and with a popular culture that continually ratchets up gratuitous violence and gore.
Not to sound too impossibly old school, but I do feel for kids who can’t – or aren’t allowed to – be scared by goblins and black cats and graveyards. No, you now need at least a psychopath with a chain saw simulating dismemberment.
Boo.