An item in the Local section of the Wisconsin State Journal said a Madison driver was arrested for operating under the influence (OWI) and operating a motor vehicle without a license. He has been convicted four times for driving under the influence. With last Saturday’s stop, he has a total of three OWI charges pending.
He has seven OWI charges? That means he has driven drunk more times but he was only caught seven times. Each of these times, he was supposed to have an alcohol usage assessment. Current state law should send you to prison after the fifth conviction, sooner if you cause injury or death to someone else.
There are other drivers who have multiple OWI charges. According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, there are about 23,000 drivers with three or more convictions. They also say that the median Blood Alcohol Content level of those convicted of OWI is .017, more than twice the legal limit. Wisconsin Mothers Against Drunk Driving says that 50 percent of all Wisconsin traffic deaths are alcohol-related.
Most of us who live in Wisconsin have driven to or from a place when we should not. Most of us have driven at a time when few cars are on the road and so far or fast so that we have never had an accident. It is not a driving problem, however; it is a drinking problem.
Unfortunately, it is something I know about. I was a binge drinker in college in Madison but I did not have a car in college. I was 22 and working in Minnesota when I was picked up for DWI for the first time in 1980. Driving school reduced the charge. I had a DWI in Virginia about a year later, which was knocked down by my attorney to reckless driving when I went to driving school and AA for six weeks. I became much more responsible.
After my divorce, I gradually lost control of my drinking. My final DWI came in Michigan in 1997, when I received my best and most honest alcohol assessment and was “sentenced” to AA for one year. I have been continuously sober since Jan. 18, 1998. If I never have my first drink, I will never have 20. I do not mind being around people who are drinking, which in Madison is just about everyone.
I had three charges of driving drunk before I became sober. How do people have many OWI convictions and are not able to realize that their problem is alcohol, not driving?
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Sex, Lies and Evidence
Just when one thought nobody could be as foolish as former New York Governor Eliott Spitzer, two sex scandals in Michigan have Democrats there reeling. I lived in Lansing for 15 years and I have never seen anything like it.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had an affair with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty. Usually, what consenting adults do behind closed doors would not matter so much except Kilpatrick is guarded by 50 Detroit police officers. Among big city mayors, such a large security detail is unusual.
This affair came to light in a police investigation of the security detail and irregularities in the Mayor’s Office. Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown was fired. In a deposition related to Brown’s firing, both Kilpatrick and Beatty said under oath they were not romantically involved. Inconvenient evidence included more than 1,000 amorous text messages between Kilpatrick and Beatty on Detroit equipment. In public, Kilpatrick said Brown was fired for cause. Other text messages from Kilpatrick asked his staff to retroactively come up with reasons for Brown’s ouster.
Brown and another fired officer were awarded $8.4 million. Outside counsel at the trial cost Detroit taxpayers another $845,000. Kilpatrick and Beatty have been indicted on charges of conspiracy, perjury and obstruction of justice. Kilpatrick has been seen with his wife. Beatty is no longer his chief of staff and is looking for work.
Kilpatrick is the son of U.S. Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Detroit Democrat. Kwame Kilpatrick’s rise has been meteoric, becoming Detroit Mayor at only 31. Now public sector union leaders have called on him to resign and a recall petition has been filed. Brown is mulling a race for Congress against Kilpatrick.
Michigan Democrats were reeling from the charges against Kilpatrick when another sex scandal unfolded. Tom Athans, husband of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), was questioned by police in Troy, a Detroit suburb, after leaving a motel where he gave $150 to a prostitute for a sex act. Troy police were trying to break up a prostitution ring and do not prosecute customers who cooperate, as Athans did when police stopped his Cadillac Sedan Deville. In the motel room, police found sex toys, condoms, a laptop and $431 in cash.
If Athans were only the husband of a U.S Senator, it would be embarrassing to the couple. However, Athans is also a key figure in liberal talk radio. He was formerly vice president of pre-bankruptcy Air America and CEO of Democracy Radio. He now heads Talk USA Radio, based in Washington.
If this happened to a Republican or a figure in conservative talk radio, it would dominate the news. There would be calls for resignations and Congressional hearings.
Athans said he found the prostitute on Craig’s List. It is not certain which is more embarrassing to Athans: falling into a Troy police sex sting or paying only $150 for a prostitute. At least Spitzer spent more than Athans. It seems like the City of Detroit, however, has spent so much thus far that Spitzer’s amount looks paltry.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had an affair with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty. Usually, what consenting adults do behind closed doors would not matter so much except Kilpatrick is guarded by 50 Detroit police officers. Among big city mayors, such a large security detail is unusual.
This affair came to light in a police investigation of the security detail and irregularities in the Mayor’s Office. Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown was fired. In a deposition related to Brown’s firing, both Kilpatrick and Beatty said under oath they were not romantically involved. Inconvenient evidence included more than 1,000 amorous text messages between Kilpatrick and Beatty on Detroit equipment. In public, Kilpatrick said Brown was fired for cause. Other text messages from Kilpatrick asked his staff to retroactively come up with reasons for Brown’s ouster.
Brown and another fired officer were awarded $8.4 million. Outside counsel at the trial cost Detroit taxpayers another $845,000. Kilpatrick and Beatty have been indicted on charges of conspiracy, perjury and obstruction of justice. Kilpatrick has been seen with his wife. Beatty is no longer his chief of staff and is looking for work.
Kilpatrick is the son of U.S. Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Detroit Democrat. Kwame Kilpatrick’s rise has been meteoric, becoming Detroit Mayor at only 31. Now public sector union leaders have called on him to resign and a recall petition has been filed. Brown is mulling a race for Congress against Kilpatrick.
Michigan Democrats were reeling from the charges against Kilpatrick when another sex scandal unfolded. Tom Athans, husband of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), was questioned by police in Troy, a Detroit suburb, after leaving a motel where he gave $150 to a prostitute for a sex act. Troy police were trying to break up a prostitution ring and do not prosecute customers who cooperate, as Athans did when police stopped his Cadillac Sedan Deville. In the motel room, police found sex toys, condoms, a laptop and $431 in cash.
If Athans were only the husband of a U.S Senator, it would be embarrassing to the couple. However, Athans is also a key figure in liberal talk radio. He was formerly vice president of pre-bankruptcy Air America and CEO of Democracy Radio. He now heads Talk USA Radio, based in Washington.
If this happened to a Republican or a figure in conservative talk radio, it would dominate the news. There would be calls for resignations and Congressional hearings.
Athans said he found the prostitute on Craig’s List. It is not certain which is more embarrassing to Athans: falling into a Troy police sex sting or paying only $150 for a prostitute. At least Spitzer spent more than Athans. It seems like the City of Detroit, however, has spent so much thus far that Spitzer’s amount looks paltry.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
“Damned Dirty Apes”
News that Charlton Heston has passed away moves me to reflection. He was an actor who played historic figures such as Moses, El Cid, Jonah Ben Hur, Cardinal Richelieu, John the Baptist, “Chinese” Gordon, Michelangelo, Marc Antony and Henry VIII. He won the Oscar as Best Actor in 1959 for “Ben Hur.”
I have not seem all of Heston’s films. I have seen many several times, including seeing “Ten Commandments,” “Three Musketeers,” and “Planet of the Apes” in movie theatres.
Madison liberals tend to remember him as a conservative and President of the National Rifle Association. They tend to forget that he was President of the Screen Actors Guild and a civil rights activist before many of them were born.
I have not seem all of Heston’s films. I have seen many several times, including seeing “Ten Commandments,” “Three Musketeers,” and “Planet of the Apes” in movie theatres.
Madison liberals tend to remember him as a conservative and President of the National Rifle Association. They tend to forget that he was President of the Screen Actors Guild and a civil rights activist before many of them were born.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
John McCain: Back from the Grave
Nothing has surprised me more than the rebound of John McCain’s campaign from near bankruptcy last fall to front-runner status after wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and several states on Super Tuesday.
I have been a McCain supporter since he did some campaign events for Joe Schwarz for Congress in Michigan in 2004, Schwarz having been the chair of McCain’s upset of George Bush in 2000 and also my friend since 1986. Schwarz, McCain and my older son also have the US Navy in common.
The McCain campaign never responded to my snail mail offering to volunteer as needed. Things looked so bleak and under-funded at Team McCain last fall that I scraped the McCain sticker from my car. I was prepared for someone else to win the Republican nomination for President, such as Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani.
It annoys me that conservative pundits talk about McCain as if he is not a conservative Republican, with a lifetime rating of 82.3 from the American Conservative Union and a recent rating of 88 percent from the National Taxpayers Union. They tend to focus on the 10 percent of items with which they disagree with him instead of the 90 percent where they do agree. They talk about him wanting to close Camp Gitmo or end waterboarding as if he had never been a prisoner of war and never undergone torture.
Despite endorsements by major political figures and newspapers, I think it is not true that McCain is the choice of liberals, party insiders or big government conservatives. He is still refreshingly insurgent and able to reach across the aisle to work with the other party, unlike the current President or the two surviving Democratic candidates for President.
Mike Huckabee’s contribution to this race is both the quip that he wants to be the guy with whom you work, not the guy that laid you off, and siphoning off enough value voter support that Romney might have otherwise won.
It would not surprise me if Mike Huckabee becomes the Vice Presidential nominee. He is not a political hitman in the style of Dick Cheney and his value to the ticket would be to attract value voters who felt taken for granted by Bush/Cheney.
Can John McCain raise enough to be competitive with the Democratic nominee? He probably can.
I have been a McCain supporter since he did some campaign events for Joe Schwarz for Congress in Michigan in 2004, Schwarz having been the chair of McCain’s upset of George Bush in 2000 and also my friend since 1986. Schwarz, McCain and my older son also have the US Navy in common.
The McCain campaign never responded to my snail mail offering to volunteer as needed. Things looked so bleak and under-funded at Team McCain last fall that I scraped the McCain sticker from my car. I was prepared for someone else to win the Republican nomination for President, such as Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani.
It annoys me that conservative pundits talk about McCain as if he is not a conservative Republican, with a lifetime rating of 82.3 from the American Conservative Union and a recent rating of 88 percent from the National Taxpayers Union. They tend to focus on the 10 percent of items with which they disagree with him instead of the 90 percent where they do agree. They talk about him wanting to close Camp Gitmo or end waterboarding as if he had never been a prisoner of war and never undergone torture.
Despite endorsements by major political figures and newspapers, I think it is not true that McCain is the choice of liberals, party insiders or big government conservatives. He is still refreshingly insurgent and able to reach across the aisle to work with the other party, unlike the current President or the two surviving Democratic candidates for President.
Mike Huckabee’s contribution to this race is both the quip that he wants to be the guy with whom you work, not the guy that laid you off, and siphoning off enough value voter support that Romney might have otherwise won.
It would not surprise me if Mike Huckabee becomes the Vice Presidential nominee. He is not a political hitman in the style of Dick Cheney and his value to the ticket would be to attract value voters who felt taken for granted by Bush/Cheney.
Can John McCain raise enough to be competitive with the Democratic nominee? He probably can.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Wisconsin Voters Deserve an Earlier Presidential Primary
Wisconsin’s presidential primary was early on the calendar and crucial for candidates running for President for more than 100 years. Wisconsin often was the history-making difference between winning a party nomination for President and losing it. However, so many states have moved their primaries ahead of Wisconsin on the 2008 calendar that Wisconsin’s primary has faded to nearly irrelevant in picking the next President. Wisconsin should move up its date calendar to be more important in 2012.
Wisconsin voters deserve it. The Wisconsin primary was created in 1903 while Fighting Bob LaFollette was Wisconsin Governor, the nation’s second. The Wisconsin primary was famously the end of the road for presidential candidate Wendell Willkie in 1944. John Kennedy beat Hubert Humphrey in the landmark 1960 primary. Morris Udall narrowly lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Wisconsin’s presidential primary did not move from its current date of the third Tuesday in February, yet many presidential candidates skip Wisconsin now except to raise money and identify volunteers until the general election. Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, says Wisconsin’s primary may not matter to picking party nominees for President in 2008. How did this happen?
Presidential primaries and caucuses in 28 states in addition have now jumped ahead of Wisconsin on the 2008 calendar. Twenty-three of them will have primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday, including states with really large numbers of convention delegates like Illinois, California and New York. This year the date of Super Tuesday is February 5, 2008. Wisconsin’s primary is February 19, 2008.
The 19 states which moved ahead of Wisconsin after 2004 said that their early position would make them more important and that their heavier minority populations make them a better indication of presidential viability than smaller states with small populations of minorities such as Iowa, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Eighteen of the states which jumped ahead of Wisconsin originally had their presidential primaries so late, they had ironically become unimportant in picking a nominee for President.
Leaders in the states of Florida, Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina moved their primaries and caucuses to January. This resulted in Iowa and New Hampshire vaulting to early January to remain first in the nation. The result is that enough party delegates are up for grabs that now presidential candidates can build insurmountable leads to become party nominees even before Wisconsin votes.
It is possible that with so many candidates for President from both major parties in the race, no clear front-runner might emerge on Super Tuesday, which would make Wisconsin’s primary pivotal again. Franklin says it is unlikely but it is possible that two candidates in each party might still be in the race by Wisconsin.
If Wisconsin moved its primary date ahead of Super Tuesday, major party rules would work against Wisconsin. Democratic Party rules say that the presidential primaries in Florida and Michigan, held before Super Tuesday, will not count for picking any convention delegates. Republican Party rules say that they can pick only half their convention delegates at their early primaries. The winners of Florida and Michigan could end up losers in closed deliberations by party insiders.
Special party rules are in effect for Nevada and South Carolina in January to provide regional and ethic balance, however. Wisconsin could join with one of those states to restore the historic importance of the Wisconsin primary. No such special approval would be needed to move the Wisconsin primary to Super Tuesday.
If the past is any guide to the future, more states will move to Super Tuesday before the 2012 election for President. If Wisconsin’s primary does not move forward on the calendar, Wisconsin’s primary will matter less with every future election for President.
Wisconsin voters deserve it. The Wisconsin primary was created in 1903 while Fighting Bob LaFollette was Wisconsin Governor, the nation’s second. The Wisconsin primary was famously the end of the road for presidential candidate Wendell Willkie in 1944. John Kennedy beat Hubert Humphrey in the landmark 1960 primary. Morris Udall narrowly lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Wisconsin’s presidential primary did not move from its current date of the third Tuesday in February, yet many presidential candidates skip Wisconsin now except to raise money and identify volunteers until the general election. Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, says Wisconsin’s primary may not matter to picking party nominees for President in 2008. How did this happen?
Presidential primaries and caucuses in 28 states in addition have now jumped ahead of Wisconsin on the 2008 calendar. Twenty-three of them will have primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday, including states with really large numbers of convention delegates like Illinois, California and New York. This year the date of Super Tuesday is February 5, 2008. Wisconsin’s primary is February 19, 2008.
The 19 states which moved ahead of Wisconsin after 2004 said that their early position would make them more important and that their heavier minority populations make them a better indication of presidential viability than smaller states with small populations of minorities such as Iowa, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Eighteen of the states which jumped ahead of Wisconsin originally had their presidential primaries so late, they had ironically become unimportant in picking a nominee for President.
Leaders in the states of Florida, Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina moved their primaries and caucuses to January. This resulted in Iowa and New Hampshire vaulting to early January to remain first in the nation. The result is that enough party delegates are up for grabs that now presidential candidates can build insurmountable leads to become party nominees even before Wisconsin votes.
It is possible that with so many candidates for President from both major parties in the race, no clear front-runner might emerge on Super Tuesday, which would make Wisconsin’s primary pivotal again. Franklin says it is unlikely but it is possible that two candidates in each party might still be in the race by Wisconsin.
If Wisconsin moved its primary date ahead of Super Tuesday, major party rules would work against Wisconsin. Democratic Party rules say that the presidential primaries in Florida and Michigan, held before Super Tuesday, will not count for picking any convention delegates. Republican Party rules say that they can pick only half their convention delegates at their early primaries. The winners of Florida and Michigan could end up losers in closed deliberations by party insiders.
Special party rules are in effect for Nevada and South Carolina in January to provide regional and ethic balance, however. Wisconsin could join with one of those states to restore the historic importance of the Wisconsin primary. No such special approval would be needed to move the Wisconsin primary to Super Tuesday.
If the past is any guide to the future, more states will move to Super Tuesday before the 2012 election for President. If Wisconsin’s primary does not move forward on the calendar, Wisconsin’s primary will matter less with every future election for President.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Eight Resolutions for 2008
Many make resolutions on January 1 because of the convenience of setting goals for the ensuing year. For most of my life, I have avoided making New Year Resolutions.
Why I am making resolutions this year is because I am unhappy with my life, unlike in the past. I will also turn 50 during the first week of January 2008. There is not a better time to make resolutions or to make better behaviors new habits. I am making eight resolutions for 2008. It would not be the end of the world if I fall short of my goals.
Some set unreasonable and contradictory goals for which they are sure to fall short. Quitting smoking and losing weight are common. Resolving to drink less while roaring drunk is typically a strategy for failure. Knowing this while making resolutions, I will try to avoid setting up goals that are self-contradictory.
1. Get and open snail mail every day. I have a tendency to only open my mail box when it is convenient for me to do so. There is so much junk mail that it piles up rapidly and my little apartment mail box becomes too full to open, which is a hardship on USPS personnel.
2. Contact my parents and children by email, telephone and letter when I am thinking about them, which is often. I will not contact them only when it is convenient for me, which is rare.
3. Look for my next job two hours every day. There is nothing about my life which would not be improved by better hours, more professional challenge, more money, opportunity for travel and a newer, better automobile.
4. Exercise for 30 minutes every day to improve my flexibility, endurance and appetite. When the weather improves, this could be an hour every second day because I prefer to play sports outside.
5. Play sax for an hour on the days when I do not work. This would be good for my wind and dexterity. If I become good again, returning to playing in public would be satisfying. Get new reeds and a book of jazz standards.
6. Clean my apartment for an hour every day that I do not work. I do not need to live in clutter and squalor.
7. Eat better. Eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer fatty foods. Drink more milk. This goes with Resolution numbers four and five.
8. Make more friends. Be the kind of friend who is known as reliable, kind and thoughtful, not just when I need a favor. Let them know I think about them.
Why I am making resolutions this year is because I am unhappy with my life, unlike in the past. I will also turn 50 during the first week of January 2008. There is not a better time to make resolutions or to make better behaviors new habits. I am making eight resolutions for 2008. It would not be the end of the world if I fall short of my goals.
Some set unreasonable and contradictory goals for which they are sure to fall short. Quitting smoking and losing weight are common. Resolving to drink less while roaring drunk is typically a strategy for failure. Knowing this while making resolutions, I will try to avoid setting up goals that are self-contradictory.
1. Get and open snail mail every day. I have a tendency to only open my mail box when it is convenient for me to do so. There is so much junk mail that it piles up rapidly and my little apartment mail box becomes too full to open, which is a hardship on USPS personnel.
2. Contact my parents and children by email, telephone and letter when I am thinking about them, which is often. I will not contact them only when it is convenient for me, which is rare.
3. Look for my next job two hours every day. There is nothing about my life which would not be improved by better hours, more professional challenge, more money, opportunity for travel and a newer, better automobile.
4. Exercise for 30 minutes every day to improve my flexibility, endurance and appetite. When the weather improves, this could be an hour every second day because I prefer to play sports outside.
5. Play sax for an hour on the days when I do not work. This would be good for my wind and dexterity. If I become good again, returning to playing in public would be satisfying. Get new reeds and a book of jazz standards.
6. Clean my apartment for an hour every day that I do not work. I do not need to live in clutter and squalor.
7. Eat better. Eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer fatty foods. Drink more milk. This goes with Resolution numbers four and five.
8. Make more friends. Be the kind of friend who is known as reliable, kind and thoughtful, not just when I need a favor. Let them know I think about them.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Money and Wisconsin Politics
Is there too much money in Wisconsin politics?
Many Wisconsin “good government” groups, like Common Cause, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and the League of Women Voters, all advocate reforms in how election campaigns are financed.
It galls them that Wisconsin’s two-year state budget was 101 days late. They do not care that it was Wisconsin Assembly Republicans and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch who went to the mat to avoid massive state tax increases on Wisconsin families. Never mind that Wisconsin government does not shut down when the budget is late, unlike most states. They see special interest groups behind everything the Legislature does.
They say that the full-time Wisconsin legislature does nothing and that a ban on campaign contributions from PACS, limiting campaign spending or public financing is the key to success. Some Wisconsin legislators, especially the minority and majority leaders of each chamber, are really full-time. Some have other jobs to provide for their families on the days in each week when they are not in Madison. Wisconsin legislators are paid about $47,500 per year plus a per diem of up to $77 per day on legislative business.
That sounds like a lot, but Wisconsin’s legislative salary is actually the lowest of nine full-time state legislatures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Let’s look at the legislative pay of our neighbors. Illinois pays legislators approximately $57,600 and they get a per diem of $125 on session days; Michigan pays about $79,600 per year plus a sum of $12,000 from which they draw a per diem.
There are three effects from banning PAC money, limiting campaign spending or public financing of elections. First, incumbency would be enhanced, because incumbents have an advantage in lists, official mailings to raise name identification and district connections. Potential challengers could not raise money to offset these advantages. Second, as legislators retire, they will be replaced by union activists, retired persons with pensions and millionaires who can all afford to run. The Wisconsin legislature would become more liberal and tax-friendly, run by people who would not serve long enough to develop expertise in public policy so lobbyists will become more influential, not less.
Finally, money is a type of free speech. That was the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo. When money is outlawed, only outlaws will have money. In-kind donations or secret contributions will soar. Disclosure of campaign contributions from any source and amount is healthy for a democracy.
When government reformers propose strong medicine to drive money out of political campaigns, watch your wallet.
Many Wisconsin “good government” groups, like Common Cause, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and the League of Women Voters, all advocate reforms in how election campaigns are financed.
It galls them that Wisconsin’s two-year state budget was 101 days late. They do not care that it was Wisconsin Assembly Republicans and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch who went to the mat to avoid massive state tax increases on Wisconsin families. Never mind that Wisconsin government does not shut down when the budget is late, unlike most states. They see special interest groups behind everything the Legislature does.
They say that the full-time Wisconsin legislature does nothing and that a ban on campaign contributions from PACS, limiting campaign spending or public financing is the key to success. Some Wisconsin legislators, especially the minority and majority leaders of each chamber, are really full-time. Some have other jobs to provide for their families on the days in each week when they are not in Madison. Wisconsin legislators are paid about $47,500 per year plus a per diem of up to $77 per day on legislative business.
That sounds like a lot, but Wisconsin’s legislative salary is actually the lowest of nine full-time state legislatures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Let’s look at the legislative pay of our neighbors. Illinois pays legislators approximately $57,600 and they get a per diem of $125 on session days; Michigan pays about $79,600 per year plus a sum of $12,000 from which they draw a per diem.
There are three effects from banning PAC money, limiting campaign spending or public financing of elections. First, incumbency would be enhanced, because incumbents have an advantage in lists, official mailings to raise name identification and district connections. Potential challengers could not raise money to offset these advantages. Second, as legislators retire, they will be replaced by union activists, retired persons with pensions and millionaires who can all afford to run. The Wisconsin legislature would become more liberal and tax-friendly, run by people who would not serve long enough to develop expertise in public policy so lobbyists will become more influential, not less.
Finally, money is a type of free speech. That was the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo. When money is outlawed, only outlaws will have money. In-kind donations or secret contributions will soar. Disclosure of campaign contributions from any source and amount is healthy for a democracy.
When government reformers propose strong medicine to drive money out of political campaigns, watch your wallet.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Alabama Football Saint or Sinner?
High school and college football is a religion in Alabama. There are only two seasons: football season and talking about the next football season. So successful at winning football games, Hoover High School head coach Rush Propst has been a saint to many.
Hoover is a growing affluent suburb of Birmingham and Hoover High School is the older of two public high schools there. Hoover won four straight state championships from 2002 to 2005. In national rankings of elite high school football teams, the Hoover Buccaneers have been ranked as high as fourth. A number of former Hoover stars play on college teams now and a few have made it to the National Football League.
Due in part to this success, MTV aired two seasons of “Two-a-Days,” a documentary series focusing on Propst, Hoover players and their friends both on and off the football field. Think “Friday Night Lights” with real people, not actors. Requests for Hoover Buccaneer paraphernalia poured in from all over the country. Hoover’s game with elite John Curtis High School of metropolitan New Orleans was televised nationally on ESPN’s high school sports network.
Now Propst has apparently fallen from sainthood. In addition to forfeiting four games this year for using an ineligible transfer player, Propst abruptly resigned the coaching job he took in 1999. However, he said that he should remain Hoover’s head coach throughout the 2007 high school playoffs and then be an administrator paid his approximately $101,000 annual salary until the end of August 2008. Although the average teacher in Alabama makes about $40,000 per year, the Hoover School Board has often caved in to Propst and granted this request. They also agreed to give Propst a $141,000 annuity when he leaves.
What did Propst do to land in such hot water? Allegations include grade-changing for academically-challenged football players and spying on their rival Vestavia Hills Rebels at practice. Propst boosters tend to blame the charges on fans of the other Hoover high school, the younger Spain Park, which is not nearly as talented in football, and view the minority of school board members that does not want Propst to coach any more Buccaneer games as Spain Park Jaguar partisans.
Spain Park, however, has had nothing to do with Propst’s major public problem; he has fathered three children out of wedlock in another town. He denies being romantically involved with a current Hoover assistant principal. So far there has been no comment from Tammy Propst or the couple’s children in Hoover.
In tearful testimony to the Hoover school board, Propst admitted that he had made mistakes. However, he blamed the charge of grade-changing on a principal who got the boot this summer and a zealous assistant coach. He blamed another assistant coach for spying on the rival. Propst portrayed himself as the victim of turmoil, noting there have three Hoover school superintendents, six Hoover high school principals and three Hoover mayors in eight years as if he and his boosters had nothing to do with any of this.
When “Two-A-Days” aired, Propst apologized repeatedly for using salty language on the program. Apparently, swearing on MTV was the least of his transgressions.
Hoover is a growing affluent suburb of Birmingham and Hoover High School is the older of two public high schools there. Hoover won four straight state championships from 2002 to 2005. In national rankings of elite high school football teams, the Hoover Buccaneers have been ranked as high as fourth. A number of former Hoover stars play on college teams now and a few have made it to the National Football League.
Due in part to this success, MTV aired two seasons of “Two-a-Days,” a documentary series focusing on Propst, Hoover players and their friends both on and off the football field. Think “Friday Night Lights” with real people, not actors. Requests for Hoover Buccaneer paraphernalia poured in from all over the country. Hoover’s game with elite John Curtis High School of metropolitan New Orleans was televised nationally on ESPN’s high school sports network.
Now Propst has apparently fallen from sainthood. In addition to forfeiting four games this year for using an ineligible transfer player, Propst abruptly resigned the coaching job he took in 1999. However, he said that he should remain Hoover’s head coach throughout the 2007 high school playoffs and then be an administrator paid his approximately $101,000 annual salary until the end of August 2008. Although the average teacher in Alabama makes about $40,000 per year, the Hoover School Board has often caved in to Propst and granted this request. They also agreed to give Propst a $141,000 annuity when he leaves.
What did Propst do to land in such hot water? Allegations include grade-changing for academically-challenged football players and spying on their rival Vestavia Hills Rebels at practice. Propst boosters tend to blame the charges on fans of the other Hoover high school, the younger Spain Park, which is not nearly as talented in football, and view the minority of school board members that does not want Propst to coach any more Buccaneer games as Spain Park Jaguar partisans.
Spain Park, however, has had nothing to do with Propst’s major public problem; he has fathered three children out of wedlock in another town. He denies being romantically involved with a current Hoover assistant principal. So far there has been no comment from Tammy Propst or the couple’s children in Hoover.
In tearful testimony to the Hoover school board, Propst admitted that he had made mistakes. However, he blamed the charge of grade-changing on a principal who got the boot this summer and a zealous assistant coach. He blamed another assistant coach for spying on the rival. Propst portrayed himself as the victim of turmoil, noting there have three Hoover school superintendents, six Hoover high school principals and three Hoover mayors in eight years as if he and his boosters had nothing to do with any of this.
When “Two-A-Days” aired, Propst apologized repeatedly for using salty language on the program. Apparently, swearing on MTV was the least of his transgressions.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Tiger Ghost of the Past
My parents, who live in central Florida, came to Marshfield this weekend for my mother’s 55th MHS class reunion so I drove up to see them. While I was there, I went to the Homecoming game on Friday.
I had not gone to a Marshfield High School football game in 30 years. I have some impressions of Homecoming. Marshfield is ablaze in fall colors. Trees near one end zone still drop leaves into Beall Stadium. Closing off the area under the stadium and a permanent concession stand were overdue.
First, there is no longer a Homecoming parade. Because I knew this, I left Madison for Marshfeld about noon. Second, the opponent was not from the Wisconsin Valley Conference. It was Medford, which I suppose was scheduled to guarantee an easy win for Homecoming. It is too bad the Red Raiders had not been informed of this arrangement.
Marshfield had superior athletes to Medford at almost every position. After spotting Medford to a 6-0 lead (Medford must not have a reliable kicker because they always went for a two-point conversion), the Tigers ripped off first down after first down as the huge Marshfield line opened running lanes en route to their only lead of the night, 7-6. The Tigers gave the ball away seven times on five interceptions, one of which was run back 88 yards for a touchdown, and two fumbles. The Tigers gained only 36 yards and one first down in the second half. Medford did not have as many skilled athletes as Marshfield but they did enough to win 26-7.
It reminded me of how unpredictable the Tigers were when I was a student and my friends were players. The Tigers were usually .500. The 2007 Tigers are 4-3 now and will probably miss the WIAA playoffs. It is a reminder that football is called “play,” that players are students and that they are fine young men who will benefit from discipline and teamwork throughout their lives regardless of the outcome.
Third, I was amazed that there did not seem to be Marshfield cheerleaders. I sat on the visiting side so admittedly my vantage point was not the best. Medford had no cheerleaders.
Fourth, I was surprised by the Marshfield High School band. The current drum major is a tremendous showman but the band members are not good marchers; some walk on their heels. Good bands walk on their toes. Admittedly, I am spoiled by living in Madison because the University of Wisconsin band is so good and high school bands here have former and current drum and bugle corps members.
The band left the field with more than five minutes left in half time. They did not play Marshfield’s alma mater nor did they play Medford’s school song. (Medford fans sang their own fight song a capella.) The drummers stayed on the field to play a cadence as the band left but the band did not march out to the waiting busses; they walked out.
Don’t get me wrong: I am glad I went to see my parents. I am glad I went to the game, especially because admission is still only $3, but it might be 30 years before I go again.
I had not gone to a Marshfield High School football game in 30 years. I have some impressions of Homecoming. Marshfield is ablaze in fall colors. Trees near one end zone still drop leaves into Beall Stadium. Closing off the area under the stadium and a permanent concession stand were overdue.
First, there is no longer a Homecoming parade. Because I knew this, I left Madison for Marshfeld about noon. Second, the opponent was not from the Wisconsin Valley Conference. It was Medford, which I suppose was scheduled to guarantee an easy win for Homecoming. It is too bad the Red Raiders had not been informed of this arrangement.
Marshfield had superior athletes to Medford at almost every position. After spotting Medford to a 6-0 lead (Medford must not have a reliable kicker because they always went for a two-point conversion), the Tigers ripped off first down after first down as the huge Marshfield line opened running lanes en route to their only lead of the night, 7-6. The Tigers gave the ball away seven times on five interceptions, one of which was run back 88 yards for a touchdown, and two fumbles. The Tigers gained only 36 yards and one first down in the second half. Medford did not have as many skilled athletes as Marshfield but they did enough to win 26-7.
It reminded me of how unpredictable the Tigers were when I was a student and my friends were players. The Tigers were usually .500. The 2007 Tigers are 4-3 now and will probably miss the WIAA playoffs. It is a reminder that football is called “play,” that players are students and that they are fine young men who will benefit from discipline and teamwork throughout their lives regardless of the outcome.
Third, I was amazed that there did not seem to be Marshfield cheerleaders. I sat on the visiting side so admittedly my vantage point was not the best. Medford had no cheerleaders.
Fourth, I was surprised by the Marshfield High School band. The current drum major is a tremendous showman but the band members are not good marchers; some walk on their heels. Good bands walk on their toes. Admittedly, I am spoiled by living in Madison because the University of Wisconsin band is so good and high school bands here have former and current drum and bugle corps members.
The band left the field with more than five minutes left in half time. They did not play Marshfield’s alma mater nor did they play Medford’s school song. (Medford fans sang their own fight song a capella.) The drummers stayed on the field to play a cadence as the band left but the band did not march out to the waiting busses; they walked out.
Don’t get me wrong: I am glad I went to see my parents. I am glad I went to the game, especially because admission is still only $3, but it might be 30 years before I go again.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Michaelsen Children Now on Two Sides of the Pacific Ocean
Eric Paul Michaelsen, now 20 and a junior at Kalamazoo College, called me on the morning of August 31 to say he was leaving for Japan. He will be there through March 2008. This will be the third time he has been to Japan but the longest stay. He will be one of many Michigan students at the university in Hikone, which is a city in Shiga Prefecture.
The Japanese call their states prefectures. With Japan’s largest inland lake, Shiga has a sister-state relationship with Michigan and the capital, Otsu, has a sister-city relationship with Lansing, Michigan’s state capital. Shiga includes the historic Japanese capital, Kyoto.
Usually, I have to call Eric to talk with him. He will always be my younger child, glad to help, whether the chore is cleaning behind the oven, picking up dog droppings in the yard or serving as my chauffer when my car broke down in Lansing early this year.
Both of my sons, Jens and Eric, have worked, too. For several years, Eric was a paper boy in Lansing. He has delivered pizzas and worked retail. In the summer of 2006, he was a Park Ranger at a Michigan state park. Last summer, he was a janitor at Kalamazoo.
Eric has always been more like me than his older brother, Jens. Like me, he was an actor in high school drama productions, is a word and picture guy and speaks a foreign language. Like me, he is a fan of old movies. Like me, he has a tendency to act smarter than he really is, using big words when little words will do. A friend of Jens coined a phrase that stuck to Eric: EGB. Eric Genius Boy.
Eric is majoring in Japanese and English. My stated preference was that he should attend the University of Wisconsin to study Japanese, but Kalamazoo College was closer to his home in Lansing. Michigan State University was too close.
Jens is in Hawaii; Eric is in Japan. It is ironic that they are now separated by the largest ocean in the world after being nearly inseparable as children.
The Japanese call their states prefectures. With Japan’s largest inland lake, Shiga has a sister-state relationship with Michigan and the capital, Otsu, has a sister-city relationship with Lansing, Michigan’s state capital. Shiga includes the historic Japanese capital, Kyoto.
Usually, I have to call Eric to talk with him. He will always be my younger child, glad to help, whether the chore is cleaning behind the oven, picking up dog droppings in the yard or serving as my chauffer when my car broke down in Lansing early this year.
Both of my sons, Jens and Eric, have worked, too. For several years, Eric was a paper boy in Lansing. He has delivered pizzas and worked retail. In the summer of 2006, he was a Park Ranger at a Michigan state park. Last summer, he was a janitor at Kalamazoo.
Eric has always been more like me than his older brother, Jens. Like me, he was an actor in high school drama productions, is a word and picture guy and speaks a foreign language. Like me, he is a fan of old movies. Like me, he has a tendency to act smarter than he really is, using big words when little words will do. A friend of Jens coined a phrase that stuck to Eric: EGB. Eric Genius Boy.
Eric is majoring in Japanese and English. My stated preference was that he should attend the University of Wisconsin to study Japanese, but Kalamazoo College was closer to his home in Lansing. Michigan State University was too close.
Jens is in Hawaii; Eric is in Japan. It is ironic that they are now separated by the largest ocean in the world after being nearly inseparable as children.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
What Happens in Pascagoula Doesn’t Stay in Pascagoula
Last Thursday, a fire at the aging Chevron refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, temporarily sidelined one of the 10 largest oil refineries in America. Although Chevron says most of the refinery is undamaged, it has not restarted yet.
I knew this because my oldest stepchild, John, is working on yet another expansion of the Chevron facility. John is an LSU grad in Construction Management so he, for example, can look at blueprints and calculate the volume of concrete needed. The firm’s employees were evacuated when the fire broke out. He’s OK but his truck smells like burning chemicals inside.
The Pascagoula refinery celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2003 so many of the pipes carrying crude are old. It makes gasoline and jet fuel, among other products, from crude oil. That transformation requires heat at approximately 1400 degrees F. As news of the fire spread, the price of oil jumped $2 per barrel to $71 on commodities exchanges.
Hurricane Katrina showed how shutting only a few refineries can make a large impact on prices American consumers pay for gasoline and heating oil. As the refineries and oil platforms near the Gulf of Mexico struggled to recover after Katrina, American politicians asked if we had enough oil refining capacity.
Because of stricter environmental standards, there has not been a new refinery built in the United States since 1976, while the number of oil refineries shrank dramatically from 301 to 149. Refineries which still exist have to try to run near full capacity to keep up with American demand. Some areas require special gasoline formulations to reduce auto emissions, which drives up prices everywhere.
Self-serving statements from the National Petroleum Refineries Association say that American oil refinery capacity has increased. “With the amount of new capacity U.S. refiners have added at existing facilities since 1994, it’s as though the industry has been building a new, world class refinery each year,” said Charles Drevna, executive vice president of the association. He says refining capacity has increased by 177,000 barrels per day.
If it is true, should not the price of gasoline and heating oil be lower? The U.S. Department of Energy tracks oil refinery output. While the amount of gasoline supplied by American refineries is about 285 million barrels per month, the amount of refinery capacity devoted to gasoline production has fallen by 10 percent from 1983. The amount of fuel oil produced by American oil refineries has fallen by five percent since the record high production of about 135 million barrels per month in 2001.
As we witnessed after Hurricane Katrina and the Pascagoula refinery fire, American refineries are fewer in number so a disaster at even one drives up crude oil prices. Even tiny swings in the price of crude oil increase the cost of finished products consumers buy. Expect candidates for President of the United States from both major parties to argue for more oil refineries or at least repeal of the laws of supply and demand.
I knew this because my oldest stepchild, John, is working on yet another expansion of the Chevron facility. John is an LSU grad in Construction Management so he, for example, can look at blueprints and calculate the volume of concrete needed. The firm’s employees were evacuated when the fire broke out. He’s OK but his truck smells like burning chemicals inside.
The Pascagoula refinery celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2003 so many of the pipes carrying crude are old. It makes gasoline and jet fuel, among other products, from crude oil. That transformation requires heat at approximately 1400 degrees F. As news of the fire spread, the price of oil jumped $2 per barrel to $71 on commodities exchanges.
Hurricane Katrina showed how shutting only a few refineries can make a large impact on prices American consumers pay for gasoline and heating oil. As the refineries and oil platforms near the Gulf of Mexico struggled to recover after Katrina, American politicians asked if we had enough oil refining capacity.
Because of stricter environmental standards, there has not been a new refinery built in the United States since 1976, while the number of oil refineries shrank dramatically from 301 to 149. Refineries which still exist have to try to run near full capacity to keep up with American demand. Some areas require special gasoline formulations to reduce auto emissions, which drives up prices everywhere.
Self-serving statements from the National Petroleum Refineries Association say that American oil refinery capacity has increased. “With the amount of new capacity U.S. refiners have added at existing facilities since 1994, it’s as though the industry has been building a new, world class refinery each year,” said Charles Drevna, executive vice president of the association. He says refining capacity has increased by 177,000 barrels per day.
If it is true, should not the price of gasoline and heating oil be lower? The U.S. Department of Energy tracks oil refinery output. While the amount of gasoline supplied by American refineries is about 285 million barrels per month, the amount of refinery capacity devoted to gasoline production has fallen by 10 percent from 1983. The amount of fuel oil produced by American oil refineries has fallen by five percent since the record high production of about 135 million barrels per month in 2001.
As we witnessed after Hurricane Katrina and the Pascagoula refinery fire, American refineries are fewer in number so a disaster at even one drives up crude oil prices. Even tiny swings in the price of crude oil increase the cost of finished products consumers buy. Expect candidates for President of the United States from both major parties to argue for more oil refineries or at least repeal of the laws of supply and demand.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Wearing Politics on Your Sleeve
Without even thinking about it Monday, I pulled on one of my Mark Green for Governor campaign tee shirt to go to make a deposit at the credit union branch down the street in the Hill Farms state office building. Hill Farms is also the headquarters of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
One of the items I was depositing at the credit union was my Wisconsin income tax refund. Let’s reflect on how incompetent the Wisconsin bureaucracy is that I am getting my 2006 income tax refund in the middle of August 2007. However, maybe the slowness was deliberate. Slowness in issuing refunds might be a decision by political appointees to make the case that people who file paper returns should have to pay a higher fee: a tax on paying taxes. Under Wisconsin’s income tax laws, I could not file electronically in 2006 because I was a taxpayer in another state in 2005. Those who filed electronically got their refunds long ago.
When I needed to title my car at Hill Farms during the gubernatorial campaign, I waited about two hours until my number was called. Others were waiting just as long and were still waiting when I was done. It was all I could do not to go to my car and start handing out Green campaign literature to people who were grousing about how long they were waiting. Of course, it is not permitted to campaign on state property. Make Wisconsin great again, indeed.
But I digress. Everyone turned to look at my shirt; you could almost hear the vertebrae cracking, but no one commented. Contrast that experience to when I wear a Mark Green shirt to private businesses such as the grocery store. People will make unsolicited comments such as “I voted for him.” Because hardly anyone has seen a McCain sticker on a car, I often get comments about that, too. Navy veterans comment about the Navy Dad sticker.
Sometimes I go to the credit union near downtown at the corner of West Washington Avenue and Regent Street, where I often run into people I know. On one of those visits in early 2007, I ran across Chris Green, Mark’s brother, who works in Madison. Ironically, that very day I had eliminated Chris Green from my cell phone’s speed dial. I gave Mark Green 10 to 15 days in 2006, which is why I have a couple of Mark Green for Governor tee shirts.
Because it is Madison, I see a fair number of shirts for Democratic candidates for President and bearing anti-Bush slogans. Mark Green for Governor is politically incorrect.
One of the items I was depositing at the credit union was my Wisconsin income tax refund. Let’s reflect on how incompetent the Wisconsin bureaucracy is that I am getting my 2006 income tax refund in the middle of August 2007. However, maybe the slowness was deliberate. Slowness in issuing refunds might be a decision by political appointees to make the case that people who file paper returns should have to pay a higher fee: a tax on paying taxes. Under Wisconsin’s income tax laws, I could not file electronically in 2006 because I was a taxpayer in another state in 2005. Those who filed electronically got their refunds long ago.
When I needed to title my car at Hill Farms during the gubernatorial campaign, I waited about two hours until my number was called. Others were waiting just as long and were still waiting when I was done. It was all I could do not to go to my car and start handing out Green campaign literature to people who were grousing about how long they were waiting. Of course, it is not permitted to campaign on state property. Make Wisconsin great again, indeed.
But I digress. Everyone turned to look at my shirt; you could almost hear the vertebrae cracking, but no one commented. Contrast that experience to when I wear a Mark Green shirt to private businesses such as the grocery store. People will make unsolicited comments such as “I voted for him.” Because hardly anyone has seen a McCain sticker on a car, I often get comments about that, too. Navy veterans comment about the Navy Dad sticker.
Sometimes I go to the credit union near downtown at the corner of West Washington Avenue and Regent Street, where I often run into people I know. On one of those visits in early 2007, I ran across Chris Green, Mark’s brother, who works in Madison. Ironically, that very day I had eliminated Chris Green from my cell phone’s speed dial. I gave Mark Green 10 to 15 days in 2006, which is why I have a couple of Mark Green for Governor tee shirts.
Because it is Madison, I see a fair number of shirts for Democratic candidates for President and bearing anti-Bush slogans. Mark Green for Governor is politically incorrect.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
I Came, I Saw, Iraq
Julius Caesar said about Gaul, “Veni, vide, vici.” I came, I saw, I conquered. It was elegant in simplicity. There is nothing elegant or simple about Iraq, however, nor do we seek to conquer it.
Americans and American politicians are polarized. Some want the troops pulled out of Iraq as soon as possible because our troops are targets and our very presence in Iraq creates a fertile recruiting ground for terrorists. Some want to stay the course and fight terrorists far from American shores. There is a disconnect between Democrat and Republican candidates for President of the United States. Democrats only talk about ending American troop presence in Iraq; Republicans only talk about the war on global terrorism, including al-Qaeda.
It is indisputable that American casualties in Iraq are far lower than in other conflicts such as World War I and II, Korea and Vietnam. That is cold comfort to the loved ones of those killed and wounded in Iraq’s random violence. It is almost a cliché to say that we won the war but are losing the peace. The shock and awe of the military campaign has given way to shock and awe by insurgents.
Might the troop surge work while the Iraqis prepare to fight their own battles? Of course it might. American troop presence certainly keeps Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions from wholesale slaughter of each other. Instead, it is only retail factional slaughter.
What if the troop surge does not work? If we pull out of Iraq, will there be a bloodbath between Shiites and Sunnis or led by neighbors such as a mostly Sunni Syria, a mostly Shiite Iran and an anti-Kurd Turkey? Will Iraq as we know it dissolve in the type of ethnic cleansing we saw between Hutu and Tutsi tribes in Rwanda, between ethnic Serbs and Muslim Bosnians in the former Yugoslavia or which is still occurring with disturbing frequency in Sudan?
Perhaps it will; perhaps it will not because a pan-Arab force or a stronger central Iraqi government will emerge. Perhaps Iraq should never have existed as a country at all. Iraq was one of the countries created by the British and the League of Nations from the defeated Ottoman Empire’s huge Middle East holdings after World War I. Americans should not shed blood without end to preserve an old mistake of geography.
We do not have to surrender in the war against global terrorism if we withdraw troops from Iraq. We will instead have the resources to respond disproportionately to terror threats wherever they arise. We will also have the resources to hunt down Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants. Veni, vide, cecedi. I came, I saw, I killed.
Americans and American politicians are polarized. Some want the troops pulled out of Iraq as soon as possible because our troops are targets and our very presence in Iraq creates a fertile recruiting ground for terrorists. Some want to stay the course and fight terrorists far from American shores. There is a disconnect between Democrat and Republican candidates for President of the United States. Democrats only talk about ending American troop presence in Iraq; Republicans only talk about the war on global terrorism, including al-Qaeda.
It is indisputable that American casualties in Iraq are far lower than in other conflicts such as World War I and II, Korea and Vietnam. That is cold comfort to the loved ones of those killed and wounded in Iraq’s random violence. It is almost a cliché to say that we won the war but are losing the peace. The shock and awe of the military campaign has given way to shock and awe by insurgents.
Might the troop surge work while the Iraqis prepare to fight their own battles? Of course it might. American troop presence certainly keeps Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions from wholesale slaughter of each other. Instead, it is only retail factional slaughter.
What if the troop surge does not work? If we pull out of Iraq, will there be a bloodbath between Shiites and Sunnis or led by neighbors such as a mostly Sunni Syria, a mostly Shiite Iran and an anti-Kurd Turkey? Will Iraq as we know it dissolve in the type of ethnic cleansing we saw between Hutu and Tutsi tribes in Rwanda, between ethnic Serbs and Muslim Bosnians in the former Yugoslavia or which is still occurring with disturbing frequency in Sudan?
Perhaps it will; perhaps it will not because a pan-Arab force or a stronger central Iraqi government will emerge. Perhaps Iraq should never have existed as a country at all. Iraq was one of the countries created by the British and the League of Nations from the defeated Ottoman Empire’s huge Middle East holdings after World War I. Americans should not shed blood without end to preserve an old mistake of geography.
We do not have to surrender in the war against global terrorism if we withdraw troops from Iraq. We will instead have the resources to respond disproportionately to terror threats wherever they arise. We will also have the resources to hunt down Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants. Veni, vide, cecedi. I came, I saw, I killed.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Newtonian Laws of Legislative Bodies
A type of Newtonian law governs the actions and inactions of legislative bodies, such as the Wisconsin legislature and Congress. It is not Newtonian in the physics and gravity sense, although some of those laws about motion and force seem to apply, too. Instead, think of them as Michaelsen’s Laws of Motions.
During the course of a long career in higher education and government, I have observed some phenomena that fit proverbs often coined by others. Many are also true of organizations in the private sector.
1. Success has many parents but failure is an orphan
This is as true now as it always was and is independent of issues because in state and federal legislative bodies, coalitions rise and fall around issues. The corollary is there is nothing we can not accomplish if we do not care who gets credit.
2. Nothing focuses attention like a deadline
Don’t believe it? Consider state and federal budgets. The legislative branch of government will have long public hearings at which many people speak or read verbatim from prepared remarks and in which elected officials engage in long soliloquies. However, the budget has to pass before the fiscal year begins to avoid government shutdowns, payless government worker paydays and interruption of services to those who receive assistance. There is also a flurry of activity near the end of a legislative session. In the private sector, approaching deadlines often mean all-nighters or racing to meet express delivery deadlines.
3. Even a clock that doesn’t work is right twice per day
We all know people with whom we disagree most of the time or who never seem to do anything of value. Once in a while, those people are right.
Because we disagree with them and they have cried “Wolf” so often, we tend not to believe them when there is a wolf approaching. The corollary is that even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally, so even a nut is right sometimes.
4. You dance with the one who brought you
We are shocked, shocked when the organizations that helped elect legislators and members of Congress influence the type of legislation they sponsor or shape their positions on bills and amendments.
In the private sector, this means that the client base and the person who hired someone might influence his or her job performance. We take that for granted. Elected officials are no different in this respect.
5. We can disagree without being disagreeable
This is not a generational issue, as many think, nor is it necessarily going along to get along. Some Wisconsin legislators and members of Congress, associations, lobbyists and their ilk disagree vehemently on fundamental issues. There are members of the Wisconsin legislature who could not disagree more that are personal friends. Some agree on ends and disagree on means. Former House Speaker Tip O'Neill and President Ronald Reagan could not disagree more on means but they were great friends. Lobbyists that oppose each other are often friends, too.
It is nothing new that liberals and conservatives are at the throat of each other. Disagree with one of the less amiable members and they will label you stupid, a tool of the most evil opposition they can name and a waste of oxygen. Mean-spirited rhetoric is unfortunately nothing new in the public arena. Compromise is not in the lexicon of the self-righteous regardless of party label.
Contrast that with the private sector. People who are direct competitors have so much in common that they are great friends. They do not wish that their competitor’s spouse and children leave them, their house burns down and their pet dies.
During the course of a long career in higher education and government, I have observed some phenomena that fit proverbs often coined by others. Many are also true of organizations in the private sector.
1. Success has many parents but failure is an orphan
This is as true now as it always was and is independent of issues because in state and federal legislative bodies, coalitions rise and fall around issues. The corollary is there is nothing we can not accomplish if we do not care who gets credit.
2. Nothing focuses attention like a deadline
Don’t believe it? Consider state and federal budgets. The legislative branch of government will have long public hearings at which many people speak or read verbatim from prepared remarks and in which elected officials engage in long soliloquies. However, the budget has to pass before the fiscal year begins to avoid government shutdowns, payless government worker paydays and interruption of services to those who receive assistance. There is also a flurry of activity near the end of a legislative session. In the private sector, approaching deadlines often mean all-nighters or racing to meet express delivery deadlines.
3. Even a clock that doesn’t work is right twice per day
We all know people with whom we disagree most of the time or who never seem to do anything of value. Once in a while, those people are right.
Because we disagree with them and they have cried “Wolf” so often, we tend not to believe them when there is a wolf approaching. The corollary is that even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally, so even a nut is right sometimes.
4. You dance with the one who brought you
We are shocked, shocked when the organizations that helped elect legislators and members of Congress influence the type of legislation they sponsor or shape their positions on bills and amendments.
In the private sector, this means that the client base and the person who hired someone might influence his or her job performance. We take that for granted. Elected officials are no different in this respect.
5. We can disagree without being disagreeable
This is not a generational issue, as many think, nor is it necessarily going along to get along. Some Wisconsin legislators and members of Congress, associations, lobbyists and their ilk disagree vehemently on fundamental issues. There are members of the Wisconsin legislature who could not disagree more that are personal friends. Some agree on ends and disagree on means. Former House Speaker Tip O'Neill and President Ronald Reagan could not disagree more on means but they were great friends. Lobbyists that oppose each other are often friends, too.
It is nothing new that liberals and conservatives are at the throat of each other. Disagree with one of the less amiable members and they will label you stupid, a tool of the most evil opposition they can name and a waste of oxygen. Mean-spirited rhetoric is unfortunately nothing new in the public arena. Compromise is not in the lexicon of the self-righteous regardless of party label.
Contrast that with the private sector. People who are direct competitors have so much in common that they are great friends. They do not wish that their competitor’s spouse and children leave them, their house burns down and their pet dies.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Happy Disindepence Day
July 4 for many Americans is a beery day of sports, food and boating but I worked a few hours at a retail job in Madison. When I worked on July 4 in the American South, customers would often share a plate of food from home. Barbecued ribs, chicken and fish were common with baked beans, potato salad and some home-made sweet tea. Now that I am Up North again, I might have anticipated the offer of a bratwurst, kraut and an ear of corn but no such offer was forthcoming. Southern hospitality is not just a cliché.
I wished people a Happy Independence Day. It is such a uniquely American holiday, celebrating our declaration of independence from Britain in 1776 when it was a risky proposition. The response by most Americans was “you, too.” I pulled a chair outside to watch the Madison fireworks display against the night sky.
Madison is also home to many foreign-born students and workers. Most born elsewhere who are not naturalized U.S. citizens clearly were not expecting a holiday greeting and did not know what to think. Most probably date their independence to throwing off their home country’s colonial oppressors even though many traded one repressive regime for another. As the Who said: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
It was a hot day for Madison; it was sunny and about 85. I went to the grocery store for some items. As I left, a woman wearing a niqab walked in. A niqab is what Americans think of as a burka. It is full face covering with slits for the eyes. She was also wearing a full-length black gown. She bowed to how hot it was by wearing sandals. I see many hejabs worn even by native-born Americans (as a father, I am picturing this lecture: “As long as you live under my roof, you will follow my rules”) but I had never seen someone wearing a niqab before. She was leading a little bareheaded girl.
I did not wish her a Happy Independence Day. A religious society that requires her to wear a niqab in public does not believe in independence of thought and action. What kind of message does her public apparel send to the little girl?
America prides itself on being a free society with a division between religion and state. Are we too tolerant of the intolerant?
I wished people a Happy Independence Day. It is such a uniquely American holiday, celebrating our declaration of independence from Britain in 1776 when it was a risky proposition. The response by most Americans was “you, too.” I pulled a chair outside to watch the Madison fireworks display against the night sky.
Madison is also home to many foreign-born students and workers. Most born elsewhere who are not naturalized U.S. citizens clearly were not expecting a holiday greeting and did not know what to think. Most probably date their independence to throwing off their home country’s colonial oppressors even though many traded one repressive regime for another. As the Who said: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
It was a hot day for Madison; it was sunny and about 85. I went to the grocery store for some items. As I left, a woman wearing a niqab walked in. A niqab is what Americans think of as a burka. It is full face covering with slits for the eyes. She was also wearing a full-length black gown. She bowed to how hot it was by wearing sandals. I see many hejabs worn even by native-born Americans (as a father, I am picturing this lecture: “As long as you live under my roof, you will follow my rules”) but I had never seen someone wearing a niqab before. She was leading a little bareheaded girl.
I did not wish her a Happy Independence Day. A religious society that requires her to wear a niqab in public does not believe in independence of thought and action. What kind of message does her public apparel send to the little girl?
America prides itself on being a free society with a division between religion and state. Are we too tolerant of the intolerant?
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Doctrinal Purity & Minority Status
Although I admire and largely agree with Republican Wisconsin legislators elected in the Wisconsin counties of Washington and Waukesha and the conservative talk radio hosts and bloggers who cater to them, they have been drinking their own wine.
Many are figuratively willing to throw more moderate Republicans elected in other counties under the bus, threatening to field more conservative Primary Election challengers to them. Instead of concentrating on the 85 percent of issues on which moderates and conservatives agree, they focus on the 15 percent where they disagree. Some have talked about toppling leaders they perceive as moderates.
They believe the lesson of the 2006 election Republican bloodbath is not a Newt-like Contract with Wisconsin of lower taxes, more opportunities and government reform, but more leeches. What elected them in Washington and Waukesha, however, is not always the same as that which elects Republicans in other counties. As Speaker, Newt understood this and did not always insist on doctrinal purity.
They have failed to consider three other inconvenient facts. First, backing an unsuccessful Primary Election against an incumbent is a risky strategy. If the incumbent is returned, retribution will be swift. Second, because Wisconsin’s primary is so late, fending off a primary challenge diverts resources from the General Election. It would be hard cheese if the Republican incumbent, with whom they agree 85 percent of the time, were replaced by a Democrat with whom they might agree 15 percent of the time. Third, if toppling leadership were easy, the U.S. Senate would no longer be led by Harry Reid. It is wrong to underestimate the power of caucus leaders to punish and reward.
Many are figuratively willing to throw more moderate Republicans elected in other counties under the bus, threatening to field more conservative Primary Election challengers to them. Instead of concentrating on the 85 percent of issues on which moderates and conservatives agree, they focus on the 15 percent where they disagree. Some have talked about toppling leaders they perceive as moderates.
They believe the lesson of the 2006 election Republican bloodbath is not a Newt-like Contract with Wisconsin of lower taxes, more opportunities and government reform, but more leeches. What elected them in Washington and Waukesha, however, is not always the same as that which elects Republicans in other counties. As Speaker, Newt understood this and did not always insist on doctrinal purity.
They have failed to consider three other inconvenient facts. First, backing an unsuccessful Primary Election against an incumbent is a risky strategy. If the incumbent is returned, retribution will be swift. Second, because Wisconsin’s primary is so late, fending off a primary challenge diverts resources from the General Election. It would be hard cheese if the Republican incumbent, with whom they agree 85 percent of the time, were replaced by a Democrat with whom they might agree 15 percent of the time. Third, if toppling leadership were easy, the U.S. Senate would no longer be led by Harry Reid. It is wrong to underestimate the power of caucus leaders to punish and reward.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Madison’s Vang Pao Elementary School: On and Off
In the mountainous region of Laos, the Hmong people were American allies during the Vietnam War. They rescued downed American fliers and attacked convoys moving supplies from North Vietnam to the Viet Cong along the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos. It is likely that Vang Pao’s “Secret Army” also carried out covert missions in neighboring Vietnam. Some Americans believe that Vang Pao financed arms and leadership though the opium trade with either the knowledge or complicity of the Central Intelligence Agency.
It is undisputed that the CIA recruited Vang Pao because he had already become legendary as a guerilla fighter against the Japanese during World War II and against the French during their ill-fated efforts. When the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam and the Communist Pathet Lao swept to power in Laos in 1975, the U.S. Congress cut funds to the “Secret Army” and many were killed by Communists. Vang Pao led survivors to Thailand and then to North America.
Public and private U.S. relief agencies settled many Hmong people in the Midwest. There are so many Hmong people in Wisconsin, they are the third largest minority group in the state and the largest in many individual state cities. Official Wisconsin state notices and signs are often in three languages: English, Spanish and Hmong.
To please the Hmong community, the Madison School Board voted unanimously to name a new elementary school for Vang Pao, who is regarded by older Hmong people as a cross between George Washington and Ho Chi Minh. Some other Madison public schools are named for Cesar Chavez, Samuel Gompers and Malcolm Shabazz. Hmong community leaders in Madison have already participated in the ceremonial ground-breaking.
When the Hmong people are seen as victims, the tendency by social liberals is to give them something symbolic but when they are viewed as U.S. allies in Vietnam, their anti-anti-Communist reflexes kick in. Misgivings by older Madison Vietnam war protestors about the possible Vang Pao history of drug trade, forced conscription of children and summary executions were ignored. Now 77, Vang Pao has raised millions of dollars among Hmong refugees in the U.S., issuing colorful certificates allowing the bearer to return to Laos in the future when the Communists are no longer in power.
Recent events have made the Madison School Board squirm. In early June, Vang Pao and eight co-conspirators were charged with trying to buy hundreds of AK-47s, shoulder-fired missiles, mines and explosives to topple the Communists who still rule Laos. Their mistake was trying to obtain the arms in California, where they were stung by federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigators posing as arms dealers.
Among older Hmong people, attempted shipment of weapons from California to Thailand to be used by dissident Laotian soldiers and mercenaries against the Communists in power actually increases Vang Pao’s stature in their eyes. There have been polite rallies for Vang Pao in front of federal courthouses in several American cities.
About 10 days after the indictments, the Madison School Board unanimously reversed itself to not name the new elementary school for Vang Pao. They are considering naming the school for the neighborhood where it will be located or for retired Madison school administrators and or other celebrities who are still alive and have the possibility of embarrassing them, too. They forgot that most schools are named after someone who has been dead for decades.
If Vang Pao were already dead, the naming decision would have stood. However, he has cheated death many times on the battlefield and in assassination attempts in the U.S., probably ordered by Communists in Laos. For someone who has been so close to death so often, facing federal conspiracy charges is probably less troubling to Vang Pao than to Madison liberals.
It is undisputed that the CIA recruited Vang Pao because he had already become legendary as a guerilla fighter against the Japanese during World War II and against the French during their ill-fated efforts. When the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam and the Communist Pathet Lao swept to power in Laos in 1975, the U.S. Congress cut funds to the “Secret Army” and many were killed by Communists. Vang Pao led survivors to Thailand and then to North America.
Public and private U.S. relief agencies settled many Hmong people in the Midwest. There are so many Hmong people in Wisconsin, they are the third largest minority group in the state and the largest in many individual state cities. Official Wisconsin state notices and signs are often in three languages: English, Spanish and Hmong.
To please the Hmong community, the Madison School Board voted unanimously to name a new elementary school for Vang Pao, who is regarded by older Hmong people as a cross between George Washington and Ho Chi Minh. Some other Madison public schools are named for Cesar Chavez, Samuel Gompers and Malcolm Shabazz. Hmong community leaders in Madison have already participated in the ceremonial ground-breaking.
When the Hmong people are seen as victims, the tendency by social liberals is to give them something symbolic but when they are viewed as U.S. allies in Vietnam, their anti-anti-Communist reflexes kick in. Misgivings by older Madison Vietnam war protestors about the possible Vang Pao history of drug trade, forced conscription of children and summary executions were ignored. Now 77, Vang Pao has raised millions of dollars among Hmong refugees in the U.S., issuing colorful certificates allowing the bearer to return to Laos in the future when the Communists are no longer in power.
Recent events have made the Madison School Board squirm. In early June, Vang Pao and eight co-conspirators were charged with trying to buy hundreds of AK-47s, shoulder-fired missiles, mines and explosives to topple the Communists who still rule Laos. Their mistake was trying to obtain the arms in California, where they were stung by federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigators posing as arms dealers.
Among older Hmong people, attempted shipment of weapons from California to Thailand to be used by dissident Laotian soldiers and mercenaries against the Communists in power actually increases Vang Pao’s stature in their eyes. There have been polite rallies for Vang Pao in front of federal courthouses in several American cities.
About 10 days after the indictments, the Madison School Board unanimously reversed itself to not name the new elementary school for Vang Pao. They are considering naming the school for the neighborhood where it will be located or for retired Madison school administrators and or other celebrities who are still alive and have the possibility of embarrassing them, too. They forgot that most schools are named after someone who has been dead for decades.
If Vang Pao were already dead, the naming decision would have stood. However, he has cheated death many times on the battlefield and in assassination attempts in the U.S., probably ordered by Communists in Laos. For someone who has been so close to death so often, facing federal conspiracy charges is probably less troubling to Vang Pao than to Madison liberals.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
A Tearful Farewell
My older son Jens Michaelsen stopped to stay overnight with me in Madison on his way to Seattle, Washington. It was great to see him and hard to see him go. We were both choked up and we hugged several times.
Until he arrived late in the evening on May 31, I do not think I have seen him in person since he graduated from the United States Navy Nuclear Power Training Command “A” school in Charleston, South Carolina in 2004. During the four years that Jens was in Charleston, we talked about once per week by telephone. That is about to change.
United States Navy Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class Jens Michaelsen will be flying from Seattle to Pearl Harbor to join the Pacific Fleet. He will be serving on a Los Angeles-class attack submarine; one of these, the USS Dallas, was immortalized in Tom Clancy’s “The Hunt for Red October.” Even the best cell telephone service does not have coverage underwater in the Pacific Ocean. He will celebrate his 22nd birthday at sea in about three weeks.
I can not think of either son without remembering what they were like as infants, toddlers, school children and the young adults they became. Jens was a far better athlete than I was. He was a great soccer and baseball player until the age of about 10, when he became a devoted inline skater. He became a very good swimmer in high school.
It was in math and science where Jens really stood out from his classmates, yet he never flaunted his academic success. I was sitting with some other parents at the swimming awards banquet. When he received a special award for having a 4.0 grade point average, the gasps were audible.
Now Jens is employing his math and science acumen for us. At the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command, Jens was exposed to instructors and classmates that were smarter than him.
How do you know when nuclear propulsion specialists are doing their job well? When there are no reactor accidents. The United States has not lost a nuclear submarine since 1963, when the USS Thresher was lost with all hands in the Atlantic Ocean when a seawater leak shut down the reactor.
Losing the USS Thresher was huge blow to the father of the nuclear fleet, Admiral Hyman Rickover. It was a bigger blow to the 129 hands that were lost at sea and their loved ones. It is a reminder to all submariners that service underwater is not without risk.
Until he arrived late in the evening on May 31, I do not think I have seen him in person since he graduated from the United States Navy Nuclear Power Training Command “A” school in Charleston, South Carolina in 2004. During the four years that Jens was in Charleston, we talked about once per week by telephone. That is about to change.
United States Navy Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class Jens Michaelsen will be flying from Seattle to Pearl Harbor to join the Pacific Fleet. He will be serving on a Los Angeles-class attack submarine; one of these, the USS Dallas, was immortalized in Tom Clancy’s “The Hunt for Red October.” Even the best cell telephone service does not have coverage underwater in the Pacific Ocean. He will celebrate his 22nd birthday at sea in about three weeks.
I can not think of either son without remembering what they were like as infants, toddlers, school children and the young adults they became. Jens was a far better athlete than I was. He was a great soccer and baseball player until the age of about 10, when he became a devoted inline skater. He became a very good swimmer in high school.
It was in math and science where Jens really stood out from his classmates, yet he never flaunted his academic success. I was sitting with some other parents at the swimming awards banquet. When he received a special award for having a 4.0 grade point average, the gasps were audible.
Now Jens is employing his math and science acumen for us. At the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command, Jens was exposed to instructors and classmates that were smarter than him.
How do you know when nuclear propulsion specialists are doing their job well? When there are no reactor accidents. The United States has not lost a nuclear submarine since 1963, when the USS Thresher was lost with all hands in the Atlantic Ocean when a seawater leak shut down the reactor.
Losing the USS Thresher was huge blow to the father of the nuclear fleet, Admiral Hyman Rickover. It was a bigger blow to the 129 hands that were lost at sea and their loved ones. It is a reminder to all submariners that service underwater is not without risk.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Between Iraq and a Hard Place
Increasing polarization between those who want to bring the ground troops from Iraq either immediately or say they want a time-table for withdrawal and those who want to stay the course and say a time-table tells the insurgents that they are winning alienates the American people who have conflicting feelings about the war. This polarization is exploited by candidates for President who play to their respective bases. Political posturing makes compromise difficult.
It is now indisputable that Saddam Hussein, his sons and his Baath party administration used rape, torture and murder to tyrannize the Iraqi people. Saddam behaved as if he still possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction after using nerve agents against the Iranians and the Kurds. After the first Gulf War, the U.S. encouraged the Shiites to rise up against Saddam and he put down this rebellion brutally. It was for this crime that he was hanged.
Hailed as liberators when we deposed Saddam, our attempt to be an occupying army has not gone well. Some of our children, parents and spouses have come home in boxes. Others have been severely wounded to come home to Walter Reed and other Veterans Administration hospitals that have poorly served them.
In the 24-hour news cycle, we have become so sensitive to immediate gratification. We think American losses as staggering but they pale in comparison to losses in World War II, the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War. Iraqi civilians are killed in droves by what has been called a sectarian civil war but there are so many factions, it is more properly understood as civil strife. If we pull out of Iraq, this killing will intensify as rival militia death squads round up the usual suspects.
Only former Wisconsin Governor and presidential candidate Tommy Thompson has proposed a reasonable Iraq policy. First, the people of Iraq need to vote on a referendum if the U.S. military should stay or go. If they no longer want us, we should go. Second, Iraq’s 14 districts should elect governments so Iraqis will gravitate to Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish areas. Third, Iraq’s oil revenue should be divided between the federal government, provisional governments and the Iraqi people, like in Alaska.
In the early going, Thompson has self-destructed in remarks about gays and Jews. He will not be considered a running mate by a Republican nominee because he has yet to hit double-digits anywhere outside Wisconsin. It is more likely that Thompson will remain in the more lucrative private sector and asked to lead international and domestic missions.
The Iraqi parliament is already wrestling with the future of oil revenue distribution because Iraq’s current oil wells are in Shiite and Kurdish areas and pipelines are frequent insurgent targets. Polarization is even more dramatic in Baghdad than in Washington and compromise is just as elusive.
It is now indisputable that Saddam Hussein, his sons and his Baath party administration used rape, torture and murder to tyrannize the Iraqi people. Saddam behaved as if he still possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction after using nerve agents against the Iranians and the Kurds. After the first Gulf War, the U.S. encouraged the Shiites to rise up against Saddam and he put down this rebellion brutally. It was for this crime that he was hanged.
Hailed as liberators when we deposed Saddam, our attempt to be an occupying army has not gone well. Some of our children, parents and spouses have come home in boxes. Others have been severely wounded to come home to Walter Reed and other Veterans Administration hospitals that have poorly served them.
In the 24-hour news cycle, we have become so sensitive to immediate gratification. We think American losses as staggering but they pale in comparison to losses in World War II, the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War. Iraqi civilians are killed in droves by what has been called a sectarian civil war but there are so many factions, it is more properly understood as civil strife. If we pull out of Iraq, this killing will intensify as rival militia death squads round up the usual suspects.
Only former Wisconsin Governor and presidential candidate Tommy Thompson has proposed a reasonable Iraq policy. First, the people of Iraq need to vote on a referendum if the U.S. military should stay or go. If they no longer want us, we should go. Second, Iraq’s 14 districts should elect governments so Iraqis will gravitate to Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish areas. Third, Iraq’s oil revenue should be divided between the federal government, provisional governments and the Iraqi people, like in Alaska.
In the early going, Thompson has self-destructed in remarks about gays and Jews. He will not be considered a running mate by a Republican nominee because he has yet to hit double-digits anywhere outside Wisconsin. It is more likely that Thompson will remain in the more lucrative private sector and asked to lead international and domestic missions.
The Iraqi parliament is already wrestling with the future of oil revenue distribution because Iraq’s current oil wells are in Shiite and Kurdish areas and pipelines are frequent insurgent targets. Polarization is even more dramatic in Baghdad than in Washington and compromise is just as elusive.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Expectation of Privacy vs. Duty to Warn
Those of us who have worked in full-service and self-service copy centers are expected to guard the privacy of customer documents.
After all, we would want people to guard our Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and trade secrets. I have often told those copying sensitive documents not to leave the copies face up, leave the originals on self-service copy machines or shred accidental or bad copies. It is not permissible to make color copies of money, bonds, stamps and ID cards or any copies of copyrighted material to which the person who seeks copies does not own the rights.
I have seen otherwise sensible people succumb to variations of the Nigerian Bank Scam, faxing their Social Security Numbers and bank account information to claim international sweepstakes they never entered or biting on the potential of getting rich with the help of a person they have never met in the Ivory Coast. If I see them about to do this, I feel a duty to warn them.
There were two cases in which I absolutely refused to help persons and warned them that what they were seeking was illegal. A foreign friend and naturalized citizen wanted help making two-sided color copies of airline tickets, which is sort of like making two-sided color copies of money. Hispanics who barely spoke English wanted my help scanning a vehicle title and changing the Vehicle Identification Number. Squealing to the authorities never entered my mind.
The six who conspired to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey ordered a VHS tape of people shooting guns and making jihadist statements converted to a DVD. When the employee who was charged with making the copies realized that these were potential terrorists, he contacted the authorities. Thus began a 16 month FBI surveillance of the Fort Dix Six.
Some employers would not celebrate this tip or guard the worker’s identity, as this particular employer did. Some employers would look for an excuse to terminate this worker for not guarding customer confidentiality.
After all, we would want people to guard our Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and trade secrets. I have often told those copying sensitive documents not to leave the copies face up, leave the originals on self-service copy machines or shred accidental or bad copies. It is not permissible to make color copies of money, bonds, stamps and ID cards or any copies of copyrighted material to which the person who seeks copies does not own the rights.
I have seen otherwise sensible people succumb to variations of the Nigerian Bank Scam, faxing their Social Security Numbers and bank account information to claim international sweepstakes they never entered or biting on the potential of getting rich with the help of a person they have never met in the Ivory Coast. If I see them about to do this, I feel a duty to warn them.
There were two cases in which I absolutely refused to help persons and warned them that what they were seeking was illegal. A foreign friend and naturalized citizen wanted help making two-sided color copies of airline tickets, which is sort of like making two-sided color copies of money. Hispanics who barely spoke English wanted my help scanning a vehicle title and changing the Vehicle Identification Number. Squealing to the authorities never entered my mind.
The six who conspired to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey ordered a VHS tape of people shooting guns and making jihadist statements converted to a DVD. When the employee who was charged with making the copies realized that these were potential terrorists, he contacted the authorities. Thus began a 16 month FBI surveillance of the Fort Dix Six.
Some employers would not celebrate this tip or guard the worker’s identity, as this particular employer did. Some employers would look for an excuse to terminate this worker for not guarding customer confidentiality.
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