Okay, what did I miss?

Our 9-month old Ari got sick this week, and sick babies leave precious little time for politics. The blog had been left in my father's ever-more-capable hands (although I would like to acknowledge Max's efforts in his tireless editing of Mickey's posts) but Mickey's computer had an accident due to his sudden need to intervene in a scuffle between a small cat and an even smaller poodle, so it's in the shop right now. So I promised to try to get a post or two in.

Things look pretty different since the last time I came up for air:

Howard Dean -- in need of Haldol?

Word on the street is that Dean is a crazy man, as evidenced by his wild-talking concession speech, which I finally tracked down on C-Span. Maybe it was the low-res video, but he didn't seem any more insane than usual to me. Actually, it reminded me a lot of that mainstay of geek culture, the famed Steve Ballmer "Developers Developers Developers" clip. So, Howard Dean no crazier than Steve Ballmer. Still, I'd rather have a president somewhat less crazy than Steve Ballmer.

What irritated me more about Dean's so-called concession speech was the way he panders to his under-30 supporters. Talks a lot about the passing of the torch to the new generation, youth changing the world, blah blah blah. He's like a freaking tv network, always trying to get that males 18-30 demographic. You'd think over-30 types would feel alienated by his campaign. Hell, I'm under 30 and I feel alienated by his campaign. Let's face it: we youngsters have no sense of history. Our ideals haven't been ground down by crushing reality yet. Many of us don't have any stake in the so-called establishment -- careers, children, mortgages, etc. Our parents aren't even old enough to start being a burden on us yet. Things are black and white, in or out, establishment or anti-establishment. Let's face it, we are young and stupid, and woe unto us all if presidential candidates decide we are their most important 'market'.

As a side note, I think we know where all the people who dropped off the unemployment rolls went. Apparently they went to Iowa. What will the economy look like after November when all the unemployed and underemployed campaign volunteers start looking for work again?

Kerry, Edwards, Clark, Dean
So suddenly it's a four-man race. This gives me hope, since it proves once again that we voters actually do think for ourselves, and don't just do what the media tells us we are likely to. Of course, a caucus is a funny thing:

"What I was going to say," said the Dodo in an offended tone, "was, that the best thing to get us dry would be a Caucus-race."

"What is a Caucus-race?" said Alice; not that she much wanted to know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that somebody ought to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything.

"Why," said the Dodo, "the best way to explain it is to do it." (And, as you might like to try the thing yourself, some winter day, I will tell you how the Dodo managed it.)

First it marked out a race-course, in a sort of circle ("the exact shape doesn't matter," it said), and then all the party were placed along the course, here and there.

There was no "One, two, three, and away!" but they began running when they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over. However, when they had been running half an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out "The race is over!" and they all crowded round it, panting, and asking, "But who has won?"

This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought, and it stood for a long time with one finger pressed upon its forehead (the position in which you usually see Shakespeare, in the pictures of him), while the rest waited in silence.

At last the Dodo said, "Everybody has won, and all must have prizes."

So we'll have to see what happens in New Hampshire next Tuesday.

State of the State of the Union

I didn't watch the speech, but I still had to hear Bush's voice in my head as I skimmed the transcript this morning. My thoughts:

1) Continued airbrushing of history. Funny how he didn't mention Osama Bin Laden. Talks about leaders of Al Qaeda, but only those we've already caught. Doesn't mention all those nukes and anthrax spores we expected to find in Iraq -- just goes on about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs, as though he convinced us all to go to war because Saddam Hussein merely had some programs to produce WMDs. Bush has an 'education program', a 'healthy forests program', a 'clear skies initiative', a 'guest worker' plan, and a whole host of programs; what counts is if they're funded, what they actually do, and how successful they are at doing it. Programs do not an imminent threat make. Yes, yes, the world seems to be a better place without Saddam in power. But who knows what the long-term consequences of this distraction from the war on terror will be? Who knows how long our soldiers will be stationed in Iraq? Well, General Clark talks much more articulately and knowledgeably about this than I can, so I'll leave it to him. But clearly Bush intends to run in 2004 on his leadership as Commander-in-Chief, so we better have a candidate who looks more qualified for the job.

2) Health Care: I am particularly pissed off at Bush's insultingly inadequate 'program' to address the health care crisis. For example, he says "And tonight I propose that individuals who buy catastrophic health care coverage, as part of our new health savings accounts, be allowed to deduct 100 percent of the premiums from their taxes." Okay, so first of all, in order to deduct premiums, you have to have premiums to pay. In order to pay premiums, someone has to sell you a policy. And if insurance companies decide not to sell you a policy, you're screwed. Max got laid off recently, as regular blog readers will recall, and we've discovered that COBRA will cost us $1100/month. We are young and reasonably healthy people, and we'd be happy to pay cash for ordinary medical needs and go with a cheaper catastrophic plan, but no one will sell us one. In any case the amount of money that doctors charge these days is set by some bizarre calculation about what they can expect to get paid by insurance companies, which is always less than what they charge, the result of which is that if you pay cash you're paying something like MSRP for a car, which is to say you're getting cheated. When in reality you should get a discount since you save everyone administrative costs. My point is that our health care system is completely FUBAR, and it is cruel for someone who has got the entire NIH at his disposal to claim otherwise.

3) America's missionary position:

America is a nation with a mission - and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace - a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman. America acts in this cause with friends and allies at our side, yet we understand our special calling: This great republic will lead the cause of freedom.

[And later...]

My fellow citizens, we now move forward, with confidence and faith. Our nation is strong and steadfast. The cause we serve is right, because it is the cause of all mankind. The momentum of freedom in our world is unmistakable - and it is not carried forward by our power alone. We can trust in that greater power who guides the unfolding of the years. And in all that is to come, we can know that his purposes are just and true.

May God continue to bless America.

Call me crazy, but all this missionary talk just creeps me out. That and the talk of more funding for abstinence-only sex education, constitutional amendments banning gay marriage, etc. etc. etc. These are sops to fundamentalist voters. I'm not anti-religion, I'm really not. But we should be wary when a nation's leader is certain that God is on his side. Mr. Bush should look to his Bible, and see what it has to say about Pride, for from what I understand, it's the worst of the Christian's deadly sins, and he has it in spades.

Okay, I think I've hit all the big developments. Will write again when I can, loyal readers.