Freedom Is Not Free: Commemorating Veterans Day

They tell me
'Freedom is never free.'
I know that-
More than most realize.
Freedom cost us more
Than we should have to give.
Freedom cost us blood.
It cost us the lives
Of our fathers,
Our sons,
Our brothers.
But while freedom is never free,
Remember-
It has been bought at great price,
And so is a thing of great value.
We must defend it,
From those who would take it away.
The defense of our freedoms
Will cost us-
More than we wish to pay.
But we must pay, to defend,
For if we try to make freedom free,
We forget-
True freedom is never free.
                              ~James Grengs

Numerologists may revel that  the calendar shows 11-11-11.   There is a similar significance in Armistice Day (also known as Remembrance Day), as it is traditionally celebrated  on eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, which marked the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front that ended the First World War in 1918.   Many Allied nations mark November 11th as a day to commemorate the fallen veterans who were amongst the estimated 60 million people who died  in the Great War.

The horror that Continental Europeans hold for the first major modern war is embodied in  "Le Monument aux  Morts" in Trévières, France by sculptor (and Mayor) Edmond de Laheudrie  (1921).  The sculpture is Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory, which is also wearing the utility belt and helmet of the French version of Doughboys.   The original placement of "Le Monument aux Morts" is significant for two reasons, as  its position near the Church of St. Aignan links it to the bishop who defended Orleans from Attila the Hun in 451.  During the D-Day attacks from Allied Forces against Occupied France in World War II, a round of shrapnel struck the head of the sculpture which removed  its face below the upper lip along with most of its throat.  So all at once this statue represents both the the fleeting valor of  victory, the fragility of peace as well as the destructiveness of war.    This statue was cast in situ for placement at the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia.

President Franklin Roosevelt's Prayer on the eve of the D-Day Normandy Invasion  implores the Almighty for divine aid for our troops defending our freedom: "Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith".

It is saddening to learn that the Obama Administration objects to the inclusion of this FDR radio prayer to being included in the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington. Obama Bureau of Land Management Director Robert Abbey claims that inclusion of this prayer would "dilute" the central message of Memorial as well as violating the Commemorative Works Act. The real reason may be a politically correct attempt to erase any vestige of public religiosity which expressly alludes to Christianity.

The evolution of Armistice Day into Veterans Day was spearheaded by Alvin King, a cobbler from Emporia, Kansas in 1953 who campaigned to include all who served the nation as part of the November 11th commemoration. Within a year, Congress changed the holiday to Veterans Day. Alas, today people could claim this change was contrary to the spirit of the Commemorative Works Act.

Among the many memorials between the beltways, one of the standouts is the Korean War Memorial, which was dedicated by President George Herbert Walker Bush in 1992. The "central theme" of this Memorial is the polished marble reminder "Freedom is Not Free". The memorial recognizes the contributions and loss of troops by the 22 nations which comprised the United Nations forces during the hot war between 1950 and 1953 (N.B. there was an Armistice but never a Peace Treaty so technically there is still a state of war with North Korea). The Memorial includes a wall created by Louis Nelson that has photographs of 38 soldiers sandblasted into the granite (representing the disputed 38th parallel). The polished granite wall draws visitors into the memorial as they can not see the memorial to the troops without also seeing themselves and remembering that freedom is not free.

The hallmark of the Korean War Memorial is the squadron of 19 stainless steel soldiers (technically 14 US Army, 3 Marines, 1 Navy Corpsman and 1 Air Force Forward Air Observer) on patrol.   The sculptures by Frank Gaylord has also sparked some civil conflict.  The artist was so intent on protecting the intellectual property rights on his work that he sued the USPS for $775,000 for using the image on a first class stamp. Gaylord won all of his claims in Federal Court in 2010 save a fair use claim which is appealable to the US Supreme Court or US Court of Federal Claims.  So a tribute to the Veterans who epitomize the phrase "Freedom is Not Free"  must be a sketch of a snowy memory.

The rest of the Korean Memorial is a Pool of Remembrance, which bears the inscription

"Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met."

As Veterans return from the hot spots of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Central Africa, we must  recall the wise words of President John F. Kennedy "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." We should honor those in the armed forces who by their very service were on the front lines of defending liberty. But we must also remember that we are all called to defend the freedoms that we cherish.  

[This piece originally ran on 11/11/11 at DCBarroco.blogspot.com  but still rings true today]

DOTty about High Speed Rail

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) rejected $2.4 Billion in Porkulus spending “High Speed” rail line in Central Florida.  There was not strong support from Central Florida citizens for this High Speed Rail project.  Voters in in Tampa and Polk County (FL) rejected a 1 cent sales tax increase dedicated to the “Supertrain”. Moreover, Gov. Scott reasoned that the Orlando metropolitan area (2 million) and the Tampa Metropolitan area (2.7 million) was too small to sustain the high speed rail system.  In addition, it is unlikely that the five scheduled stops in the 84 mile route would allow the train to ever reach “high speed” status.

Gov. Scott claimed that he was trying to protect Florida taxpayers from an estimated $3 Billion in cost overruns. The SunRail deal was structured so that Florida was responsible for half of the high speed rail costs and 20% of commuter rail costs.   Gov. Scott suggested “Rather than investing in a high-risk rail project we should be focusing on improving our ports, rail and highway infrastructure.”

Obama Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood snarkily reacted that since there was an overwhelming demand for the stimulus funds earmarked for high speed rail and states like California ought to send a thank you to Florida for rejecting the funds.  LaHood denied that Florida taxpayers would be on the hook for cost overruns or stillborn project planning costs. This assertion is a stark contrast to the New Jersey paradigm, where the Obama Administration levied a charge back of $350 million to the Garden State when Gov. Chris Cristie (R-NJ) refused to write a blank check for the train to Macy’s.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-FL 7th) has been conflicted about rail expenditures.  Rep. Mica inveighed that “Amtrak's Soviet-style train system is not the way to provide modern and efficient passenger rail service." Mica also derided the Obama Administration’s push to spend an additional $53 Billion in passenger rail projects under the auspices of the Federal Rail Authority and Amtrak as “This is like giving Bernie Madoff another chance at handling your investment portfolio.”   But Mica was also disappointed that the SunRail point was scuttled by Gov. Scott, perhaps because a pet project of a Congressional Cardinal was being sacrificed.

Building upon the fact that Orlando attracts 63 million visitors a year, Rep. Mica renewed a call to complete 21 miles of the proposed SunRail route that would connect Orlando’s main airport with the Orlando Convention Center and Disney World. Based on the massive influx of tourists, this cautious first step on the Central Florida HSR route has a chance of not being a modal money pit.

However it is unlikely that the Obama Administration DOT Secretary LaHood will approve the project on its merits because it is not a high speed rail connecting two cities.  The real reason maybe somewhat murkier.  The Obama Administration was poised to point to SunRail during the President’s re-election effort as a validation of the $836 Billion in Stimulus Spending on shovel ready projects, as well as to burnish the 21st Century Infrastructure improvements and as a sop to green voters who want to force Americans out of their evil polluting automobiles. That argument is less auspicious when it is effectively a commuter rail for tourists.

It is probable that financial and power considerations also make Rep. Mica’s modest proposal less palatable to the Feds.  The State (or municipality) only needs to pick up 20% of commuter rail costs.  A commuter rail between MCO and Disney would be under the auspices of the City of Orlando and Orange County (FL), thus bypassing the authority of the Federal Rail Administration or Amtrak, which is a government sponsored enterprise that has long been a financial featherbed for connected Democrat politicos. No wonder why Between-the-Beltway elites are dotty about trains.

Florida is the fourth most populous state and does not receive anywhere near its fair share of federal transportation expenditures compared to its gas tax contributions to Washington.  It is unseemly to have unwanted federal public policy projects from outside of the state foisted on its citizenry who will bare the brunt of the boondoggle.

But local pet projects of politicians also can be undesirable.  In 1987, the Detroit People Mover was completed at the behest of longtime Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young (D-Detroit) for a mere $187 million.  The 2.9 mile route does nothing to alleviate congestion or commuting.  It does attract 2.7 million in ridership, mainly because the $0.50 fares does not include the $3 per ride that the government absorbs.  It was a vanity project to take advantage of Federal transportation dollars.

If the U.S DOT diverts Florida’s transportation earmark from Florida to California, it will have the appearance of rewarding political friends and punishing foes to push an idealistic ambition.  Considering the estimated cost of $45 Billion for the Golden State High Speed Rail project and the possibility that cost overruns will skyrocket the cost to $60 Billion, they can use all of the earmarks that they can get.

H/T: Orlando Sentinel
H/T: Rick Geller

[This piece originally ran at DCBarroco.US]

TRAIN-ing Wheeling and Dealing

During a speech at Philadelphia’s 30th  Street Station, Vice President Joe Biden announced that the Obama Administration plans to spend $53 Billion over the next six years to upgrade and expand inter-city rail networks.  The Transportation Administration hopes that 80% of all Americans will have access to rail travel within 25 years.  These proposals keep Biden’s campaign promise that this would be the most train friendly administration ever.

The Porkulus legislation earmarked $8 billion in seed money to play with passenger trains and the FY 2010 budget included another $2.5 billion to railroad development.  But only $3.5 billion is going towards true high speed rail projects.  Instead The bulk of these funds have been directed to railroad projects in Central Florida and in California in order to have a ribbon cutting early in President Obama’s prospective second term.

Biden’s experience of taking over 7,900 round trips commuting on Amtrak between Capitol Hill and his home in Wilmington, Delaware apparently makes him an expert on railroads. Even though taxpayers take an estimated $50 loss on each Amtrak ticket sold, I doubt that many Americans who can not expense their quotidian commute to their Senatorial office can afford the $195 round trip on Acela or the $90 for the regional passenger service.

Either it is extraordinary forward vision or tunnel vision to keep touting the Supertrain. Amtrak only currently serves 78,000 passengers daily and has cost American taxpayers $35 billion since the government takeover in 1971.

The Orlando to Tampa leg of the Florida High Speed Rail System might be capable of traveling at 168 miles per hour.  But due to the number of stops along the 84 mile route, the “Supertrain” would only beat a car trip on a congested I-4 by a half an hour. This innovation comes at an estimated cost of $2.7 billion, but such government run infrastructure projects inevitably have severe cost overruns.  In two years, the cost estimates for California’s Bullet Trains have risen by a third to $43 billion.  For the High Speed Rail System which the Obama Department of Transportation envisions, it would cost $100 billion.  For true high speed trains, CNN estimates the cost of the system at $500 billion in 2009 dollars.

Train enthusiasts insist that investing in passenger rail improvements will alleviate road congestions.  Reason TV rightly points out that intercity passenger rail does nothing to alleviate rush hour traffic jams. And many of those metropolitan areas already have commuter rail services.  Based on overseas examples, these high speed rail projects are a money pit as only two bullet train projects have ever re-cooperated their infrastructure costs.

Naive observers may wonder why the Obama Administration seems almost as obsessed on trains as the Simpson’s Springfield was smitten with Monorails?  I believe that there is a sincere impetus to improve our nation’s intermodal infrastructure with a bias that a bigger government can do a better job.  But there is certainly some TRAIN-ing (sic) wheeling and dealing.  First off, to quote our National Treasure Joe Biden “[A]s Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs.”  Union jobs in particular. When these projects receive such massive federal funding, they will be obliged to follow federal rules, which have a strong bias towards hiring union workers.  After the ribbon cutting, who will need to staff the rails? Union workers of course.  Once the systems are operational, they will continue to require massive government subsidies. And unless we risk being paralyzed by a intercity rail strike, it is necessary to appease the rail unions.

There is the notion of political payoff.  When newly elected Governors John Kasich (R-OH) and Scott Walker(R-WI) decided to opt for a political train derailment of this high speed rail folly, the Obama Administration withdrew those allocated transportation funds with prejudice. When New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) opted not to proceed with the $9 billion Hudson train tunnel to Macy’s, the Federal government sued to get the planning seed money back.  Is it any coincidence that whenever Republican Governors try to derail the Obama Administration's obsession with trains on behalf of their constituents that these red states are figuratively thrown from the train and they lose the intermodal transportation funds that they richly deserve?

I fully appreciate House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL 7th) cynicism regarding the latest push to spend lots of money on a train folly.  Mica asserted that the Federal Railway Administration should not be giving grants or selecting projects.  Moreover, Mica recognized that Amtrak highjacked 72 of 78 projects, that were mostly costly and many had already been rejected by state agencies.  Mica inveighed that “Amtrak's Soviet-style train system is not the way to provide modern and efficient passenger rail service."  To make a point, Mica analogized this rail proposal as: “This is like giving Bernie Madoff another chance at handling your investment portfolio.”

Notwithstanding this skepticism of the merits of improving the intercity passenger rail system in intermodal transporation, the expensive earmark makes a mockery of President Obama’s State of the Union show, where he promised that there would be a five year across the board freeze on federal spending.

[This piece originally ran on DCBarroco.US]

What the Hail?

Christina Aguilera’s performance of the National Anthem at Superbowl XLV was marred by a lyric malfunction. The pop star botched the ramparts verse and instead sang “What so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last gleaming”.  This echoed a prior line, which she also flubbed.  Aside from the lyrical miscued, Aguilera tried switching up the melodies a couple of time, to less successful effect than Whitney Houston at Superbowl XXV.

 Personally, I was watching in a boisterous space where viewers were more capable of witnessing how adeptly Aguilera’s wardrobe covered her tattoos. Our crowd cheered along with the crowd in Dallas when the video feed switched to our troops serving in Afghanistan.

If Simon Cowell was offering a critique, he would certainly say that a singer needs to know her lines, especially for a familiar short song that is to be sung before a billion people watching.  Such an analysis would be spot on.

 But at least Aguilera’s rendition was respectful, unlike Roseanne Barr’s 1990 San Diego Padre’s atrocity of an anthem.  It is a wonder that Keith Olbermann did not name Barr “the Worst Person in the World”.  But this was before and after Olbermann's stint on MessNBC.

But I suspect that Aguilera was quite nervous, as some of her prior renditions of the Star Spangled Banner at sporting events were outstanding.  And it seems that she was concentrated more on changing the melody than on the lyrics.  That is appropriate if one is “Listening Electively” in the early Presidential Primaries, but not so much when being a professional singer.

Lyrically, Francis Scott Key’s poetic magnus opus is poignant, but he conveniently set it to “To Anacreon in Heaven”, an English pub song used as a sobriety test. For me, the only more testing melodic line in America's songbook standard is the genius who set Happy Birthday to the children's song  "Good Morning to All" from 1893.

Even spirited and heart felt renditions of the National Anthem can cause controversy, as Jose Feliciano’s rendition during game 5 of the 1968 World Series in Detroit did, or Jimi Hendrix’s electric guitar version at Woodstock in 1969.

While cynics may chuck about Aguilera’s gaffe, what remains with me is how the crowd cheered for our soldiers on the front line in Afghanistan, as did the room where I was watching the spectacle. As I rewatched the video, I noticed the shot of Pittsburg Steelers Cornerback William Gay chocked up with emotion during the National Anthem.  At a time when American foreign policy is embarking on an agonizing reappraisal and the left savaged security commitments made during the last administration, it is heartening to know that people between the beltways and in the heartland honor those who risk their lives to protect our freedoms.

Tolling the Bell to Honor the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

On November 10, 1975 the freight ship S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a storm on  Lake Superior. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was the worst loss on the Great Lakes, as the crew of all 29 sailors perished along with the $24 million freighter and a cache of 26 tons of taconite. The Edmund Fitzgerald carried its cargo of iron ore from mines in Duluth, Minnesota heading toward mills in the lower Great Lakes.  During the vessel’s final voyage, the “Mighty Fitz” confronted a mighty winter storm in Canadian waters with near hurricane force winds and waves of up to 35 feet high. The crew gallantly braved the gale force winds for a day and a half before succumbing to the stormy waters.  It is speculated that most of the crew were swept off the deck  by the massive waves before the full broke and the ship sank.

This maritime tragedy was immortalized in the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, which was written and composed by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot in 1976.  In the midst of album oriented rock acts and brief advent of disco, this Dorian mode epic ballad nearly topped the American Billboard charts as well as conquering the Canadian charts.  The chart prominence may have been aided by Canadian Content requirements for music played on “the Big 8" CKLW-AM (Windsor, Ont.), which was a top rated station at the time in Detroit, Toledo as well as Cleveland.




Lightfoot was inspired to write the ballad after reading an article about the sinking of the Big Fitz in Newsweek. The song was a straightforward recounting of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but there was some artistic license.  Obviously, there was no way to know the crew’s final moments. There also some were slight inaccuracies, as the ship was actually bound for Zug Island (near Detroit) but eventually it was supposed to have docked in Cleveland for the winter. And Mariners’ Church (a.k.a. “The Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral”) was not a musty old hall in Detroit where they prayed. Lightfoot has strived to correct some of these details during recent live performances.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald still resonates after 36 years as the laconic chronicle of the heroism of the lost sailors.  Few epic poems permeate the American consciousness like Lightfoot’s magnus opus. There are numerous cultural references to the tune.  A character in the film High Fidelity (2000) declared in the Top Five on songs on death.

The song has been covered many times.  A version that captures the haunting, surreal nature of sense of the surprise storm is by the Dandy Warhols from their Black album (2004). This may be inspired by the fact that the Daddy Warhol’s lead singer was related to one of the Big Fitz lost crew.



On the eve of Veterans Day, as we also celebrate the anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps, it is worthy to toll the bell of honor 29 times for the valor of the lost crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

[This piece originally ran on DCBarroco.blogspot.com]

GOP Party Favors?

Even before he enters the Senate Club, Senator-elect Joe Manchin (D-WV) is being courted by Republican insiders to switch parties.  Manchin will be sworn in during the lame-duck session next week since it was a special election caused by the death of long-time Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV).

Aside from dangling choice Committee assignments (like Environmental and Natural Resources) to the new Senator for switching caucuses, the pot might be sweetened by funding pet projects.  There is talk that Republicans would back a plant that converts coal into bio-diesel fuel, which has been stalled in the 111th Congress.   This coal conversion scheme is a $1 billion pet project of the erstwhile Governor of West Virginia and would certainly show that he knows how to bring home the bacon.

Manchins aides are demur about party switching.  While Team Manchin claims, "He was elected as a Democrat and he has to go to Washington as a Democrat to try, in good faith, to make the changes in the party he campaigned on.”  But the same Manchin insider also said, "Now, if that doesn't work and Democrats aren't receptive, I don't know what possibilities that leaves open." That was such a great political answer that manages to converse out of both sides of his mouth.

These party favor forays seem to indicate that Republican leadership in the Senate does not appreciate the Tea Party premises.  Funding a billion dollar earmark for political favor in a backroom deal seems tone deaf to the good governance grievances of Tea Party types.   Moreover, this move would essentially be meaningless.

In the 112th Congress, the Democrat Caucus is 53 to 47.  The increase in Republican Senators will prevent the Obama Administration from steamrolling liberal legislation and picking off a couple of RINO defectors to overcome cloture votes. Certainly the thinking is that Manchin could be the vanguard to stampede conservative Democrat Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) and liberal hawk Joe Lieberman (I-CN) to caucus with the Republicans.  But It would take four defections in the Senate to shift party control, which is highly unlikely.

Manchin was elected on a conservative campaign although he was elected as a Democrat.  He is going to have to face that constituency in two years.   If Senator Ben Nelson wants to be re-elected, he will have to vote more conservatively and not be swayed by things like the Cornhusker kickback on Health Care. Both Manchin and Ben Nelson would be unlikely to stray far from the conservative fold even if they do not strictly caucus with the Republicans.  In the 2012 cycle, Democrats will have to defend 22 seats, some of which were marginal wins in 2006.  Combine that with the changing electoral map due to redistricting, Democrats will have their hands full trying to keep control of the Senate.

It seems like former Senator Trent Lott’s statement about co-opting new members still has some resonance amongst the Cocktail Party and (by some extension ) Senate cloakrooms where there is the expectation that it can be politics as usual.  The Midterm Elections should have shown that the voters prefer a different cup of tea for party functions.

UPDATE 11/10  Considering the day after this rumor broke, the RNSC started a campaign directed AGAINST Senator-elect Manchin, it makes more sense that the party switching rumblings may have stemmed from Manchin's staff to seem to augment his position by playing coy.

Now NPR CAIRs Not (sic) for Juan Williams

Long time NPR news personality Juan Williams was terminated by National Public Radio (NPR) after offering his opinions on FNC’s O’Reilly Factor.   Williams was asked by the host for his views regarding the walkout reaction to the Goldberg/Behar gaggle on ABC’s The View when O’Reilly said that Moslems committed the atrocities on 9/11/2001.

Williams, a reliable liberal voice who also often appears on Fox News programs, concurred with O’Reilly’s observation that Moslem jihadists are the biggest threat to the world today.  Sharing unusual honesty, Williams dared to say,

I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.

It did not matter that Williams couched his views by added that there are plenty of good Moslems but that those who were strongly identifying with Moslem culture are more prone to jihadism.

NPR’s press release noted that Williams remarks, “were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.”.   That high minded statement of standards seems rather hypocritical considering NPR approving the Mark Fiore’s  “How to speak Tea Bag” on their own website.   NPR omnibusman Alicia Shepard claims that no one knew that “tea-bagger” was a sexual slur.   NPR executives would neither apologize for the cartoon nor remove it from their website. NPR Vice President for News Ellen Weiss said, This one satire is not the only coverage on the topic and while it offends some members of the audience, I see no reason to remove it."

If Williams’ introspective opinions on ANOTHER NETWORK  was controversial and over the line, Michelle Malkin points out that an NPR affilliate employee Sarah Spitz of KCRW wished death on Rush Limbaugh, and this was not considered a firing offense or even a distancing of the repugnant view by the network.

Could William’s termination be due to the $1.8  million endowment by George Soros Open Society Foundation to endow hiring 100 political reporters for NPR?  Aside from its left of center slant, NPR has been well known for skewing news for reporters with endowed news beats.  For instance, NPR used to only have one Pentagon reporter but had five science reporters that were endowed by generous grants by public minded corporations.  Of course, this underwriting would never have any influence on NPR science coverage since Public Radio is so fair and balanced and unbeholden to corporations–not.

A more likely causal connection is Politically Correct dhimmitude.  On Wednesday, the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a press release demanding consequence for William’s opinion. CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad stated: "Such irresponsible and inflammatory comments would not be tolerated if they targeted any other racial, ethnic or religious minority, and they should not pass without action by NPR.".  Williams was notified of his termination Wednesday night.

Williams was off the PC reservation and expressing these concerns was anathematic to elites.  So much so, NPR CEO Vivian Shiller was quoted as saying to the Atlanta Press Club that Juan Williams should should have kept his feelings about Muslims between, "himself and his psychiatrist or his publicist," But Shiller walked that statement back after bad publicity and said that she spoke in haste.

Juan Williams has never been the darling of conservatives as he was a reliable liberal.  However, Williams has a remarkable record for his honesty and integrity about racial issues.  Williams sometimes stood alone and reused to  succumb to the drum beat of conformism to so called civil rights leaders.  If people can not connect the dots and see how individuals who aggressively immerse themselves in Islamic culture are going to be more prone to the siren song of violent jihadism then this country is well on its way to dhimmi-tude.

Coffee, Tea or Cocktail Party

Since President Obama has taken office, the Republicans and the Democrats have been challenged by a few new “parties” to the political scene. While these factions have not yet sought to create formal party apparatuses, they are seeing to influence the established political parties.

Clearly, the TEA Party has stirred the grassroots of the American political field. While there may be other embryotic origins for the Tea Party, many attribute an on the air rant by Rick Santelli of CNBC as being the inspiration for the movement. In February 2009, while he was filing a live report on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange about the Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan, Santelli vents about the poor financial plans that the Federal government was implementing. The CNBC reporter turns to the traders and asked if they should be forced to subsidize the bad behavior of others’ home loan, which elicited a bevy of boos. Santelli spontaneously suggests throwing a Chicago Tea Party.

The Tea Party is a reference to the iconic Boston Tea Party of 1773 when the Crown tried to impose the Tea Act. American colonists protested this tax for many reasons but especially because it violated the perceived principle that Americans had the right to be taxed by its own elected representatives. The Sons of Liberty took matters into their own hands by boarding the ships dressed as aboriginal Americans and throwing the merchandise into Boston Harbor. This was considered to be a key event in advancing the nascent American Revolution.

Within two weeks of Santelli’s clarion call on CNBC, there were protests in 40 cities around the country in reaction to Porkulus, a.k.a. the $787 Billion Stimulus Package that was rushed through Congress. The contemporary TEA party picked up steam by widespread nation wide protests on April 15th 2009, tax filing day. The terrific turnout at these ad hoc grassroots events showed participants that they were not alone and that they were Taxed Enough Already. Points of commonality included: lowering taxes, stopping wasteful government spending, reducing that national debt and adhering to the Constitution.

During the August Congressional Recess, when elected Federal officeholders often tour their districts on listening tours and hold Townhall Meetings, they were greeted by motivated Tea Party activists, who asked hard questions. Some of these Townhall Meetings were quite contentious. So much so, some lawmakers cancelled their public appearances since these Town Halls were not the typical constituent cake walks.
There was a gathering on the National Mall on September 12, 2009 that was promoted by Glenn Beck, FreedomWorks and many Tea Party organizations that attracted legions of Tea Party Activists. Crowd estimates vary, but the figures range from 80,000 from the Lamestream Media to an unofficial 1.2 million by on the scene Park Service officials. A figure that seemed reliable counted the number of marchers at Constitution and 14th St. NW, which came to 600,000, but did not include people like me who joined along the way. Regardless of the exact numbers, the crowd was massive.

Another ancillary effect of Tea Party activism has been the ordinary Americans running for office. These outsider candidates have challenged established Republican candidates, and defeated several of them in primaries, such as Christine O’Donnell defeating Mike Castle in Delaware Senate seat, Joe Miller uncrowning Senator Lisa Murkowski in Alaska, Mike Lee defeating Senator Robert Bennett in Utah, et ali.

The Coffee Party was (not was) an effort to counteract the success of the Tea Party that was launched on Facebook in January 2010. I apocryphally associate the genesis of the Coffee Party to the liberal young hipsters that hang out at Starbucks and the ilk. Their slogan was “Wake Up and Stand Up” with a mission to getting cooperation in government and removing corporate influence from politics. The Coffee Party was announced with great fanfare on the Lamestream Media, but the public seems to have received it with the lukewarm enthusiasm of Instant Joe. After the initial news peg there has been virtually nothing in the way of activism or media news pegs. In late September 2010, the national Coffee Party convention in Louisville drew only 350 participants and virtually no media coverage. Considering the watered down rap that organized tried to enlist their elderly audiences involvement, I would say that the Coffee Party is decaffeinated swill that can not be given away.

The Cocktail Party is not a new phenomenon but is an apt appraisal by former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) of between the beltways elitists. Angelo Codevilla wrote a book entitled “The Ruling Class: How They Corrupted America and What We Can Do About It” which details the group of bipartisan political elites who run America. It is not just many elected officials but the power circle includes Ivy League academics, those in think tanks and East Coast media mavens. Codevilla illustrates through the example of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, that just because you hold a prominent position, you are not automatically accepted into this elite cliche as you did not go to the right schools and were not trained to think the proper way. You can get this elitist imprimatur even if you have occasionally have wandered off the ideological reservation if you hold a powerful position and mouth the right shibboleth.

The Ruling Class and Country Class (the rest of us, especially in “Flyover Country”) has some resonance but can be confused with the economic class dichotomy of former Senator John Edwards (D-NC). So I believe that a more suitable moniker is the Cocktail Party. When President Ronald Reagan came to Washington, he was adamant about not governing to please the Georgetown cocktail circuit. Palin echoed those sentiments during a speech Bakersfield, California where she railed against cocktail party types, the go-along-to-get-along establishment Republicans. Pardon my French but Palin’s political bon-mot is le mot juste. With one clever phrase, Palin captured the establishment aspirations and inclinations of the Cocktail Party.

As the primary season has shown, the Cocktail Party wing of the Republican establishment is threatened by the Country Class sensibilities of the Tea Party movement. In the general election, I expect the Tea Party spirit to sweep out many entrenched incumbents. That will certainly change the Georgetown Cocktail circuit.

Personally, I agree with many of the espoused principles of the Tea Party. But since it is a loose amalgam of grassroots groups, some Tea Party organizations and candidates are not the most appealing or savvy. The test will be governance after November 2nd. In a moment of candor, former Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) warned that a bloc of rabble-rousers spells further Senate dysfunction. I trust that Tea Party candidates will not easily sell out to the Between the Beltways values of incumbency. The real question is whether they will be perched on principle and accomplish nothing or if they can find ways to bend enough to effectively legislate their policies.

Blurry Public Focus for Traffic Cameras

Several developing stories are capturing the real picture about the use of traffic cameras by state and local governments.

In the Big Easy, some of the biggest scofflaws of paying traffic camera fines are New Orleans city employees driving taxpayer-financed vehicles.  Based upon a freedom of information request, New Orleans city workers racked up over $547,000 in fines as of September, 2011.  Moreover, five of the top twenty traffic camera violators were city vehicles.  Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D-New Orleans) claims that he wants to quit letting the good times roll so the policy will be changed so that city workers will be responsible for tickets that they accrue unless they are responding to an emergency.  If the ticket is delinquent by more than 90 days, the city employee may be subject to disciplinary measures and any unpaid fines supposedly will be subtracted from the offending department’s budget.

Before this policy goes into effect, however, New Orleans is wiping the slate clean and the prior fines will be forgiven since there was not clarity about waivers and it would be difficult to collect the fines. OK, public servants need to be warned that the law applies to them and their tickets will not automatically be fixed or effectively ignored. Perhaps obeying the law needed to be clarified with public sector unions.  But at least New Orleans new policy will require an emergency for a waiver.

In the Free State, Maryland Delegate Frank Conaway (D-MD 40th, Baltimore city) has introduced two bills that would exempt all “emergency vehicles” (State Bill 848) and all law enforcement vehicles (State Bill 857) from traffic enforcement camera fines. The problem with these bills is that it makes no distinction as to whether or not these public responders are actually answering an emergency call.  Such legislation puts us further down the road to creating a special class for public employees who are above the law, whether or not they are responding to emergencies.

It seems that Maryland elected officials are tired of hearing constituents crabbing about speed camera tickets.  Despite public assurance to the contrary by sponsors of SB486/HB944, the legislation which was approved by the Maryland Senate allows private contractors to make determinations of traffic camera violations. Specifically, buried in the Fiscal Policy Notes section states:

 The bill authorizes a person trained in speed monitoring system enforcement who is either employed by or under contract with a law enforcement agency to sign a citation or swear to or affirm that a speed monitoring system violation occurred. Thus, in addition to shifting these duties from duly authorized police officers to other trained employees of the law enforcement agency, agencies are authorized to utilize private contractors for this service.

So Maryland is poised to allow individuals other than sworn Law Enforcement Officers to both maintain traffic cameras as well as to make determinations of infractions.  This blurs the distinction between the law and corporations which can deprive citizens of liberty.  Moreover, testimony before a public forum in Baltimore on traffic cameras reveals that 50% of the revenue would go to the traffic camera contractor.  And this is before the private sector contractors become the official adjudicators for traffic cameras.

Currently, corporations stand to make a sizeable profit from maintaining traffic cameras under the guise of government enforcement.  Now Maryland legislators want to subrogate their sovereign rights to a for-profit corporation to supposedly improve public safety? Such a progressive policy sharing police power by a nanny state which co-opts the private sector to control its citizenry stinks of liberal fascism, corporate socialism with a happy face.

These Big Brother tactics of traffic cameras were initially sold to the public as instruments of public safety and efficiency.   Studies have shown that there may only be a negligible improvement in public safety with the use of red light cameras, with some questions about ancillary rear end crashes and questions about the profit motive.

The Maryland Legislature has effectively dropped the pretense that traffic cameras are meant for public safety purposes.  In testifying for her House Bill 372, Delegate Carolyn Howard (D-MD 24th Prince George’s County) asserted: "A government official made a statement that speed cameras were going to be moved so they could generate more revenue. That was not the purpose of the bill when it was passed."  The Maryland House Environmental Matters Committee voted to give the bill an “Unfavorable” rating, which basically killed the bill thereby blessing the practice of relocating speed cameras for profit.

In an era where the public till is empty, governments will look means other than direct taxation to augment their coffers.  These automated traffic controls seem like they are greed cameras that are revenue enhancement tools that the public sector can liberally exempt itself, crony corporations can handsomely profit and which only modestly improve public safety. By  vesting sovereignty to corporations for traffic cameras comes only comes at the cost of sacrificing our liberty and constitutional right to confront law enforcement at the time of alleged infractions to companies that will profit without strong public scrutiny. Such a deal!

Voters better learn how to focus on how our elected officials are blurring the lines between public and private as well as the proper public rationale for traffic cameras lest we be governed by the likes of Omni Consumer Products à la Robocop (1987).