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Psychohistory In Isaac Asimov's classic Foundation series, Hari Seldon develops an esoteric field of study called psychohistory that utilizes mathematical principles including statistics and probability with doses of psychology and historical data to predict within a fair margin of error, the future, or more accurately, behavior and social patterns on a broad scale for large social systems. Who was to know that in our own times there lives a man with a gift that would make even Hari Seldon envious, that man of course, is Senator John Kerry, challenger to the incumbent and psychic extraordinaire. If you haven't heard already, let me explain, from a fairly authoritative source, it can now be claimed John Kerry engineered his war record with surprising and admirable perspicacity, with an eye on a political (but till now 'insignificant') career. It is now easy to speculate the Vietnam war was really a stage show, completely scripted and directed by Mr. Kerry to further his political ambition, this is obvious from the facts, i) he first fought in the war and then went on to criticize how it was being conducted ii) his three purple hearts were variously the result of shooting himself, expertly self-inflicting minor shrapnel wounds and setting up fake ambushes through his contacts in the VietCong iii) he even threw Rassmann overboard and then pretended to save him, just to get a bronze star, all bunkum iv) the silver star too was gotten under suspicious circumstances, the VietCong who was supposedly shot by Kerry was in fact a plant, and had in his hands a pot of water, a lota (he came from behind a bush remember?) and not a B-40 grenade launcher as has been claimed v) Kerry ran for office eventually, and is now running for President using his war record to argue for his candidacy, how much more proof do you need? I'm just thinking, if Kerry could really plan for a shot at the Presidency thirty five years ago, maybe he deserves to be elected, then, with his clairvoyance and evil calculating mind he can fix all the world's problem spots including Palestine, Kashmir and Darfur, as well as all the issues that face America, from terrorism to outsourcing, don't you agree?
Sex and the DC To the long list of people you officially cannot have casual sex with add one more, bloggers who kiss and tell, especially if you are a married Hill staffer working for the government. The dubious honor of necessiating this caveat goes to Jessica Cutler also known, formerly, as Washingtonienne. In the blogosphere this is very old news and when I first heard of it I didn't think much of it, now, the Washington Post, in a long feature, discusses the entire affair (affairs?) and allows some perspective on Ms. Cutler's incredibly relaxed approach to sex, work and well, ultimately how she leads her life. Sometimes the episodes of Sex and the City seem exaggerated, I wonder what's driving these attitudes though, is it the media affecting the public or does it serve to, as has been argued often, hold up a mirror showing us the state of our times? It seems to me a bit of both, each feeding off the other, each extrapolating and inferring so that the reflection sometimes assumes the role of reality while reality becomes imagination. As for the immediate after effects of the Cutler affair, I assume, the bars of DC will now have the gentlemen adding "You won't blog about this, will you?" to their pick up lines.
McGreevey The NJ Governor went to Columbia, Georgetown and then Harvard, quotes Machiavelli, has had a stellar political career and at 47 was ready to run for a second term next year. Then he gave it all up, and for what? Not because he was gay or contrite about his adulterous affair I think, though that was part of the picture, what seems to me the reason for McGreevey's resignation is the fear of having this played out in the press while he denied it and the scandal of giving plum postings to his lover. Should a public figure's private life be the public's business? Certainly not, but if their private life severly (and adversely) affects the decisions they make and compromises in any way their ability to be faithful to their duties then it is critical they remove themselves from the public sphere and let others take up their responsibilities. McGreevey's fault here is not that he's gay, obviously, it is that he indulged in; one, an affair that made him vulnerable to blackmail, and; two, favoritism of a most eggregious nature which reflected a cavalier attitude to some degree in his governorship duties. Maybe it is best he leaves office immediately instead of waiting till November, which may, yet, happen too.
Groupthink It is amazing to me that President Bush continues to claim the accuracy of his decision to go to war in Iraq last year, inspite of the obvious lack of any imminent threat, the completely asinine handling of the post war situation and the worsening of the country's image everywhere from old faithful friends to avowed foes. As he barnstorms across the states, the President is selling the notion that America is today safer than it was roughly seventeen months ago, a hard sell to any reasonably minded person, surely, for when you consider the ill will generated by the war, not just amongst old allies but so also in every Islamic country and society. The Washington Post today, in a yeah-we-too-screwed-up article by Howard Kurtz says of the the groupthink leading up to the war, Days before the Iraq war began, veteran Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus put together a story questioning whether the Bush administration had proof that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction.The assertion that the war on terrorism is merely a conflict between self defined perceptions of Good and Evil is missing the motivation of Islamic radicalism, it reduces a larger, complex issue to black and white which Bush has been wont to do. Though I can't claim to even begin to fathom what could possibly drive those nineteen men to try and kill as many Americans as their plans would let them, I'm quite certain they did it with as much belief in their being right as President Bush does in his going to war with Iraq. I have little doubt the Al Qaeda continues to plot acts of terrorism and is bound to strike sooner rather than later, but perhaps not in the US, they seem to be focussing on softer targets including American interests and citizens in other countries. Had the war on terror spent more effort and resources, both financial as well as intellectual, in rooting out Al Qaeda cells in Europe, Saudi Arabia and other hotbeds, it would have been far more effective in protecting America and American interests, than the current strategy has been. To, however, pull out of Iraq now, would be an even graver mistake than going in was, we can only hope that the American troops along with Iraqi forces get the security situation in that country under control through a prudent and determined use of their situational advantages and superior numbers.
Quote-time Many highly intelligent people are poor thinkers. Many people of average intelligence are skilled thinkers. The power of the car is separate from the way the car is driven. -Edward De Bono, consultant, writer, and speaker (1933- ) via Wordsmith |
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