Be Careful What You Wish For
Monday, January 17, 2000
The seventh and (thankfully) final Republican debate before the January 24th Iowa caucuses did not break any new ground. The candidates know all of their opponents' moves, so they all know where a question is going as soon as it begins.
Having watched most of it, the Iowa debate reminded me of an Errol Flynn swashbuckler: Lots of well-choreographed swordplay; the occasional low-angle show of someone climbing up the rigging to swing his sword over his head bellowing his undying fealty to something or another; ultimately the captain and his first lieutenant victoriously surveying the deck around them, arms akimbo, laughing manly laughs.
As it was, at the appointed hour, 11:00 am California time, I tuned to the public television station in San Jose to watch the debate. They were running an episode of "Antiques Roadshow." True story. Too bad it isn't pledge month. They might have been showing: "Pavoratti and Those Other Two Guys Perform All the Parts in Riverdance."
I appeared on MSNBC Sunday morning in the 8:00 am segment. I was in San Jose, California at the time which (a) meant it was five in the morning, and (b) gave me a real sense of kinship with Fred Imus. The host wanted to get me into the argument between Bush and McCain on taxes. I said of the 250 plus million people in America there are seven who understand this argument - and they don't agree.
The McCain-Bush debate over taxes is the perfect subject to display the differences between the two major parties: The Republicans are arguing over which plan cuts taxes better. The Democrats are arguing over which plan spends more tax money.
Al Gore is trying to make hay out of the fact that South Carolina insists on flying the Confederate battle flag over its statehouse. Bush has said the people of South Carolina are fully capable of deciding whether that is appropriate, not the Governor of another state.
A State Senator from South Carolina used hateful language to describe people who want to take the flag down. He happens to be a Bush supporter, which is enough for Gore to try to tie them together. Of course Gore, whose campaign manager Donna Brazile used hateful language to describe General Colin Powell and Congressman J.C. Watts has not fired her, nor has he apologized to Powell or Watts.
There is an old saying in politics: No matter how good your cause, there is always someone who agrees with you that you wish didn't.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting for Monday that Philip Morris is raising the price of its cigarettes 13 cents a pack. That will mean the average cost of a pack of cigarettes will be about $2.81. Who would have thought we would get to the point where cigarettes and cigars cost about the same?
The National Archives is interested in re-examining the infamous (for those of us over the age of 45) 18 and a half minute gap in the tapes recorded on Richard Nixon's secret White House system. This is left over from 1972.
I have another project idea. A somewhat more contemporaneous project: The sudden appearance of the Rose Billing records.
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