Enforcing Civility
“Michael Grimm’s behavior last night was disgraceful, completely unacceptable, and unbefitting of a United States Congressman. Using threats of physical violence to intimidate the press from doing their jobs is against everything our country—and our government—stands for.”
Domenic M. Recchia, Jr.
Democratic Congressional candidate (NY-11)
We do not have two political parties in this country. We have one—admittedly often feckless, craven or uninspiring, but largely sane—political party, and one scorching case of ‘roid rage.
In the case of former Illinois Congressman and accomplished temper tantrum Joe Walsh, renowned for publicly barking at the taxpayers who pay his salary, voters didn’t take too kindly at a politician getting that whole employee-employer relationship confused and promptly retired him from office in the next election.
Deadbeat dad/US Rep Walsh:
being sued for child support makes him angry.
Now, the cherished GOP narrative of stalwart conservatives being victimized by a partisan, bullying press is itself taking a knee to the groin, courtesy of a Sigma Nu hazing incident posing as a United States Congressman.
This was not an isolated incident, this is the kind of guy who brandishes guns in nightclubs, threatens to punch voters, makes patrons wait in long lines for the loo while he’s pursuing coitus therein—you know, just an all around thoughtful, selfless public servant.
Thanks to his bad Goodfellas parody last night, this master of legislative statecraft is now the latest Joe Walsh style celebrity. A legislative mediocrity noted only for his utter lack of accomplishment, Brother Grimm has likewise risen from anonymous backbencher to overnight celebrity and will doubtlessly fundraise like the dickens off being “targeted by the liberal media.”
What our job is, as citizens, is to reinforce the notion that we have a right to expect a basic minimum standard of human civility in those whom we choose to govern us. Mr. Grimm’s Democratic opponent this November is a NYC Councilman, member of the body’s Finance Committee, the husband of a school teacher, dad of 3, and eminently qualified, competent and evolved human who can be trusted to not get his district this kind of unfortunate media attention. As in the case of Joe Walsh, we can enforce a minimum standard of public civility via his tip jar.
I’m with KN here- this behavior jumps the bounds of discussing what constitutes civil behavior and hovers on the edge of assault.
Mr Grimm’s phony baloney apology to the reporter is the same old, same old act stoopid, act rilly stoopid, get pushback so apologize and blame the other person for your behavior in the same breath.
Yippy skippy! for taking personal responsibility there Mr Grimm. Not.
Question: There seems to be a number of occurances of right wing people threatening/talking about violently overthrowing the government in order to “fix” it, or violently “fixing” other people. Are there similar occurances of left wing people doing the same, or am I just not seeing or hearing of them occurring?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/politics/when-politicians-lash-out-at-reporters/2014/01/29/0015e69c-8917-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_video.html
No threats of violence here,but both parties get testy with reporters. I didn’t check Fake Noise because they will have lots of anecdotes about nasty dems with no proof to back them up. I’ve also got about a dozen cottontail raggits who have been “California Dreaming”. Look for an influx near you,soon,my friend. No need to thank me. 🙂
Well,the drug addicted,first term,Florida wingnut,congressweasel Radel was forced out,mayhaps lightning will strike twice and Obama’s skin will lighten enough to make him acceptable to wingnuts. Actually I am hoping that even tea-baggers will gag on their own vomit enough to remove this stain from their already stained countenance. Someone threatening to throw a politician off a balcony would most likely end up as a guest of the Club Fed for at least a year and then be branded as a terrorist,which would still allow that person to purchase all the guns he/she wanted,afterwards. Dems need to take control of the House and then appoint a liberal version of Darrell(my brother did it) Issa to crucify rethugs at taxpayer’s expense.
OT-George Zimmerkiller was on teevee today claiming he will climb into the ring and fight anybody. Wasn’t long ago he couldn’t stand up to a 17 y/o Black kid,half his size and had to shoot Trayvon Martin. to protect himself. You are not allowed to carry weapons into the ring,so what gives?
Without researching the statutes of the District of Columbia this seems to fit the legal definition of simple assault. Are congressmen immune from prosecution under criminial laws? Even if no action is forthcoming from authorities given the existing evidence the reporter probably has a good case for civil assault. Does anyone here believe for a minute that if the situation was reversed said reporter would be cooling his heels in some DC jail?
Since when does ‘elected official’ translate to privileged and immune aristocracy?
This goes to the whole case of holding the full faith and credit of the nation hostage to achieve something that was impossible in any normal legislative process. Isn’t that called extortion? Nice economy you have here, be a shame if anything was to happen to it.
This appears to be the current MO of the ‘otherness’ party. Why they have any followers defies all logic.
But then logic is not of much use I guess to minds that know the revealed truth of everything.
This kind of thing is in part why I have chosen not to come back to live in the U.S. I’ll not be renouncing my citizenship because I am an optimist, but Brasil allows for dual citizenship for property owners and I am fully qualified for that. I will cautiously divest my holdings in the U.S. and remain here able to live inexpensively and in peace. My small investments and scheduled payouts for shares in various ventures
make me comfortably well off by Brasilian standards. And the politics, though vigorous and sometimes
divisive is refreshingly honest and open. Perhaps that is a consequence of a couple of decades of military dictatorship. Perhaps the Brasilians have learnt their lesson the hard way.
I do and will miss the small circle of society which was my millieu in the U.S. , but I have ample room here
and an open invitation to all whom I know to come and visit. Another benefit of remaining here is that even although I am no longer actively working, I have plenty of work to do. I look forward to ending my life in the search for kimberlites. It may well prove futile in terms of results, but it is far from that in terms of staying involved with my life long love of science. 30 years ago I would never have imagined such an outcome.
Nothing is ideal, but a bit of good luck is not to be scorned.
Now if we can just get some rain so the world doesn’t burn to the ground….
KN-a word of caution to you,my friend. Pray that Saint Ronnie Raygun and Oliver North don’t know you are in Brazil,as that is another country with a leftist government they intended to overthrow when Raygun was Potus. Must be all those scantily clad ladies on the beach in Rio that upsets their Puritanical,lusty hearts. Have a care and know that us Mudpups keep you in our thoughts. May your days be filled with bird watching and peace. Stay warm,too. 🙂
Mike, thanks for the kind thoughts. I am now into my 11th year here and getting quite comfortable. I also have a LOT of friends. Or at least they appear to be friends. The Gov. here is still somewhat lefty but not so much so as at times in the past… but I keep the politics at arms length. Not really interested. They leave me alone except for the occasional shakedown by the local unpaid Federales to which I have no objection. I even
have a friend or two in Brasilia whose homes I am always welcome in if I happen to be in town.
For the most part Brasilieros are charming, warm and fiercly loyal and comitted people and they expect the same from you so it is a simple deal. I am not filthy rich but I am substantially well off compared to the average citizen so I employ as many people as I can without be ostentacious and I pay them slightly above the local scale but not so much as to anger other competing employers. I have a small household. A cook who works 5 days a week, a driver who is on-call and may not work at all for a week at a time but still gets paid, two house keepers who don’t have much to do but get a regular full time wage and two
‘night watchmen’ who’s main duty is to open and close the gates to my little walled compound which is just like every other compound in the city I also do ‘projects’ now and then which emply casual labor and
I pay them the same rate as everyone else but allow somone else to do the selecting. I have an interpreter because I am terrible at learning languages unless they are programming languages. My main
living space has a satellite TV and Internet uplink which is open to the public for the most part but is not
heavily exploited. I have two or three ‘guests’ all the time watching futball on the tube. I am anything but lonely. I know just enough Portuguese to be able to carry on simple conversations with anyone but I don’t write well and my grammer must be horrific to anyone educated, still I have a regular round of visitors who
seem to prefer my imported whisky to the local product which I can understand very well. Every Monday
the local priest drops by for dinner and afterwards he knocks back a few tumblers of Weller’s and ice into the wee hours. A Jewish gentleman who made millions in cheap Brasilian diamonds often is also present and they debate their theological views and attempt to play Backgammon or Chess while I sit by
and amusedly listen to them squabble. They enlist me into their debates sometimes on scientific points
because they know I am knowledgeable. Last Monday’s discussion centered around the idea of whether or not it was possible to transmute lead into gold, which of course it is, but at a cost far exceeding the value of gold. I participate because it is a little like the time I returned from a long field season in West Africa and was invited to give a lecture to my neice’s 5th grade class on where diamonds come from. It was a little hopeless in both cases. How do you explain the importance of a neutron capture cross section to someone who has no idea what an atom even is? It was actually easier to talk to the 5th graders because I could start with volcanos. That at least woke them up.
I still try to do a little research but I don’t do much field work because it is so expensive. Nor do I have much in the way of quantitative analytical capability. Yet I have literally tonnes of samples. I wish I knew
what they were compositionally but it would cost a fortune to send them off to be analysed. It would also
cost a fortune to build out an analytical capability here. So I am literally stuck between a whole bunch of
crates full of rocks and nothing but a couple of optical microscopes and some primitive polishing apparatus. Now and then though you stumble upon something unequivocal like a perfectly euhedral
octahedral diamond measuring about .2 mm on a side. There is so much more I could do if I just had the means to pay for it. One of the key things is getting ages. You see, geology is a four dimensional science. Time is a very big part of it. There are plenty of methods of determining the ages of things ranging from igneous rocks to individual crystals of diamond, but all of them take a long time, require very sophisticated apparatus and highly expert colleagues to carry them out. You can’t be an expert in everything.
I guess these rambling cognitions give a sort of context to how I fit in here in my little community. They know I am an eccentric and perhaps dangerous character. I might after all upset the overall apple cart if too many people start to pay attention to me. But I am no evangelist, I just make myself available to anyone who seeks out my kind of experience. Never the less, like the fifth graders, I can wake them up with some of my explanations of why things are the way they are.
I am getting on in years of course, almost 65 now. My hair which is thinning markedly and my beard are both a dirty gray but all the little children who see me for the first time shout ‘Papa Noel!’. I find it amusing.
In a sense, I guess I am much older than my years. Living in the tropics takes a toll.
Yes, I would like to lure a Tucan to be a regular visitor but so far it hasn’t happened. They are truly extraordinary. They can crack a Brasil nut with that beak like it was an egg shell.
I have to apologize to AKM for taking up so much blog space waxing profound or profane depending on one’s point of view. I can’t really help myself. To know is to want to tell.
“I am Lazurus come from the dead, come back to tell you all” – T.S. Eliot
Ciao,
As is inevitably the case, KN, I am multiple-degrees more knowledgeable and informed on a whole array of matters having read your post. It happens with each and every post you make. I thank you for that. (Although I’m not too sure about the “getting on in years of course, almost 65 now,” bit. :-)) Truly, though, your never fail to teach me something incredible with your posts…usually, MANY incredible somethings. And I love it all! For that, my dear mudpup friend, I thank you greatly. beth.
–AKM, thanks to you, too, for bringing us all together! I’ve traveled all over the world and meeting the incredible conglomeration gathered on the ‘flats has added immeasurably to my life, one that’d already been chock-full of adventure and jam-packed with interesting people. I’m one lucky, lucky gal to have been so pized at McCain that I came across the ‘flats. It has never disappointed. b.
Beth – thank you for the compliments and I am very pleased to know you enjoy my little missives. I have a strong sense of the ‘cummunity’ that is the Mudflats as well. I have been faring far and wide across the world also for more than fourty years and have enjoyed it greatly often in company or situations that many people might not relish. It never discouraged me from learning about other people in other places. I would not say I have lived a life of adventure, geologic work is for the most part slow, painstaking and even at time a little dull in that a lot of time can pass when nothing really significant happens. Then again, there is a good lesson in all that. Sometimes it takes a year of experience to prepare yourself for one unforeseeable day when all the effort and patience and endurance will be vindicatied by noticing something that you may actually have overlooked a hundred times before.
It may sound odd since my job involves exploration for natural resources but I am aware of and sensitive to most environmental issues. I have to admit that one of the consequences of mining and resource exploitation in general is that greed can lead to terrible environmental damage. It is for that reason that I think for instance that something like the Pebble Mine is inevitable, but it should be done responsibly. That is a very tall order when it comes up against greed. Copper is the resource that will ultimately cause the mine to be developed, but hopefully not for another 20-30 years and after a sea change in the political landscape that will hold the developers responsible and demand not only a responsible and workable plan, but a plan that will be vigorously enforced. Having worked for Anglo American in the past I can say that they have a pretty decent culture and many good employees who take their jobs very seriously and want to do as little harm as possible while still servicing the incredible demand for resources. I have consulted for Anglo in years past and never once have I felt any pressure or coercion to soft-pedal environmental concerns. I am not defending them, I am just explaining that every enterprise had good and bad actors. I strongly suspect that the reason Anglo walked away from Pebble was that they took a hard look at what was being proposed and realized (whether they were proposing it or not) that the risks out-weighed the benefits and not just from the standpoint of profits.
Ultimately, as well, we are all responsible. A deposit such as Pebble would simply not be worth its fantastic assessment of half a trillion dollars if it were not for the fact that the global population is over seven billion and growing and most of those people would be very glad to have copper wiring and plumbing in their homes, if they even have homes. So the problems we grapple with are extremely complex and often equivocal to an extent that reasonable people could find it impossible to decide what is the ‘right’ thing to do. That is why when I was finishing my degree I chose to pursue the esoteric and
narrow field of diamonds and kimberlites. Diamonds in and of themselves are trivial bauble that have
a kind of fascination thanks to savy marketing. They are a poor investment because though they may cost
a great deal they are impossible to trade as an outsider. But they do have a redeeming scientific feature.
They only form at extremely high pressures which means at great depths within the earth. By great depths
I mean greater than 200 km deep, about 125 miles deep. Because they are pure metallic carbon, at low
pressures and in the presence of oxygen they burn to completion leaving no ash, so for them to survive transport to the surface in a volcanic eruption things have to happen very fast. Thus the volcanos that erupt diamonds come from extreme depths very rapidly and as such entrain large amounts of the surrounding rocks extant at those same depths providing us rock geeks with samples of the earth’s upper mantle in
the form of ultramafic xenoliths. Literally very high iron and magnesium ‘foreign stones’. A hint shall we say of how the deep earth is made up chemicallly.
It turns out that these exotic rocks have chemical relationships between their constituent minerals that allow us on the basis of their compositions to determine such things as the temperatures and pressures
at which they formed. Thus we can say with some confidence that peridotite xenoliths with minerals of certain compositions have come from a certain depth within the earth and consequently that they probably represent the bulk composition under those conditions.
This all may seem incredibly trivial and non-sequitur given the grave problems we face here at the surface
of our little rock. But it is all part of the grand endeavor to try to understand nature. What does all this have to do with me and my being here in Brasil? It is really very simple. Brasil has produced large amounts of
diamonds for over 3 centuries but not a single source rock i.e. kimberlite has been found that is sufficiently diamondiferous to study. So more than a decade ago I came here to try to find such a source rock that could be studied. So far, no luck. But it is still thrilling to find in a sample a perfect tiny diamond
where no diamond had ever been found before. All diamonds come from these rare volcanos called kimberlites. So somewhere within the vast watershed from which that sample came, there must be, or have been a kimberlite.
I want to find it. I first started working in Brasil in 1995 and working on this watershed with the single diamond in 2003. So I am approaching two decades working on this without a lot of progress. I do have to say that diamonds alone are not the only indicator minerals that derive from kimberlites, there are a handful of others. Various forms of garnets, ilmenites and spinels. But there are barriers still to using them effectively because you can’t tell their chemical composition just by looking at them under a microscope. You have to have a precise idea of their chemical composition.
Here’s a little irony to stack onto my story. Many of my academic colleagues are reluctant to work with me
because I am not an academic. That is to say, because I earn my keep by consulting instead of writing grants and being affiliated with academia, they won’t collaborate with me, even although I have samples
that none of them could hope to acquire on their own.
To paraphrase a more simplistic POV – what a long strange trip it has been.
We should take joy in the ineffable complexity and stangeness of our world. The thing that makes life so truly exciting is no any kind of surety, but the universal truth that we never know what we will find around the next corner.
“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” – Tennyson
And people wonder why President Obama has trouble working with this Congress?
Who is wondering that, slipstream? OT, the founder of GOProud left the R party, because as a gay man, he felt unwelcome. What took him so long?