The Redemption of Ted Kennedy

Act I: Kicked out of Harvard for cheating.

Act II: Cheated repeatedly and very publicly on his wife, who decayed into alcoholism before she left him.

Act III: His reckless (or probably drunken) driving led to the death of his pretty young woman passenger, who drowned probably because he cravenly waited eight hours to report the accident.

Act IV: Greatest Senator, maybe ever. Revered by politicians of both parties. Terrific husband, father, brother, uncle, family patriarch. Sensitive consoler of those stricken by grief. Master legislator who changed the lives of millions.

Epilog: Think of Ted Kennedy when you’re deciding whether somebody deserves a second chance. Or even a third one.

Truth tellers, liars, and half-truthers

There's a lot of misinformation and disinformation out there, I'm sorry to say from both parties. The St Petersburg Times does the best job I've seen of fact-checking. They seem to be a close as anybody to non-partisanship. Check them out at http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/

The three-ruling version:

Where are the Ethical Republicans? Here's One.

Joe Scarborough (former Republican Congressman, sidekick to Newt Gingrich), on Meet the Press today: "Leaders in both parties have an affirmative responsibility to step forward and speak out against this hate speech and speak out against people carrying guns to rallies. As a guy with a 100 percent lifetime rating with the NRA, I can tell you that it not only hurts those of us who believe in Second Amendment rights, it makes the job of the Secret Service and of our law enforcement personnel so much harder. We've got to tone this debate down."

The New GM, Starting with a Big Lie

"Chevrolet Volt Expects 230 Mpg In City Driving"

That's the banner at the top of GM's press release for the Chevrolet Volt, its forthcoming plug-in hybrid. Very impressive, but not true. GM expects the Volt to go 40 miles on its battery, during which time its mpg is infinite: it goes 40 miles on no gallons, hence 40/0 = infinite.

So what mileage does the Volt get when traveling beyond the range of its battery? GM isn't saying. They're hiding behind a "draft EPA federal fuel economy methodology for labeling for plug-in electric vehicles." I hope EPA figures out a more useful methodology; meanwhile GM is being deceptive.

Too bad. Lying is always bad, but why lie when the truth about the Volt is remarkable enough. Maybe it's in their DNA?

What's with all the guns??

Is it ethical to stand around outside a Presidential event with a loaded handgun? How about with a loaded automatic rifle? Apparently it's legal, at least in Arizona and New Hampshire, where people have been doing it.

It scares the heart out of me, remembering the killings of JFK, RFK, MLK, John Lennon, and the 168 federal workers and children at the Oklahoma City Federal Building. Not to mention the shooters who failed to kill Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan.

The people carrying these weapons near the President claim to be exercising their Second Amendment rights, and perhaps they are, hopefully without providing cover to would-be killers.

But rights, schmights. Don't they--or anyone who believes in legal weapons for hunting and self-defense--understand the difference between rights and common sense? Or ethics?

The late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said that ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.

An Ethical Fan of Michael Vick's?`

Michael Vick was the top college football player in the US in 2000, and a pro bowler for several years with the Atlanta Falcons. In 2007 he pled guilty to federal charges of felony dogfighting and cruelty, and went to prison for 23 months. Yesterday he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.

So can an ethical fan root for Vick? It's uncomfortable, but any student of ethics knows that nobody behaves ethically all the time: the ethical life is one of learning and working to close the gap between what you believe and how you behave. It's a life of second chances.

If you believe in second chances you must believe in a second chance for Vick, who admitted his crime, served his time, and expressed remorse. So go get 'em, Michael.
Hooray, Eagles!

Hooray for Senator Murkowski

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)spoke up against the fearmongering against the various health insurance reform bills being considered in the Congress. According to the Associated Press,

"It does us no good to incite fear in people by saying that there's these end-of-life provisions, these death panels," Murkowski told a crowd of about 130 at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center.

"Quite honestly, I'm so offended at that terminology because it absolutely isn't (in the bill). There is no reason to gin up fear in the American public by saying things that are not included in the bill."

It's refreshing to see a politician speaking out against unethical behavior in her own party.

Honest golfer Obama

I liked this Time Magazine piece about Obama's golf game:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1914663,00.html

When he gets a 10 on a hole he writes it down; when he shanks a shot he plays it where it lies. Not like Bill Clinton--no mulligans or do-overs. Just honesty.

Hooray.

Listening to Ann Coulter

Before my Democratic friends get too excited about the crazies who seem to be taking over the Republican party, consider Ann Coulter's column of Wednesday. She points out that it's not the Republican party that contains 99 percent of the people who believe that:

--Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance
--The Bush family clandestinely spirited the bin Laden family out of the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks
--Bush went to war in Afghanistan to help the Unocal Corporation to obtain a natural gas pipeline there
--Sarah Palin's infant son Trig is actually her daughter's child

Fair enough, the Democrats have their share of crazy conspiracy-believers, but that's not the worst thing: the worst thing is that respectable politicians on both sides feed these ugly stories for political gains.

Where are Reinhoold Niebuhr and Jim Leach now, when we need them?

Listening to America--NOT

I subscribed to the Human Events newsletter and got my first issue today: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=33008
In it Newt Gingrich writes that Barack Obama should "listen to America" over health care reform. Newt goes on to write that "By asking questions at town hall meetings and answering questions from pollsters, Americans are telling President Obama that they don’t trust big government plans for health care."

What Newt calls "asking questions at town hall meetings" is really anti-free speech thuggery--organizing Republican activists to shout down congressmen and prevent any questions from being asked, let alone answered.

This isn't listening to America, it's suppressing free speech. I don't know where I stand on the various health care bills, but I know where I stand on suppressing free speech: I'm against.

Cash Only, No Credit

The Apple Pan in Westwood (LA) has served great apple pie and burgers for 50 years or so. Cash only, no plastic. My friend David Krygier recently asked a waiter of many years service if ever a customer was unable to come up with cash to pay the check.

"Yes, it happens often--about once a day, in fact," the waiter replied.

"How often do you get stiffed?" asked David.

"It's never happened," came the answer.

Easy enough for somebody to walk off without paying, but it's never happened in the waiter's many years there. Maybe people are more honest that we give them credit for.

Birthers and Deathers

Lots of Republican members of Congress are helping to spread two calumnies: 1) Obama wasn't born in the United States, and 2) health insurance reform contains a secret plot to kill old people. They are going far beyond any concept of a democratic opposition and deeply into unethical behavior. So far, in fact, that they are endangering America's ability to govern itself.

My paradigm of an ethical politician is Jim Leach, the former 14-term Republican congressman from Iowa. Jim says, “I’ve always believed in the philosophy of [Christian theologian] Reinhold Niebuhr, ‘The temper of and integrity with which the political fight is waged is more important for the health of our society than the outcome of any issue or campaign.’”

What would Niebuhr--or Jim--think about the "birthers" and the "deathers" and the politicians that give them comfort and cover? Not much.

Birthers and Deathers

Lots of Republican members of Congress are helping to spread two calumnies: 1) Obama wasn't born in the United States, and 2) health insurance reform contains a secret plot to kill old people. They are going far beyond any concept of a democratic opposition and deeply into unethical behavior. So far, in fact, that they are endangering America's ability to govern itself.

My paradigm of an ethical politician is Jim Leach, the former 14-term Republican congressman from Iowa. Jim says, “I’ve always believed in the philosophy of [Christian theologian] Reinhold Niebuhr, ‘The temper of and integrity with which the political fight is waged is more important for the health of our society than the outcome of any issue or campaign.’”

What would Niebuhr--or Jim--think about the "birthers" and the "deathers" and the politicians that give them comfort and cover?