Talk Left has some good news:
“The American Bar Association’s policy-making body voted 368-76 to approve a
proposal backing the right of U.S. citizens held as enemy combatants to have
access to lawyers and judicial review of their status. It also urged the U.S.
Congress to establish clear standards and procedures for the designation of
enemy combatants and their treatment.”
D-Square
Digest on what makes for a “decent standard of living”:
My view on the subject of what constitutes a decent living goes right back to Adam Smith,
whose views on the subject are not so well known, but exemplify the strand of humanity and
sound common sense which has been so thoroughly ignored in his writing ever since he coined
that phrase about the Invisible Hand. Smith asked the question in Wealth of Nations, in respect
of the minimum standard of living, whether it was part of that standard for a man to own a clean
linen shirt (at the time, linen and the laundry thereof were just making the transition from a
luxury of the upper class to a mass market product). Smith’s answer was that, although a linen
shirt was clearly not a necessity for survival, and had not been part of the basic standard of
living even ten years earlier, it was at the time of writing. His reason for so concluding was that
things had advanced to the point at which any industrious tradesman could afford to wear linen and
keep it laundered, so any tradesman not able to afford his linen shirt would be thought lazy or
inferior; even if he had happened into that state of penury by bad luck, he would find it very
difficult to get employed and get out of it once he was in it.That seems like, adjusted for technological advance, a good rule of thumb for today. Taking our
clue from the fact that the senses of “decent” which refer to the display of taboo body parts,
and the senses which refer to material standards of living, must have some common origin, I’d define
“a decent standard of living” as “the lowest level of material possessions in a society which allows
one to escape shame and prejudice”. So for example, while the phrase “trailer trash” is in common
usage, a decent standard of living implies not living in a trailer. If it is impossible to get a job
without an email address, then maybe a modem of some sort (not necessarily ADSL) is a part of that
standard. And so on.
The Rittenhouse
Review wonders about Threat Level Orange (awooga! awooga!):
Well, okay then, but since no reporter is going to ask this question, I will: Is the
administration merely whipping up hysteria in order to rally a still quite skeptical
public behind its impending war upon Iraq?
Surely not! It’s done to sell Patriot II: Revenge of the Killer Potatoes.
The Watch
on being “unreasonably” opposed to the war:
I’ve been seeing an increasing number of anti-war arguments that run something like,
“There is a good case to be made for a war with Iraq, but team Bush hasn’t made it.”
This posits that there’s an excellent reason running around out there in the wild blue
yonder, and that if Powell could just nab and harness it for his boss, all objections
would be withdrawn. (Imagine Powell running around with a butterfly net in full dress
uniform. Or don’t.) As if we would all immediately be compelled to say, “Oh, well that’s
alright then,” on pronunciation of the magic words.There are flaws with the underlying logic here, but I think a big one is that simply being
opposed to war for it’s own sake (or because of the participants involved) is considered an
‘unreasonable’ position. We all want to be reasonable, so what could it hurt to imagine some
fictitious scenario and posit that if that condition were satisfied, then yes, war would be okay.
Ted Barlow
gives several examples of Michael Savage’s wholesome radio chatter –whom MSNBC want to give his
own tv show– then shows what you can do about it:
“You?re the ones who did it. You liberals are the descendents of Adolf Hitler, only
you don?t know it. You?re the most dangerous people on planet Earth. I am your enemy.
I am your worst nightmare. I will expose you. I know who you are and I know you?re
suicidal and I?m going to expose you until this government acts finally to stop you.
I am not kidding you. I?m telling it as it is.”
“I’m beginning to think that women should be denied the vote. Their hormones rage;
they are too emotional.”
I don’t think that Mr. Savage has anything to add to the public discourse. I think
that conservatives and liberals alike would be better off without him. If you agree,
you can let your opinion be heard at:One MSNBC Plaza
Secaucus, NJ 07094
Phone: (201) 583-5000
Fax: (201) 583-5453