Interesting perspective on the State of the Union

Peter Robinson, speech writer for President Reagan:

”I hate the damn thing, and I consider the State of the Union one of the central mysteries of modern American life. The president doesn’t wanna give it, the Congress doesn’t wanna listen to it, and the networks don’t wanna cover it, and every year the damn thing happens all the same. … In a certain sense it’s now a kind of permanent ritual, and the question is, how well does the administration, any administration, stand up to the discipline, of doing this peculiar act, that everybody has to do, and which, if done correctly, is nevertheless useful.”

C-SPAN has more – way more – here.

Robert S. McNamara’s Eleven Life Lessons

In “The Fog of War” (2003), former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara talks about eleven life lessons:

1. Emphasize with your enemy.
2. Rationality will not save us.
3. There’s something beyond one’s self.
4. Maximize efficiency.
5. Proportionality should be a guideline in war.
6. Get the data.
7. Belief and seeing are both often wrong.
8. Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning.
9. In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil.
10. Never say never.
11. You can’t change human nature.

If you haven’t seen the documentary yet, do so. It’s enlightening.

Tea Pot Dome

A political cartoon from 1924 about the Tea Pot Dome scandal. How does the cartoon describe the current political climate? Well, some Republicans are all up in it (tea), some are scared of it, while others are trying to stay as close as possible without suffering the fate of Icarus. Democrats, quite simply, are trying to spill the tea.