Elizabeth George

I love the Inspector Lynley mystery series -- in print and on Masterpiece Theater. Elizabeth George is a wonderful writer, and her depiction of Scotland Yard Inspector Peter Lynley, a British aristocrat working in a decidedly non-aristocratic position, seems so believable.

So it came as a great surprise to me to learn that Elizabeth George is American, born in Ohio and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. And it comes as even more of a surprise to find that she is writing, just as eloquently and well-reasonedly, on the upcoming election. George has done a series of pieces on the various issues --healthcare, the war, taxes, the economy, etc. In them she lays out her personal positions and their rationale just as convincingly as ever she wrote about Lynley.

I encourage you to take a look. Read them all or read a few - she's really done some homework. Here's an excerpt about McCain to get you going...

"What then, historically, are the Senator’s achievements?

The Senator graduated from an all-white, all-boys Episcopal boarding school, before going on to Annapolis where his father and his grandfather had both studied. He graduated after what he himself described as “a four-year course of insubordination”, with a record of accomplishment that put him fifth from the bottom of his class. There were 894 graduates above him.

Some people, it’s true, get off to a slow start in life, and while I prefer in my Presidential candidates someone who has taken his studies at least somewhat seriously, I can see that perhaps the enthusiasm of youth might have led the future Senator to be somewhat slack in his studies. It could be argued that his naval career illustrates what his scholastic career does not:

An examination of the Senator’s naval career exposes the fact that he crashed two jet fighters in advance of the one that was shot down over Hanoi, and he crashed one single-engine ultralight afterwards. That he crashed three planes is certainly not a crime, but it is noteworthy as a remarkable situation because fighter pilots generally are removed from flying upon crashing their first plane. The fact that the Senator was not removed could be attributed to his skill behind the controls of an aircraft, or it could be attributed to the fact that his father was a high-ranking naval officer at the time. I cannot say which is actually the case.

It might be argued that his achievement surviving as a prisoner of war makes him heroic, and certainly we will come to that. But for the moment, moving into his other achievements, there might be something else suitable for emulation. He’s had a long career in the House and the Senate, but four of his most recent positions bear a little scrutiny, I think: his opposition to the new GI Bill, which would have increased benefits to veterans; his vote against supplying Iraqi troops with adequate body armor; his vote to repeal the federal minimum wage; and his position that sought to deprive government healthcare to 3.5 million children in need. If we look to the past, we can see that he voted twice against campaign finance reform; repeatedly voted to deregulate organizations currently in difficulties in Wall Street; and even today he sites as his “biggest legislative victory” a bill in 1989 that abolished catastrophic health insurance for seniors."

--- from "On Heroism" by Elizabeth George

Charlie Would Vote if He Could... Won't You?

You don't really want to see the equivalent of
this on the news, do you?

Powell's Position

If you didn't hear Colin Powell on "Meet the Press" this weekend, here's a replay of his endorsement of Obama.



He, too, is concerned about the increasing narrowness of the Republican party, the 'politics of polarization' approach of McCain's campaign, and McCain's selection of Sarah Palin. And Powell sees Obama as inclusive, inspirational, and a man of both style & substance.

Global Warming

Driving recently, we listened to a recent podcast of KQED's "Forum" that concerned McCain's and Obama's environmental policy proposals. Michael Krasny's guests are the candidates' environmental/energy advisers, and the show is relatively non-partisan and focused on what the candidates want to do and how they want to do it. If you're interested in environmental issues, you should definitely go listen to it.

During the course of the program, The League of Conservation Voters was mentioned as a good source of information, so I checked it out when we got home. Here is their comparison of the 2 candidates policies against the League's own positions (& rationale).

And in the words of a press release:
"DENVER - The League of Conservation Voters has endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States because of his record-setting plans for a clean energy future and his proven record as an environmental champion. As the party conventions highlight the differences between Senators Obama and McCain, LCV presents the Top Ten Energy and Enviromental reasons why every American should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden on November 4:

10. Look to the future: Senator Obama offers the most comprehensive energy plan of any Presidential nominee in history, it will end our dependence on foreign oil and create as many as 5,000,000 jobs. Senator McCain’s plan continues the Bush Administration’s policy of appeasement to Big Oil, does nothing to reduce our dependence on oil, and isn’t as good as Paris Hilton’s.

9. You pollute, you pay: Obama and Biden support plan to make polluters pay for pollution credits and to clean up toxic waste. McCain wants us to foot the bill for clean-up and to give polluters billions in tax breaks and subsidies.

8. Keeping us healthy: Obama and Biden have fought to keep our air and water clean. McCain has voted against clean water ten times and voted six times to make it harder for states and the EPA to keep our air clean.

7. Listening to the scientists: The Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that America must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 in order to avoid the worst effects of global warming. Obama’s plan will reach that goal. McCain’s plan falls far short.

6. The record speaks for itself: Senator Barack Obama earned a lifetime environmental voting score of 86%. Senator Biden earned an 83%. Senator John McCain earned a 24% score.

5. Decisions are made by those who show up: In the last two years, John McCain missed EVERY SINGLE major vote on energy. One vital 2007 bill, to move billions of dollars in tax credits from the oil industry to wind, solar and other clean energy sources, failed by one vote: John McCain’s. Obama and Biden, also running for President, voted for it.

4. Saving money at the pump: Obama proposes to double the fuel efficiency of our cars in 18 years, reducing our oil consumption by at least 35% or 10 millions barrels per day. McCain voted against increasing fuel efficiency in 2003 and 2005. He missed the 2007 vote. Presumably, he ran out of gas.

3. We’re not alone: For more than 20 years, Joe Biden has been at the forefront of the fight against global warming. In 1986, he offered the first Senate bill to fight global warming pollution. Since then, he has been the Senate’s strongest voice for making America the international leader in reducing global warming pollution and exporting clean technology.

2. Higher standards: To create millions of new jobs, we must boost production of renewable electricity. Obama plans create 25% of our electricity from clean energy by 2025. McCain opposes any national renewable energy standard.

1. Judge him by his friends: Senator McCain accepted more than $2 million from the oil and gas industry, more than half of that since he changed his position on offshore drilling last month. His forthcoming plan to open America’s playgrounds and sandboxes to drilling is expected to net another $1.2 million."

Register to Vote!

If you're a US citizen who's going to be 18 by November 4th, and you're not yet registered to vote, it's time to take care of that. There's probably still time -- here in Oregon, for example, the deadline is October 14. And, since you can do it online, there's no excuse for not registering. This election matters, so go do it now!

Old News, But Not Forgotten

The VP debate has come and gone, but if you missed it, there's a superb interactive video of the full debate over at the NY Times. To the right of the video, you have a choice of two tabs - clicking on one gives you a transcript of the debate -- essentially, you can read along. The other tab, a more interesting one I think, provides annotations and analysis and also allows you to move quickly to whatever section of the speech you're interested in.

Politics

I found this article over at the NYTimes fascinating. It's a talk with Tom Davis, a long-time Republican who's leaving politics, and about the partisan rancor and broken process that we call our political process:
Tom Davis Gives Up