RealPolitix.com – The Non-Partisan Blog about Politics and Technology Archive for August 2009

The number of people who I consider great can be counted on one hand. Many have done good works, perhaps even great works, but to place someone on a level of greatness, well, it’s a whole other level. Anyone considered great in my book, must be able to overcome extraordinary obstacles, and leap beyond that to do extraordinary things. Overcoming tragedy, or a tragic mistake, is one thing; but to go beyond the personal tragedy and accomplish feats that benefit others, is another – it simply speaks of greatness.

Edward “Ted” Kennedy did just that. Many have long forgotten the tragedy in 1969 when Kennedy, driving under the influence of alcohol after a party, drove off the Chappaquiddick bridge with his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne. The campaign staffer drowned, but worse, Kennedy survived and failed to report the accident to authorities until several hours later.

It was the scandal that shook the nation. People were outraged – not only because of the tragedy, but also because after being found guilty, Kennedy received only a two month suspended sentence for a misdemeanor charge. It was just too obvious that some strings were pulled and that Kennedy was let off easy. Kennedy’s political career looked almost certain to be over. He was damaged goods and back then, there was little if any tolerance for someone exhibiting poor judgment and character.

But if ever there was a good example of someone who had not squandered the public’s faith and generosity after given a second chance, it was Ted Kennedy. Since then he worked tirelessly pushing civil rights, education and health care legislation to move the country and the world forward. His accomplishments were many, and certainly regained the public’s trust.

What I found so intriguing about Kennedy was his unending effort that went well beyond what was expected of him after Chappaquidick became a thing of the past. Perhaps his religious upbringing, or his cultural and family influence, drove him beyond mere self-preservation into near obsessive selfless service. But even those influences fall short of what could be a deeper motivation – by causing the end of someone’s life, he had a mission to give as much as he could of his own life. Life does not always go in a straight line, and Ted Kennedy rose above his failings to improve the lives of all. That was no minor feat – it was greatness.

Today columnist John C. Dvorak made the claim that Vivek Kundra was a phony.  In his story he disputed the education and qualifications of Mr. Kundra.  Among the claims he made was that Vivek Kundra had lied about his MS degree in Information Technology.  It appears shortly after the release of this blog entry GigaOm reported:

University of Maryland University College spokesman, confirmed that Kundra graduated from the school with a Masters of Science in Information Systems Management.

This fact seems to clear up the fact that he did in fact have a MS from University of Maryland.  However there still is no evidence he had a degree in Biology as he claimed in his Washington DC bio. While the education stuff is entertaining and controversial I find the questions about his background more interesting.  Here you have a man placed in charge of multiple billions of dollars of US IT spending.  This same man seems to lack any significant experience in IT that would justify such an important position.  While I agree that he is more than willing to throw resources towards Web 2. 0 technologies this will not solve the underlying problems that exist in Federal IT spending and implementation.  The fact that he spent $18 million dollars to build Recovery.gov is ridiculous.  His spending might be justified if he had made significant improvements in data availability.  However according to OMB watch:

…administration has yet to release much new information that wasn’t previously available online.

Obama did what he always does in his appointments.  He choose a candidate that was politically connected over skill set and experience.  That is why he choose a Leon Panetta for CIA Director.  He choose a politically connected individual over someone with a strong military or intelligence background.  Consistently he has proven that he would rather find someone that benefits him in some politically strategic way rather than choose individuals for their qualifications and experience.

If my father were still alive, I’d be worried. I would want to know exactly on what grounds did the Cambridge police have to arrest the Harvard professor. This would concern me because, you see, my father could easily have been Professor Henry Louis Gates being taken away in handcuffs with his mouth agape.

My father, bless his soul, was one of those belligerent cantankerous old geezers that at times, someone would wish to haul away in handcuffs. It’s actually pretty funny when I think about it – my own dad being dragged away just for being himself! He would be exactly like that professor in the photo, wild-eyed, cursing and screaming at the police! Of course he wasn’t that way all the time – just if you happened to catch him in a bad mood and started bothering him. But he surely would be hot and bothered after returning from a long trip exhausted, and then having to break into his own #@&!!! front door because the #@&!!! door wouldn’t open, and then having the #@&!!! police come by asking him if he’s the owner of the #@&!!! place or if he’s trying to burglarize it. Yes, absolutely that could easily have been my dad being taken away in handcuffs. And that is why, if my dad were still alive today, I would be very concerned.

People really have the Cambridge incident entirely wrong. Cambridge Sergeant James Crowley was not, and is not a racist. And Professor Henry Louis Gates was not, and is not a dangerous man. But instead of seeing the incident for what it was – a legal issue – it was hijacked as a race issue. Moreover, till today it’s still being looked at as a race issue, which is ludicrous.

What simply happened was, there were three combustible words thrown in to ignite the entire situation. Whenever you have these words involved – Arrest, Race and Stupid – all thoughts of basic civil rights go out the window. The problem is those three words together hit a nerve in most people, so rather than viewing the situation as a legal issue, suddenly the issue becomes racism.

Given the choice between having to think about law or racism, guess which one wins out? Everyone has an opinion on racism, but not many have an opinion on law – unless it’s coming down on them personally.

All of the uproar only confirms that people love getting their ire up about racism. But try talking to them about civil rights and their eyes glaze over. Worse, if it requires any kind of thinking, by the time they get pass the word “civil,” their minds have already gone to their happy place. They much prefer to talk about racism. “Racism” is much sexier than “civil rights.”

And people do love being titillated. Which explains why public opinion is formed mostly on the basis of appearance and chatter these days. If anyone’s in trouble, the first thing they’ll do is immediately contact the media and present their side of the story. With the public now being judge and jury, it’s all about public relations, marketing, and presenting everything in a nice neat little package to win people over and sway their thinking. So now, really, ask yourself: Is it “my” opinion, or am I just being manipulated?

Sergeant James Crowley was not lying when he said he’s not a racist. He’s not. Racism wasn’t the problem; his abuse of power in the situation was. He was given two identifications verifying that Professor Gates was indeed the owner of the home. Sergeant Crowley should have left the premises at that point. What was the reason for the arrest? That the professor was going to hit him with his cane?

Granted, police work is difficult, but it is imperative that ordinary citizens have the right not to be arrested in their homes over a personality conflict. This was a personality conflict.

Sergeant Crowley’s actions were wrong and the simple solution was that he needed a little time off.

Perhaps the sergeant might have been concerned about being fired or ruining his good record after facing the professor who demanded his badge number, supervisor’s name and even possibly threatening a lawsuit. This may have triggered the sergeant to take the drastic measure of making an arrest. I understand why the officer did it, and why he continues to defend his actions, but nonetheless, it was wrong. This needs to be made clear to him.

Thus, after all is finally said and done, the teachable moment in all of this will be: We certainly know how to rile up the nation in just three little words.

Apparently the Obama administration did not get the memo that its 2009 and not 1692. On the Whitehouse.gov blog a post encourages readers:

If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

This reminded me of the Salem witch trials where people were encouraged to turn in their neighbors for “fishy” behavior. In addition to this odd behavior Redstate.com is reporting the Obama administration is using provisions from the Broadband Data Improvement Act to gather information on individuals with broadband access including IP address, address and Internet access points on the home. I’m not normally one for conspiracies but this has all the makings of a good one. Cross posted with Rightsideoftech.com