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RSS 1.0 feed Week in Review: July 12-18, 2009
in Politics
written by Playmaker on 07/18/2009
There were some outstanding stories this week.
It was the 40th anniversary of the landing on the moon, an event that has captivated me all of my life. I was eight at the time, and I remember the events of that night like it happened just the other day. This event brought up a lot of discussion about the usefulness of the space program, and questions of whether or not there are more important things to do with the funding. My arguments for space exploration are similar to the ones posed by others, so I don't really want to regurgitate those. However, it is my belief that exploration into space does allow us to look back and see how precious our world is, and it is only through constant exploration and pushing ourselves to our limit is as part of being human as breathing.
When they landed on the moon, the event was surround by some of the greatest personalities in US history, not the least of which was the voice of the landing, Walter Cronkite who died this week. Although I am not a journalist or a newsman, I cannot help but feel as though the torch of quality, impartial and free press has been extinguished. Somehow, while Mr. Cronkite was alive his mere presence and criticism of the press held them to a higher standard, with rare exceptions. Now that he has passed I cannot help by feel that it is the end of quality television journalism without hope of recovery.
Judge Sotomayor had her reaming at the hands of the GOP this week...or perhaps I should say weak. The big deal that the damned Republicans made about using empathy on the bench was so far fetched. And yet, every news outlet parroted that crap over and over again until, alas, we started to believe that it was an issue. But of course your life experiences would have an effect on your rulings, how could they not? Isn't law school a life experience, as well as time spent on the bench? It is preposterous that we should think otherwise, and the GOP should be ashamed of the way they treated this fine woman.
Also this week, while Sotomayor was getting beat about the head and shoulders, the nasties were blowing up hotels in Indonesia. If you are a reader of this blog, you know that I am no fan of the War on Terror. These events are a directly related to our presence abroad. We need to pull back and get our military out of Saudi Arabia and other points East. And we need to tell the Israelites that they have got to make peace or face our wrath. After all, wasn't it this week that saw Israeli war ships on the move?
At home, the US Department of Interior put a halt to executing timber sales in the Pacific Northwest. The plan that the Bush Administration put into effect in their final days, called the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR). This would have caused the clear cut of old growth timber in some of the most scenic areas of our country. However, on the other side of the coin, the Obama Administration allowed a massive timber sale in the Tsongas National Forrest in Alaska. We keep creeping up on this debate as to whether it is better to have jobs now and a barren forest later or a forest now that can protect wildlife and so on.
And, finally, in the Pacific Northwest our progressive Senator Wyden has started making a stink that healthcare legislation is moving too fast. I think it is hilarious that he made this statement in a letter that was delivered while he was traveling outside of Washington DC. He needs to get back to work and stop being such a cry-baby.
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