The Professor, the Cop, and the President

It's hard not to sympathize with everyone involved in the dust-up in Cambridge: Professor Gates, Officer Crowley, and President Obama. Gates was challenged in his own home, Crowley was a good cop trying to do his job while being yelled at (apparently), and Obama was giving his honest and sensible opinion. I think it’s impossible—at a distance—to say one was right and one was wrong..

The President has an uncanny knack for turning problems into opportunities—reminds me of the Jeremiah Wright blow-ups, and there were some examples in his books. Maybe this will really be a teachable moment. I think a beer at the White House is the best option.

The Golden Rule and the Second Amendment

The Golden Rule is the basis of ethics in every society I know of. But following it would be a challenge to many in our political life. For example, what would the Republican senators have been able to question Sonia Sotomayor about had they followed the Golden Rule and not repeatedly labeled her a racist because of her "wise Latina" statement? Had they been up for the appointment I think they would have wanted to be judged on their records; then why not judge her on hers?

Now E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post asks Second Amendment senators to apply the Golden Rule to Senate rules on firearms: let people bring concealed weapons into the Senate chamber. Read his column at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/26/AR2009072602189.html

Follow up on Manny

After writing, "Don't hit one...Manny," I turned on the TV just in time to see Manny come to bat as a pinch hitter late in a 2-2 game with the bases loaded. He hit the first pitch into Mannywood for his 21st lifetime grand slam (only Lou Gehrig had more, 23). The fans went wild. I didn't.

My heart wasn't touched. It was good to see the Dodgers win another, but the thrill of seeing Manny win the game wasn't there for me. Some day the disappointment over his drug history will ebb and the thrill will return. But not yet.

Don't hit one out of the park, Manny

It's no fun rooting for Manny Ramirez any more. I do believe in redemption, and in forgiveness, but after Manny's 50-game suspension and no public evidence of apology, I just don't have the heart to root for him to be a hero, like I did last year. It's like with my formerly beloved Redskins, I don't have the heart to cheer for a sack by the guy who intentionally stepped on another players face wearing cleats.

Winning would be nice, but I can't quite identify with Manny or with Albert Haynesworth, or with the teams they play for.

Rep. Peter King on Michael Jackson

“There’s nothing good about this guy,” he said. “He may have been a good singer, dancer. But the bottom line is: Would you let your child or grandchild be in the same room with Michael Jackson? What are we glorifying him for?”

How's that for plain language!

Worship of another flawed hero

The TV is all Michael Jackson, around the clock. Iran, health care reform, the economy pushed off the news. What is it about our culture that makes us worship talented anti-heroes like Jackson? In sport, only the Giants fans worship Barry Bonds (but worship him they did); only Dodger fans are likely to cheer Manny Ramirez when he returns. Bot Jackson's appeal wasn't limited to ahome crowd. People from all over want to canonize this deeply unethical man.

Sotomayor, New Haven, Affirmative Action, and Ethics

The hubbub over the Sotomayor nomination, and over her support of New Haven's action in the firefighter case, got me thinking about the ethics of affirmative action. It was surely right for New Haven to not base firefighter promotions on a race-biased test, and surely right to grant Mr Ricci, the dyslexic firefighter, a promotion after he had studied hard and passed the exam.

But the city couldn't do both right things. Ethics is more often a struggle between right and right, than a straightforward choice between right and wrong.

My ideal affirmative action is the path the National Football League chose several; years ago. The owners saw that they headed an organization in which most of the players were balck and all the coaches were white. Their solution? They mandated for themselves that they would interview at least one black candidate for every head coaching vacancy.

A virtuous circle ensued: Since they had to interview a black candidate they started to think about who was the best to interview. They found that--in some instances--the black candidate was the best, and they hired him. In the ten years since the policy was implemented the 32 NFL teams have hired ten black coaches.

What's the lesson? Simply that the owners--mostly people of good will--decided that they didn't want to have an organization that was all white at the toop and mostly black at the bottom: it wasn't ethical. And they fixed it with outreach and without lowering their standards or favoring hiring anybody because of race.