"All the President is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway." ~Harry S Truman

Does the President of The United States Really Matter?

Presidents have far less power to make changes than we'd like to believe, the one exception being the character of the White House. Let's stop blaming presidents for everything from draught to ingrown toenails. We are not a monarchy and don't have a parliamentary system. Accordingly, presidential election promises and tirades are meaningless bull spit in the United States; the president can only suggest legislation.

A dysfunctional, polarized legislature is our problem. We're burdened with a lagging economy, decline in literacy, underfunded education, budget deficit and ridiculously high national debt, crumbling infrastructure, overpriced and inequitable healthcare, illegal immigration, partisan politics, and morally bankrupt and greedy politicians. The Senate and House are broken. Will Rogers said, "America has the best politicians money can buy." And, that's okay by the Supreme Court: money is free speech. Right?

Ultimately, the fault lies with the American voters, most of whom are undereducated, ignorant, and uninformed. "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

So, let's not blame a four-year president for our lack of good judgment.

"Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft." ~ Winston Churchill

Lessons from The Great Depression

Took the weekend to research The Great Depression to see whether there were any parallels to our current economic mess. Below are a few, but it's best to read this page.

• Saving financial institutions from defaulting was critical. Still is.
• Unemployment is the always the last to recover.
• We were coming out of the depression in early 1937 when the Republicans insisted on the budget being balanced resulting in a recession inside of the depression. Roosevelt caved, and unemployment rose, and production fell.
• The vast majority of economists believe that the New Deal policies "either caused or accelerated the recovery, although his policies were never aggressive enough to bring the economy completely out of recession."

Not aggressive enough! It seems the current collection of Republicans/Tea Partiers "don't know history are destined to repeat it."

"The whole trouble with the Republicans is their fear of an increase in income tax, especially on higher incomes." ~Will Rogers

Moderate Republicans, Where Art Thou?

Fareed Zakaria is correct ("right" is a loaded term) about the Republican Party.

"Watching the extraordinary polarization in Washington today, many people have pointed the finger at the Tea Party. It's ideologically extreme, refuses to compromise, and cares more about purity than problem solving."

David McCullough, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian having known seven American presidents, was asked what made a great president. "The capacity to move the country to do better than it thinks it can with the use of the English language." And, "The power of the written word, the spoken word, very, very important. An ability to stick to your principles, an ability to work with people with whom you disagree and may dislike."

That's true of every great leader. Sadly, the Republicans have no one in the queue who fits McCullough's portrait. Gone are the moderate Rockefeller Republicans like John Danforth, Arlen Specter, Theodore Roosevelt, Nelson Rockefeller, Dwight Eisenhower, Charles Percy, and Mark Hatfield.

Republican Senator John Danforth from Missouri, wrote in the New York Times that “Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians…” and, “The problem is not with people or churches that are politically active. It is with a party that has gone so far in adopting a sectarian agenda that it has become the political extension of a religious movement." Danforth is an ordained Episcopal minister.

All very sad to see the Party of Lincoln in self-inflicted tatters, pulling our country down their true-believer rabbit hole.

What Ever Happened to Moderate Republicans?

"Government is too big and too important to be left to the politicians." ~Chester Bowles

"Get all the fools on your side and you can be elected to anything." ~Frank Dane

There's a delicate balance when crafting state or federal budgets. All politicians promise lower taxes or more social programs, sometimes both. Promise anything to one end: get elected.

Here's the truth: costs can be reduced, but that affects the future of America beyond a politician's time in office. Spend less on education, and 10 years later our workforce is untrained and unable to compete in the global market; oh, be sure to blame the teachers. Cut funds for infrastructure, and five years later we have choppy roads, collapsing bridges, a failing power grid, and (again) an America less able to compete in a global market.

Overspending increases the national debt, places the dollar's value at risk, increases the cost of goods, makes the United States unattractive to investors, and more. The results: America will be less able to compete in a global market.

Not investing in education and the health of our youth is altogether harebrained. In might garner votes in the next election, but the cost is catastrophic: America's future–near future. Cutting military costs is a more logical approach. It might even keep us from unwinnable military adventurism.

Like a partial list of military failures involving American money and blood? There's the Chinese Civil War, Greek Civil War, First Indochina War (Vietnam), Vietnam (after the French got the boot), the Congo Crisis, Bay of Pigs Invasion, Invasion of the Dominican Republic, Angolan Civil War, Soviet War in Afghanistan (we suppled and advised the Taliban), Nicaraguan Civil War, Invasion of Grenada, Invasion of Panama, Lebanese Civil War, 1981 Gulf of Sidra incident (Libya), Action in the Gulf of Sidra (Libya), Bombing of Libya, Iran-Iraq War, 1989 Gulf of Sidra incident (Libya), Persian Gulf War (Iraq), Somali Civil War, and our latest Iraq invasion. These all have occurred in my lifetime. Let's not forget the 1953 coup in Iran, the CIA's first successful overthrow of a foreign government, a democratically elected government; that ended well. There are plenty more.

Assuming we need all our weaponry, the GAO said in a recent report that $70 billion can be attributed to poor management or execution problems. That would pay for a few healthy school lunches that Republicans find too costly. Might even be some loose change to help rebuild for educational systems.

Americans watch the bitter, asinine ideological bickering in Washington and wonder why are schools are failing, our heavy industry (what's left of it) is leaving the United States, our poor are becoming more so, the middle-class is shrinking, medical costs are stratospheric, we're still heavily dependent on overseas oil, and our infrastructure is falling apart.

The political parties want to win—whatever the cost—by annihilating any opposition; there's no productive work being done in Congress. What the hell ever happened to compromise‽

Remember that we voters are ultimately responsible for the financial quagmire we're in. Politicians are no better or worse than the people who elected them.

"Am I my brother's keeper?" ~Genesis 4:9

Letter to House Speaker Boehner

Our health care system is broken. It might be the best healthcare in the world. If so, it's the best healthcare only for those who can afford it. For most Americans, good healthcare is an unobtainable extravagance. Luxuries aren't objectionable, but when the few have much and the many haven't even life's necessities, our elected representatives, all Americans, must stand up for those who cannot themselves stand.

Mr. Speaker, comprehensive healthcare for all Americans is not a political issue. Clearly, the current national healthcare plan needs polishing, but not elimination. The profit motive has no place in medicine. In the wealthiest nation on earth, it's reprehensible that anyone is denied respectable medical care.

At the heart of any healthcare discussion is whether the American people have compassion for their fellow countrymen. We can afford a comprehensive national healthcare plan if we have the moral will to do so. Every American must ask themselves the eternal question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" If the answer is no, what have we become?

"You can't lead anyone else further than you have gone yourself." ~Gene Mauch

Now Carly Wants to Be a California Senator

Just read that Carly Fiorina wants to go to United States Senate. I mean as a Senator! Ms. Fiorina spent her time as CEO of Hewlett-Packard shattering the company's reputation, constantly mutating her company's marketing message, creating a cult of personality, mutilating morale, producing nothing substantial, and acquiring a colossal golden parachute when fired. She's is and always was a salesperson, not a leader.

If this resumé qualifies Ms. Fioriana to be a United States Senator, all who vote to put her in office deserve what they get, and God help us all.

"The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Open Letter to Our President, My Senators and Congressman

On the February 8, 2009, broadcast of Meet the Press, Senator John Ensign (R-NV) said that all the talk about firefighters and teachers losing their jobs was "fear mongering."

Is he out of his mind and out of touch? Have him to tell the legion of teachers being sacked in my wife's small school district—face to face—to ignore their pink slips, that they're just victims of fear mongering.

Education, particularly in California, is suffering death by slow starvation. It needs your help in any imminent economic stimulus package. Compromise if you must, but not with the line item that affects the next generation of Americans ability to contribute to the American economy and pay for the economic stimulus package.

We need your help to keep class sizes reasonable, textbooks in the hands of the students, important education programs working, and talented teachers in the classroom.

Sincerely yours…

"…the image of the Lord had been replaced by a mirror." ~Jorge Luis Borges

Shoe–Hurling Iraqi Becomes a Folk Hero– NYTimes.com

Shoe–Hurling Iraqi Becomes a Folk Hero
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS and SHARON OTTERMAN
Published: December 15, 2008

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at President Bush and called him a dog became a huge celebrity in the Arab world and beyond on Monday, with many supporters exalting him for what they called a courageous act in the face of American arrogance about the war.

Don't act so appalled by this incident, lest you be seen as hypocritical. Americans, who won't find shoe throwing as "nuanced" or civilized, would—in their hearts—like to give President Bush the freeway salute.

And, what was Mr. Bush's response? A joke. A man who has failed at every job he's ever had oughtn't be so arrogant.

Politicians disallow sex with interns, but accepting bribes considered respectable.

Senator Stevens Receives a Hero's Welcome in Alaska

I must be missing some insignificant ethical point here. A president is impeached for having consensual sex, but a corrupt senator is a hero for accepting bribes.

Wait! I see the distinction. Alaskan voters didn't get any pork when President Clinton had his little liaison in the White House, but Senator Stevens brought home the bacon for Joe Six-pack.

Alaskans must be either morally debased or galactically stupid.

Senator Stevens, Hero of Alaska, should be booted from the United States Senate by his peers and sent into retirement—without his six-figure annual pension—you betcha.

Ted Stevens Receives a Hero's Welcome in Alaska
NYTimes.com
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: October 30, 2008

ANCHORAGE — Two days after he was convicted on seven felony counts in Washington, Senator Ted Stevens returned to Alaska on Wednesday night to begin a six-day campaign sprint, telling several hundred supporters at a rally here that he would be vindicated on appeal and asking them to elect him to a seventh term.

"It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game."

Open Letter to Senator John McCain

Dear Senator McCain,

Whatever respect and acclaim you've accumulated over decades are at risk. Your use of personal, irrelevant, and manipulative attacks against Senator Obama do nothing but cheapen your image, campaign, and legacy. They leave you open to similar attacks.

Personal attacks are signs of desperation, disrespect for the American voter. I ask you to stop such tactics for the sake of the United States. It is beneath your dignity and an insult to the intelligence of Americans.

What example are you setting for others? Remember, "It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game."

Sincerely yours,

Padre Cohen

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." ~Albert Einstein

And Offshore Drilling is Ugly, Too!

The New York Times ran an article on June 19, 2008, with the headline Idea of Offshore Drilling Seems to Be Spreading. Apparently, Americans are so desperate to buy cheap gasoline, they'll do anything, absolutely anything, including destroying the environment, the beauty of their country, and their children's future. Even going to war.

In 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced they would no longer ship oil to nations—the United States included—who supported Israel in its war with Syria and Egypt. That was a wake–up call for our elected representatives to lead. They did not.

First, oil and natural gas are finite resources. Their use has accelerated now that other countries have increased their use of petroleum products, but the earth can't sustain the demand. As the demand increases and the supply evaporates, the price goes up. That's not too difficult to understand. Offshore drilling would increase petroleum production by a very small percentage, but it too is finite. Its affect on gasoline prices would be none to insignificant and take misspent years to bring to market.

Second, offshore drilling is environmentally iffy. Oh sure, the technology is better than it was 30 years ago, the "proof" being the survival of the drilling rigs pounded by hurricane Katrina. Give me a break! Do we honestly believe that the drilling platforms can survive a 30–second 7.2+ earthquake along the San Andreas fault? Such events destroy entire cities. The 1964 Anchorage, Alaska earthquake measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, the equivalent of 5.6 gigatons—that's gigatons—of TNT! Offshore drilling platforms "would collapse like a bunch of broccoli." Moreover, money spent on further petroleum exploration would encourage more consumption, which would in turn increase global warming and divert funds from R&D.

Third, oil companies have been trying to get Congress to allow offshore drilling for decades. Why? They stand to make money, mountains of money. Their lobbyists could not get Congress to authorize more drilling off the coasts of California and Florida, but they've been enormously successful at securing tax breaks—like they really need them. What a hoot. But, now these companies have their "perfect storm." Our president is an incurious, failed oil man. Congress is terrified that the voters will turn them out. "Me–only" Americans suffering from unparalleled selfishness want to be saved from their gluttony with cheap fuel to fill their gallactically huge SUVs—the acme of conspicuous consumption.

Last, what we need is leadership, go–to–the–moon–in–this–decade leadership. America has the knowhow and vigor to make herself energy–independent. What we lack is the political will to set firm goals, reward entrepreneurs who find solutions, and ask Americans to make temporary sacrifices for the greater long–term good. Offer a billion–dollar reward to the person or company who comes up with a way to perfect the plugin electric car or mass produce hydrogen fuel–cell technology. A billion dollars—10 billion dollars—is chump change.

Americans have brought the energy problem on themselves by ignoring the obvious. Now it's time to pay the piper.

No fine work can be done without concentration and self–sacrifice and toil and doubt. ~Max Beerbohm

"In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination." ~Mark Twain

Spinning Minister

On March 19, 2008, Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe columnist, wrote a caustic rebuke of Senator Barak Obama and his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright. The article, It's still a question of Wright and wrong, generated much heat and no light.

First, I believe Jeff Jacoby is clueless about the roles of ministers and congregants of African–American churches in the United States. They can't be smoothly compared to congregational rabbis. Black ministers wield more authority and power than rabbis. Rabbis serve at the whim of congregational boards; that's why Mr. Jacoby writes he'd call for the firing of a polically unacceptable rabbi: because he can. Rabbis have a tradition of not leading their synagogues. They are sages; teachers; advisors; listeners; mediators; custodians of reason, truth, and decorum; whatever… But, high–powered, fire–breathing leaders? Not very often. Such a rabbi would be considered suspicious.

Second, although Rev. Wright distorted historical facts, his hyperbolic rhetoric bothers us because his arguments about American behavior are fundamentally true. America oppresses her racial minorities, interjects herself in the national affairs of other countries using economic imperialism (and covert and overt force if deemed necessary), and spends hundreds of billions of dollars on uncalled–for wars while her citizens go without the most basic of human needs. The list goes on. Rev. Wright held up a mirror to our faces, we saw who we were, and we couldn't handle the truth.

Last, when Mr. Jacoby says that he, a righteous Jew, wouldn't put up with Rev. Wright's unprincipled behavior from his rabbi, he's wordlessly implying that Trinity United Church of Christ congregants are guilty of the sin of silence for brooking Rev. Wright's rants. In the article, African-American Trinity United Church of Christ congregants is code for black men and women, who obviously aren't capable or intelligent enough to participate in the civil discourse necessary in a democracy. This is called bigotry, people.

Senator Obama wrote his followup speech in his own words. What we heard was a sage, teacher, advisor, listener, mediator, and custodian of reason, truth, and decorum—exactly the person Mr. Jacoby wants to be President of the United States—or perhaps his rabbi.

Let's move along. Nobody is perfect. No nation is perfect. Americans need a large dose of humility. Let's recognize our own faults and weak points and stop dwelling on the faults and weak points of others.

I'll bet he still enjoys pulling the legs off insects.

Torture as a Tool of Freedom

According to the New York Times editorial Horrifying and Unnecessary, President Bush plans to veto a law that would require the all American intelligence services to submit to the restrictions on holding and interrogating prisoners in the United States Army Field Manual. If the President is doing this in the name of and for the safety of his fellow Americans, he must be stopped.

The editorial points out that there's no logical reason for this veto. Additionally, the President has no remaining moral authority or political capital left, having squandered it all with his curiously immoral, unchristian behavior; his propensity for picking and choosing which biblical injunctions are his guiding principles to suit his subjectivity; and his anti–intellectual bullheadedness. He has gone astray. Worse, he has led others astray.

It's good to protect things as precious as our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and the Bill of Rights (none of which Mr. Bush has read lately) with a fence, but when the fence becomes more important than what it's protecting, moral distortion and disintegration are inevitable. The President has made it impossible for Americans to hold up their heads in pride. In the name of freedom, he's made Americans—ordered Americans—to be uncivilized barbarians. The terrorists have won.

Mr. President, "You have sat too long for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"
~Oliver Cromwell

---

Addendum, March 8, 2008: Thank you, Mr. President, for ignoring and eroding the Bill of Rights. Thank you for corroding America's reputation as the world's Beacon of Liberty.

"There are few who would not rather be taken in adultery than in provincialism." ~Aldous Huxley

Senator McCain's Assassins

On February 21, 2008, the New York Times ran an article on its front page with the headline For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk.

This entire issue about Senator McCain and Ms. Iseman sounds like the implosion of the Republican Party as now constructed. Some disenchanted, right-wing zealots, realizing they probably won't win the White House this fall, are resorting to a no-compromise, scorched-earth policy in preparation for 2012.

Even if the stories were true, it doesn't affect the man's ability to govern as president. If true, the problem and its resolution are between the Senator and Mrs. McCain, adultery historically not being "aberrant" behavior. History tells us that making such behavior public creates more heat than light. We can start with George Washington, if you'd like.

It's sanctimonious to expect our politicians to be better than the people who put them in office. Americans can be an infantile bunch of self-righteous hypocrites.

Winston Churchill said, "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." Amen.

"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him." ~Niccolo Machiavelli

Judging the Presidential Hopefuls

I've been repeatedly taking the quiz on VoteHelp to determine which presidential candidate meshes well with my interests. No matter how I finesse my answers, the top four candidates are within a percentage point or so. So, I'm using other criteria in preparation for the California primary.

Experience? Nonsense. Prior results? Perhaps. I don't care how many years someone has put into their work. What counts are results. Did anyone check out G.W.'s impact while governor of Texas? Apparently not. Molly Ivans was asked what her take was on Dubya's first five years as president, and she responded, "I told you so."

Let's look at personality. One candidate is frosty and over rehearsed. Another is charismatic, disdainful and short on specifics. Still, another is a charming, unrealistic populist. What does this mean? Nothing. All are qualified to be president, and I don't have to hang out with any of them.

Presidents Aren't Managers

Presidents are leaders, not administrators. They don't run the country; that's what thousands of bureaucrats are for. Therefore, presidents are at their most revealing when they fill their cabinet positions. Unfortunately, the positions are appointed after the election, and yet, it's the most important process before actual governing begins. Discussing who a candidate would select as his or her vice president during the primary elections is ill-advised, but it would help the American voter to know who, specifically or by a list of virtues, a candidate would select to be in his or her cabinet.

Double Dare You

Every debate, every interview has had the same set of questions—and the same answers. Let's ask the question of each candidate, "Who, sir or madam, would you select to run the country's executive branch? Name names or characteristics."

The truth would be tortured to death.

"But, if I am only for myself, who am I?"

Social Responsibility

The topic of community values came up over hot Starbuck's beverages. Americans haughtily talk about how much they care for and love their children and elders. I'm old enough to remember political conversations about how Americans nurtured their young and venerated their seniors while the godless–Soviet communists sold their children for vodka and sent pensioners to freeze to death in Siberian camps. With historical perspective, we now know the opposite was true.

A month living in Israel last summer has given me a unfamiliar perspective on American society. After I returned to the United States, I had difficulty adjusting to the constant onslaught of advertisements on television, billboards, the Web—everywhere—24/7. We spend our time and energy creating, marketing, and buying dreck we're convinced we need to be fulfilled human beings. Is it pure greed or excessive consumerism? Both are unfulfilling.

Israelis aren't burdened with excessive discretionary personal wealth. They spend their time conversing in coffee houses, dancing, playing sports, and partying. An Israeli's car, if he or she owns one, is small and utilitarian. They dote on their children and take great pride in their grandparents, and the Israeli social system reflects these values. Families spend much time strolling in the park, eating together at the table, and attending public concerts. I'm not in love with Israel. I'm using it here as an experiential example, proof that our pathlological necessity to avoid social responsibility is an American malaise.

Americans as a group spend their time being pugnaciously acquisitive. We rationalize spending tens of thousands of dollars on a new automobile when a small economy car is all we need. And one car isn't enough. A couple rattles around a home of 2,000 or 3,000 square foot home when 1400 square feet will do. Everything must be better, bigger, newer, more expensive—except our schools, public transportation, and elder care. Our students graduate virtually illiterate. The elderly are waiting for death, millstones billeted in snake pits.

The best our government could invent was NCLB (No Child Left Behind), a mandated but unfunded law which turns out unthinking automatons; and a Medicare prescription drug coverage program so cynically Byzantine, it mocks the very people it's supposedly intended to help. Don't blame our politicians; they're no better or worse than the voters that put them in office.

What have we become? What are our traditional personal and community values and responsibilities? Americans will never reach a consensus; that's a fool's errand. The answer must come from within each of us. You can't hide; You and I know we can spare money, time, or both for the benefit of our society. Hillel said, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But, if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?" The operative word is "I."

The Death of Our Republic... Again!

"What Have We Got, a Republic or a Monarchy?"

---

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, 1787, a Mrs. Powel anxiously awaited the results, and as Benjamin Franklin emerged from the long task now finished, asked him directly: "Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"

"A republic if you can keep it," responded Franklin.

---

I've just finished reading John Ferling's Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 (Pivotal Moments in American History), a book that begs historical analogies to today's America. It's a wonder we have any democracy at all.

The philosophical differences between Adams and Jefferson are well known. What buttonholed me was the influence Alexander Hamilton had on our first three Presidents. Hamilton was intelligent, educated, competent, charming, and too clever by half—an arrogant, megalomaniacal nob contemptuous the press, the Presidents, and the people. He was not above practicing any act to secure power and his agenda.

Hamilton was the de facto leader of the Federalist Party who believed in the supreme power of a privileged class—and probably a monarchy. The parallel between the ultra–Federalists and our current neocons becomes more apparent as one reads on. The language Hamilton used in his Machiavellian missives, his groundless wish to go to war, his compulsion for government secrecy, his disposition for selective leaks, and his manipulation of the truth sounded eerily familiar. Ultimately, Hamilton's hubris was his undoing, but not before bringing the newly minted United States to the brink of death. He once said at a gathering that Julius Caesar was the greatest man in history.

Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's senior advisor, chief political strategist, and Deputy White House Chief of Staff, is a renowned Presidential historian. Clearly, he's familiar with Hamilton and ultra–Federalist policy. This shot through me when I read that Hamilton had used the words "with us or against us" and "evildoers," and equated dissent with treason. I don't believe in coincidence.

Both Adams and Jefferson understood that a strong, independent, effective executive branch was necessary if the republic were to succeed. Adams painted a clear picture of a President.

• The President must represent all the people.
• The President must protect people from oligarchies—a permanent elite—great scourges which ultimately end in tyranny and chaos.
• The Chief Executive must safeguard the nation against the fractures, arguments, and wars between the haves and have–nots.
• The President is the father and protector of the citizenry.
• He or she must be able to negotiate a path between all selfish interests and act for the greater common good.
• The President must be strong, independent, prudent, sagacious, wise, and more just than any other elected official.

The Alien and Sedition Acts were a blot on Adam's legacy, but, although signing them into law, in his defense they were not his idea.

Jefferson differed from Adams in that he believed in a smaller, more benign federal government. "Energetic government is always oppressive." It's unlikely he disagreed with Adams on the fundamental qualities of a good Chief Executive.

Compare George W. Bush's performance as President with Adam's fundamental description of a good Chief Executive, the Constitution of the United States (don't forget the Bill of Rights), President Washington's farewell address, and President Eisenhower's farewell address.

A question, Mr. Bush: What have you done to the republic with which you were entrusted?

Criticism of the President

Art Challenges Stifling of Dissent

If you missed the episode of Boston Legal, "Stick It," rent or buy it. The series is daringly entertaining, dealing with social and moral questions, often with eccentric humor and wit. The acting, writing, and revelatory camera work are blue-ribbon.

A third of the episode revolves a partner's secretary being arrested for tax evasion, an act of civil disobedience. The crown of the hour is the defense attorney's summary speech to the jury addressing the current political atmosphere in the United States: contentious, secretive, invasive, ideologically driven at the expense of the common good, and likening criticism of the White House to treason. The closing argument is grand.

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." ~Theodore Roosevelt

Feds Want A Wiretap Backdoor In All Net Hardware and Software

It seems to me, Golan, that the advance of civilization is nothing but an exercise in the limiting of privacy. ~Janov Pelorat in Asimov's Foundation's Edge

Think the federal government is too intrusive? You ain't seen nothing yet. An FCC mandate will require that all hardware and software have a wiretap backdoor that allows the government to tap into all your communications.

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