Daily Dose of Common Sense

Truth in politics. Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Between scandals, broken promises, spin control, and general sliminess, politicians aren’t known for being trustworthy. And, mainstream news shows just seem to let them get away with it. For example, remember this:

…“Good Morning America,” endured criticism in January when Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, said without being challenged that “we had no domestic attacks under Bush, we’ve had one under Obama.” Mr. Giuliani omitted the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The interviewer, George Stephanopoulos, admitted online later that he had made a mistake in not following up.

It seems like shows like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report are generally the only places you can hear politicians being called out on their BS.

One web site is trying to make a difference. The St. Petersburg Times has started a site called PolitiFact, where, “Reporters and editors from the Times fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups and rate them on our Truth-O-Meter.”

The Truth-O-Meter ranges from “True” to “False,” to my personal favorite, “Pants on Fire.”

The site won a 2009 Pulitzer Prize, just in case you’re taking notes. And, ABC’s Sunday morning political show “This Week,” is joining up with PolitiFact to check up on the rhetoric of the lawmakers interviewed. You would think more news shows and journalists would do this on their own (it’s common sense, right?), but they just don’t. David Gregory, who hosts NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said, “…people can fact check the program on their own online.” OK, thanks. Put the burden of truth on the viewer.

It’s good to see that at least some people care about the truth.

In the recession, one suggestion I’ve heard over and over again has been to borrow books and DVDs from local libraries instead of purchasing them. Makes sense, right? Well, if you live in Philadelphia, you may not have the option any longer. All of the libraries in Philly will close on October 2nd if the state Legislature does not act on the budget request.

Yep, a legislative deadlock is to blame. The city has requested a temporary sales-tax hike and a two-year deferral of pension payments in order to generate funding. If this doesn’t happen, the Philly libraries will all shut down at the beginning of next month. Hard to believe, but it appears to be true.

It is so important to support local libraries. Libraries aren’t just for kids. Many adults need libraries, too. In addition to access to books, movies, and other media, libraries provide computer access to many people who otherwise would not have the option. They host great programs and serve as a resource for the community. To give you an idea of what the closings would mean, just read this excerpt from the notice posted by the library:

All branch and regional library programs, including programs for children and teens, after school programs, computer classes, and programs for adults, will be cancelled.

All Parkway Central Library programs, including children programs, programs to support small businesses and job seekers, computer classes and after school programs, will be cancelled. We are exploring the possibility of relocating the Philadelphia Author Series programs to other non-library facilities.

All library visits to schools, day care centers, senior centers and other community centers will cease.

All community meetings at our branch and regional libraries, and the Parkway Central Library, will be cancelled.

All GED, ABE and ESL programs held at Free Library branches will be discontinued, students should contact their teacher to see if other arrangements are being made.

If you live in the area, here is how you can help.

So, get it together, Philly legislators. Do your jobs and keep the libraries open.

If you’re wearing a microphone, it’s important to know when it’s on and when it’s off. Especially if you’re a married politician. An Orange County, California GOP lawmaker forgot his mic was live, and his bragging about various trysts was broadcast to everyone during a committee hearing.

In the KCAL report, Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee Vice Chairman Michael Duvall (R-Yorba Linda) appears not to realize that his microphone is on during a lull in a July committee hearing and talks about his conquest of two women.

Reporter Dave Lopez then reports that Duvall says on the tape that the women with whom he has been having sex are lobbyists.

The report alleges that one of the lobbyists works for a utility with business before Duvall’s committee but does not name her.

Sleazy? Check. Conflict of interest? Check. Incredibly stupid? Check.

The video can be seen on Gawker.

Someone nominate this guy for a Darwin award. Or, at least get him fired.

PETA has had an interesting past couple of days. Not long after getting upset at the Pike Place Fish Market employees for “callously” throwing fish, the animal-rights group is taking President Obama to task.

The White House apparently has a fly problem. During an interview, President Obama had a fly land on him, so he did what 99.9% of us would do: he swatted and killed it. (Check out the video. Great technique by the President. He’s like Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid.)

PETA doesn’t approve and wants the President to use a humane fly catcher instead. This device catches the unwanted flying creatures and allows them to be re-released into the wild. (Someone really makes something like this?)

Twitter has been abuzz (ahem) today with reaction. Most think PETA has lost its marbles. The best tweet I saw said this sort of hooey is why PETA loses its credibility on the larger issues. They bring attention to their cause with big publicity like this, but it’s the wrong kind of attention. Do we really need to be concerned about depletion of the fly population? Judging from my summer bar-b-que experience, there is no shortage of flies.

So, here’s some zen-like advice, folks: Focus on the stuff that matters, and don’t sweat the rest. Wax on, wax off.

In a move that will elicit many “Yeah, duh” responses, a Chicago radio host declares that waterboarding is torture. Only, he was trying to prove waterboarding isn’t torture. Yesterday, conservative shock-jock Erich “Mancow” Muller subjected himself to a waterboarding experiment in order to silence the critics of the procedure. Mancow expected to chill out for thirty seconds while water was poured down his nose. Instead, he lasted six.

“It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that’s no joke,” Mancow said. Yes, that’s what we thought you would say. If you’ve ever been in a pool and read the description of waterboarding, you should be able to put the pieces together. It would be hellishly horrible. A Vanity Fair reporter did the same experiment last year and said he was traumatized for months afterwards.

It’s not called “torture” for nothing. The technique of waterboarding has been around for centuries and there is a reason why bad people still use it as an interrogation device. Now that Mancow has seen how awful it is, let’s hope he puts his big mouth to use and pressures our government to stop doing it.