Eddie Beaver

Fires are weird creatures. Once they start, if not properly fought with the correct strategy, they can get out of hand fairly quickly. Fought halfheartedly or with inadequate resources, they often become raging infernos comparable to the scale of the location they are in. For months, a slow-burning fire has spread amid conservative partisans around the country. Licks of flame have been spotted at town hall meetings, state party conventions and even national media outlets, but only in recent weeks has the fire truly begun to be visible to most without even looking for it. That fire has been the suspicion that Barack Obama was not really born in the US, that he may be a secret emissary of Islam and that he is some odd hybrid of fascist/Marxist/terrorist intent on destroying America. While all three variants are out there in the public eye at various gatherings, popular blogs and even being uttered or suggested to an extent by allegedly respectable politicians, the first has been the one which has garnered the most momentum. It is now a near-act of courage for conservative institutions like National Review and well-regarded commentators and analysts such as Rick Moran to speak out against the fantasy-based dreams/nightmares of Obama's non-citizenship. Check out the YouTube video of Delaware Republican Congressman Mike Castle being overwhelmed by a proponent of the fantasy and her many supporters in the crowd. Think that was a planned conspiracy to ambush him? In reality, it is likely the increasing feeling of a significant element in the "base" of conservatism. People want Obama to just go away. The fastest, easiest way to get there would be some great scandal or revelation about him. The best thing to latch onto then is the birth scandal. Facts seemingly are not required. With a few Senators and popular talk radio hosts encouraging them, they are ignoring their more responsible brethern and giving into a fit of populist rage and fantasy. A more insighful gentleman told me in another venue something to the effect "that Jacksonians are prone to conspiracies" . He is right, but I wonder at what cost to conservative credibility will this conspiracy entail? I am not familiar with how widespread among liberals the belief that Bush was behind 9/11 was. I do know that wherever they went spreading that lie, they were often forcefully pushed back by their bretheren. Now that sane conservatives are finally doing the same, will this myth go back to being a fringe belief of the few or will it continue to spread, like the seemingly raging fire it has become in recent weeks?

Parallels have their limits but the more I hear about the Republican Governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman, the more I think of David Cameron in Great Britain and what he has done to turn around the Tory Party. Bobby Jindal mismanaged Louisiana's finances by defying common sense (as well as historical precedent) and pegging his expensive programs and tax cuts to the rising cost of oil (plus he seems to have a problem with the truth and has been foolishly grandstanding on the stimulus by taking 9/10 of it while bragging about not taking the other tenth). Other than Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (another pragmatic conservative), I do not see anyone else at this point for the GOP. Embracing the failed ideas of people like Rush Limbaugh and Eric Cantor seems to be the order of the day for the current GOP, but with continued losses in the face of such idiocy, perhaps reason and rationality will return to the party faithful. Huckabee, Romney, Palin and other contenders seem to have enormous flaws that would (hopefully) preclude them from wasting the party's time in 2012 or 2016. This is all far away, but as a potential leader of the party, a pragmatic but conservative governor like Huntsman is mighty appealing.

Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND),  recent recipient of a sweetheart mortgage deal from sub-prime superstar Countrywide, is a staunch champion of "Buying American", particularly in the Congressional stimulus package. As a protectionist measure that could impose substantial costs on free/fair trade progression around the world, this is a terrible idea. That Dorgan is unlikely to be punished for his corruption is disappointing but not surprising. That "buying American" is likely to be implemented as national economic policy is perhaps even less surprising but extremely disheartening for brighter hopes for the nation's economic future.

A few weeks ago Soob had an excellent post about why some people simply should not vote. Given that I am writing upwards of 4 or so papers a week for my classes on vapid topics such as the differences between Legalism and Confucianism as presented in our text, his post inspired me to seize the day and humbly request of my English instructor that I choose my own topic. His argument resonated with me and so I carried it further in a 5 page editorial assignment. My thesis is thus: Citizens should not be allowed to vote until they pass a current events and civics test showing their ability to judge basic foreign, political and economic policies. Given that states can legally bar felons and the mentally handicapped from voting, why not the ignorant? I argue this position from statistics compiled from studies of voting behaviors, campaign rhetoric vs. reality, extensive polling and geography test results.

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A mantra repeated over and over last night and today in the wake of President-elect Obama's victory from acquaintances, students and co-workers alike is how "dreams became reality". I imagine for those people who grew up in an often violently segregated past, this is America like they could not have imagined in their wildest dreams. Yet, people like my mother (who also grew up in the South during the days of segregation as the daughter of a shopkeeper and businessman from Ohio who enraged local racists by ignoring segregation in his store) and father who served many years in the Army could tell you that the kind of progress people are weeping and cheering wildly about today has been happening in the military for decades. If I could pick one thing about the Navy and military culture as a whole that I miss the most (and there are many), I would select how truly colorblind so much of it is. How we never broker race or tolerate prejudice. Its not a myth, its a firm reality internalized in us from boot camp onward. Congratulations nevertheless to President-elect Obama and his phenomenal team of volunteers and supporters. As far as the broader election night, everything else I cared about aside from Obama winning did not come to pass. The corrupt state Democrats in North Carolina escaped punishment for their crimes and defeated the finest Republican candidate for governor this state has seen in a century; conservative Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory. The sickeningly corrupt and dishonest Democratic Representative John Murtha in Pennsylvania was re-elected. The impressive and pragmatic Republican Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire was defeated in an anti-Republican sweep there. Gays lost their legal marriage rights in California. A transition to merit pay for teachers was defeated in Oregon.

(only took me 3 hours in line in Greensboro, NC) Coolest part... two self-described "good ol boys" show up a few spots behind me in a line that literally stretched for a block and a half. National Guardsmen in their weekend finest, they refuse the entreaties of everyone to jump to the front of the line. An older black woman and her white nurse/caregiver see them after she finishes voting. She promises to bring them something nice and returns 40 mins. or so later with bannana pudding (the kind with whip cream and vanilla wafers), telling them this is the happiest day of her life since her grandchild was born and she wants to share the joy. The line was about 70% black (I'm guessing 200-250 people), I quasi lost count once I got to the really good part of "Cultures And Conflict In The Middle East". There were a lot of young black people, something that was not expected even by the hopeful predictions of the Obama canvassers I know and the worst case scenarios of the McCain canvassers I spoke with while at a Pat McCrory (Hope he wins!) event last month. Sixty-something white couple behind me perhaps said it best, "If he wins, nobody will be able to support race-based affirmative action credibly." Good-natured sailors I know a lot about, but I never could imagine a line that long on a ship and everyone still in a good mood 3 hours later.

A response almost too good to be true.  A Huckabee/Obama race would be interesting to say the least.  It beats the hell out of the Clintons returning to the White House. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhPxSm9Es0w]