The Presidential Adulation Fallacy

As a different Republican Presidential candidate has assumed front runner status at somewhat regular intervals throughout the primary campaign a narrative has developed that it is primarily the result of an electorate unsatisfied with their choices. This narrative takes the premise that many voters are searching for a candidate that checks all their boxes, to basically be all things to all primary voting Republicans. It’s impossible to know for certain as it’s impossible to read minds and get millions of people to agree on anything. While it may seem like a popularity contest, anyone who’s been stuck behind an indecisive person at Taco Bell knows that some people have difficulty choosing from a menu with a bunch of similar options. Perhaps what these polls are measuring is not exactly whom those questioned are going to vote for but whom they like at the moment as they learn more about them.

This is a good thing because it means that the voters are scrutinizing each candidate and learning as much as possible. It is also preferable because there is nothing more grating and dangerous than a large portion of the electorate falling head over heels for a candidate. The next president, just like each before them, is a human being above everything else and not a savior. Ours is a country ruled by fellow citizens in shifts by the discretion of their peers. It is better for the electorate at large to have some dislike of our leaders because they cannot be everything to everyone and should not only be elected by granting favors nor by a cult of celebrity.

Five and One

First things first. Good luck to Kyle Orton in Kansas City. The record speaks for itself. Recent Broncos history tells us however that recent optimism should be cautious. After all, the Broncos started 6-0 in Josh McDaniels’ first year as coach only to implode. However, it’s difficult not to be exuberant with the Broncos. While aerial fireworks may be lacking their rush heavy offense takes up a lot of time tiring out opposing defenses, allowing their own to rest and opening up passing options. That rested defense has been playing superbly. A few seasons Denver has had good starts for their D, only to see it deteriorate over the length of the season. This time their defense is getting better as the year goes on. And no matter the criticism of his game, Quarterback Tim Tebow is winning and seems to inspire the entire team. The most persistent argument is the assertion that it can’t last, that Tebow cannot continue to play at this level. This is inevitably true, what professional football player remained on the field forever? None, because it ends for everyone. It’s just a matter of when. With an increasing command of the Broncos offense and improving passing statistics as the games progress Tim Tebow is proving to be a good quarterback and no matter when it ends, it will be fun to watch.

So, Why is a Foreclosure?

The dreaded radio blurb has reared its ugly head again this morning. After being kicked out and then re-welcomed to UNM park spaces, after obstructing traffic in several high volume roads the cadre of generally aggrieved miscreants is back. Under a slightly new name, Occupy Albuquerque losing the Un- prefix, whatever that meant, was reintroduced this morning by a ten second 770 KKOB news blurb. In this latest incarnation the Occupy folks are planning to discuss amongst themselves ways to stop foreclosures. To which I wonder, really? The idea that a bunch of know-it-all incoherently and continuously aggrieved layabouts with no practical understanding of how and why things are will actualize any kind of constructive solution is laughable.

Protesting the existence of foreclosures and blaming faceless entities for foreclosing on homes ignores the real issue. Foreclosures occur when some kind of change, to income, to market conditions, to mortgage terms, leads to a mortgage loan recipient to be unable to meet their financial obligations on the mortgage. Following negotiations with the loaning entity and unsuccessful attempts at selling the home above the value owed the loaning entity forecloses on the mortgage taking possession of the home resulting in a degraded credit rating for those whose loan was foreclosed that requires many years to build back up.

For many, changes are completely unforeseen and there are programs to help those in extenuating circumstances. They are supposed to be a very small minority. Recently, the number of foreclosures has increased greatly, effectively mimicking federal housing initiatives forcing lenders to decrease standards for what is considered credit worthy leading to more demand in the home market leading to higher prices. It may be attractive for a person to follow the minimum guidelines and buy as much as permitted but it is not prudent. The loan recipient must be responsible for understanding their capacity for repayment. The loaner cannot be expected to hold their customer’s hand and cannot discourage anything within federal guidelines because to do so is illegal.

Random Thoughts - 11/21

Graduate school is different. So far in one class this semester the professor just stopped grading, no longer providing any tangible feedback to students. At least there doesn’t seem to be any kind of ‘default’ grade but there is no way to know what will happen in these final weeks of the semester. I actually received a returned assignment that had no feedback at all, it was exactly as I turned it in, I wasn’t sure what to do with that. In my other class a slew of subjects were rushed through in time for the final exam which is maybe out tomorrow or perhaps next week. Class notes from last week mention multiple dates some from last year telling class that the slides weren’t all changed from the last time they were used. I tried to turn in the last class assignment, by email, only to be asked to resubmit at a later date when the professor would be back in town. No explanation was given for why the assignment would have to be turned in again to the same email address and why the current date’s email was insufficient. In this same class the midterm included a problem that had an inexplicable solution not found anywhere else, questions on it were not returned.

A difficult personality type is the egotist with little or no evidence of success. Recent experience has led me to really think about the things that I say or my approach to some things, hopefully leading to improvement. A person I know constantly criticizes others they work with for not taking his sage advice and methodology. Finding myself working with this person I learned a reason why they don’t take that advice. Hoping for constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement I got nothing but nebulous platitudes and was chided for requesting clarification. Perhaps I’m dense for not understanding just what to do with brilliant advice. I can’t help the feeling though that a person so enamored with their own business sense would be much more successful more than 40 years into a career. What I take from the experience is that it is very important to be as clear as possible and if someone doesn’t understand what it is that I am saying that it may not be them.

Enjoy Bankruptcy, Ohio

The state of Ohio this past Tuesday voted to reject the elimination of collective bargaining for public employees. The reason behind the initiative was that benefit and compensation plans collectively bargained by public sector employees, not to mention union employment rules, have played a significant role in the large budget deficit facing the state. Unionization is an antiquated concept. They began in this county with the industrial age when there was scant regulation for employers and not much competition for labor. These conditions no longer exist and for every employee that is helped by union contracts there are many others hurt by them. Being an exemplary employee no longer matters because there’s no point when your compensation is preordained by collective bargaining and not related to your effort. Public sector unions are even more pointless, there are no conditions within the United States in which government employees at any level are mistreated in a way that justifies a labor union. There is no explanation for union necessity in the modern United States other than adding an unaccountable layer of management.

Two primary reasons were attributed to the failure of the Ohio initiative. The first was an orchestrated advertising campaign costing tens of millions of dollars financed by public sector unions. Without collective bargaining there is reason for a union to exist, the unions were simply protecting their very existence. The ad campaign was contemptible frightening citizens by making promises of increased crime and home destruction because of reduced Police and Firefighting services. This illustrates the reason why collective bargaining should not be permitted for public employees, their union agents will not hesitate to coerce voters with thinly veiled threats. The fact is that the initiative included no reductions in employment for neither police nor firefighters. And it’s laughable to think that secure public employees will flee to the uncertain private sector en masse faced with the types of benefit changes that would still be larger than that within the private sector.

The second reason given was the relative unpopularity of Republican Governor John Kasich who in recent weeks has been described as cantankerous in the face of attacks on the initiative. This is a difficult concept to analyze but it is often said that conservative principals require someone with an optimistic disposition. It’s just about impossible for anyone to remain optimistic when faced with nearly constant criticisms, especially of the type applied towards conservative ideas and politicians. Following months of attacks on his character and the initiative, it’s difficult to blame Governor Kasich for showing signs of irritation. The money spent by unions was used effectively to craft a narrative that was difficult to counter and the Governor was derided in many different and personal ways.

It will always be difficult to run against free lunches. And it will always be difficult to run against favorable public services. These facts don’t cloud the fact that collective bargaining raises the cost of labor and it can be argued that it is unfair for public employees to enjoy benefits greater than their counterparts in the private sector because the government does not aggressively bargain with unions. Ohio has an enormous budget deficit that will not dissipate with good intentions. The voters of Ohio spoke, against a measure meant to save their system and maintain current levels of employment demonized as mean-spirited. That vote did not change the fact that the system is unsustainable and was the equivalent of a vote towards insolvency.

The lazy and the typical

I know, I know, with a million other problems and the whole world apparently plunging into catastrophe The Muppets movie doesn’t matter much. I’ve never been the kind of person to buy much into such arguments. Truth is almost everyone doesn’t have much say in every, much less any, global scale type problem and worrying about them constantly to the point of inducing a nervous twitch and becoming a preachy dolt does nothing for anyone. The Muppets is very important in the sense that it’s just another stupid attempt at youth indoctrination.

The story to the new Muppets movie is that oil is found on the land below the abandoned Muppet Theater and oilman Tex Richman plans to destroy the theater to drill. Some new Muppet mobilizes with his human brother, the tall dude from ‘How I Met Your Mother’, to stage a Muppet Telethon with reunited Muppets to raise the money needed to ‘save’ the theater. It’s as simple and annoying as it is eye-rolling. An insult to the intelligence and no doubt, if popular, could prove to be instrumental in the development of the worldview of many young people.

How hilarious, the evil oilman, Tex Richman! Because he’s from Texas and he’s a Rich Man! And he drills! That the theater isn’t in use apparently means nothing and that the Muppets themselves are all over the world doing other things doesn’t matter. Why not utilize some simple formulaic good guy/bad guy caricature? This kind of nonsense is the exact reason why most “Occupy” protestors couldn’t explain what it is that Wall Street does or what it takes to drill and then refine oil into usable products. We’ll know who subscribes to such mindlessness when the ‘Republicans for Tex Richman’ bumper stickers start to pop up on Subaru Station Wagons in the Whole Foods parking lot.

While it’s true that the ever elusive peace in the Middle East and the world debt crisis, not to mention many other priorities, are of much more importance; The Muppets movie’s attempted brain washing and other attempts by the entertainment industry counts too and there’s plenty of space to call them out.