'A pen warmed up in hell' | Reality-based commentary about Phoenix, Arizona, and the nation.
No CommentsEvents forced me to fly across the country. Because the old bereavement fares have gone the way of free (and tasty) meals, in-flight movies, free baggage check and an airport experience not out of Lockup Raw, USAirways got quite the bite out of my wallet. The flight was late and several restrooms on the 757 were not working. Of course the entire process — from getting out of the taxi under the din of recorded commands to reaching the gate area which never has enough seats for waiting passengers — was a joy.
The airlines don't care. We're stuck. Where in 1936, Franklin Roosevelt announced that never before in American history had the forces of money and privilege been arrayed against one candidate, and "I welcome their hatred," now the situation is reversed. More and more, highly concentrated industries and the moneyed elites welcome our hatred, then keep on tightening the screws. Americans sheepishly accept the hatred and queue right up for more.
Other sectors come to mind beyond airlines, health insurance and "financial services" at the top of the list. President Obama seems determined to get insurance industry "buy in" on health care reform, so we know how that song will end. It's appropriate to remember our friends the bankers on the anniversary of the failure of Lehman Brothers. A year later, the TARP money is unaccounted for, the industry is more concentrated and thus dangerous than ever, and real regulatory reform appears DOA. And for these privileges, Americans will get ever more gouged on banking fees and insurance premiums — if they can even keep the latter. Meanwhile, executive salaries and profits keep rising.
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9If anyone thought the Sun Belt was in danger from the Great Disruption, they can find swaggering solace in The Economist's panting, sheet-clawing passion over Texas, in an article headlined Lone Star Rising. The teaser says, "Thanks to low taxes and light regulation, Texas is booming. But demography will bring profound changes."
The Economist's journalism is often some of the best around, and even its editorials can challenge the psychotic screamathon that has become American "conservatism." But it can't completely escape its Tory establishment roots, or its intellectual grounding in the conventional wisdom, BGD — Before the Great Disruption. I don't doubt that America, and probably Britain, will exhaust themselves trying to resuscitate the old order. That will render it no less dead than the ubiquitous armadillos decorating the highways of Texas.
American right-wingers are no doubt sending the article to the faithful — and using it to further cow the Democrats, if such a thing is possible. But a close reading of even this article — and a better understanding of Texas — shows that the Lone Star State's success has relatively little to do with "low taxes and light regulation." I speak as one who covered organized crime and the oil industry there, and whose family roots go back to the bloody pre-Civil War Texas frontier.
3In the meantime, read the Declaration of Independence for Independence Day (those of you who are not in the New Confederacy).
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When
in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and
to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station
to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare
the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
— That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely
to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate
that Governments long established should not be changed for light and
transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that
mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to
right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such
Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such
has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the
necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of
Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a
history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct
object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To
prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
No CommentsOne way to remain popular as a hip, iconoclastic media brand in America is to reinforce the conventional wisdom — in a hip, iconoclastic way, of course. I've learned this from Freakonomics. Take the recent blog post entitled, "Has 'Peak Oil' Peaked?" Author Stephen Dubner asserts that with oil prices way down from their 2008 highs, the media "frenzy" over peak oil has faded away — but without the media doing a reality check on this hysteria they were peddling to a gullible public.
Huh?
My memory of that time is quite a bit different. The mainstream media did little on peak oil and Freakonomics' partner, The New York Times, was nearly silent on the issue. All the air in the media bubble was being taken up by shrill blaming of the major oil companies (even though they were delivering a commodity prized by the world to American gas pumps with no lines or interruptions). Or it concerned sinister futures traders somehow gaming the market. Most of the discussion on peak oil was confined to sites such as The Oil Drum, the "doomer blogs" — and inside the oil industry itself.
4Two pilots and two crews. Two aircraft in mortal danger. Fate is not always the hunter.
As almost everyone knows, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger was the pilot of US Airways flight 1549, which last January suffered a bird strike just after leaving LaGuardia Airport that rendered both engines inoperable. Sullenberger performed the remarkable water landing on the Hudson, in the heart of New York, saving all 150 passengers.
Less remembered is a commuter flight from New York City that crashed near its destination of Buffalo the next month, killing 49 aboard and one on the ground. And herein lies yet another tragic, disturbing story about two Americas.
3In the garage of my condo tower, someone parks a 1965 Buick Electra 225 convertible. It is sleek and big and powerful. This was Detroit, and in many ways America, at the zenith of its power.
Buick, like all GM divisions, still enjoyed great autonomy, including having its own design bureau. This car is a work of art. It is the successor to the legendary Roadmaster, and in those days Buick fans were fiercely loyal (my mother being one). GM cars were tiered so people could move up to a new GM brand as they became more affluent, as millions did in the 1950s and 1960s — Chevy to Pontiac to Oldsmobile and even Cadillac. Ah, but the Buick was special: glamorous, racy, classy and exclusive. Built union.
I think of all this, of course, as Chrysler is pushed into bankruptcy and General Motors may well face the same fate. What went wrong, and what does it say about America's future?
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2Word comes this morning of a 6.0 earthquake centered about 130 miles from Mexico City, a place already frightened by the swine flu outbreak. "We Mexicans are not used to living with so much fear, but all that is
happening — the economic crisis, the illnesses and now this — it feels
like the apocalypse," a 22-year-old told the Associated Press. Take comfort, Yanks. Apparently the teaching of history is as neglected in Mexico as here. In 1519, apocalypse of the mighty and advanced Aztec Empire came at the hands of Hernan Cortes, 600 conquistadores and Indian allies who had chafed under the Aztec lash. Cortes leveled Tenochtitlan, built Mexico City.
Something American schoolchildren aren't taught: 90 percent of the indigenous population of the New World perished in the decades after first contact with the Europeans, mostly because the Europeans unwittingly carried diseases against which the Indians had no immunity. Entire tribes were wiped out. Civilizations do end, sometimes with great speed.
We have the jitters. This morning, the backup plane for Air Force One flew low over Manhattan accompanied by fighter jets. It was a photo-op, but nervous people evacuated several buildings. The flu — it's hard to know. Much of instant, electronic, everywhere media have one speed: hysteria. Still, at least 20 million people were killed by the 1918 flu, perhaps many more — and that particular strain is still not completely understood. It came as another world was ending, as empires were collapsing at the end of World War I's then unprecedented carnage and the particular optimism of the early 20th century vanished forever.
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2President Obama has pledged $13 billion to begin high-speed rail in America. I don't want to be a cynic and ask, does anyone believe we'll see this in our lifetimes (or at all, as American continues its whacko-driven, debt-laden decline)? I'll say the action is a good start. And the sensibility — actually acknowledging the importance of rail to the 21st century — is first rate.
It's important to note a few essentials to understanding the situation. 1) Rail is essential to a sustainable future, using less fuel and having a smaller negative environmental impact that airlines or freeways. 2) It's essential to improving productivity and competitiveness, as workers and semis are stuck in gridlock, and face steadily rising fuel costs anyway. 3) Modern rail systems are thriving around the world, and China sees this as essential to its leapfrog to world supremacy — note to Americans who don't get out much: We're the country that's behind, far behind. 4) The nation's only passenger rail system, Amtrak, has been starved of funding for years, so it has much catching up to do, just on refitting equipment, etc.
With Obama's plan, the devil will be in the details, of course. Yet we're still not thinking holistically about the issue — and we'd better get our act together toot sweet.
4ASU President Michael Crow has issued an apology for what he calls the "confusion" about the university's apparent decision to not award an honorary degree to President Obama when he delivers the commencement address. Crow also said ASU "is naming and expanding its most important scholarship program" in Obama's honor. The statement reads in part:
You can read the Huffington Post take here, (with some background here) as well as comments. HuffPo and Politico ignited an international firestorm of criticism of ASU when they reported this story earlier this week. The original Rogue post raised indigation among readers — but also hackles in Sparkyville.
4President Obama will give Arizona State University the rare if not unprecedented honor of having a sitting president speak at its commencement. ASU, however, refuses to give Obama the typical recognition accorded such high-powered visitors: an honorary degree. I have searched the "Information Center" in vain for this rather huge story, but it obviously remains a supplicant to the propaganda organs of Tempe Normal. The world knows, however, from stories on Huffington Post and Politico. It's been on national television.
ASU, widely known as "the Desert Ivy," deemed Obama's accomplishments insufficient to merit an honorary degree. That mediocre diploma mill — you've probably never even heard of it — the University of Notre Dame is granting Obama a degree. In reality, perhaps Obama did not attend enough keggers or spend enough time oogling the coeds sunbathing outside the dorms or walking saucily by Hayden Library to qualify.
The more than 3,300 comments from around the world on HuffPo are devastating. Among them: "Arizona State??? Well, that's one way to get your name in the news and raise your admission levels. NOT!!!." "This is the proof African Americans needed to know for certain that
racism is also rooted in the academia of the country's highest
educational institutions." "As ASU alumni I am thoroughly disgusted!…If Lattie Coor were still president –
this more than likely never have happened." "This is an incredible act on the part of ASU. I would love the see the
body of work that the six member honorary committee has produced in
their lives so far. Something tells me it would pale in comparison to
what President Obama has done so far in his life. Shame on you ASU. Why did you invite him if you were going to insult him?" "What an insult to an extremely accomplished US President. Obama has
done more in 2+ months than his predecessor did in 8 years! This does
not surprise me, however. Wasn't AZ one of the last states to recognize
the MLK holiday?"
As to the committee that decided against granting the degree…sure. The faculty at ASU are less powerful than the teachers' lounge at Kenilworth School. Michael Crow runs the joint with an iron hand, and there's some hidden agenda. Perhaps trying to appease the screams of the Kookocracy or wealthy Republican John Sidney McCain III that Obama would have been invited in the first place. I wonder if ASU realizes how much damage it has done to itself, and to the state, by this small and pathetic act. As JFK once remarked about Richard Nixon: "No class."
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