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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Streaming Thoughts on Republican Foreign Policy Debate
First things first: My fashion review of the Republican presidential candidates' debate was picked up by GQ, in the form of a friendlier, albeit, more in-depth breakdown of the Republican presidential candidates' respective styles. In reality, I'm sure GQ thought up the piece without my help. But we'll see what the Court of Appeals has to say about it. Haha. But seriously.
I turned the debate on around the beginning of the second hour; these were my thoughts as they came:
Paul Wolfowitz (!?!?!?) asks if candidates will continue PEPFAR, W. Bush's AIDS-prevention program in Africa. PEPFAR was, hands down, Bush Jr.'s biggest success as President, IMO. Santorum says yes, and, with the biggest blunder of the night, justifies his position by reminding the room that before PEPFAR, Africa was a, "country on the brink". I am floored until this idiocy is immediately topped by Ron Paul, who goes OFF about how PEPFAR hasn't done anything (it's done a lot, see above), and how if we're going to ship anything over to Africa, we should ship free market principles. Oy.
Next question: Will you cut defense spending?
All boots begin to shake. Romney attempts to hide behind his podium. Suspect pools of liquid pool at the feet of candidates Cain, Bachmann, and Perry.
Gingrich is ready to bomb Iran as a last resort to replace the current regime, and cannot wait to turn the U.S. into a sea of oil fields. Huntsman impresses by acknowledging the importance of economics in forming military policy. Audience reaction: Crickets.
Perry is asked if he would compromise with Democrats over a budget. First he tries for laughs with incredibly clever "super committee was a super failure" line, then rambles about how he was commander-in-chief of the Texas national guard (misleading) and makes several awkward pauses for applause that never comes. Blitzer repeats question, Perry answers in affirmative.
Oh shit, Santorum's been talking for three minutes while I finished that last paragraph. Oh, nevermind, I didn't miss anything. (He also answered yes.)
What should be done about Social Security entitlements in light of looming budget concerns? Gingrich mentions his new Social Security platform but I am distracted by a series of interpretive dance moves involving half circles with his arms that accompany his answer.
Bachmann just answered a budget question by saying we really need to balance the budget. Bullseye.
I come back and we're talking borders. Perry says lock it down. Paul agrees but goes further: Reform immigration services without making citizenship so easy it becomes a perverse incentive for illegal immigration; cancel the war on drugs; blah blah bl- wait, what? Something I agree with? Mercifully, Wolfowitz follows up: Do you mean legalize drugs? Paul actually admits he wants to give sick people access to medical marijuana. He goes on to say we should treat drugs like we treat alcohol, which, he asserts, is an extremely deadly drug. Damn you, Ron, just when I am about to put my respect for you to bed you go and say something I agree with.
Cain says there are four parts to his answer to the border question. John Stewart and I begin to drool. 1. Easy, 2. Can he do it? 3. No way he gets all four, no way he gets all four, no way he gets all four. 4. Nails it. Damn!
Gingrich is more open-minded about granting amnesty to tax paying, productive, illegal immigrants. I spot a black guy in the crowd wearing a bow tie and think about Curb Your Enthusiasm. Bachmann and Romney take shots at Newt's absurdly liberal, "I will not destroy a family over something a grandparent did 25 years ago" amnesty policy. Perry essentially agrees with Gingrich. Romney feels ashamed of his (five seconds) earlier comments and changes his mind. Interesting note: Throughout this portion of the debate, candidates refer to long-term illegal immigrants as "citizens" - technically inaccurate but a huge improvement over "illegals" - the term preferred in the previous debate.
What are the interests of the United States in the region surrounding Syria? If you read the blog that I kept while I was in the Middle East, you know this is a topic of particular interest to me; this, however, is more than I can say about any of the answers to the question. Perry says we need a no fly zone and an oil embargo; Romney makes a good point that a no fly zone in Syria would be like a "no penises zone" in theaters playing the new Twilight movie - kind of a non-issue.
Final question of the night: What national security concerns do you foresee that no one has asked about?
Santorum is worried about a domino effect with socialist regimes in South America. Oh for fuck sake.
Paul says the biggest threat is an over-reaction on our part. THANK YOU.
Perry says that China is, "not a country of morals". I just can't take it, please let it end.
Romney agrees with Santorum and Perry.
Cain says cyber threats - not a bad answer, IMO.
Gingrich believes the three great threats are: HERE WE GO: 1. Terrorist WMD in a major city. Ok. 2. Electro magnetic pulse (?). Maybe he's improving. Can he do it? Here it is: 3. Cyber attack. Ok, maybe he forgot and just went with Cain's answer. Oh well.
Bachmann thinks there are terrorists in her home town. Literally.
Huntsman refuses the question - China is in as much trouble as us (probably true) - and poses his own - how can we have effective foreign policy without domestic stability?
All in all a solid night. I most regret the fact that the statement I most agree with (Gingrich's heartfelt statement that law-abiding, productive individuals should not be punished for an illegal immigration that occurred decades in the past ), and which was actually one of the policies with which most candidates seemed to agree (only Bachmann expressed strong disagreement), will be harped on repeatedly in coming weeks as a sign of Newt's weakness on immigration policy. But then again, I guess that's why it's not my party.
EHB OUT.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Penn State Child Sex Abuse Scandal: My Thoughts
First, please note my title. Referring to recent events at Penn State as a "sex scandal" is miss-leading; as it is commonly used, "sex" refers to consensual sex acts between adults - the qualifiers "illicit", "extra-marital", "abuse", etc. are used in conjunction with the word precisely because "sex" on its own refers merely to consensual intercourse. What Jerry Sandusky did to cause a scandal at Penn State was not just "sex", it was sexual child abuse and, in some cases, it was rape. I am particular about this wording, because I think that people should be able to call this exactly what it is and not shy away from uncomfortable phraseology.
Second, I should note that rape and sex abuse issues are particularly important to me. Sophomore year at Dickinson College, I, along with my then-roommate and good friend Dwight, took a 60-hour course at the YWCA to become rape crisis counselors. After completing the course, Dwight Richardson and I took bi-monthly overnight on-call shifts on the rape crisis hotline; we had beepers and everything. Both of us received calls from victims at various points during the spring semester, and I think I am speaking for both of us, when I say that sexual assault has been an emotional subject ever since.
So, even though I initially envisioned a thoughtful and balanced piece about the discomfort we all face when discussing the sexual abuse of children, and the societal factors that kept this particular incident hushed, the more I read and watched, the angrier I became. At this moment, I am doing everything I can to refrain from pounding out a profanity-laden tirade (also, I knew such a rant would be pointless, because I could never say it as well as Jim Rome). The tipping point for me was a video of Paterno, all smiles, greeting protestors outside his own home Wednesday night. A choice quote from JoePa from the impromptu press conference:
"The kids who were victims or whatever they want to say, I think we all ought to say a prayer for them. It's a tough life when people do certain things to you. But anyway, you've been great. Everything's great, alright."
Deadspin suggested that these insensitive remarks were the result of legal advice from Paterno's attorneys, which may be the case, but Paterno is not on trial by the court of public opinion for poorly spoken words; he is on trial for taking minimal effort to report or investigate claims by a trusted aide that Jerry Sandusky had sexually abused a young boy in the PSU locker room (whether McQueary reported "horsing around" or actual anal intercourse is a controversial matter, as a number of the linked articles explain). Paterno's smiling and the cavalier comments he made to supporters outside his home were just icing on this ancient, disgusting cake.
I am glad to see that Penn State is now responding to the plight of the victims in this infuriating, tragic chain of events, by firing Paterno and University President Graham Spanier, charging AD Curley and Senior VP Schultz with perjury, and removing Sandusky's name and likeness from various locations around campus. But this is not enough.
This thing is only going to get worse. More victims are going to come forward and it will soon get harder and harder to believe that most, if not all, of the Penn State football staff were not aware, or at least suspicious, that Sandusky was sexually abusing minors, even while he was a frequent guest within the PSU sports facility walls. And, although, I think it should go without saying, what is so disgusting about all of this, is that Paterno, Atheltic Director Curley, and Senior VP Schultz elected to put the stability of the program before the needs of the victims. As all of this becomes increasingly clear in the next week or so, as I am certain it will, harsher penalties must be levied.
Penn State must forfeit all remaining games and every member of the coaching staff must be let go. Players should transfer penalty-free. After some of the legal dust has settled, Penn State should be allowed to re-build its program, maybe including former staff members, if they can be vindicated of having kept quiet on the alleged sex abuse.
I am disgusted that students are rioting to support a man who, despite his prior reputation, has so clearly failed to protect the victims of his own coaching staff and failed to protect the reputation and long-term well-being of the university. I think this is just one more reason that Penn State does not deserve the remainder of this football season.
I keep thinking back to the Ohio State scandal and thinking how much angrier and more unified the media and general public seemed about a couple of kids getting discounted tattoos than they are now about JoePa and Spanier choosing to conceal rather than report the rape of a child. Discounted tattoos; not even free tattoos. For fuck sake.
What we should take away from this awful miserable I-am-pulling-at-my-incredible-hair-from-anger series of events, is that child sex abuse is not relegated to kidnappings and crappy David-Schwimmer-directed Clive Owen films; most of it occurs right beneath our noses. Furthermore, as PSU's long-held breath attests, this is an issue that, maybe due to homophobia or maybe due just to general squeamishness, people find very hard to talk about. But that does not mean it is okay not to talk about it. Former NFL FB Heath Evans was a guest on Jime Rome today, talking about his Heath Evans Foundation, which has a lot of resources and does a lot of positive work with victims of sex abuse. I would encourage everyone to read a little bit about it, like I did, because I think it will help us all understand the key issues and make us better citizens in a world in which sex abuse does, unfortunately, exist.
I'm going to give Jim Rome the final word here, because I think his coverage of this story has been unparalleled, and because I think he deserves it:
"And to all the students supporting [Paterno], pointing out all he has done for the school and community: Why don't you consider what he didn't do - anything at all to protect those who were incapable of protecting themselves."
Second, I should note that rape and sex abuse issues are particularly important to me. Sophomore year at Dickinson College, I, along with my then-roommate and good friend Dwight, took a 60-hour course at the YWCA to become rape crisis counselors. After completing the course, Dwight Richardson and I took bi-monthly overnight on-call shifts on the rape crisis hotline; we had beepers and everything. Both of us received calls from victims at various points during the spring semester, and I think I am speaking for both of us, when I say that sexual assault has been an emotional subject ever since.
So, even though I initially envisioned a thoughtful and balanced piece about the discomfort we all face when discussing the sexual abuse of children, and the societal factors that kept this particular incident hushed, the more I read and watched, the angrier I became. At this moment, I am doing everything I can to refrain from pounding out a profanity-laden tirade (also, I knew such a rant would be pointless, because I could never say it as well as Jim Rome). The tipping point for me was a video of Paterno, all smiles, greeting protestors outside his own home Wednesday night. A choice quote from JoePa from the impromptu press conference:
"The kids who were victims or whatever they want to say, I think we all ought to say a prayer for them. It's a tough life when people do certain things to you. But anyway, you've been great. Everything's great, alright."
Deadspin suggested that these insensitive remarks were the result of legal advice from Paterno's attorneys, which may be the case, but Paterno is not on trial by the court of public opinion for poorly spoken words; he is on trial for taking minimal effort to report or investigate claims by a trusted aide that Jerry Sandusky had sexually abused a young boy in the PSU locker room (whether McQueary reported "horsing around" or actual anal intercourse is a controversial matter, as a number of the linked articles explain). Paterno's smiling and the cavalier comments he made to supporters outside his home were just icing on this ancient, disgusting cake.
I am glad to see that Penn State is now responding to the plight of the victims in this infuriating, tragic chain of events, by firing Paterno and University President Graham Spanier, charging AD Curley and Senior VP Schultz with perjury, and removing Sandusky's name and likeness from various locations around campus. But this is not enough.
This thing is only going to get worse. More victims are going to come forward and it will soon get harder and harder to believe that most, if not all, of the Penn State football staff were not aware, or at least suspicious, that Sandusky was sexually abusing minors, even while he was a frequent guest within the PSU sports facility walls. And, although, I think it should go without saying, what is so disgusting about all of this, is that Paterno, Atheltic Director Curley, and Senior VP Schultz elected to put the stability of the program before the needs of the victims. As all of this becomes increasingly clear in the next week or so, as I am certain it will, harsher penalties must be levied.
Penn State must forfeit all remaining games and every member of the coaching staff must be let go. Players should transfer penalty-free. After some of the legal dust has settled, Penn State should be allowed to re-build its program, maybe including former staff members, if they can be vindicated of having kept quiet on the alleged sex abuse.
I am disgusted that students are rioting to support a man who, despite his prior reputation, has so clearly failed to protect the victims of his own coaching staff and failed to protect the reputation and long-term well-being of the university. I think this is just one more reason that Penn State does not deserve the remainder of this football season.
I keep thinking back to the Ohio State scandal and thinking how much angrier and more unified the media and general public seemed about a couple of kids getting discounted tattoos than they are now about JoePa and Spanier choosing to conceal rather than report the rape of a child. Discounted tattoos; not even free tattoos. For fuck sake.
What we should take away from this awful miserable I-am-pulling-at-my-incredible-hair-from-anger series of events, is that child sex abuse is not relegated to kidnappings and crappy David-Schwimmer-directed Clive Owen films; most of it occurs right beneath our noses. Furthermore, as PSU's long-held breath attests, this is an issue that, maybe due to homophobia or maybe due just to general squeamishness, people find very hard to talk about. But that does not mean it is okay not to talk about it. Former NFL FB Heath Evans was a guest on Jime Rome today, talking about his Heath Evans Foundation, which has a lot of resources and does a lot of positive work with victims of sex abuse. I would encourage everyone to read a little bit about it, like I did, because I think it will help us all understand the key issues and make us better citizens in a world in which sex abuse does, unfortunately, exist.
I'm going to give Jim Rome the final word here, because I think his coverage of this story has been unparalleled, and because I think he deserves it:
"And to all the students supporting [Paterno], pointing out all he has done for the school and community: Why don't you consider what he didn't do - anything at all to protect those who were incapable of protecting themselves."
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