Tannishblog

A friend and coworker once said to me, "I would like to see the government run like a business. That’s why I voted for Ross Perot both times." Well, I’m not sure that’s the answer to our problems, but the theory is interesting.

Then it hit me: That’s exactly what we’ve been experiencing these past few years. Remember the papers touting GWB as the "CEO president?" That claim remains in doubt, but we do have a CEO presidency. The questionable interpretations of Executive Power within this White House has precedence in the business world. Whether or not our Commander in Chief is a Chief Executive Officer notwithstanding, our VP is all business.

Unlike public servants, a corporate head can have closed meeting with influential players and make all decisions therein, fully expecting the workers to comply. Dick Cheney did that with his energy policy.

Unlike public servants, a CEO can act unilaterally provided he has the shareholders trust. The trust of employees is not considered. Acting as shareholders, the Republican majority in previous congresses did indeed trust the White House, rubber-stamping anything that came their way, even as the people’s trust diminished.

A CEO can fire people without much threat of retaliation. The test of whether an administration can act similarly is currently playing out in congressional hearings. Clearly, the administration believed it owned the right to do so.

A primary goal of any corporate leader is to ensure continued growth despite economic and market factors. The primary goal of this administration is to expand American influence globally.

A CEO must be aggressive in dealing with competition. Ruthlessness is rewarded.The degree of importance of this tenet is reflected in the language used to describe business tactics, such as "hostile takeover." Many phrases from corporate-speak are of militant origin.

In light of all this, it should be no surprise to find our corporate-styled administration embroiled in an endless struggle for dominance - not only on the global stage, but within its borders as well. It’s just business as usual.

Businesses, by necessity are pyramidal structures, managed top-down. In this aspect, they are not unlike Monarchies. In every company I’ve worked for (more than a few) There have been equivalencies to kings, princesses, counselors, chancellors, knights and knaves. Modernization has done little to change this basic organizational structure beyond giving the various players new titles. Businesses are, in fact, tiny kingdoms. Scott Adams illustrates this best.

Whereas businesses are monarchies, and our current presidency is being run like a business, there should be no surprise that detractors are increasingly replacing "CEO President" with "King George."  It doesn’t help matters when the White House issues proclamations like this one. Yesterday, Tony Snow fielded questions about the US Attorney scandal and Bush’s subsequent reluctance to allows officials to testify under oath:

"There are — in this particular case, the Department of Justice — the Congress does have legitimate oversight responsibility for the Department of Justice. It created the Department of Justice. It does not have constitutional oversight responsibility over the White House, which is why by our reaching out, we’re doing something that we’re not compelled to do by the Constitution, but we think common sense suggests that we ought to get the whole story out, which is what we’re doing."

In a monarchy and in a business, that would be true. The US government, however, is neither. At least, at the time of writing this.

Cruising the web lanes half asleep at the mouse last night, I cam upon a shiny new site: DraftGore.tv. Similar to algore.org and algore-08.com, the idea is to get the man elected. First, though, you have to get him to campaign. That may be the tough part.

There’s a momentum building behind this idea.  The Internet is buzzing with the prospect. It seems more people would welcome a Gore campaign in 2008 than would cringe. He’s a rock star, a visionary and a golden man-of-the-hour.Andy Ostroy of ABCNews ventured a slogan for the man: "Imagine How it Would Have Been." Indeed.

I don’t think he’ll run. Here’s why. By being the victim of a hostile takeover of the popular vote, Al Gore saw into the rotted soul of American politics. For years he’s tried to bring this issue home to the lard-assed chair warmers in congress. He’s heard a thousand excuses why "this issue requires careful thought," so the vote should de delayed "until a study has been done." Kudos for him for trying.

After the 2000 disaster, as he struggled with the injustice, I surmise he came to the realization that the fight for ecological responsibility is bigger than one nation. Not America nor China nor the European Union can unilaterally minimize the coming storms. It takes everyone. So he turned his back on the national stage and took his show on the road.

Al Gore stopped begging governments to take action. He took his message to humanity. Climate change is not a political issue, it’s a human issue; therefore, he realized, entrenched governments are insufficient to the task. Instead, he would ask humanity for help.

So doing, Mr. Gore has transcended national politics and championed the first global political issue. He has become Ambassador to Earth on behalf of the human species. He has inadvertently given humanity a reason to likewise transcend local governments, to push inevitable globalization to the next level by immobilizing a global grass roots on a subject everyone is concerned about. Why would he return to the restrictions inherent in a myopic nationalism?

This is, of course, my personal opinion. Others disagree. I’m okay with that, because clearly - one way of another - Al Gore’s time is here. The world may become a better place either way.

Support The Troops!

Hasn’t that been the rallying cry of warmongers? For years they have tossed these words against someone of opposing position who dares speak out. It was the mantra of the 2004 presidential election and a glue to both cement a solidarity of support for the Iraqi debacle and adhesive to gum the lips of Moonbat Peaceniks.

Support the Troops!

We recruit young impressionable people with limited prospects, offer them promises of schooling, housing and all the benefits of self-discipline. We seduce them with signing bonuses. Then we ship them off to war - still in ignorance - without necessary equipment or well-defined goals. We extend duties beyond recruitment promises, shorten well-earned leave, change the rules of engagement. So doing, we disrespect the families who believe in America so much they offer one of their own to such mistreatment.

Perhaps their loved one gets killed. The family’s grief is carefully orchestrated, muted for the media; hidden from sight. Most Americans will not see. Some might argue the dead ones are luckiest.

More likely the young soldier is damaged. Unfit for duty, the military reluctantly ships her home stealthily, lest hounding reporters catch a scent, and closeted in dilapidated hotel-cum-hospitals resembling the war-torn buildings they left half a world away. Most Americans will not know. It is within these crumbling walls that our bravest molder in neglect, disinterest and bureaucracy while their loved ones and their country remain ignorant.

Support the Troops!

Yet some know. The people who bandage the soldiers, provide meals, encouragement: they know. They work in the same conditions. The supervisors know, too, as does the next level of management. However removed the bureaucratic strata may become, the squalor is known to someone. All the way up to the Department of Defense, to the White House someone must have known.

Government employees are used to keeping secrets. That is how they keep their jobs. Through the necessity of self interest the bureaucracy keeps mum. Until one soldier remembers his courage, his humanity and his dignity and musters the strength to speak out. Soon everyone knows. Soon we learn the problem is systemic. Now we watch the resulting circus to see who is in support of whom.

Reflexive back pedaling, political posturing and feigned regrets are the response. This situation might need two scapegoats hung out to dry.

sup·port       /səˈpɔrt, -ˈpoʊrt/
–verb (used with object)
1.    to bear or hold up (a load, mass, structure, part, etc.); serve as a foundation for.

Structures cannot remain without mutually tenable support. This goes for bridges as well as social constructs. Soldiers uphold our nation, the government supplies the troops, and the people support the government. The structure has broken.

2.    to sustain or withstand (weight, pressure, strain, etc.) without giving way; serve as a prop for.

Support must be able to bear great pressure.

3.    to undergo or endure, esp. with patience or submission; tolerate.

The military cannot tolerate criticism from within. It will not listen to criticism from without. This makes the system unsupportive of the people, the soldiers and ultimately of itself.

4.    to sustain (a person, the mind, spirits, courage, etc.) under trial or affliction: They supported him throughout his ordeal.

5.    to maintain (a person, family, establishment, institution, etc.) by supplying with things necessary to existence; provide for: to support a family.

Likewise, modern militarism is run much like a machine. Machines are inconsiderate of families, insensitive to human dignity, blind to its own shortcomings. Militaristic machines are incapable of supporting the human condition.

6.    to uphold (a person, cause, policy, etc.) by aid, countenance, one’s vote, etc.; back; second.

Americans have begun to awaken to the forced ignorance their government has enforced through media blackouts. They’ve begun to show support for the troops by voting in a coalition determined to bring this catastrophic war to a close. The media is awakening and remembering its duty to humanity by uncovering what has lain hidden.

–noun
10.    the act or an instance of supporting.
11.    the state of being supported.

What better supportive action can we take but to keep our soldiers alive? To keep their families informed? To aggressively pursue rehabilitation for the wounded?

What a concept!

Ever see a cockfight? I haven’t. Nonetheless, my overactive imagination can envision two proud-plumaged, two-legged beasts each eyeing the other warily while preening themselves and showing off to whomever is watching their display of magnificent, fearless war readiness.

One is a black-plumed Siyahe Kantony, the pride of Iran, scratching at the dirt like a stallion. Facing him is an American Bantam tossing his red neck feathers defiantly. Each too arrogant to admit the futility of ensuing battle, each too proud to back down. If they ever begin, the hen yard will be destroyed. But begin they will, eventually: there can only be one, right Highlander?

Too much testosterone hereabout. Do roosters have testosterone?

Yesterday in Central Asia they observed Basant, a spring holiday named after the yellow mustard flowers that bloom near this time of year. Celebrated throughout the Indian subcontinent, the people in Lahore, Pakistan show more enthusiasm and most.

Historically the citizens of Lahore fly colorful kites in honor the the end of winter. A tradition of Kite Battles has evolved, where some use wire or glass-coated string to cut another’s kite free. Many fly their kites from rooftops. Often gunshots are fired into the air.

CNN reports that eleven people died in yesterday’s celebrations.

The deaths and injuries were caused by stray bullets, sharpened kite-strings, electrocution and people falling off rooftops on Sunday at the conclusion of the two-day Basant festival, said Ruqia Bano, spokeswoman for the emergency services in the city of Lahore.

The festival is regularly marred by casualties caused by sharp kite strings or celebratory gunshots fired into the air. Kite flyers often use strings made of wire or coated with ground glass to try to cross and cut a rival’s string or damage the other kite, often after betting on the outcome.

Pakistani Internet new source Dawn.com shows bereaved mothers on the front page. the article lists the names and ages of the deceased, including:

Eleven-year-old Umer Farooq was killed in Gulshan-i-Ravi when the string of a stray kite slit his throat.

[…]

Danish, 13, died when he slipped from the roof of his house while catching a stray kite in Khudad Street in Baghbanpura.

Maryam, 8, received a stray bullet while he was in her house in Garden Town and died at the General Hospital.

A 50-year-old woman, Naheed Taranum, fell from the roof of her house in Rang Mahal while she was trying to protect one of her children involved in kite-flying.

Shareef, 14, fell fall from the roof of his house in Shafiqabad and was killed. He was trying to catch a stray kite.

Imran, 20, was run over by a car on a Defence road while running after a stray kite.

Pakistanlink.com paints a different picture, as they proclaim:

Lahorites celebrated the Basant night with traditional fervour with kite flying, music and other cultural programmes.

Thousands enjoyed the Basant night in the city. One of the most prominent places in town was Asif Jah’s haveli where Basant night celebrated and participated by the people enthusiastically. A musical show was arranged at the Haveli along with kite flying.

Lahore wore a festive look as the roads and canal in the city were decorated tastefully for the Basant night and the spring festival. Lahorites came in thousands to the roads and streets on the occasion, which badly affected the traffic flow in the city.

Large number of people arrived in the city from other parts of the country to celebrate Basant in Lahore. Several foreign dignitaries also attended Basant musical night at a local hotel.

I’m all for cultural diversity. I can embrace expressions of the joy of life. Pardon my innate American judgment showing through, but doesn’t this sound a bit strange?

A 16-year-old girl and a schoolboy, 12, died after their throats were slashed by metal kite strings in separate incidents. Two people were electrocuted while they tried to recover kites tangled in overhead power cables, Bano said. (CNN)

This is not an isolated incident. Kite strings coated with ground glass, letting a youngster fly a kite from the rooftop, stray bullets happen every year. A cultural acceptance of these risky behaviors shows an almost pathological disregard for life - even as life is celebrated. Weird.

Today is the 45th anniversary of John Glen’s historic orbital flight. Thus the era of the space race began in earnest. Although I was barely walking at the time, I have memories of America’s quest for space as a heady, optimistic time of positive change. I miss those days.

So does NASA. Unveiling a plan for future human space flights at NASA.gov, NASA resurrects the ghost of Saturn V in the new Ares I vehicle to be completed as the ailing and failing space shuttle is retired in 2010. The 1960’s Saturn V program, nixed by President Nixon, allowed a launching capacity more than five times greater, a developmental cost 25 percent lower and a build-and-operate cost less than half of that of today’s space shuttle. Ares will boast a 40 percent increase in Saturn’s payload at a lower cost than the present shuttle missions.

Such cost savings allows the perpetual dreamers at NASA to envision a permanent, self-sustaining moon base by the year 2025 to serve as an outpost for further robotic studies of places beyond. I’m dreaming right along with them.

Do I hear scoffing and catcalls from the peanut gallery?

It is the nature of astrophysicists and rocketry engineers to be optimistic and perhaps a little reckless, as it is for politicians to vacillate between pessimism and pragmatism. My jaded voice is betting on the politicians to wreck the dream before it’s realized. I pray I’m wrong.

Humanity need to explore space. We are fighting for dwindling resources, expending unthinkable sums on destruction and wasting Gross National Product on expendable war materiel. As the NY Times reports in NASA Goes Deep, the US is currently spending $9 billion per day on Iraq, while a Saturn rocket would cost $29 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars. That’s a new rocket every few days.

Let’s get our priorities straight: If a few capable humans would take our wondering nature, our exploratory and, yes, imperialistic tendencies, and point them outward, the balance of humanity can live on Terra peacefully within the geopolitical boundaries already established. It wouldn’t solve our aggressive stances, our greed or bloodlust, but it would go a long way toward removing Earth from the aftereffects of mankind’s penchant for wanton destruction. I for one would support bankrupting our nation for intra-solar expansion. There, our future lies; here, only our self-destruction

John Glen didn’t live to see his dream of space colonization realized. Perhaps his grandchildren will.

UPDATE: My invisible friend Jack informed me of my stupidity: The good John Glen is still alive! (see comments) I’m going to soak my head now… That’s what I get for blogging from the office.

I wanted to blog firsthand about the State of The Dynasty (or STD) address, dutifully infecting it with all due snark and criticism. But I didn’t watch it. I don’t care what Mr. Bush thinks anymore. I can’t seem to get riled by his words, either. It’s over, isn’t it? Our Beleaguered President is toothless. All that’s left is the Presidential race forthcoming.

Even coverage of scandals past as treated as lackluster. Scooter as scapegoat: well. Duh! The press dutifully reports, but the public has move on. Our voices heard, we dwell not in the past, but yearn for a better future. Thus, issues like the ending of the war, climate change, stem cell research, and minimum wage all emerge from the fog of war to the forefront of political discourse. People are pining for a positive future. Mr. Bush doesn’t represent that to the American people anymore. His lies exposed, his rhetoric suspect, and America is jaded. All his cheerleading cannot save a losing team.

According the the various new summations, his speech called for cooperation from the Democrats, something that was not in evidence when the proverbial shoes were reversed: "Do as I ask, not as I did," is the message, here. Meanwhile there are no pretences of bipartisanship vis-a-vis the Iraq Debacle. ‘Nuff said.

On other tidbit caught my eye. CNN recounts a mention of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) needing funding. Now? After five years of diverted monies to Iraq? We’re still embroiled in war, stupid! Where’s the money coming from? Beside all that, don’t get me started in NCLB and it’s broken system of accountability skewed toward parochial schools many can’t afford. Just another thumbed nose at the poor, the newly arrived, and the inner-city demographics. The uneducated masses are ripe for a military life. Education offers happier, more lucrative opportunities. How then would our Armed Forces get the 92,000 new troops the Warmonger has proposed? Feh!

Barack Obama is getting a lot of traction lately. I’ve seen his name in print on election 2008 projections eight times already. His speeches are gathering crowds, and he make a lot of sense. People are liking what they hear from him.

I’m not the only one noticing. Twice this week CNN has linked the junior senator from Illinois with Middle Eastern baddies du jour Bin Laden,  Saddam Hussein and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Some people don’t like the growing noise about the young senator. Now, the assassins are coming to the Obama party. His charisma and the rhetoric surrounding him are making people nervous, it seems.

As I continue to watch (with trepidation) the media circus we call politics in this country, I can’t help wondering if there really is a nefarious force hell-bent on the destruction of America from within. It sure looks that way. There are people in this country who will do anything to gain or remain in power. We’ve seen quite a lot of unscrupulous behavior from the Hill lately. After the resounding defeat of the Republicans last month, I can only guess that their tactics will get worse. Desperate tines and all that.

Regarding Obama, I am starting to get worried. I foresee a repeat of Bobby Kennedy in this Barack dude. I see a man whose relaxed style, charisma and message electrify a populace desperate for a hero, a media who’ll spin the whole thing out of control, and a resentful minority who will produce an assassin.

I’m too young to remember any details in the death of Bobby Kennedy, but I’m not too naive to think America has learned anything by that distant tragedy. I am jaded enough to anticipate a Southern Caucasian Christian taking down a black man every newspaper in the nation is linking with the presidency. I believe that racism in parts of this nation still represents attitudes fashionable one hundred years ago. Indeed, they’ve gotten worse lately.

I hope I’m wrong. I would like to believe in the transcendence of past ills and a progression of society that reflects an evolution of thought. Coming from a born-again Buddhist perspective, I hold out fervent hope that humanity will abandon its collective insanity someday soon, and begin to heal the myriad hurts afflicted upon itself. But I’m American enough to acknowledge that I’m not banking on it.

Today’s Washington Post has a lengthy article on a local area charter school recipient of a Gates Grant. The details are interesting. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "doesn’t give all that much money to a school just because it’s good and they want to make it better," according to the article. Instead "They give money to the school because it’s an exemplar and they want to have it reproduced." In the case highlighted by the Post, several tough administrative conditions, dubbed "Deliverables," are tied to the money.

That’s good, right? Some kind of return of investment is needed to ensure the money is not wasted. We’re talking education, the foundation of a nation’s GNP, and the single most important indicator of successful children. A system needs to be in place to monitor the effectiveness of the grants, and to hold recipients responsible for the money.

Does anyone besides me note "what’s wrong with this picture?" Why must it be the providence of a charitable foundation to overhaul the educational system in the world’s richest nation? Isn’t the government supposed to be supplying funds for education?

Here’s a thought exercise: According to the US Census Bureau 2000 statistics, Eight million children were enrolled in nursery school or kindergarten, 33 million in grade schools, sixteen million in high schools, and another fifteen million attended college. That’s 72 million school aged children and young adults attending classes in 2000. We can assume the number has grown a bit since then, but working with that number and the current cost of the war in Iraq, we can see that if we had used that money for education reform, we could have spent over $4,800 per student.

Not very much, you think? We’re talking about 72,000,000 students! And that doesn’t take into consideration the needs of the at-risk student population.

If we factor only the college aged demographic (15 million), the resulting expenditure would rise to over $23,000 per student. compare that with the average cost of college this year, as provided by FinAid.org, of $26,304 for out of state students, and we can see that for the price of an un-winnable, economically indefensible, and politically irresponsible war, we could pay almost a full year’s tuition for millions.

Instead, we finance an astronomical increase in the value of Dick Cheney’s Haliburton portfolio. Talk about priorities!

Thanksgiving dinner wound down last night, and conversation resumed. A comment was made about cigarette smokers and soon we began discussing the ways various municipalities were using laws to curb smoking in public places. The overall tone was of acceptance. We are all non-smokers.

I piped up in my usual devil’s advocate, buck the trend style, that as a former puffer, I felt the trend was discriminatory. Americans are free to kill themselves if that’s what they want. The rebuttal (weak, I thought) was of the dangers second-hand smoke. Being the host, I felt unusual restraint and let the conversation turn. What I wanted to point out is how free non-smokers are to not frequent establishments that smokers prefer, to not associate with others who smoke if the habit is bothersome.

I wanted to point out that Americans need to get back to a culture of acceptance, inclusiveness and compassion of others. We’ve lost whatever meager gains we’ve made over the past fifty years toward a society modeled after a core belief in religious freedoms and the attendant mentality of acceptance of diversity. (Placeholder for deleted political dig.) As a Buddhist, I feel we need to remember the teachings of our founders during this weekend of National Pride.

Remember the "Great Melting Pot ™?" I’ve often quipped it’s more like a chunky stew, but lately it seems more like and oil-and-water mix. We need to get back to basics, get back to a compassionate, people-centric world of open minds, open hearts, and the understanding that others will do what we wish they wouldn’t - and that’s alright, too.