The NY Times ran an article yesterday, "U. S. Rethinks Strategy for the Unthinkable," about the American public's preparedness for a nuclear attack. Apparently there's plenty of educational information available now but a reluctance to disseminate it for fear of alarming us.
The article brought to mind a vivid memory from childhood: air raid drills in elementary school where we would huddle under our desks--with our hands clasped over our tucked-in heads--readying ourselves for "the unthinkable." (It turns out that these drills weren't as ridiculous as they seemed; studies show that we're best off staying inside buildings rather than heeding an impulse to flee.)
At any rate, I'm struck by how much has changed. We didn't worry back then about scaring the public; everyone knew those were scary times and we were advised to think and plan accordingly. Contrast this with today, where people often comment on how dangerous our world is, but addressing this reality is itself unthinkable.
Indeed, we learn in the Times article that the Obama administration had planned to simulate an attack involving about 10,000 emergency personnel in Las Vegas; the drill never took place, however, because "casinos and businesses protested, as did Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. He told the federal authorities that it would scare away tourists."
It's like everything else in America. Business interests dictate priorities.
We used to be scared of things that mattered. Now we're scared of shadows, and, as a result, we're becoming shadows of what we once were.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Government Malfunction
Not sure how to feel about the tax cut compromise reached last week? Presidents Obama and Clinton posited a spirited defense. Economists Paul Krugman and Robert Reich derided it. They're all people I respect.
As I see it, everyone has acted irresponsibly: the President for failing to show leadership a long time ago; the Democrats for failing to act on this legislation earlier; and the Republicans for protecting the pockets of millionaires at everyone else's expense.
No, when legislation passes that so clearly diverts money from desperate needs all over the country, it suggests that the system is broken. Our government is acting irresponsibly, and no one can stop it. President Obama may have done the best he could in a bad situation, but the situation shouldn't have existed in the first place.
Maybe now we'll finally face the fact that there is no knight in shining armor to ride in and stop the madness in Washington. Knights went out of business a long time ago.
As I see it, everyone has acted irresponsibly: the President for failing to show leadership a long time ago; the Democrats for failing to act on this legislation earlier; and the Republicans for protecting the pockets of millionaires at everyone else's expense.
No, when legislation passes that so clearly diverts money from desperate needs all over the country, it suggests that the system is broken. Our government is acting irresponsibly, and no one can stop it. President Obama may have done the best he could in a bad situation, but the situation shouldn't have existed in the first place.
Maybe now we'll finally face the fact that there is no knight in shining armor to ride in and stop the madness in Washington. Knights went out of business a long time ago.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
For Mrs. Edwards
Long after we've finished dissecting the tragic life of Elizabeth Edwards, I will remember her for this: her honesty and courage in living with cancer. Like Michael J. Fox and Christopher Reeve before her, she brought into light the reality of living with advanced, incurable disease.
She didn't try to tie a pink ribbon around her situation, either. She knew this disease would take her life, and she told us so. She knew that her days were numbered, and she reminded us that ours are, too. She knew that cancer wasn't something that she could "beat," but she continued living her life undaunted by death's shadow.
Many people's hearts went out to Elizabeth Edwards over the course of her life--for her son's death, for her cancer diagnosis, and for her husband's infidelity. Unlike many in our ruling political class, she seemed real and human and as vulnerable as the rest of us.
Hers was a troubled journey, though perhaps in truth, her story was ours as well--just played out on a larger, more public landscape. For who among us doesn't experience pain, loss, and betrayal somewhere along the way?
Whatever contradictions may have existed in her personal and public life don't matter in the end. What we have left is the public face that she showed us. And it was a face that accepted life's terms--the hardest terms of all--without flinching.
I'm sorry that Elizabeth Edwards has died. I wish her children well and hope that they are buoyed in the years ahead by the uncommon strength of their mother.
She didn't try to tie a pink ribbon around her situation, either. She knew this disease would take her life, and she told us so. She knew that her days were numbered, and she reminded us that ours are, too. She knew that cancer wasn't something that she could "beat," but she continued living her life undaunted by death's shadow.
Many people's hearts went out to Elizabeth Edwards over the course of her life--for her son's death, for her cancer diagnosis, and for her husband's infidelity. Unlike many in our ruling political class, she seemed real and human and as vulnerable as the rest of us.
Hers was a troubled journey, though perhaps in truth, her story was ours as well--just played out on a larger, more public landscape. For who among us doesn't experience pain, loss, and betrayal somewhere along the way?
Whatever contradictions may have existed in her personal and public life don't matter in the end. What we have left is the public face that she showed us. And it was a face that accepted life's terms--the hardest terms of all--without flinching.
I'm sorry that Elizabeth Edwards has died. I wish her children well and hope that they are buoyed in the years ahead by the uncommon strength of their mother.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Clintonian Wisdom
My notes--scribbled in the dark while listening to Bill Clinton speak this week in Greensboro--don't come close to recording the breadth of his remarks. But one page stands out where I wrote, "Inequality is breathtaking."
The former president was talking about the first major challenge he sees in the world today: economic inequality. He began by reminding us that we took much for granted simply in attending his lecture: assuming that we would have comfortable seats, that the power wouldn't go out, that the room wouldn't get too hot or too cold, and that we could get a drink of water or go to the bathroom. In the countries he assists through the Clinton Foundation, none of these are givens. Such inequality around the world and within countries is not sustainable.
The other challenges are that our world is too unstable (WikiLeaks as an example) and that our energy consumption can't persist at its current rate. In order to address these problems, President Clinton said that we need to move beyond the old arguments of whether to cut taxes or spend money. The question now on the table for anyone seeking change is "How do you propose to get it done?"
Insisting that we all adopt a model or framework for our vision, he put forth his own: if a proposal will improve the lives of many people and move the world forward into the future, then give it a try. Tax cuts, for example, are fine if they create new jobs. Unfortunately, the ideological rigidity on both the left and the right don't lend themselves to imaginative solutions, given Clinton's sensible paradigm.
I wish more people could hear President Clinton. He's the voice of reason these days in a shrill, unstable environment. His work around the world on behalf of the sick and the poor seems to me the highest calling and gives him a rare perspective on what's important in life.
If he comes your way, go and listen. You might come away changed. I did.
The former president was talking about the first major challenge he sees in the world today: economic inequality. He began by reminding us that we took much for granted simply in attending his lecture: assuming that we would have comfortable seats, that the power wouldn't go out, that the room wouldn't get too hot or too cold, and that we could get a drink of water or go to the bathroom. In the countries he assists through the Clinton Foundation, none of these are givens. Such inequality around the world and within countries is not sustainable.
The other challenges are that our world is too unstable (WikiLeaks as an example) and that our energy consumption can't persist at its current rate. In order to address these problems, President Clinton said that we need to move beyond the old arguments of whether to cut taxes or spend money. The question now on the table for anyone seeking change is "How do you propose to get it done?"
Insisting that we all adopt a model or framework for our vision, he put forth his own: if a proposal will improve the lives of many people and move the world forward into the future, then give it a try. Tax cuts, for example, are fine if they create new jobs. Unfortunately, the ideological rigidity on both the left and the right don't lend themselves to imaginative solutions, given Clinton's sensible paradigm.
I wish more people could hear President Clinton. He's the voice of reason these days in a shrill, unstable environment. His work around the world on behalf of the sick and the poor seems to me the highest calling and gives him a rare perspective on what's important in life.
If he comes your way, go and listen. You might come away changed. I did.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Security That Works
Does anyone feel safer with the installation of new body scanners at airports? I don't. And I feel even less safe when I read in Roger Cohen's New York Times column, "The Real Threat to America," that Michael Chertoff--our former director of Homeland Security--runs a security advice business whose clients include the company making these new scanners.
Surprise, surprise. Former government officials profiting from fear.
Meanwhile, conservative Republicans are touting Israeli security, which I was curious about as well. But as Dana Milbank writes in The Washington Post, we can't begin to afford the sophisticated techniques used in Israel, and the use of profiling and invasion of privacy well exceed American norms.
No, what makes me feel safer is this weekend's story of the foiled teen-aged bomber in Portland who thought he was going to obliterate a crowd of Christmas revelers and instead found himself arrested. Good for the FBI. They'd been on his case for months and led him to a point where he couldn't succeed. This is the the kind of detective work that I call security. The more of it, the better.
Removing my shoes and watching TSA employees wand children at the airport don't strike me as powerful terrorist deterrents. Good old gumshoe work does.
Surprise, surprise. Former government officials profiting from fear.
Meanwhile, conservative Republicans are touting Israeli security, which I was curious about as well. But as Dana Milbank writes in The Washington Post, we can't begin to afford the sophisticated techniques used in Israel, and the use of profiling and invasion of privacy well exceed American norms.
No, what makes me feel safer is this weekend's story of the foiled teen-aged bomber in Portland who thought he was going to obliterate a crowd of Christmas revelers and instead found himself arrested. Good for the FBI. They'd been on his case for months and led him to a point where he couldn't succeed. This is the the kind of detective work that I call security. The more of it, the better.
Removing my shoes and watching TSA employees wand children at the airport don't strike me as powerful terrorist deterrents. Good old gumshoe work does.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
