Campaign Finance Reform in Two Easy Steps

1. End all limits on the amounts individuals, PACs, Unions, Corporations, and cats can give to candidates.
   
2. Full and immediate disclosure on every dollar donated to a campaign.

Money can play a significant roll in any campaign. Money however is not the issue. The issue is who is giving and what do they want from the candidate they support. Let the voting public decide if there is a problem with the contribution.

There. Next problem please.

Update

Medialoper reports that Zune is currently fourth in sales of portable music players (behind SanDisk, Creative, and titan Apple).

• 
  
  Estimates are approximately 1 million Zunes have been sold since the player was introduced in July


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  This pales in comparison to the 20 million iPods sold over this holiday season alone

So, whatza Steve Ballmer to do? The site hints that changing the name of the device, loosen the restrictions on its wireless file sharing, and alter the promotion of its "squirting" feature.

Maybe. I suppose we could call it Zit, let everyone share as much and for as long as they want, and call it leaking instead. Yeah, that could work.

Anyone have Steve's address where I can send a statement for my consulting fee?

I Me Me Mine

I love history. It was one of my majors in college. My love stems from the wonderful teachers I had in middle and high school. They made the past vivid with their reflection of the lives of individuals whose decisions, passions, and actions influenced how things have evolved. And I suppose my love of history sparked my parallel interests in literature along with a fascination with human behavior. And when history, literature, and human behavior are combined the result is something I perhaps enjoy more than anything: a good story.

Nobody tells a better story than Bob Woodward. The first book that I read of his he co-authored with Scott Armstrong, “The Brethren” which describes from an insider’s perspective the machinations of the Supreme Court for several of its terms after Warren Burger became Chief Justice. I remember buying the book for my father as a gift at a not long after it was first published. As a judge, I thought it was an appropriate gift although it was like giving a gift you really wanted for yourself (you know, like a father who gives his daughter an Xbox for Christmas--can you imagine?)

Initially, it was an amazing book for me as it combined all the elements described earlier. After finishing it I remember asking my father how could Woodward write in such incredible insight about the inner workings of the court, especially the debates between the justices in conference (attended only by the nine Justices—no staff allowed) laced throughout with amazing quotes and insight into the thinking of each of the judges with so much responsibility and authority. I wanted to know how Woodward and Armstrong got such detailed information given how the deliberations in the conferences are strictly confidential and how no one was supposed to know the positions taken by the justices until after the decision was announced publicly.

Even though he hadn’t read the book my father suspected it was the combination from three sources: first, clerks and other employees may have talked to the authors about what the justices may have told them about how they and their colleagues viewed each of the cases, the justices themselves unintentionally (or purposely) may have revealed some bits and pieces to the writers, and, a lot of the material was made up and based upon the authors speculation based on the information they received from the other sources.

Oh how desperately I wanted the book to be accurate because it was such a good story. I did have to concede though that is all it was, just a good story. In reality there was no way to substantiate many of its tantalizing anecdotes and attribute several of its amazing quotes.

I am reminded of all of this by the recent reports of Woodward’s interviews with Gerald Ford about the former president’s perceptions on the War in Iraq and Richard Nixon. Here I can’t doubt Woodward reports of what Ford said on these and other topics. I heard for myself the taped interview on the Washington Post web site.

Instead my interest is over Woodward’s decision to release information when and how he did along with the commentary on these actions. I agree with those who are critical of the decision to release the interview even before the former president has been placed in the ground of his home in Grand Rapids. On its face is appears to be nothing more than a shameless attempt by Woodword to draw attention to himself in an effort to possibly be defined as the a super journalistic sleuth who was able to get the inside scoop among the powerful and mighty.

If left there and without any further analysis it could leave one cynical and skeptical. However the story that fascinates me is how someone like Woodward thrives so much on personal attention (negative as well as the positive), the incredible effort he goes to maintain his celebrated image, and how the rest of us (myself included) continue to reinforce (unknowingly and sometimes willingly) his narcissistic behavior despite our own revulsion of it, and how all of this influences our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

This is why I love history. And this is why I love a good story.

Nagging Quandary

For the past several days I have been carefully weighing the merits of Ipod versus Zune only to get thrown off by the sleek design of Clix. No, I haven’t come from a meeting of Gene Roddenberry disciples at a Star Trek convention. Instead I am referring to the sophisticated portable music players which everyone and their cat seem to own, expect for myself.

The players offer all kinds of tantalizing alternatives. Consider the iLink pictured at the right. As reported in Engadget, connecting the iLink to an iPod reproduces true digital (rather than analog) sound reproduction. Amazing. And for just a mere (GASP) $2K.

While out of my price range, further development of this sort of technology will help to resolve one of the dilemmas I face when considering buying a portable music. More, specifically I lack enthusiasm for listening to hours of music through headphones, ear buds, headsets, etc. My fear is that I will end up with a hearing loss similar to Beatle producer Sir George Martin and other music icons from head phoneyism (my term related to overindulgence of loud music through headphones, ear buds, headsets, etc—although believe the term could be used in the political context as well. Used in a sentence, one might say, “Lee suffers from head phoneyism.” Yeah, that could work.)

Another personal predicament centers on having to decide which music service for where I would purchase my digital music. Should I decide upon an iPod the choice will be made for me with iTunes although its non-compatibility with other players in order to create a false consumer base leaves a bad taste in my mouth in my free enterprise mouth. There are almost as many music services as there are players. I literally suffer from paralysis trying to determine the best alternative.

But it isn’t too difficult to keep things in perspective, especially after reading news accounts from around the country and world. My family and friends are healthy (for the most part anyway), happy, and secure, I have had more than enough to eat, I am warm, and I have several things that interest me and that I anxious to learn more. And what portable music player and music service I choose will likely be influenced on what the cats are buying.

"I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln."

I was only 13 and already I had enough of politics. My father had lost a bid for the Republican nomination for the US Senate two years earlier in a primary that included a cast of characters from a John Irving novel. Nixon was in the midst of his desperate attempt to hold onto the Presidency and at the national, state, and most certainly at the local level, to stand with those who identified with the Grand Old Party was to be viewed by others with suspicion and distrust. There was something slimy and sleazy about membership in a party led by liars, cheats, and crooks.

I didn’t understand. My father had impressed upon me a responsibiity for doing the right thing even at one’s personal expense, my mother was very vocal in her criticism of Nixon, and those who they were closest too politically were decent, hardworking people with a strong sense of integrity. Yet as our elected leader, Nixon had besmirched and tainted anyone associated with public service with his criminal behavior and transparent denials. It was a very dark and cynical time.

Onto the stage appeared Gerald Ford. Selected to replace disgraced and indicted Spiro Agnew as Vice President, Ford assumed the Presidency once Nixon vacated the office after being ordered by the Supreme Court to turn over the White House tapes. The tapes contained the evidence needed to impeach and forcibly remove Nixon from office and likely convict him.

I remember watching Ford as he assumed the oath of office and his words, “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws, and not of men.” Using plain language and speaking directly to the point, Ford perhaps did more than any other to restore a sense of confidence in our government and political process at a time in our country’s history when we needed it the most.

What I admired most about the late President was how much relished the contest instead of just the result or outcome. He played to win and also could accept that one always didn’t finish as the victor. He recognized the value of the contest rather than just the end result. He appreciated that a vigorous, thorough, and respectful discussion of the issues leads to the best possible outcomes and that the ends can never justify the means.

We have a lot we can and should learn from Gerald Ford. We are fortunate he emerged to lead our country when he did. Let us all help to ensure his legacy continues.

Virgil Be Goode

Enough said.

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