7/30/07

On a day in July . . .

• Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts suffers a seizure while on vacation. From what we hear, it's not the first time this happened. And he's 52.
• While the killing continues and some people are claiming that the surge of American soldiers is actually working (just what the White House wants to hear, right?), the Iraqi legislature decides to take the month of August off. Before we all rip into this courageous decision, we must note that the U.S. Congress and President Bush have vacation time coming up themselves. Chances are real good that wherever they're going will be a lot more peaceful than where the Iraqis are going.
• The death of Ingmar Bergman, whose films defined darkness for directors like Woody Allen and cinema buffs everywhere, even if multiplex mavens never got it. Bergman was 89.
• The death of Tom Snyder, the local and network news anchor who blazed a trail for late-night TV talk with the "Tomorrow" show, which ran for about a decade on NBC after Johnny Carson said good night. He, along with Ted Koppel, was also the last of the breed, having been replaced by edgy comedians who entertained more than informed. Snyder was 71.
• Bill Walsh, who passed away at 75, coached the San Francisco 49ers to three Super Bowl titles, created what became known as the West Coast offense, and had coaching disciples all over the college and pro ranks.

Just your typical July day.

Summer of Scandal

Scandals these days aren't limited to Hollywood and Washington. All you have to do is turn to the sports section.

• Michael Vick, Atlanta Falcons quarterback, pleaded not guilty to federal charges of allegedly holding dogfighting matches on his Virginia property. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hasn't decided whether to suspend Vick or to put him on a leave of absence, but he did bar the quarterback from attending training camp while a league investigation is underway. With a court date set for November, it's unlikely Vick will play this season. Even if he does, animal rights activists would be in his face and Atlanta's football fans don't want anything to do with him. Would anyone want Vick if he were acquitted?
• The FBI is investigating claims that former NBA referee Tim Donaghy allegedly bet on games, including the ones he officiated. Though this is a black eye for the NBA, we might get answers as to why certain teams win and others don't. Or why certain players get calls and others don't.
• The Tour de France? Let's not go there.

The longest-running current sports controversy involves Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants. He has 753 home runs, two shy of tying the all time career home run record set by Henry Aaron. Unless you live in San Francisco, no one seems too thrilled at the prospect of an allegedly juiced-up ballplayer taking aim at a cherished record once held by Babe Ruth.

Bonds has been dogged by allegations of steroid use for several years now, but there's never been any real proof that he took anything to enhance himself. And if he did, well, baseball certainly missed the boat on that one, didn't they? There's only been a drug-testing policy since 2004.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig faced the Shakespearean question of whether he should go to San Francisco to witness Bonds' history-making homer. Selig did make the trip, which was unusual since no other commissioner witnessed in person Roger Maris' 61st homer in 1961 and Aaron's 715th in 1974. Aaron, now an executive with the Atlanta Braves, has said he would not attend any of Bonds' games.

Records are made to be broken. Like it or not, Bonds will get his record, probably inside the friendly confines of AT&T Park in San Francisco. And we'll all be watching it on Fox or ESPN.

There are no heroes any more. We have athletes who behave like thugs. Police officers who think they are the law. Politicians who ignore the needs of the people. Soldiers who go to war defending the ego of a delusional president instead of the country they represent.

All we have to believe in is ourselves.

No Spoilers Here

J.K. Rowling's creation Harry Potter sure has cast a spell over everyone, it seems. The current movie "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" topped the box office last week. And the book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is just out, with every network and local news crew setting up shop at the local Barnes & Noble to document the moment when children who should really be in bed are snapping up every available copy.

Before that, there had been plenty of speculation about what was in Rowling's seventh (and apparently final) Potter book: Does Harry live or die? Does anyone else? Other than that, the most important question should be: Is it worth wading through a Michener-esque (for a children's book) 780 pages?

The speculation reached crisis proportions when the details (which had been treated like a state secret. But enough about the Vice-President.) were allegedly leaked to certain Internet sites and the New York Times. Whoever they were, they did a great public service for people who were either too cheap or lazy to fork over 35 dollars for a doorstop.

We must give props to Rowling and Potter because anything to get kids reading is welcome news, in spite of all the distractions (electronic and otherwise) they have these days. After all, there are worse things. They could be reading this blog right now.

While We Were Out

After spending a few days at a lakeside cabin in Northern Minnesota,, it's time to make a few observations.

• Unless you have satellite TV, the only channel you can get in these parts is a CBS affiliate that used to be a local station based in Alexandria, but beams programming from the Twin Cities. So instead of events that affect so-called "Greater Minnesota" (which makes the state sound like one big suburb), people here get daily reminders of why they live where they live and not in "Murderapolis".
• On the radio, your choices on the FM dial are country music, classic rock and pop standards. No Top 40 and certainly no hip hop. (No wonder the youth of the North Country couldn't wait to flee to the Twin Cities, or at least Brainerd) If you want talk (whether you're liberal or conservative), go listen to MPR's news service. There are also plenty of places where you can listen to Twins baseball. Just try finding one after the sun goes down.
• Watching TLC's "Little People, Big World", which focuses on the Roloff family, whose parents and one child are of the vertical persuasion (I refuse to use the word "challenged") while their other children are what we consider normal height. Anyway, tonight's made for TV adventure found the Roloff adults in Las Vegas to attend a public speaking seminar, prompted by the wife's having been invited to speak at her old alma mater. By the end of the program, we watch Mrs. Roloff give a polished speech before a packed audience. Could it be that the audience came because of what this woman had to say, or is it because they knew her from TV?
• Of course, we didn't come all this way just to watch TV. There was fish to be caught (most of them thrown back because they're either too small or the wrong kind of fish), loons to be heard, mosquitoes to be swatted, and a placid lake at sunset to be admired. Better than reruns, right?

Wishful Thinking

There is a movement out there from folks who are increasingly disgusted with the way President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have been running the country. So they have been petitioning the Democratic-controlled Congress to impeach one or both of them.

Bush and Cheney's crimes against the republic are well known: the commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence, the continued support of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales despite the politically-charged firings of some U.S. attorneys, ignoring the Geneva Convention when it comes to interrogating terrorism suspects, the Vice President claiming he's his own branch of government, and so on. And we haven't even mentioned the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What makes you think impeachment is going to solve anything? If Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton--the only impeached Presidents in American history--could serve out their terms with comparatively minor infractions, Bush and Cheney could throw this right back at Congress (like they've done so many times before) and continue on their merry way.

Besides, we are 16 months away from Election Day. To be brutally honest, the Democrats need Bush and Cheney more than Bush and Cheney needs them. If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (who is next on the succession list) replaced one of them, they wouldn't have much to complain about, would they?

So be careful what you wish for.

Water, Water Everywhere?

Recently there have been reports in the media about the campaign to get rid of bottled water. Some cities have banned the plastic bottles because they crowd the landfills, and use too much oil in getting from the source (let's say France) to your local store.

You could also mention that bottled water is not only overpriced, but it's also not good for you. Sure, it's the same water you're used to drinking, but it doesn't include fluoride. And that can make a big difference the next time you visit the dentist.

But aren't we going a little overboard in replacing bottled water with the tap water that comes out of your sink? Doesn't the quality of the water you drink depend on where you live? Not everyone has great-tasting water coming out of their taps. For those people, bottled water is a necessity.

And this is a problem that's only going to get worse. There are places in the world where people can't drink the water because it is polluted. And the warmer the planet gets (and the more toxins that are released into the environment), the more likely it is that clean drinking water will become a more valuable commodity.

So drink to your health--while you still can.

Warm Climate, Cold Change

Yesterday, it was 98 degrees and sunny in Minnesota. Out west, temperatures are as high as 115 degrees, and the forest fire danger is off the charts. In Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas there is severe flooding. And the Southeast is going through its worst drought ever.


Meanwhile, at venues all over the world, the Live Earth concerts to raise awareness about the growing threat of man-made climate change were held. Millions of people who watched on TV or on the Internet saw 150 of the biggerst names in music such as Madonna, Bon Jovi, The Police, Shakira and Alicia Keys perform.

Former Vice President Al Gore also appeared, whether live or via hologram, to spread the gospel of possible environmental disaster and to urge concertgoers to pressure their leaders to do something about the problem. Gore has made quite a name for himself since he lost the 2000 presidential election on account of hanging chads and a right-tilting Supreme Court, His environmental lectures led to the film "An Inconvenient Truth", which won an Academy Award for best documentary. And he continues to deny that he's running for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Critics have charged that Live Earth was a waste of time and resources, noting that the rock stars tended to use large amounts of energy in their acts. (Now there's an idea: go acoustic.) They also said that the concert did not have the impact Live Aid did 20 years ago. At least no money was wasted on corrupt regimes who kept the donations to themselves rather than distribute them to starving people.

Climate change is real, and we're seeing it every day. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) says that 2007 will likely wind up as the second warmest year on record. And the polar ice caps are melting, meaning Antartica and the Artic might soon become beach property.

According to an ABC News poll, 85% of the people interviewed believe global warming is occuring. However, there are some folks out there who think all this is liberal BS, that they'd rather let nature take its course. Could it be that, since the full environmental effects might take place over several decades, these skeptics don't have to care about it since they won't be around to see it?

One of the objectives of Live Earth, according to Gore in an ABC news interview, is to get leaders of the world in business and government to make changes on environmental policy. That will be the responsibility of the next American president, since the current one seems to care more about his cronies than the people he's supposed to serve.

(In the interests of full disclosure, I drive an SUV. I rationalize this by saying because of the winters in Minnesota, I need a four-wheel drive to get me through the snow and ice. But I've noticed that winter is not what it used to be around here, with infrequent snowfall and warmer weather. So I've had second thoughts about whether my next car should be an SUV or not.)

Today it was 93 degrees before thunderstorms came through the area, knocking the temperature down 20 degrees. But it'll be hot again soon. Will it be that way 365 days a year? Are we already too late in trying to reverse things?

What Are Freinds For?

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who used to be Vice-President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, was sentenced back in March to 2 1/2 years in prison for his role in the Valerie Plame investigation. He was found guilty of lying to a special prosecutor for revealing the name of the CIA operative, whose husband had questioned the motive behind going to war with Iraq.

Thanks to President Bush, Libby won't be serving any prison time. His sentence was commuted, but the conviction and the $250,000 fine still stands. Even though Libby wasn't pardoned, which some conservatives wanted, the White House left open the possibility that it might happen eventually. The President said he respected the jury's decision, but called the judge's sentence "excessive".

Vice President Cheney has been insisting lately that he doesn't consider himself part of the executive branch of government, but as part of the legislative branch in his role as President of the Senate, so he could keep secret documents away from the National Archives. (The Constitution says otherwise, but the Bush White House has been known to make their own rules)

Since Libby once worked for Cheney, it's entirely possible that the Vice President may have been behind the commutation. It's also possible that commuting Libby's sentence wasn't Bush's decision to make. Maybe it was Karl Rove (has anyone heard from him lately?).

So who's really running the show inside the White House?

Priorities

As Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair as British prime minister, the country was plunged into a high state of alert due to investigations into unsuccessful terror plots. On Friday, two potential car bombs were defused near popular London nightspots. Saturday, a burning SUV crashes into a Glasgow, Scotland airport terminal, resulting in its closing. Five suspects have been arrested so far, according to authorities. They also believe that Al-Qaeda may have been behind the failed plot. (The United States, for its part, responded by beefing up security at airports. They did not, however, raise the threat level, citing the lack of any credible intelligence leading to an attack.)

The cable news channels covered this story in its usual wall-to-wall fashion, with correspondents on the scene, talking heads in the studio, and the same damn footage of the burning SUV over and over. Was the media kicked out of the airport after it happened?

And what was going on back in the United States? Let's see . . . Paris Hilton is now a free woman, and people were waiting in line to be the first on their block to get the new Apple iPhone (so they could later sell it on eBay). The pricey, glorified computer with a two-year commitment to AT&T will likely be obsolete in a few months, when a new one takes its place.

On CNN's "Reliable Sources", host Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post devoted a few minutes of the program to Hilton's post-jail appearance on "Larry King Live" with two media critics.
Then CNN broke in with news of Glasgow police performing a controlled explosion of a car outside a hospital where an alleged terror suspect was being treated. Afterwards, Kurtz and his guests discussed news coverage of the British terror plot.

That spur-of-the-moment discussion bumped a taped interview with Tina Brown, who wrote a book about Princess Diana on the anniversary of her death. Maybe CNN did us a favor?

Priorities. What would we do without them?