Confessions of an Errant Mind

The NY Times has an article today on Bob Woodward's new book, State of Denial. Two years ago, I would have said that while I disagreed with much of Bush's politics, he at least got some of his agenda accomplished--tax cuts, homeland security, the war. But the more I read, the more I begin to think that the administration really doesn't know what it's doing. That it operates primarily from a simple, non-evidence based view of the world. They lack the nuanced thinking and vision to foresee the consequences of their actions, and tend to prefer only that information that fits their pre-conceived objectives. Case in point:

The book says President Bush’s top advisers were often at odds among themselves, and sometimes were barely on speaking terms, but shared a tendency to dismiss as too pessimistic assessments from American commanders and others about the situation in Iraq.

Or this point:

Two members of Mr. Bush’s inner circle, Mr. Powell and the director of central intelligence, George J. Tenet, are described as ambivalent about the decision to invade Iraq. When Mr. Powell assented, reluctantly, in January 2003, Mr. Bush told him in an Oval Office meeting that it was “time to put your war uniform on,� a reference to his many years in the Army.

Donald Rumsfeld also seems to come off badly--not surprising, since his prediction of a quick war easily won has failed to materialize. I probably won't read this, but it doesn't sound like an encouraging note for the next two years.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My students and I came up with an experiment today. Someone had brought Twinkies in for a class treat and there were some extras. I'm now keeping two in my office. The package for one of them is open and the other is still sealed. We're going to see how long they last. One month? The whole semester? Who knows?

This was inspired by one of the DVD extras for Super Size Me, where Morgan Spurlock keeps a package of McDonalds French Fries under glass for over two months without any noticable change. Yuck!

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish highlighted this Today segment:

Sullivan's take on it is here:
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/09/youtube_of_the__8.html

I'm not sure I read as cynically as him, but it is clear from this that the president believes that aggresive interrogation techniques are essential. His repeated insistance that getting information is justified because these people want to kill "you and your family" shows that. Of course, I would hope that the government is using all means possible to do that. But it does seem like the administration takes that too far--if what happened at Abu Gharib (and apparently other prisons) is any indication. Probably the most disturbing element of this issue is how much happens without any kind of legal recourse--prisoners without rights of legal appeal or due process. If someone's a bad guy--with knowledge and means--and the threat is imminent, then we can talk about what needs to happen. But there's no assurance of that, and techniques are being used that are the very best questionable.

I don't know if I've ever seen Bush this upset--his body language is quite aggressive.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Now that I've got my handy-dandy MP3 player, my morning dog walks have been spent listening to podcasts. Mainly sermons. There's two churches I've been subcribing to in particular: Mosaic, based in LA, and Woodland Hills, which is across town. Greg Boyd, the pastor of the latter church has been in the news a lot lately. His new book, The Myth of a Christian Nation, argues that the church should have little to do with government. Not that individuals shouldn't be civically involved, but that the church has no business endorsing particular political views. It's a little different than the Jim Wallis message--that God's politics are more inclusive that just right wing. It's that the business of the kingdom isn't really about politics, but about building a different culture that stands alongside government and interacts with it.

In any case, his August 20th sermon, Being Beautiful, was a particularly striking one to me. Two quotes:
"Jesus doesn't call us to be right. He calls us to be beautiful."
(from a conversation with Rick Warren) "The Bible says the church is supposed to be Christ's body. We've mainly been his mouth."

I appreciated with Boyd has to say, and so thought it worth passing along.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Looking back, I knew the relationship was headed south when Justin Morneau hit his 30th. It was an important one--lifting them to a victory over division leading Detroit. Micah was taking his bath at the time, and I had the radio on to pass the time and keep track of the game. When Jon Gordon gave his signature, "Touch 'Em All" home run call, I let out an involuntary scream of joy. It had been almost 20 years since a Minnesota Twin had reached this mark, and this was a pivotal moment in a long season. Most significantly, it was the first moment I felt that visceral, almost familial link to the Minnesota Twins. There had been moments of courtship, yes, but this was the first kiss, a magical moment.

There's a Raymond Chandler novel called The Long Goodbye. That's an apt metaphor for what's happened to my baseball loyalties this season. The Cubs are, and probably always will be, my first love. I lived through the '89, '98, and '03 playoff years with ecstacy and despair. But the bloom has fallen off the rose. My beloved Cubbies are vying for the worst records in baseball--with a $100 million dollar budget. Ever since that fateful 8th inning (see Bartman, Steve and Choke, Cubs), it's been a slow steady decline. A late season collapse in '04. Below .500 in '05. And this year, not one of the imagined starting rotation back in March remains there. Management has no clue how to develop players, and aside from Derrek Lee and perhaps Aramis Ramirez, there seems little left to build around.

And so, as May moved to July, I felt my loyalties shifting. The Cubs became the long distance romance that fades away. We're moving on to find other interests, other loves. The Twins (with a payroll half that of the northsiders) might have the best record in baseball when all is said and done. As the song goes, "Love the one you're with." Instead of a fuzzy WGN signal at night, I flip to WCCO here in the Cities to hear another dominating Santana performance.

Not all farewells are final, but in this case, I think it's good that the Cubs and I have some time apart. Maybe see some other people. Who knows? Maybe we'll come back to one another for a second honeymoon, a more mature romance. But for now, I'll just drink Chandler's proverbial gimlet in memories of good times past. I've got a new girl waiting.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)