Some More Souters!!!

Yesterday Associate Supreme Court Justice David Souter announced his intention to leave the court after it adjourns its current session in June. So for the second time in three days, it seems the political winds in Washington may be shifting to the left. After Senator Arlen Spector (D- PA) left the Republicans to become a Democrat, President Obama's task of getting a more progressive judge through the Supreme Court has become a little bit easier? Is this a good thing for the country?

As a progressive liberal myself, I was excited at first at the combination of Sen. Spector's move, Justice Souter's retirement, and the prospect that Democrats will have a filibuster-proof 60 seats in the Senate, once Al Franken cleans the scum off Norm Coleman's old seat. But the more I think about it, especially after what Justice Souter himself turned out to be to Republicans and conservatives, the more I think that Supreme Court vacancies should not be filled according to political needs or qualifications, but by people of strong will, character, and principle. The Supreme Court, while one of the three branches of our government, should stay divorced from the political winds of an issue and rule solely on how the Constitution reads.

At a White House reception, Pennsylvania's newest Democrat said that he would not be a "rubber stamp" or "automatic vote" for Congressional Democrats or the Obama Administration. And the next day, during a vote for Obama's 2010 fiscal budget, Spector voted Nay in opposition to Obama. A similar thing happened early in Souter's Supreme Court tenure when Planned Parenthood v. Casey came before the Court in 1992. Souter and other justices formed a coalition that reaffirmed the landmark Roe v. Wade decision and a woman' right to choose. Even though the move enraged conservatives around the country, it should not have surprised them. Souter was a long-time conservative in the sense that he valued individual's rights over almost any other. Souter may have been nominated by a president whose party over the years has become a lock-step, all or nothing party, but he has stayed an individual, at the expense of his reputation on the right side of the political spectrum. Arlen Spector left the Republican Party for the same reasons that Souter's legacy will be that of a "liberal" judge who was a traitor to the political party that put him there.

Our courts and our legislative bodies need some more strong-minded people like David Souter. Some more Souters!!!

Quill is dry.

Boxcar Joe

On NBC's Today Show this morning, when asked what he had told his own family regarding the swine flu or H1 N1 virus, Vice President Joe Biden responded by saying he told his family to avoid "confined spaces" such as airplanes and trains.

"I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation, (be) suggesting they ride the subway. … So from my perspective, what it relates to is mitigation. If you're out in the middle of a field and someone sneezes, that's one thing, if you're in a closed aircraft or closed container or closed car or closed classroom it's a different thing," the Vice President went on to say.

To be fair, I need to say that Biden's office issued a clarification immediatly after the interview: "The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the administration is giving to all Americans: that they should avoid unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico. If they are sick, they should avoid airplanes and other confined public spaces, such as subways. This is the advice the vice president has given family members who are traveling by commercial airline this week."

Despite the clarifications and the beast intentions I'm confident the Vice President had, this is an interesting comment by a man who made a big deal about taking the Amtrak from Delaware to Washington everyday during his time in the Senate. It was a part of then VP nominee Biden's personal story; a single, working-class parent just trying to raise and support his kids, it's just in this case the single parent happened to be a member of the United States Senate.

The Vice-President has taken some initial heat for his comments. Roger Dow, the CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, took Biden to task and by extension others in the political arena who make ill-advised comments during medical emergencies and pandemics.

"Americans should heed the advice of medical experts when determining how best to manage health concerns during the ongoing swine flu outbreak," Dow said while responding to Biden's comments. "Elected officials must strike a delicate balance of accurately and adequately informing citizens of health concerns without unduly discouraging travel and other important economic activity," he went on to say. He also went on to point out that the Center for Disease Control has said that people should not be wary of traveling inside of the United States.

This exchange of opinion and response between Biden and Dow illustrates what is even more contagious during a pandemic and that is fear. Swine flu (H1 N1) is real. People have died and the worldwide response to suspected cases has been nothing short of swift. Those responsible for getting the public good, solid information on the virus should be commended.

However, ever since swine flu had became noticed in Mexico late in March and early in April, the media coverage has been moving quickly toward sensationalism. Like SARS in 2003 and the non-outbreak of avian flu, swine flu has become ongoing media filler. Even the name "swine flu" is a creation; pork consumption has nothing to do with transmission and it should be refered to in the media as H1 N1. Then maybe everyone would begin to be on the same page.

And comments by polititions such as Biden, which could be chalked up to a classic Biden gaffe, or by Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachman, who has gone as far to link the H1 N1 virus to Democrats, doesn't help the media frenzy. "I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter," said Bachmann. "And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."

During a serious medical crisis, the media needs to do its job and report what is going on. The people need the facts-- how it is transmitted, and how can I protect myself? National media should be urging people to go to local, state or provincial authorities for updates and what is being done in their area. Instead we get endless debates and b-footage of facemasks and ridiculous statements by people like Biden and Bachman.

Quill is dry.


UPDATE: 5:05PM-- The World Health Organization recently stated that in order to protect pigs and related industries, they will officially refer to the virus known commonly as swine flu as its scientific name H1 N1, the name it should have been known as from the beginning. Yesterday officials in Egypt slaughtered 300,000 pigs as a precaution.

1st Post, 100th Day

So this is my first post on my blog on politics and media. That's all I can say about this blog for now. It may take a sharper focus once I get going. Since I am a American expat living in Canada, most likely it'll be a mix of U.S. and Canadian political commentary.

As a journalism school graduate, I'll do the media lemming thing and talk about President Barack Obama's 100th day in office. If you ask me, the whole "First 100 Days" is a sham. Really a complete media creation. The 100 day benchmark was first referred to in 1933 by President Franklin Roosevelt, in reference to how quickly he wanted the government to get things done facing The Great Depression.

Today, every major media outlet is talking about the First 100 Days and has been since January 20th. For the twenty-four hour cable news machine, it was a perfect horde of filler to talk about from then until now. In recent weeks, coverage has gotten more absurd, for example entire issues being reduced to grades by CNN.

That being said, it is tempting to be simplistic, and I give Obama a solid B for his first 100 days in the Oval Office. Obama acted swiftly to save the banks and the American economy by getting TARP through Congress. However I think Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is a little weaselly, but that's a post for another day. That being said, fixing an economy would be a little bit easier with marginal help, concessions, and/or support from Congressional Republicans, which Obama has not had the luxury of thus far.

Closing Guantanamo and his performance on the world stage are where Obama has been the strongest. Signing that Executive Order and having the balls to put those detainees in the care of A.G. Holder showed that Obama would be a dramatic change from the previous administration. More recently, the release of the torture memos and the characterization of waterboarding as torture (yet another post for another time, I'm sure) has shown that while Obama states he wants to "look forward", he won't the past be completely obscured.

Something that bothered me about the Obama Administration so far is the changing of the dialogue in the War on Terror. The Department of Homeland Security's memo's concerning "Overseas Contingency Operations" made me want to vomit. Also, the number of unfilled positions in the government and number of Cabinet appointees who have had to withdraw is disappointing. Again though, solid job so far-- B.

That's all for me, it is late, and the quill is dry.