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July 14, 2005

News Round-Up

In order of the very personal to the very global:

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NUMBER ONE

I've been struggling to balance my contract work (8 hours a day, usually worked into 2 or 3 chunks of time) with my enthusiasm over my new business idea. I've bought a couple books on writing a business plan, which is keeping me occupied until 3 a.m. every night. So far, I'm just clarifying the business concept, but the financial estimates are coming up and that is a scary, scary thought.

I've contacted the Montgomery County Small Business Administration, which offers free counseling to entrepreneuers and hope to set up an appointment next week. Then at least I'll have a good idea of what legal and technical hurdles I need to jump through to get this idea off the ground.

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NUMBER TWO

Last weekend, I went to Arena Stage with my mom, sister, and two of my mom's friends from church. We saw the highly acclaimed Crowns, which my mother enjoyed so much last year that she just had to see again. While the Washington Post review was mixed, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm normally not much of a musical fan, but this one was not so show tune-y. And while I wasn't one of the audience clapping and stomping, I did notice my foot tapping along with some of the more catchy numbers.

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NUMBER THREE

Last night, I went to the Studio Theatre downtown to see The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow. The production is described thusly:

Jennifer Marcus and her robot replica, "Jenny Chow," face off when she discovers that her creation has a mind of its own. Jennifer is an obsessive-compulsive agoraphobe with a genius IQ. Frustrated with her adoptive parents, she builds a robot replica of herself in a quest to learn more about her biological parents. The play earned Jones the 2004 Elizabeth Osborne Award for Emerging Artists.

I would submit that this bare summary does not do justice to the talents of the actors, particularly the actress (whose name escapes me at the moment) who plays the lead role of Jennifer Marcus.

I was accompanying Mr. Bad Apologies, my most urban chic friend, who managed to get us front row center tickets to the play. The entire theatre only held 187 seats (or so noted the Maximum Capacity sign on the wall), so we were up close and personal. The most impressive part was that the tickets were FREE! (Mr. Bad Apologies is connected in ways that constantly amaze me.)

During the intermission, we marveled at the transformation of the 14th Street corridor. Several years back we had seen a Cherry Red Production of Seven Deadly Dwarves--also at Mr. Bad Apologies invitation. It was scandalous, but very, VERY funny. I'm not sure the sheltered boy we brought along will ever be the same. Anyway, at that time the neighborhood was uber-gritty. While the neighborhood still has an edgy "ooh we might be shot" feel to it, it's NOTHING compared to the scene in 2001. Which just goes to show that I should buy some property in Southeast D.C. right now--after all, it will probably be worth $720,000 in a couple of years.

(Mr. Bad Apologies, incidentally, can no longer be bothered with blogging, as he is encumbered with the tedious process of finding meaningful work with the government. Good luck to him, I say.)

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NUMBER FOUR

I'm in Karl-Rove-Overload mode. I'm jaded to the point where it no longer outrages me (except in moments where I feel there is too little drama in my life) that politics in D.C. has become a circus freak show. I'm tired of half-heartedly defending America to the tiny slice of the globe that came to Sweden last year. I'm exhausted from explaining that while I support the Democrats more than the Republicans, I can't say with any conviction that one side is more honest or more accountable than the other.

Now there's this "Karl Rove outs Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA agent in order to discredit her husband, Joe Wilson (who today called for Rove to be summarily fired), for reporting back that Iraq did NOT try to buy uranium from Niger in direct contradiction of President Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address which bolstered the (trumped up) case of Iraq's WMD program" thing. Sheesh.

All the news media can talk about is what Karl Rove said, when he said it, whether it meets the very strict laws against revealing CIA operatives, and whether or not this is a sign that the Bush White House has gone too far. One of the very few articles pointing out the misplaced fury over the Rove story is this very excellent this editorial in the Washington Post today. As Richard Cohen so eloquently points out:

The inspired exaggeration of the case against Iraq, the hype about weapons of mass destruction and al Qaeda's links to Hussein, makes everything else pale in comparison. It was to protect those lies, those exaggerations, that incredible train wreck of incompetence, ideologically induced optimism and, of course, contempt for the quaint working of the democratic process, that everything else stems from.

So the question is, has the Bush Administration crossed a line?

OF COURSE THEY HAVE. There is a line of decency, honor, and truth that has been crossed. But the little secret that no one wants to talk about it that the line was crossed years ago, by every single politician in the government all the way down to the local level.

We have created a system where it is IMPOSSIBLE to play fair, to look out for the common good, to fight for the little guy. I cannot point to a single politician on either side of the aisle who can pass a true test of personal integrity.

One example is John McCain, my favorite Senator currently serving in Congress. I admire John McCain for his willingness to speak his own mind on issues that are traditionally divided down party lines. I admire his ability to work with both Republicans and Democrats, to negotiate tough compromises, to point the finger at ALL pork-barrel spending.

And yet...

I lost a lot of respect for him after he conceded the 2000 Presidential Primary to George W. Bush. When he got on that stage and threw his support to the man whose campaign staff led a smear campaign against him in South Carolina (calling homes under the guise of "public opinion polls" and insinuating that McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child) among other insults, everyone could see that he didn't believe Bush was going to be a good president. But he stood by him in a show of loyalty that made me want to move to Canada.

Some would argue that McCain has to make sacrifices to continue to acheive his great successes in Congress. They say that McCain's contribution to America greatly outweighs the sketchy compromises he's had to make along that journey. And mostly I agree. But it makes me sad and resigned to know that we are stuck in a system that encourages the acceptable over the good and the end over the means.

The worst part is that these compromises are justified. Without them, we would never get anything done, legislation would never be passed, funding would never be distributed, and progress would never be made. But how sad it is to live in a world where compromising, not just one's position on an issue, but one's personal integrity is justified.

Rant over.

Comments

Posted by: Mr. Bad Apologies at July 14, 2005 05:07 PM

Posted by: Anonymous at July 15, 2005 10:17 AM

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