Cybrpnk's Rantings

Just when many people were relegating Osama bin Laden to the 'vanished, presumed dead' dustbin of history he has reappeared on videotape just in time for our presidential election. Many people see his reappearance as a cause for fear, others anger. for me, it's more about vindication. Not in his actual reappearance, but in what he had to say. It's creepy, really creepy (fitting for this Halloween night entry) but the texts I have seen of this latest video suggest that my analysis of the meaning behind the 9/11 attacks is correct. Almost immediately after the attacks our so-called president denounced the acts as the work of crazed killers who hate freedom, and has never wavered from that stance. I have long contended that this simple-minded interpretation was both wrong and dangerous. My reasoning was that the reason for these attacks was not to destroy America, but to send us a message. More importantly, our refusal to accept these attacks as a message would be interpreted as a sign that something bigger must be done to get our attention.

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Okay, gotta be honest here, part of why I haven't been writing lately is that not only have I been so wrapped up following the Red Sox amazing post-season, but have been worried about jinxing them by breaking that silence. But, now, after last night's victory there is no longer any such threat. Not going to get any politics out of me today, just basking in the happiness over the Red Sox actually winning the world series. I was ten years old in 1975 and vividly remember the heartbreak of that year. In my heart Pete Rose should be kept out of the hall of fame just because of his being part of the team that won that year. Flash forward to 1986, watching on my roommate's TV in our darkened Brooklyn apartment daring to believe that I was actually going to see the Red Sox win the world series, followed by the crushing collapse. Heartbreak redux. Then came this year.

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If nothing else is clear about the Sinclair broadcasting company's plans to have all of their TV stations broadcast an anti-Kerry propaganda film this close to the election, it is obvious that the American public is poorly served by Ronald Reagan's abolition of the Fairness Doctrine in broadcasting. Considering that the airwaves are a public trust which broadcasters are allowed use of so long as they serve the public good, it is shameful that the FCC is prepared to stand idly by while this abuse of not only the airwaves, but of our electoral system, occurs. Presumably the FCC can't order that the documentary not be shown, as the Supreme Court has ruled in New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) that prior restraint on publication is unconstitutional. However they could certainly offer an opinion on conditions under which stations could have their licenses revoked. Not that one seriously expects Colin Powell's son, Michael, to use his FCC chairmanship to stand in the way of the Bush re-election bid. BTW, there is some discussion over at The Left Coaster as to whether or not Sinclair will offer equal time, and what Kerry should do if such an offer is made.

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Apparently the best criticism the Republicans can come up with of Kerry's debate performance last night is that it was wrong of him to mention the well-known fact that Dick Cheney's daughter Mary is a lesbian. Both Dick and his wife gave very huffy sounding interviews in which they decried this atrocious invasion of their family privacy. This is gall of the first order. First off, if they are so concerned about keeping Mary out of the public eye they might have chosen to not hire her to head up Dick's campaign team. According to Gay and Lesbian Times she is being paid slightly over $72,000 a year for this work. This certainly belies their feigned desire to keep her out of the public arena.

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This year's ballot in California once again illuminates how poorly the initiative process serves the cause of good governance. In going through the annual ritual of trying to decipher just what all of these initiatives mean, the question I found myself asking over and over again is 'is this good policy.' The answer, regrettably, was generally either 'no' or 'who can tell?' Given last year's widely followed public lynching of our sitting governor, who was replaced by a charismatic but politically ignorant movie star, one would have hoped that finally the electorate was ready to confront their own role in creating the mess for which Gray Davis was blamed. Sadly, but predictably, rather than introspection we see a renewed rush to inflict false populism's short-sightedness on the state government.

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