Lousy Democrats, doing what the people want

James Gilmore in the Post:

I reject the Democrats' policy of an immediate withdrawal or a withdrawal on a timetable. Unfortunately, they are playing to the polls to obtain political advantage at home, to the detriment of the United States.

What exactly are the democratically elected representatives of a people supposed to do but respond to the pressures of the majority that placed them in office? Reacting to what the public seems to want is what politicians do, or they quickly cease to be employed as politicians. And it isn't like scheming Democratic politicians invented the idea of a withdrawal from Iraq - that's been a very popular sentiment for years now, and Democrats just finally wised up sooner than their Republican colleagues have. If Glimore's looking for a scapegoat for anti-war sentiment, he'll have to blame all the people who oppose it (or perhaps just the combination of empirical fact and reason) rather than some evil Democrats.

I think this is one of the more frustrating things about politics right now - we're told very often that we should oppose a policy not on its demerits, but because our partisan opposition supports it. Party platforms might be a quick guideline for which way you're likely to come down on an issue, but they shouldn't serve as evidence in reasoned debate of a policy's appropriateness.

technorati tags:Gilmore, democracy, Iraq

More stuff to fear

CNN's top article right now is a scare piece about $2 "Cheese Heroine" aimed at teenagers.  It's especially unsafe, and 21 people have died since 2005, says the article.  Wow, 21.  An Epidemic.  Wonder how that compares to another story that's not on CNN's front page right now?

technorati tags:fear, drugs, cnn, journamalism

And the localblogging begins...

Shooting tonight in Shaw, so the murder lamp is out, and of course I can't sleep. Whenever someone unloads some rounds, MPD likes to bringin its big generator-powered floodlamp to light up the block; problemsare that (a) it's a little late to do much good as a deterrant, and (b)it makes it impossible to sleep if you have either ears or eyes(honestly, I sleep fine after gunshots, it's just the damn light thatkeeps me awake).

If you want some background and sparse details, check out rocklobster's continually updated shaw crime watch. It also seems to be the place to go for loonie theories on the causesof gang violence. Deterioration of the family my ass. Plus, were thateven the root cause, I'm not sure parenting classes could compensatefor having to work two or three jobs to make rent. Looking for a realculprit? Out-of-control gentirfication housing prices are putting theeconomic pressures on parents that keep them disengaged from theirchidren's lives. If these kids' lack of parenting is to blame, it'sbecause gentrifiers (aka newcomers, aka Whitey McCracker) are willingto pay the insane prices for housing that keep those parents fromhaving time to raise their children.

technorati tags:shaw, violence, shooting, dc