The Answer Is Blowin'

Someone wrote a letter to the IJ today warning us all of the "wind power mercenaries" who are trying to dupe us into investing in alternative energy. Now comes T. Boone Pickens with his Big Idea, the "Pickens Plan."

I admit being a bit fearful of privatizing utilities as Pickens prefers, but can it be worse than what we have now? This is one of those times when I wish I had a crystal ball.

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Mowing the Lawn

A new skill!

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On Racial Justice

Stephen Carter graduated with me from Ithaca High School, where he was something of a cypher--a serious, studious fellow; the "new boy," having recently moved to Ithaca; neither fish nor fowl when it came to the mixed-up racial divide at that school in the 70s. Since then, of course, he's gone on to be our class's biggest success--a lawyer, professor, and respected conservative writer. He has written at length on the negative impact of affirmative action, a topic where I disagree with him (as I do on most topics), but one where I admit he has more specific knowledge than I. His memory of being rejected by Harvard when they thought he was white, only to be courted and wooed when they found out he was black, is certainly a cautionary tale. Today he writes about the disappearance of racial justice from our pantheon of moral causes and the need to bring it back. My only quibble with his premise is that I believe the critical issue of the great divide between rich and poor becomes clouded when you add race to the mix. Yes, income stratification is increasing in the African-American community, but so is it everywhere. Still, he's smart and always thoughtful, and I wish I'd paid more attention to him in high school.

For both parties, affirmative action represents a way to pretend to be doing something — what I have long called racial justice on the cheap.

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Where Our Loyalties Lie

There's been such a lot of blather this holiday weekend about patriotism--who has it (McCain, for being shot down!); whose is suspect (Obama, for having a funny name!) Bill sent us the paired Internet photos of McCain in his fighter pilot uniform and Obama in a dashiki, as though costume were answer enough. We've been thinking a lot in our household about where our loyalties lie when times are bad. One of us feels that hard times require circling the wagons and creating a sustainable life. One of us feels that hard times require reaching out to effect change and assist the neediest. These are not particularly compatible ideals. Finding a balance between them is like walking a tightrope of razor wire. It feels, at times, like a battle between unthinking pessimism and unsupported optimism. But at least we agree, unlike, say, the White House, that these are indeed hard times.

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Berries

Not a lot yet, but O pulled these from the little bushes Paul planted this spring.

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Required Reading

Sy Hersh in the New Yorker on what's really going on between us and Iran. I attach a couple of tidbits, but I'd encourage you to read the whole thing.

Although some legislators were troubled by aspects of the Finding, and “there was a significant amount of high-level discussion” about it, according to the source familiar with it, the funding for the escalation was approved. In other words, some members of the Democratic leadership—Congress has been under Democratic control since the 2006 elections—were willing, in secret, to go along with the Administration in expanding covert activities directed at Iran, while the Party’s presumptive candidate for President, Barack Obama, has said that he favors direct talks and diplomacy.

[L]ate last year, in an off-the-record lunch meeting, Secretary of Defense Gates met with the Democratic caucus in the Senate. (Such meetings are held regularly.) Gates warned of the consequences if the Bush Administration staged a preëmptive strike on Iran, saying, as the senator recalled, “We’ll create generations of jihadists, and our grandchildren will be battling our enemies here in America.” Gates’s comments stunned the Democrats at the lunch, and another senator asked whether Gates was speaking for Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. Gates’s answer, the senator told me, was “Let’s just say that I’m here speaking for myself.”

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Reorg

At our annual lengthy reorganizational BOE meeting, we didn't so much reorganize as reaffirm. Anderson Young is again President; Russ Kowalski is VP. Committee assignments are much the same:

Policy Committee: KAZ, Brad Rauch
Safety Committee: Perry Dewey
Facilities Committee: Andy Young, Brian June, Brad Rauch
Audit & Finance Committee: Karin Lamotte, Chris Gibbons, Russ Kowalski, Jennifer Davis
DESPA Staff Development Committee: Jennifer Davis
TSTSBA Rep: Chris Gibbons with Brad Rauch alternate
Legislative Liaison: KAZ
Exempt Employee Negotiations Rep: Jennifer Davis

We discussed reformation of a Community Relations or Public Relations Committee (we all seem to want to be on that one) and decided to table restructuring of the Strategic Planning Committee until after we meet with our consultant in September.

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