The Opinion Blog

'You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard'

Friends: In response to Paladin's comment on WEEKEND OPEN FORUM about Leonard Pitts' accessibility, I dug out Pitts' marvelous response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, written from the gut. Enjoy (if that's the right word). dc

We'll go forward from this moment

By Leonard Pitts - The Miami Herald

It's my job to have something to say.

They pay me to tease shades of meaning from social and cultural issues, to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.

You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.

Dick Cheney aspired to be a just man

Ripped from the wires ... In his weekly New York Times piece, Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard offers this positive assessment of Vice President Cheney (with an aside on Gov. Blagojevich):

By WILLIAM KRISTOL

You gotta love Dick Cheney.

OK, OK ... you don't have to. But consider this exchange with Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday'':

WALLACE: Did you really tell Sen. Leahy, bleep yourself?

CHENEY: I did.

What happened to 'Change you can believe in'?

Ripped from the wires ... Another take on the Biden pick from columnist Cal Thomas:

By Cal Thomas

DENVER -- In selecting Sen. Joseph Biden as his running mate, Barack Obama gains some needed foreign policy expertise, but loses some credibility. If Washington is as bad as these two say it is, was Biden a contributor or an enabler during his six Senate terms? If 36 years in the Senate doesn't make you an "insider'' and part of the problem, what does?

If 'decline' U.S. style is wrong, I don't wanna be right

Ripped from the wires ... Bill O'Reilly takes issue with the leftish conventional wisdom that America is in decline:

BY BILL O'REILLY

Just in time for Independence Day, the bible of the American left, The New York Times, continues to opine that the United States is a "nation in decline.'' Hoping to see a Democrat in the White House, the newspaper has been hammering home that theme on its editorial pages.

The Times bases its claims on two primary situations: The negative view of America abroad and income inequality at home. So, let's take a look at the supposed "decline.''

Fear of terrorism makes us do stupid things

Ripped from the wires ... Remember conservative wild woman Michelle Malkin's scathing attack on Rachel Ray of the Food Network for wearing what Malkin called a kaffiyeh in a donut ad? It appeared last week on Opinion Blog. In this piece, columnist Leonard Pitts offers his rebuttal -- and more:

By Leonard Pitts Jr.

You've seen this gag in a hundred old cartoons: Cat turns to flee angry dog, steps on a rake instead, knocks himself silly. It's not sophisticated humor, but it is a visceral illustration of an abiding truth: panic can make you hurt yourself.

Some of us, I think, need reminding. Consider the case of Rachael Ray and the scarf that made people scream. Ray, of couse, is the preternaturally perky host of cooking shows on the Food Network -- and a spokeswoman for Dunkin' Donuts.

REAL ID an affront to America's core principles

From Gov. Mark Sanford today comes this missive on the weaknesses of the federal REAL ID program.

By Mark Sanford

If I was a betting man, I'd wager that most people haven't followed the debate on REAL ID. If you indeed missed it, I would ask that you take the time to learn about what I consider the most troubling piece of legislation I've seen come from Washington since I've been governor.

REAL ID would surreptitiously require all fifty states to change their driver's licenses to act as de-facto national ID cards. It's outrageous, and not just because it was a backdoor way of doing something proponents in Washington have never been able to pull off in the past. I say outrageous because Real ID was never really debated in Congress; because the cost of its implementation is handed down to states and individuals; and because it is an affront to Americans' privacy concerns.

Drat! My brainwaves gave me away

Ripped from the wires ... Ethics writer Nita Farahany discusses some scary research in the world of science. Another TL-DR candidate but for those interested in the growing clash between science and privacy, it's a worthwhile read.

By Nita Farahany

Imagine a world of streets lined with video cameras that alert authorities to any suspicious activity. A world where police officers can read the minds of potential criminals and arrest them before they commit any crimes. A world in which a suspect who lies under questioning gets caught immediately because his brain has given him away.

Though that may sound a lot like the plot of the 2002 Tom Cruise movie "Minority Report,'' it's not science fiction: We're not so far away from that world. But does it sound like a very safe place, or a very scary one?

It's a question we should be asking as the federal government invests millions of dollars in emerging technology aimed at detecting and decoding brain activity.

Can Homeland Security not understand plain English?

Today's editorial takes note of the strange -- and worrisome -- disconnect between Gov. Mark Sanford and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff over the federal Real ID mandate:

"What is up with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the agency congressionally charged with converting driver's licenses into de facto national identity cards and foisting the cost onto the states? On Monday, the Homeland Security deadline for states to indicate willingness to knuckle under to the so-called Real ID mandate, Gov. Mark Sanford offered the agency a lengthy explanation why South Carolina could not - and would not - comply.

"Yet six hours after receiving Sanford's letter, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff responded as though Sanford had caved in to the federal will. The agency, he said, would regard Sanford's letter as intent to comply with its Real ID regime by the May 11, 2011, deadline.

REAL ID compliance/noncompliance chart for S.C.

As several of you have noted, Gov. Sanford today told Homeland Security that South Carolina is 90 percent compliant with REAL ID already, on its own. What about the other 10 percent? The following link, which his office provided, should answer this question:

Download real_id_requirements.pdf

dc

Defiance or compliance on Real ID?

Here's Gov. Mark Sanford's response to Homeland Security on REAL ID. Today, you'll recall, is the DHS deadline for state to signal intent to comply by asking for deadline extensions. Sanford doesn't do that, but Montana and New Hampshire took similar tacks last week, and DHS interpreted their responses as intention to comply. What do y'all think? dc

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:Joel Sawyer
803-734-2100
jsawyer@gov.sc.gov

Governor Sanford Responds to Real ID Issue
GOVERNOR SAYS SC ALREADY MOVING TOWARD MORE SECURE LICENSE,
SAYS STATE LAW PREVENTS ANY FORM OF REAL ID COMPLIANCE

Columbia, S.C. - March 31, 2008 - Governor Mark Sanford today responded to the federal government's REAL ID mandate, asking that our state's citizens not be treated differently from other states that have laws on their books preventing the implementation of the national ID card program.