Monday, June 20, 2005

Today's Political Rant

No one will ever give me credit for it but I think, back in the pre-Internet days of electronic bulletin boards, I was the first person to ever make an important point in online discussions. My friends and I used to refer to Mark's Rule, which is that you're not allowed to compare anyone to Hitler or Nazis unless they're actually committing mass murder and genocide. I think this is better that the version now being floated about, which says that you're not allowed to compare anyone to Hitler at all. If someone is going around and killing thousands of people, or even hundreds, I think it's okay to make a Nazi analogy or two.

A lot of people are upset because an Illinois senator suggested that certain actions in U.S prison camps could be mistaken for Nazi S.O.P. This is not exactly saying the perpetrators are equal to Nazis but it's close enough, I guess.

Dick Durbin's detractors are calling his remarks "treason" and demanding that he be kicked out of the senate or at least censured. Personally, I don't think spoken words alone ever constitute treason, and the demands for his ouster are empty political threats. It's like when someone loses a public battle on some issue and says, "You haven't heard the last of this! We're going to pass a Constitutional Amendment to reverse this." That almost always means you have heard the last of it. What's the current batting average for threatened amendments to our Constitution? I think it's like one in five hundred million. The stats for getting senators tossed out of office for what they say are about the same.

Might they get him censured? They shouldn't. But never underestimate the power of the right-wing wackos to force Republicans in Congress to occasionally act on their hysterics. (The Terri Schiavo matter will stand for some time as the shining example but it's by no means the only. By the way, right-wing wackos should not be confused with left-wing wackos, who are just as wacko though somewhat less effectual.)

Was Durbin in the wrong? Yeah, if for no other reason than that the public discourse is now over his choice of analogy, rather than the actual issue he was trying to get people to do something about. He was raising a very serious matter and one suspects that at least some of the folks now hammering him for the Nazi reference are doing so because it's easier — and probably more fun — to do that that to address the main charge. Otherwise, I think I agree with Andrew Sullivan, and that must mean something since I so rarely agree with Andrew Sullivan. We need to address the issue instead of shooting messengers. That's probably all Senator Durbin was trying to make happen and it's unfortunate that he used a few words that have gotten things off-topic.

• Posted at 4:02 PM · LINK

Another Vegas View

Here's another old Vegas picture from...well, it's probably before 1973 because the old MGM Grand (now Bally's) doesn't seem to be where it oughta be. They have a couple of Clarks over at Caesars Palace — Roy Clark is opening for Petula, no relation. The Flamingo across the street is still advertising itself as a motel, and in its showroom you can see the team of Phil Ford and Mimi Hines, with Myron Cohen as their opening act. I thought I'd post this to note that Phil Ford, a classy entertainer and straight man, passed away last week at the age of 85. Here are some details on his life and times.

• Posted at 10:12 AM · LINK