These are classic discussions published back in June 2007
John McCain and Mark Shurtleff
On KVNU, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff responded to my request that he and the Gov., as prominent McCain supporters, get serious with Sen. McCain about his campaign’s repeated Mormon-baiting. General Shurtleff said that he would talk with Sen. McCain about the matter tomorrow. Bravo!
Whether it is accidental or intentional, it should stop. I think the world of Mark, and I’m very pleased that he will have that conversation.
Mr. Burningham’s Decree
I wondered if State School Board Chair Kim Burningham had his Board’s authority to boycott the Legislative Interim Education Committee. Apparently, he did not. Board member Dixie Allen wrote:
[T]he State Board took no official stance on appearing at the Interim meeting. In fact, we received Board Chair Burningham’s letter about the same time as you. I, for one, asked for an explanation from Chair Burningham, which he gave to all Board members. His issues were defined as availability of someone from the state office and/or the Board, who had some clear understanding of the legal issues or non-issues surrounding the subject to be discussed. I trust that the reasons for not attending were as simple as timing.
After hearing the committee audio, I find myself very sorry that we were not involved in the discussion and believe that many of our Board would have been very supportive of such a discussion.Odd and unfortunate.
Paris is Free, But Speech Isn’t
We live in strange times. Apparently, our system values all speech (no matter how racist, frivolous, or incorrect), except when that speech is about who governs us and how they govern. Our political leaders believe that speech about them needs to be regulated. This is 180-degrees wrong.
Free speech matters most when it is about things that matter. Though legislative intent is a tricky business, I’d bet the intent of the First Amendment has more to do with unregulated speech about government than it does with unregulated speech about Paris Hilton. (Though I predict she will win the Nobel Peace Prize in the next 5 years for her work on “health issues, criminal rehabilitation, and, like, other stuff”).
Hence, I think the Supreme Court got it right when it struck down some censorship on political speech. But, I wish it would have gone further and struck down the whole act. Letting governmental leaders regulate speech simply results in less speech about those... (read more)
Huntsman and Shurtleff Need to Step Up
Gov. Huntsman and Attorney General Shurtleff loaned their political cachet to John McCain. Since then, in an effort to derail Mitt Romney, McCain repeatedly has said that Mormons are freaks and terrorists.* The Gov and AG have many Mormon constituents who don’t appreciate being called freaks and terrorists. Gov. Huntsman and AG Shurtleff should demand that McCain move beyond hollow lip service and actually fire the latest religion-baiter. Should McCain refuse, they should drop their endorsements. That might let the Senator know that these highly-effective “slips” also have a downside.
* It does not matter that the actual words keep coming from staffers. If a staffer says it and is not fired, the boss likes that it is being said, no matter what kind of lip service he offers to the contrary. This is simple political stuff.
UPDATE: Colonel Takashi notes that “the criticisms are not about Mitt Romney, they are about 6 million Americans!” Exactly. I’d point out, though, that... (read more)
Obama and New Media
Politics needs a good shake. And the Internet is poised to give it. No doubt, all candidates will struggle this election cycle to adapt to new media. And that’s a great thing. As candidates lose the ability to control the message (apologies to McCain-Feingold fans), real glimpses of the candidates and actual substance could emerge.
The prospect of a Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton presidential succession is a damning commentary on the health of our political process. Individual merits – like leadership, ideas, and character – matter less than simply being handed the keys to the political machine. Instead of citizens having broad electoral choices, political machines simply pass around presidencies like cold sores during spring break.
Given that wretched situation, I watch Obama with fascination. The Clinton machine inevitably will secure the Democratic nomination for Hillary – unless Obama can rattle and reinvent the system and bring in new participants by the terabyte. Obama’s campaign, though, is having difficulties breaking out of the old school... (read more)
The AG, the State School Board, and Me (and my 103 colleagues)
We had a good conversation in the Education Committee regarding the relationship of the State Office of Education and the Attorney General. The State Office did not send a representative. An editorial and some bloggers are encouraging the Legislature to butt out. Sorry. Can’t do that. The relationship is a function of statute. If considerable dispute exists regarding that relationship, it is the Legislature that should resolve the issue.
And this matter does present a very significant issue on a going-forward basis. Legal decisions can cost the State millions of dollars and, more importantly, can impact the citizens of the State. (For example, the bad legal advice of an in-house lawyer at the Auditor’s office played a significant role in costing the State $50,000,000 in a dispute over the status of the Workers Compensation Fund; in response to that, the relationship of in-house agency counsel and the Attorney General’s office was clarified... (read more)
Reforming Politics As Usual
The LA Times ran an article on Politicopia. Part of the fun of getting some mentions is that I’m contacted by people working on great ideas to open the doors of democracy to non-insiders.
My friend Britt Blaser is busy working on a project he calls “Independence Year.” His meager goal is to bring together people who will work to reform politics between the next two Independence Days. I love the idea, and am happy to lend a helping hand. There are many disjointed parts in various garages. With a presidential election pressing down on us, it would be a perfect time to coordinate some of these efforts.
As the article mentions, Politicopia aspires to contribute to the open democracy movement by using a soon-to-be-completed platform that will allow people to fully network with each other while they create and exchange political information. The platform is being created by Open Resource Group, LLC and Zaah Technologies. Mike Melillo, who has been working... (read more)
Prince Is a Genius