June 29, 2007 – Capitol Hill Blue

Even sex has abandoned Washington

June 29, 2007

In 1983, as chief of staff for a newly-elected member of Congress, I interviewed many applicants for jobs in our office.

Some were earnest, sincere-sounding youngsters who said they wanted to “do something to help America.” I helped America by not hiring them.

Others were shopworn Capitol Hill veterans who had never worked outside of government. Didn’t hire them either.

Still others were recent law school graduates looking to work for low wages to get a foot in the door. No jobs for them in our office: Too many lawyers in Washington already.

Why are we in so much trouble?

June 29, 2007

It is a funny thing, power. In certain circumstances, the very nature of “Power” precludes its use. A great example was the cold war when the USSR and USA pointed thousands of uranium tipped long distance rocks at each other. To use that power was to lose it, and perhaps to lose everything.

Senate’s failure on immigration reform

June 29, 2007

Senate opponents did more than just vote against immigration reform. They voted in favor of letting a serious situation get even worse.

An attempt to stop debate on the controversial measure and bring it to a final vote, where passage was by no means certain, fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed. Without the Senate going first, the House won’t even try.

That means another attempt at immigration reform probably won’t come until sometime after the 2008 election.

A double standard on free speech

June 29, 2007

Suppose you’re a U.S. citizen concerned about some issue or the other –something happening to the environment, maybe, or perhaps a seeming injustice.

You’ve composed careful letters to members of Congress, showed up at political forums and written op-ed pieces for the local paper, and you seem to be making no progress whatsoever. You are one of 300 million in this country, and those numbers seem to sum up your influence: You are a minuscule fraction of the whole, an unheard, unheeded whisper in a mighty, roaring crowd.

Then you bump into an idea.

Paris Hilton mania is a societal shortfall

June 29, 2007

Paris Hilton says that being in lockup for a few weeks was traumatic. I think being shot at in Iraq would be traumatic — not taking a little time off from having every whim satisfied on a whim. Nonetheless, different folks have different levels of trauma-handling ability. She apparently reached hers. (The lovely Paris was sent to jail for driving on a suspended license following a DUI charge. And good for that judge.)

Troubling signs from the Supremes

June 29, 2007

The impact of the Supreme Court’s latest First Amendment rulings is well defined in one case and not so in the other, leaving a host of special interests applauding wildly and those who believe that student speech is as protected as any other shaken.

The practical result of the court’s 5-4 decision to allow issue ads before an election that mention a specific candidate probably will be to substantially increase the cost of the upcoming presidential and congressional elections, already approaching a record of over $1 billion.

Bad times in Bush land

June 29, 2007

The month of June 2007 may well go down as one of the worst of the Bush presidency.

It was the month the wheels fell off, when the curtain was drawn aside to reveal that the great and mighty wizard was none other than Dick Cheney, when party loyalists began publicly to give up on the administration. It was a month when nothing seemed to go right for the president.