OMG–Secret Service Agents Drink and hire women for SEX!!!!

 

Seriously, this is a scandal?  I’m trying to figure out what the scandal is in this case.  Now there may be elements that have been hidden from the reporting, but this story seems like an incredible non-story that only has reporting because it involves sex.  Apparently we are a nation of pre-teens that are still titillated by the idea of grown men and women engaging in recreational sex.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/world/americas/colombian-escort-speaks-about-secret-service-scandal.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

According to this account, which is attributed to the aggrieved escort, this is a pretty simple story, that involves drinking, sex for cash, and one guys decision not to pay his escort what she expected.

Thing is, in Cartagena, consenting adults can enter into a contract for sexual service.  The issue was resolved without any arrest being made, but somehow the story has entered the national discourse.  Now there may be more to the story.  Illegal drugs for example, or maybe the party and sexual liaisons were paid for using taxpayer dollars, instead of the personal earnings of the party-goers.  But so far apparently this is about the fact that doing things that are legal in a foreign country, and are legal in parts of the United States, specifically engaging in a sex for cash agreement, is behavior worthy of dismissal from the Secret Service.

I am sure that there is a written “code of conduct” issued to them, and I doubt that it specifically calls out no sex for money, anywhere, but what it really translates into is “don’t get caught doing anything that looks bad,” and things that look bad do include engaging in prostitution.  I rather doubt that simple infidelity without prostitution would be cause for dismissal, and that seems particularly unfair.  While I am aware that prostitution has a number of negatives often associated with it (violence, substance abuse, poor worker protections), I don’t see it as being any worse than one night stand behaviors with no cash obligations associated, particularly if the two adults involved are single.

So, what is the scandal?  That they got caught doing it?  That one of them was a bum and unwilling to pay?  That the American People, or at least the American Media, is committed to salacious, nonsensical stories, and politicians are quite willing to go with them?

Or is this a women’s issue?  Is this a story that resonates more with women, and elicits their disapproval, and there is a desire, or a need for a cultural shift to eliminate this sort of behavior from those organizations?

Clearly I just don’t get why this is a story.  And if it really is one of the above, it really does make me wonder if this is what it felt like to the Romans around the time of Nero.

Obama Justice Department Fails to Railroad Hutaree Militia Members!

 

The Hutaree story sort of fascinated me when it broke.  The more I learned about it though, the more it sounded like they were a bunch of trash talking guys with guns who the FBI were trying to essentially frame as terrorists out to overthrow the government.  Now I could totally believe that they said all sorts of crazy things, especially if they had been drinking at some point, and I absolutely believe that people that have had too much to drink say all sorts of crazy things.  And of course, it’s not only alcohol they could have been under the influence of, but there were no drug charges in this case, so I lean towards believing that if they imbibed in mind altering drugs, alcohol would be the substance of choice.

Now the media pounced on this story like sharks on chum, seeking to build a narrative of how we have home grown terrorists and shouldn’t seek to single out any specific group, since if we are going to profile, we will have to add white folks to the profiling list.  Others tried to make hay of the case by trying to build a narrative of how Militias are a threat to the United States.

It all sounded good, and fortunately for the media, the American Mass Media market has an attention span shorter than the mating time of a housefly. Charges were filed, and all the boring legal stuff that takes time to sort out happened next. But clearly the FBI had done a great job of infiltrating a terrorist group and stopping them before they terrorized our great nation. Surely the trial would basically be a formality, after all, our justice department would have told us that there shouldn’t be any rush to judgment if there was any real doubt.

What I find to be particularly awesome about this story is that it actually reinforces the militia types’ narrative that the gummint is out to get the good ol’ boys that really only want to talk trash, drink, and be ready to protect their freedom.  The fact that the players in this case haven’t tried to capitalize on their newfound freedom to play to a market that I believe would lionize them tells me that they either really aren’t interested in some sort of idealistic principles, and would really rather just be able to go back to their simple lives (probably sans their guns) or they are really otnay eryvay ightbray.

As for the FBI, it really seems that they need to really re-evaluate the way they pursue these cases.  If they really have sufficient resources that they can spend their time essentially framing loudmouthed dumbasses, then we really can spend less on law enforcement, or they are part of a bigger problem, which is more likely psychological on their part and they have to be re-trained so they can tell the difference between dumbasses and real threats, and if they determine that they have been chasing down dumbasses, they need to have a branch that specifically deals with low level monitoring just in case rather than trying to build a spectacular case that is at the heart of it an infringement on protected free speech (as offensive as it may be).

Of course, for the conspiracy types out there, there is the possibility that the FBI is acting in concert with the media to create a sense of fear so they can increase their budget, and move the country towards a police state.  You don’t even have to buy that it is a particular conspiracy as opposed to a mind set, since both possibilities lead to the same place.  It may even be worse if it isn’t a specific conspiracy being led by individuals or small groups, but an evolution of mindset, since if it is the latter, that is much more difficult to turn back.

Romney should Embrace Boring

 

People want to be excited about their Presidential Nominee.  Charisma is considered an important part of a nominee’s electability.  “Fire in the belly,” and the ability to “fire up the base,” is touted, but Romney is simply not particularly telegenic, and he seems to have a hard time connecting with the “average voter.” 

Now, I don’t think that Romney is very relatable to the middle class.  It’s not really his fault, he has never really lived that life, and that doesn’t automatically disqualify him from being president.  After all, despite what you may have in your preconceptions, he was the governor of Massachusetts, and he signed into law what has been called “Romneycare.”

If Romney tries to face off with Obama in terms of telegenics, and “cool” he is going to fail.  He just isn’t that guy.  He should attempt to turn his weakness into a strength, and his opponent’s strength into a weakness.  But how to convince people that “cool” and “charisma” is a negative can be tricky.

Romney will have to be self effacing, and admit his lack on those traits.  He will also want to point out that such traits can be dangerous to a democracy, because a charismatic leader can lead people in the wrong direction.  And at that point he has to make it clear that Obama has in fact leading the nation in the wrong direction.  He has to point to Romneycare as state legislation, and Obamacare as National Legislation, and make clear that he believes that there are limits to the Federal Government’s power to legislate.

He will have to point out Obama’s change in positions when it comes to things that he said prior to his election, and things he enacted and signed since his inauguration.  But the style he chooses to use will have to be one that he is comfortable with, and one that isn’t too obnoxious.  Romney runs the risk of appearing as a Mr. Burns’ type of caricature, but it will be very difficult for Obama to ridicule Romney if Romney manages to show people that he is willing to poke fun at himself for being less cool, while trying to defend yourself from being called “too cool” is tricky at best.

There is one big caveat here, and that is, why does Romney want to be President?  Somewhere in there is a reason that he has failed to really make clear.  I see it as two possibilities.  Romney, the Bain Capital mogul may want to improve things for his friends, the guys that own Nascar teams.  Or, Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts may want to make things better for Americans, hopefully by using the power of the Presidency to reduce federal intrusion and expand personal freedoms.

I do think that Obama is favored for re-election, but I don’t think it is a shoe in.  A lot can happen between now and November, but if Romney wants to win, he’s going to have to fight to do so.  If he does want it, it is going to be a very interesting, and potentially entertaining Presidential Campaign.

The Latest Media Mess

 

The thing is, the media lies, and it does its best to inflame interest. This isn’t something new, but given the nature of communications in today’s world, the reality becomes more and more transparent, and I think that it is important for us all to remember that info-tainment feeds on stories that seek to inflame people’s passions. The media is not acting as unbiased reporters. They are seeking to get attention which translates to ratings, which translates to advertising revenue. But I don’t believe that they are solely driven by ratings, but they are also seeking to drive a certain narrative of “the way things are.”

Now, for my bias.  I personally have great sympathy for Trayvon, because when everything is said and done, he is dead, and the man that shot him is walking free.  Zimmerman has been painted as a sort of vigilante who carried a gun, and was a self appointed neighborhood watch leader (then again, he may have been a concerned citizen who really was doing his best to help his community, and had a strong relationship with the police). 

In Florida, as so many of us now know, a young man by the name of Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a middle aged man named George Zimmerman.  A number of facts surrounding the case have been released, and there is now public outrage that Mr. Zimmerman was not charged in the shooting death.  An important part of this story is that Florida has a so-called “Stand your ground” law, which allows citizens the option of using deadly force in a situation where they feel threatened in order to defend themselves.  The immediate investigation of the shooting allowed Mr. Zimmerman to leave without being arrested.  That was the decision of the officers at the time of the incident.  http://cnninsession.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/martinpolicreport.pdf

The case takes on greater national importance because of skin color.  The dead young man is black, and the shooter has been identified as white (although I would have called him hispanic, as lame as that designation may be).  It is further complicated since Mr. Zimmerman seems to have been acting as a self appointed neighborhood watch captain, and had called the police to report spotting the young man, calling him “suspicious” looking.  When he called the police though, he was told not to confront the young man.

Things didn’t work out that way.  There was a confrontation of some sort, and Zimmerman shot Trayvon, and Zimmerman was taken in by police, but not charged with any crime.

There remains in America a belief that there is pervasive racism against blacks.  A President who is black has failed to dispel that belief.  And to be honest, I do believe that there is plenty of prejudice in this world.  It is sadly part of human nature, and I do believe that racism played a part in this tragedy.  But there seems to be a deeper problem at work here.  Now Zimmerman has yet to be charged with anything, but there is a lot of public pressure for an arrest to be made.  That pressure may or may not last, but the fact is that there seems to be a flawed law at the root of this case.  Given the evidence and the laws in play, I am not really sure whether an arrest should be made in the case.  But more importantly, it is not my place to make that call.  That is the place of the police, and the District Attorney.  There appears to be a sort of mob mentality at work now, and there is a question of what is going to happen next.  Hopefully cooler heads will prevail, and enough of the facts will come out so most of us can be comfortable with knowing that while things aren’t perfect, and tragedies can happen, they won’t be exacerbated by our justice system, and a rush to justice, or by mob mentality.  We already know that the media will exacerbate things.  Hopefully people can try to avoid being pulled in by such stories, and invest in them before you get a chance to look at it in total context.