secrets

A story in Slate nicely sums up just what bothers me about the State Secrets privilege:

It has long been the view of the Bush administration that nothing can be deemed illegal so long as it remains a secret. Never mind that it's a secret only to people living in igloos without wireless service.

Now, I will concede there are things the state or government justifiably needs to keep secret. However, I would also argue that without any oversight, any entity with power who can unilaterally determine what should be secret and what should not will keep secret more than it needs to, and will likely keep secret things which would embarrass or undermine its power, rather than legitimately threaten the larger security of the state. I don't know the best way to balance a need for classified/secret/clandestine arrangements with a need for oversight and some transparency, but I know I don't like the way it's being handled right now.

at least you could try

The new American Express commercial with Tina Fey bugs me. I think the commercial itself is pretty funny, at least the first few times ("No, the other kind of German Shepherds"). But the concept of the whole thing bugs me.

The ad is supposed to show how her American Express card is the only easy thing about Tina Fey's life. That's how they sell it. The problem I have with it is this: they're not showing Tina Fey's life. They're showing the life of Liz Lemon, her character on 30 Rock.

This probably shouldn't be a sticking point with me. It's not like I expect a commercial with Tina Fey to accurately portray her life. But this isn't even trying. And don't people have enough trouble sorting out the difference between celebrities and the characters they play?

Orwell's limited mind

In an article about the Texas transportation department photographing random cars' license plates on certain stretches of highway and then mailing the car owners surveys:

"This is more than Orwell ever imagined," he said.

A quote from the director of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

Things like this drive me nuts. I'm as concerned about the erosion of civil liberties in this country as just about anyone. I worry about the effect of the general lack of privacy you can carve out of the information and electronic age. But anyone who's trying to fight the collection of data by government agencies should at least try to make rational arguments, rather than coming off as a kook who doesn't know what he's referencing.

Orwell envisioned a future where the rulers had a two-way link into every home. Where the only place you could be sure of privacy was inside your own head, with silent thoughts. A future where the government not only watched over the populace, but controlled all their access to any kind of information, and where accounts of the past were routinely re-written to reflect the political whims of the present.

I don't think photographing license plates with hidden cameras is more totalitarian than Big Brother.

Gotta' love those former Montana senators...

My home state has had a decent share of crazies in elected office (at least we're not Idaho).

Apparently they stay crazy even after they're out of office.

I, of course, haven't been particularly consistent with this semi-regular feature, and this is a pretty old story, but it strikes me as an indicator of just how different the message coming from the architects of the Iraq War has been compared to the people who have been fighting it.

Iraq victory might not help.

baseball

I know this is three days late, but I had to say something about Monday night's play-in game between the Rockies and Padres I haven't seen anywhere else.

After the Padres tied the game 6-6 in the eighth, every Rockies hitter came up to the plate looking for the solo home run to end the game. For five innings, everybody was swinging for the fences and through the ball.

Then the Padres score two in the top of the 13th, and the Rockies come back with a rally built on doubles. I honestly believe if the Padres scored just one run in the 13th, they'd be playing hte Phillies right now. The Rockies would have kept trying to aim for the fences, with even more desperation. But being down two actually took some of the pressure off the individual hitters and once you string together a few hits everyone feeds off the energy.

Didn't get a chance to see the Rockies win Game 1 against the Phillies. I can't see them keeping this up through the playoffs, but it's fun to watch a team get hot at the end.