Cincinnati Tomorrow is Today

CT is the headline story on the Enquirer's website today. Maggie Downs has a great story giving the history and future of the organization which is in it second year of activity. As a CT regular I am very happy to take part in the group's functions and am glad they are continuing to expand their reach into the community. I really get a lot from this group. I have made great friends, met influential people, and it has helped plug me into the creative and intellectual scene in Cincinnati.

I am disappointed, but not surprised by Mayor Charlie Luken's comments on the group

"I consider myself part of the creative class," Luken explains. "They're all 20-somethings, but I'll take the 30-, 40-, 50- and 60-somethings, too. People my age are moving back downtown, too."

Charlie would be surprised. We do tend to be younger. At 32 I usually am above the average age, but we have many people in their 30's as regulars, and several in their 40's. Charlie should understand that this group's events tend to appeal towards singles or couples without children. We are open to everyone, however, and if Charlie wants to represent the 50 somethings, I suggest he come out next Thursday and find out what our walks are like. We braved the snow last Thursday and had a great time. I think Chaz could stand mingling with a few 20-30 somethings, we don't bite after all.

Consistency

Ok, the BBC is reporting that North Korea has tested chemical weapons on women and children, and they are experimenting by gassing political prisoners. When do we invade? Iraq gassed their own people, now the BBC says North Korea has as well. What is Bush waiting for? Hasn't Bush’s standard for War been met? Add this with their claim to have nuclear weapons and it should be enough for Bush to be running head first into a War right now. The threat appears to be far more imminent than Iraq ever was, or likely ever would have been if left to UN to handle. I guess North Korea lacks resources worth the loss of American lives.

Pettus-Brown Makes the BBC

The BBC has the story on it's front page. It is great advertising for Google, does nothing much for Cincinnati's image, but makes Pettus-Brown look like a fool. If you are a criminal, nothing is worse than being caught because you do something stupid.

Ohioan's For Fingerhut

Jesse Taylor of Pandagon is behind Eric Fingerhut for George Voinovich's Senate seat. Ah, I will likely vote for him too, and I hope he wins, but who else would Jesse have endorsed?

Local Tie to Bush in 30 Seconds Contest

I missed this article from a few weeks back on the local ties to the MoveOn.org contest to create a 30 second commercial on President Bush. 2 people from Cincinnati were among the finalists who produced commercials for the contest.

The MoveOn.org contest grew added attention recently when CBS refused to air their commercial during the Superbowl this weekend. The reason given was that the "spot violated the network's policy against running issue advocacy advertising." This seems odd because CBS is airing an anti-drug commercial funded by the Bush Administration which if is the same one that aired on FOX in 2002 links drug use to support for terrorism, a highly dubious and discredited claim.

UPDATE: Rick Bird reports the controversy in his media column.

'Liberal' Hawks

Eric Alterman in a Nation column hits hard on the big media journalists/analysts who are professed or perceived to be liberals, but were supporters of the Iraq war, in general principle. I like the last line of the column:

America is truly Groundhog Day Nation: insisting on our right to ignore our own history and forever condemned to repeat it.

I would pose an additional question: what makes a liberal hawk into a Bush supporter? There are many bloggers out there who are not conservatives in the least, and have in the past been liberals or a "liberal-libertarian" or neo-liberal, who side with the Democrats most of the time, or at least feel most comfortable with Democratic leadership. They still will mock leadership, but mocking leaders is something that I hope everyone does from time to time, just to keep them from growing iron feet.

This group I think includes Glenn Reynolds, Jeff Jarvis, Dennis Miller, and others. Increasingly I read or listen to what they are saying and it is becoming a personal attack on "liberalism" or Democrats or it becomes homage to Bush on an issue, mostly 'War on Terrorism' or the Iraq War related. Is this division an anomaly or a trend? On the conservative side there is a growing split against Bush as well, on the War and on his domestic spending plans. Is this a period of political realignment or of conception of a four party political system?

One note: the term ?liberal hawk? traditionally would include me. I am not a peacenik in any sense of the word. I supported the Afghanistan War, the Kosovo War, and Gulf War I. I think in this case the term is meant specifically on the Iraq War which initially I was open to using force, but not in a pre-emptive non-UN sanctioned manner.

Are You Threatening Me?

BushCo pushed the "Threat Meme" to a constant stream of propaganda. The Center for American Progress has a list of many of big public mentions that Iraq was a "threat" to America. No WMD, No threat. Who in the administration read the intelligence and let all of this dogma go on? It couldn't be a specially created group in the Defense Department, could it? Who did the "Office of Special Plans" report to, and where they the filter of the intelligence that spun the level of "threat" of Iraq?