Hysteria

I don’t care how many times you ask me, I don’t know what you need unless you tell me. Telling me that you just want the things that you need doesn’t help either.

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Top Five Most Oddly Useful Movie Phrases:

1.“Well, then I’ll see you in Hell!”-Harrison Ford, The Empire Strikes Back
2.“I don’t have to hold hands with him on the way down.”-Tom Cruise, A Few Good Men
3.“ I hope you were the groom”- Brad Pitt, Ocean’s Eleven
4.“Is there someone else up there I can talk to?”-Graham Chapman, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
5.“Our ideas were better.”-Kathy Bates, Primary Colors

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Is it really necessary to remind me, via two separate crappy cover versions of an Isley Brothers song, for my employers to remind me that I have work to do?

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According to bypassers, singer Michael Jackson, certainly one of the most significant musical artists of the last 25 years, has died. I was not a fan by any means, but he was clearly, in the history of pop music, one of the giants. The fact that he later became a world class flake does not alter his significance.

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One is tempted (well, I am, anyway, ) to mock Governor Mark Sanford, yet another stuffed shirt, holier than thou politician, all too willing to delight and crow at the failings of others, then brought low by his own extramarital affair. A very good book I once read said, “Judge not-lest ye be judged,” so I will refrain from exulting too much.

Two points come to mind, though-

1.It seems incredibly irresponsible for no one to be able to reach you, if you are the governor. Randy Pausch, in his book “The Final Lecture”, described how he dealt with the issue on his honeymoon. He left a number where he could be reached with his inlaws, and told his colleagues to call his in laws if they needed to reach him. If they could convince his inlaws that their call was so important as to interrupt their daughter’s honeymoon, they would pass on the message. I can respect his need to get away-I can even understand his need to get away from his family for a little while. But it seems like it’s your duty, as the sovereign officer of a state, to leave word where you can be reached. It’s simple-buy a $20.00 throwaway phone, give the number to the lieutenant governor, and tell him, “I’m going to go away for a little while, to clear my head, and I don’t want to tell anyone where I’m headed. If something is so earth shatteringly important that you HAVE to talk to me, call this number. Otherwise, I’ll see you next Wednesday.”
2.It is, of course, breathtakingly hypocritical to criticize others for extramarital affairs, and then have one’s own. I have several advantages on this front-I am married to the perfect woman, someone who would, without a doubt, thrash me to within a quarter inch of my life if I ever had an affair, and in addition, I am unattractive beyond the powers of words to describe. So I haven’t exactly faced this exact moral dilemma in my own life.

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Another deeply stimulating Dan Carlin’s Common Sense this week. (www.dancarlin.com) Carlin’s monologue was about the deeply depressing and horribly prevalent topic of political corruption. Carlin made a point that I honestly had never considered before-a Senator or Congressman who makes a decision that affects the economic future of one of his or her contributors has a conflict of interest. No judge would dare rule on a case that they had a stake in-or at least, they shouldn’t. I don’t know how you fix that, (how do you make a rule about what Congressmen can vote on? And don’t you disenfranchise that Congressman’s constituents if you say he or she can’t vote on, say, health care reform?) and neither does Dan, but it’s fascinating to think about.

Every time I start mulling about campaign finance laws, (like you do)(h/t @erikjfisher and @wbrshow)( www.wbrshow.com ), I always run headlong into the same trap-Buckley vs. Valeo, a Supreme Court case that says , in politics, that money is speech. It is unconstitutional to restrict speech, outside of certain very broad outlines. But without restrictions on contributions, you have a Congress that is bought and paid for. But you can’t restrict speech….and on, and on, and on.

And then my head explodes.

Once again, I recommend Dan heartily. It’s free, it’s thought provoking, and it’s, uh, free.

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