Sandra Day O’Connor announced this morning that she’s retiring from the Supreme Court. I am now filled with dread anticipation for what the tone of the rest of this summer will likely be.
Jul012005
Politics
Jun242005
The Political Gene?
Here’s an interesting idea: a new study indicates that people’s political leanings may be genetic in origin. The researchers behind this study are not suggesting that we’re all destined to belong to a particular party or that we’re programmed from birth like little politibots, just that we may be drawn by nature towards a particular side of the spectrum. In other words, our genes pre-dispose us towards being conservative or progressive, and then our upbringing and unique life experiences shape our opinions on specific issues. The real fun seems to occur when someone’s innate inclination clashes with their family’s expectations and affiliations. (The study was intended partly to figure out why people defect from the parties in which they were raised, such as when the children of staunch Republicans become hippies, or vice versa. While some of that behavior can be chalked up to youthful rebellion, there are plenty of cases where children just plain think differently from their parents for no apparent reason, which makes little sense if you believe that our attitudes are entirely shaped by “nurture” without some element of “nature” being involved.)
Jun132005
Good, Bad… I’m the One With the Gun
As I wrote a week or so back, I’ve been fairly puzzled by some people’s reaction to the revelation of Deep Throat’s identity. Here in my home state of Utah, especially, a lot of folks are saying that Mark Felt is a bum because he betrayed a president he was sworn to protect. I wonder what those same people think about Nixon himself. Do they think he was wrongfully driven from office for the crimes committed in his name, if not on his actual orders? Do they honestly believe Felt’s “betrayal” is worse than breaking and entering, illegal wiretapping, and government cover-ups, all for the purpose of one political party unfairly increasing and retaining its grip on power? It seems to me that Felt was being a good soldier by protecting the Republic as opposed to a president he knew to be corrupt. In other words, he was showing loyalty to something higher and more important than Richard Nixon. Just in case you missed it the first time I said it, I’ll say it again: it doesn’t really matter what motivated him to do it, because it was ultimately the right thing to do, for the country as a whole. In the real world, people often do things that get labelled as “good” or “bad” regardless of the purity of their intentions, and that’s how I see Mark Felt blowing the whistle.
Mark Evanier has a similar take on this subject, which I think is as good a defense of Felt as anything further that I could say:
People have been debating whether Mark “Deep Throat” Felt was a good guy or a bad guy, and these debates often seem to be conducted on the assumption that he had to have been one or the other.
I don’t think many public figures — especially in government — can be fit wholly into one of those two classifications, and I see no reason to expect that Mr. Felt can be so tidily rated. His motives in leaking to Bob Woodward were probably some mixture of wanting to protect the F.B.I. from abuse by the Nixon administration and wanting to advance his personal agenda. In the grand scheme of things, I suspect he was less important to the toppling of a president than he was to the career advancement of Woodward and Bernstein. I don’t think what he did was dishonorable or illegal — that’s the spin of those who cast their lot with Richard M. Nixon — and to the extent he did it to expose corruption, I guess he’s a hero. But only for that one series of actions. He wasn’t a hero for what he did soon after.
Evanier finishes with a link to an article that details Felt’s less-than-noble, post-Throat exploits, if you’re interested.
Jun052005
Deep Throat: Hero or Traitor?
Aside from the initial disclosure of his true identity, I’ve paid little attention to this week’s public conversation about Deep Throat, so I was taken aback this morning when I tuned into the talking-head shows and learned that former Nixonians are trying to smear Mark Felt as some kind of bum for blowing the whistle on their wrongdoing. This flabbergasts me for a half-dozen different reasons, not least of which is the incredible notion that TV commentators are still (or once again) arguing about a political battle that was won and lost (depending on your perspective) thirty years ago. I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me, given the lingering bitterness over the Clintons, Vietnam, the civil rights movement, and even, in some quarters, the Civil War. People have long memories and grudges do endure. But I guess I keep hoping there’ll be an outbreak of common sense any day now, and this eternal optimism causes me to be caught consistently off-guard when it doesn’t happen.
I’m reluctant to get into this because I really don’t want to pick a political fight here on Simple Tricks after the pleasant silence of these past couple of months. But when I hear that people like G. Gordon Liddy — one of those who did prison time for the Watergate break-in, just in case you don’t know — are calling Mark Felt a disgrace and a traitor because he went to the press with what he knew, well, that’s so ridiculous as to beg some kind of comment.
May312005
Breaking News: Deep Throat Revealed!
Way back in February, I commented on rumors that the public would soon learn the identity of “Deep Throat,” the legendary anonymous source that led investigative journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to the truth behind the Watergate scandal. Today the rumors came true.
According to an article in the new issue of Vanity Fair, Deep Throat is a man named Mark Felt, who was Deputy Director of the FBI at the time of the scandal. These days, Felt is a frail 91 years old and lives with his daughter in California. Woodward and Bernstein have issued a statement confirming the magazine’s claims, and their former editor, Ben Bradlee — who also knew Deep Throat’s identity — was quoted as saying, “The thing that stuns me is that the goddamn secret has lasted this long.”
So it looks like another big historical mystery is solved. Kind of anticlimatic, really, and regrettable, too. Like I said the other day in regards to Blackbeard’s lost pirate ship being found, it’s more fun to have some things remain unknown.
One interesting note (well, interesting to people who live in Salt Lake, anyhow): the local TV news says that Felt ran the Salt Lake office of the FBI for two years in the 1950s. Strange how often these big stories have some kind of Utah connection. Sometimes I think my home state truly is the nexus of the universe… and that scares me on many, many levels.
Apr232005
Separation of Church and State
Once again, I don’t have the time to fully explore the issue I’m about to raise. Sorry about that. Nevertheless, I still want to share with you an interesting quote that was recently referenced by Andrew Sullivan, then picked up by the always excellent Josh Marshall and now seems to be wending its way though the blogosphere. (I heard about it via Mark Evanier’s post on the subject.) Seeing as I’m always one to hop on the bandwagon, I will now repeat the quote followed by Sullivan’s remarks:
Apr012005
Remarks on the Schiavo Mess
Up to now, I haven’t wanted to even mention the words “Terri Schiavo” on this site, for a number of reasons.
First, because this story has received so much attention in both the regular media and the blogosphere, I suspected that most of my readers were sick of hearing about it and were coming to Simple Tricks in search of something a little more frivolous. (One of my three loyal readers essentially said as much in a recent comment.)
Secondly, my own views on this matter have been shaped by deeply personal experiences with death, lingering illness and quality-of-life issues, and I didn’t see how I could comment on Schiavo without dredging up a bunch of stuff that I frankly don’t want to share with the whole InterWeb. Let’s just say that my opinion is a lot less hypothetical or philosophical than many of those you’ve been reading.
Finally, this situation has been the sort of hot-button issue that is sure to spark a fight, regardless of how reasonable you may think your own position. I haven’t had the stomach to argue about it, in large part because of Reason #2 above.
But now that the poor woman has moved on to whatever awaits her, I would like to make a few remarks. I hope this isn’t a mistake on my part. Let me be absolutely clear that I am not looking for a fight. I just want to say some things that have occurred to me over the past few weeks. If you’re sick to death of this subject or can’t discuss it without getting all huffy, then I invite you to skip this entry and come back another time.
Mar092005
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
I’ve been trying to think of something to say about Dan Rather’s final broadcast from the anchor’s chair of The CBS Evening News, but I can’t find the right approach. The problem is that I’m really not sure anyone cares about Rather’s departure, aside from political right-wingers who see him as the embodiment of their hated “liberal media” and so are thrilled to see him go. While professional observers view Rather’s choice to step down — as well as Tom Brokaw’s recent retirement — as “the end of an era,” the public seems to be yawning with indifference.
It wasn’t like this when Rather’s predecessor, Walter Cronkite, stepped down. I think it’s fair to say (based, of course, on my readings into media history and not personal memory) that Cronkite’s departure produced a near-universal sense of warmth and fond regret to see him go. I can remember my parents tuning in to Cronkite’s final show with an air almost of apprehension, like they were about to lose a member of their family. No one I know feels that way today about Rather or Brokaw. But then, to use an oft-repeated phrase, it was a different world in Cronkite’s day.
Feb112005
Howard Dean, Deep Throat and Social Security
Some interesting political stories have come to my attention over the past couple of days and I think they bear mentioning here. But fear not, loyal readers: there are no lengthy rants, harangues, or confrontational digressions ahead, only some links and news items that are probably of interest to no more than one in 100 people. I, however, am one of those oddballs who care about this sort of thing, and it is my blog, after all, so here we go…
Jan312005
What’s Next for Iraq?
I know I probably ought to stick to nice, safe, non-flammable topics like Battlestar Galactica, but after reading today’s headlines and all the associated chatter buzzing through the blogosphere, I’ve just got to throw in my own two cents on the Iraqi election that took place over the weekend.
First of all, the Iraqi people should be commended for the courage and optimism they have just demonstrated to the world. I sincerely mean that.