Self-preservation and political principle

The GOP has been up in arms about the defection of Arlen Specter to the Democrats, saying the 28-year Senate veteran's embrace of the majority party was a move of self-preservation and political expediency and not one of principle.

As if anyone thought otherwise.

What I find striking about this argument is not the venom directed at Specter -- that's pretty standard in the political world -- but that the GOP seems to be acknowledging its own irrelevence. In arguing that Specter switched because he couldn't win re-election next year as a Republican, isn't the party also saying that the Republican brand has little value -- at least in Pennsylvania?

Runner's diary, Thursday

Today's three-mile run makes four days of running, three outside, and a total of 13 miles for the week. That's not exactly big numbers -- whatever happened to the days of 25-30 miles a week? -- but it is progress.

iPod: Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs

Meet the mediocrities

This baseball season is not shaping up the way I'd have liked it to, with the brilliant pitching of Johan Santana being wasted again. He is 3-1 in five starts, but has given up just eight earned runs. The Mets have scored just 11 runs for him in those starts, blew a game for him with shoddy fielding and an otherwise spotless bullpen gave one up last night.

The last couple of days for the bullpen haven't been sterling, but the relievers can be forgiven. It's not their fault that the Mets find themselves fighting just to reach .500 as the month of April comes to a close. It is the lack of power and clutch hitting -- and some dreadful starting pitching aside from Santana (before this week, the starters had trouble putting more than one solid start together in a row).

This is a better team than it is showing and will probably go on a run. But the middle of the rotation must step up -- or Omar Minaya has to go out and find another arm.

Doggie diary: The story of Rosie and Sophie Wake me up before you go-go

I really wish they'd wait at until 6:15 to get me out of bed -- especially if all they plan to do is keep watch over the yard. Today, they were up at 5:45 and wouldn't let me lie back down.

So, I'm figuring this will be a long day. It certainly feels that way already and it's only 7:38.

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Seeking thoughts on immigration

I am beginning work on a series of columns on illegal immigration in the suburbs of Central Jersey, focusing on the difficulties the undocumented face and looking at:

• whether undocumented students who graduated from New Jersey high schools should charged in-state tuition at state schools (currently, they pay out-of-state tuition);
• whether immigration status should be considered when drive's licenses are issues;
• the services that are available and needed, especially at a time of economic upheaval.

I've got a long list of interviews lined up, but I'd like to hear from readers of this blog and of the various Packet newspapers, so send me an e-mail at hkalet@centraljersey.com and tell me what you think.

100 days, 100 nights

When exactly did the 100-day mark become such a touchstone for a presidency? Am I right in not remembering the media -- newspapers, TV, cable -- making this kind of fuss at the 100-day mark of the Clinton of Bush presidencies?

A presidential term is four years long -- 1,461 days -- and judging a presidency on its first 100 seems absurd. I know that Franklin Roosevelt managed quite a bit in his first 100; John Kennedy's first 100 were botched. Barack Obama seems to be doing fairly well, even if he is far more of a centrist than many of his supporters realized.

The issue is not where we stand on April 29 -- that has more to do with the media's Roosevelt fetish and its "new FDR" narrative -- but where we go between now and the first Tuesday in November 2012. That's when the Obama presidency can really be judged.

Awash in cash

I've written about this before -- ad nauseum -- but this story out of Robbinsville only reinforces my conviction that campaign finance reforms must include local elections.

Too many towns in the state -- Monroe, South Brunswick and North Brunswick, for instance -- have become one-party enclaves thanks to the ability of the majority party to raise and spend money on their campaigns.

The money, because it comes from private donors who often plan to do business in the community, can seem as if it has strings attached. The impression that leavse is corrosive to public trust.

Just as importantly, the ability to use a campaign warchest to outspend an opponent into oblivion, to crush entire party apparatus under the weight of money, limits debate, freezing out the arguments and proposals that might be offered by the minority party/challenging candidates.

I don't want this to imply a judgment of the candidates who have the money -- the rules are the rules and that discussion is for another day. It is the system that is corrupt and must be changed, as David Donnelly of the Public Campaign Action Fund told me last week. As he put it, "It is the system that should be indicted.”

Will the Princetons be a test case on consolidation?

Consolidation of the two Princetons is back on the table.

Members of the governing bodies of both towns -- along with numerous residents -- appear ready to move ahead with a study, despite a history of failed consolidation attempts. At a Monday meeting on the issue, even people who in the past opposed a merger said they were ready to investigate -- even if they were not ready to take a position on consolidation.

Borough Councilman David Goldfarb, a past opponent of full municipal consolidation, said, “We should move ahead very carefully, make sure we are all on the same page before we move on to the next step, and don’t make any assumptions.”

Mr. Goldfarb said, “I think we can go forward with the next two or three steps without throwing the c-word in front of everybody and getting an uproar and having everybody taking sides.”

Such a discussion -- occurring at a time when the governor is pushing for more shared services and potential municipal and school consolidations -- could help frame the debate statewide. The issues -- cost savings and services, debt, identity and representation -- are the same ones that pop up in every discussion.

And while the Princetons already share more services than most communities -- there are probably 20 or so agencies and commissions that operate jointly, including the Planning Board, tax assessment and collection, the Board of Health, the library and the school district -- there remains plenty of other areas that could result in savings. Most notable, of course, is the existence of two separate police departments, one of the largest costs incurred by any municipality.

There is no doubt that New Jersey has too many layers of government (can we reform the counties?) and too many municipalities (566!) and school districts (611!) and that we need to streamline. It will require municipal mergers, school regionalization and other changes.

Critics of consolidation dispute this assertion, which is why the Princeton discussion is likely to have implications well beyond the township's borders (the township is the doughnut that completely surrounds the borough) and even beyond Mercer County and central New Jersey.

Runner's diary, Wednesday

The weather was better than I expected but, with rain threatening and a renewed chill in the air, I decided to stay inside and use the treadmill. The result: four miles in 35:14, followed by upper-body weight work.

iPod: Chairlift, Does You Inspire You

What happened to the weather?

So, we go from four or five days of early summer -- temperatures in the 80s (and even the low 90s) -- to an unseasonable 57 degrees (according to the dashboard thermometer). I know it's April, but come on. I mean, can we keep the temperature swings to 25 degrees from day to day? I don't think that's asking too much.

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RIP, Gondo

Glen Gondrezick was not the greatest Knick to ever play the game, or even the best sub on the team when he played in New York (1977-78 and 1978-79, after being picked in the second round). But the small forward hustled. He was a Knick, a part of my teen love of the team, and I'm left saddened by his death.

Dispatches: National fix needed for healthcare mess

Dispatches is up -- thoughts on healthcare after I attended an AARP event on Monday.

A Democratic Specter

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who has served since 1980, is switching parties -- a move that has some Democrats giddy.

The 79-year-old is considered a moderate, but his voting record over the years has always belied that label. Yes, he is to the left of much of what now passes for the Republican mainstream, but much of his liberalism has come in the form of words and not deeds (the pro-choice Republican rarely opposed Republican judicial appointments, for instance).

That said, a Democratic Specter would give the party 59 votes -- with No. 60 only waiting on the resolution of litigation in Minnesota. That would put the party at the magic number -- the vote total needed to invoke cloture and end a fillibuster. This assumes, of course, that all 60 Democrats can be corraled and made to support the party leadership.

The reality, however, is that party unity has never been the Democrats' strength. In fact, getting Democrats to follow any particular party line is like herding feral cats -- I guess it can be done, theoretically, but I wouldn't bet on it and I wouldn't get too close.

It's also important to note that the Blue Dog caucus -- conservative Democrats like Evan Bayh of Indiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas -- have balked at some of President Barack Obama's economic plans, citing the need to balance the budget, and other liberal proposals. Keeping them in line, therefore, will become an important focus of Democratic strategy, meaning that party leaders will have to make concessions that will water down some of the more progressive efforts likely to be proposed.

At the same time, I don't want to minimize the switch -- it offers another example of how out of step the national Republican Party has become, how the party billed in 1992 as a "big tent" has become nothing more than a regional outpost for kooks and extremists.

I'm no fan of Specter, as should be obvious from my criticism above, but he is a moderately liberal Republican in the Rockefeller mold (think the elder Tom Kean or Millicent Fenwick or, more recently, Bill Baroni and Jennifer Beck, here in New Jersey).

That Specter -- like Jim Jeffords and Lincoln Chafee -- no longer finds himself at home in the GOP says pretty much all that needs to be said about the state of the Republican Party at the end of the first decade of the 21st century.

Runner's diary, Tuesday

I forgot to post about yesterday's run, so today is a double that marvels at the wonders of a blue sky, a warm breeze and a surprisingly traffic-free route.

Yes, I made it outside the last two days, running three miles each. It's been way too long for me inside, mostly my own fault.

iPod Monday: Bill Moyers' Journal
iPod Tuesday: A mix playlist -- Calexico, "Grip-Tape Heart"; Conor Oberst, "Danny Callahan"; Jolie Holland, "Mexico"; Bruce Springsteen, "The Wrestler"; The Blow, "Parantheses"; Wolves in the Attic, "Electric Hearts"; REM, "Hollow Man"; Tokyo Police Club, "Shoulders & Arms"; The Gaslight Anthem, "The '59 Sound"; The Gutter Twins, "Flow Like a River"; Airborne Toxic Event, "Gasoline"; REM, "Airliner"; The Pretenders, "Boots of Chinese Leather"; Alice Russell, "Got the Hunger?"; Ray LaMontagne, "You are the Best Thing"; Raphael Saadiq, "100 Yard Dash"; The Ting Tings, "Shut Up and Let Me Go."

Blogging Corzine's AARP call 2

Gail from Princeton asks a significant question that gets at the heart of the healthcare debate: Why can't New Jerseyans buy into the health plans offered by the state to public employees?

It's a question being grappled withat the federal level and is likely to be a part of any national healthcare program.

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Blogging Corzine's AARP call

AARP is hosting what it calls a tele-town hall with Gov. Jon Corzine -- an opportunity for seniors to talk with the governor via telephone.

The governor, speaking via phone, has been pushing senior programs, touting an expansion of funding for those programs as something the "reflects our values."

There has been nothing new, so far. The tele-town hall has been, like most of his appearances lately, an aggressive sales job -- only in this case Doug Johnson from AARP has played the role of Corzine's sychophantic pitchman.

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Doggie diaries: The story of Rosie and Sophie Puppies gone wet and wild!

This is what all of us should be doing on a hot April afternoon -- not cutting the lawn as I'm about to do.

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Grassroots: There is no good war

My Grassroots column in The Progressive Populist is on Afghanistan. Read it here. (While there, check out the piece by my good friend Steven Gdula on the national food lunch program.)

Energy ground zero

Clean coal may be coming to New Jersey -- a Massachussets firm wants to build a $5 billion, 500-megawatt electrical generating facility that would capture emissions, pump them a hundred miles and store them under the Atlantic Ocean.


If approved and built, it would be the first plant of its kind and would move us in a new energy direction, say advocates. It would allow us to continue using coal -- the cheapest energy source -- without its polluting effect, they say.


But there is a flaw in the reasoning. Finding a way to limit or eliminate the emmissions from energy sources seems a positive step, until it is made clear that there are other environmental problems with coal and other fossil fuels.


Even if the sequestration process works flawlessly, we're still left seeking energy sources that require us to disturb large amounts of land -- to find the coal and to create the piping infrastructure that would allow us to bury it.


I think Jeff Tittel, president of the New Jersey Sierra Club is correct:

"Coal is like heroin -- cheap, plentiful and addictive, but very dangerous and to get it they take down mountains along with square-miles of trees, adding to the carbon output and environmental damage."

Rather than find ways to make bad fuels less bad, we need to reduce our energy consumption -- more efficient homes, cars, buildings -- and find ways to make truly renewable sources like wind and solar cheaper.

Saturday wasn't dead: Blogging Graham Parker

Trademark shades, white shirt and gray jeans, acoustic guitar and that gravel-filled growl he calls a voice, bluesy....It's Graham Parker.

Thirty three years after his first album -- the classic Howlin' Wind -- made its appearance, Parker is still going strong, if flying well below the radar.


Evidence of this was his solo performance last night in Titusville, at Concerts at the Crossing at the Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing. The 250-or-so-seat venue was just short of capacity, something I wasn't expecting but should have (the number of people who asked "who?" when I told them I had interviewed him and was going to the show was far larger than the ones who remembered him).

But Parker played to the crowd with a delicious sense of humor -- ascerbic, at times, but completely without malice. He moved between an acoustic guitar and an electric one, strumming mostly, but rocking through his set with elan, 20 songs ranging from his Howlin' Wind ("Not If It Pleases Me") to a number of songs from his funny self-release, Carp Fishing on Valium (songs written to accompany a book of short stories of the same name).

Highlights, of course, were the five cuts from Squeezing Out Sparks -- it is 30 years since that amazing record hit the stores, a fact he acknowledged by dubbing the tour "From the Sublime to the Ridiculous" (Sparks to Carp).

And there were the jokes -- self-deprecating -- and stories (he introduced "Custom Fanny," a brilliant send-up of the Rolling Stones, with a story about how Brian Porker -- the protagonist of his stories -- comes to audition to replace Mick Jagger, a story that featured a dead-on Keith Richard imitation).

So, while the great Graham Parker may not command the same audiences he did back in the late-'70s or 1981 (when I last saw him live), he remains a vital presence on stage and a songwriter deserving of more attention than he's getting.

Luke Brindley's blues

Luke Brindley appears to be a rather accomplished acoustic guitar player -- singer-songwriter stuff, playing solo and singing love songs. His style is familiar, nothing that breaks new ground, but listenable and very real feeling.

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Doggie diary: The ballad of Rosie and Sophie Summer comes early

Rosie relaxes after playing with my nephews in the yard. It has been a gorgeous afternoon -- bright blue sky, a Mets win, good food and family.

And, later, Graham Parker in concert.

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Long day ends badly

It was a very busy day with meetings, troubleshooting and having to get stuff done around the house (company coming tomorrow). But the lawnmower is dead -- yikes -- and now it appears that the kaletblog domain has expired and has fallen into someone else's hands. Grrrrrrr. I'm going to bed.

A Mets fan's lament

What is it they say about baseball? It's 90 percent pitching and the other half is defense? (OK, they is Yogi, but....)

This explains the last two Met games -- awful starts and that Daniel Murphy flop in the outfield.

Here is what I'll call my Calvin Trillin moment (after the famed Deadline Poet):

A Mets fan's Lament
(To the tune of "Levon" by Elton John)

Livan sells cartoon balloons in town
He prays his pitches stay low
Because he needs the job
And the batters send them to finest stands around
He was once a Cuban refugee on a fishing raft
and the New York Post says his arm is dead
and the hits keep coming
El Duque's half brother should just go away
And the pitcher was Livan

Tuesday Poetry Podcast: Sonnet for Bob Gibson

This week's poetry podcast is of an older baseball poem -- "Sonnet for Bob Gibson" -- that appeared in the Elysian Fields Quarterly in 2002.

Marriage equality may be closer than you think

Momentum is moving the gay-marriage debate in teh right direction, thanks to an aggressive push from marriage-equality activists.

Consider the poll released today by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute that shows a plurality of New Jerseyans -- 49 percent for, 43 percent opposed -- backing the legalization of same-sex marriage, a sea change when compared with a December 2006 poll that found marriage-equality opposed by a 50-44 margin. The poll also found that voters, by a 63-30 margin, support the existing civil unions law.

"Two years after New Jersey's civil union law went into effect, sentiment for allowing same-sex marriage in the state has shifted from six points against to six points in favor," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"Support for the same-sex civil union law has risen dramatically and New Jersey voters do not see gay marriage as a threat to traditional marriages between a man and a woman. Support for allowing gay couples to adopt children is nearly 2 - 1."

Another key finding of the poll is the complete rejection of the claim made by the homophobes at the National Organization for Marriage and other like groups seeking to demonize gays and paint the LGBT community as somehow a threat to American values. Groups like NOM have long argued that same-sex marriage is a threat to so-called "traditional marriage." They've never explained what that threat entails, beyond saying that it redefines marriage and parenthood -- an argument that is beyond specious and appears to be losing steam.

From the Quinnipiac Poll:

New Jersey voters reject 66 - 30 percent the argument that same-sex marriage "is a threat to the traditional marriage between a man and a woman." Even Republicans disagree with this claim 51 - 46 percent, as do those who attend religious services weekly, 52 - 43 percent.

Think about it -- two-thirds of New Jersey voters find this argument unconvincing, meaning that the chief pillar on which the opposition has built its case is melting.

Let's keep up the heat.

Runner's diary, Thursday

Stayed inside again -- a cool wind, sore legs and general wimpiness were the culprits -- but managed four miles on the treadmill in about 36 minutes.

iPod: Recent podcast of recent Fresh Air interview with poet W.S. Merwin

Plumbing the depths of absurdity

Joe the Plumber will make an appearance in New Jersey to endorse Steve Lonegan for governor.

What I find amazing about this is that John McCain's campaign mascot -- a man discredited with the vast majority of sentient beings -- remains a part of conservative discourse, that Joe the Plumber is viewed by people like Lonegan as someone who can sway voters.

And what is funny is that Lonegan, in an e-mail to members of "Team Lonegan" that somehow found its way to my inbox (I'm on his mailing list for some reason), refers to Joe as "America's Taxpayer Hero." Hero? Only if taking full advantage of your brush with fame qualifies one to be a hero.

Thoughts on school board votes: Divining meaning from the random

Before anyone jumps to conclusions about Tuesday's school election results, they need to consider the history.

Yes, more than 70 percent of school budgets were approved around the state, according to NJ.com. (The percentage was higher locally.) This may seem like a shockingly high percentage. When placed within its historical context, however, it isn't.

A quick review of school budget results going back to 1976 shows that in 23 of the last 34 years, including this year, more than two-thirds of budget passed statewide (more than 70 percent passed in 19 of those years); in only five years did less than 60 percent pass -- including 1976, when 44 percent passed, the only year in which the numbers dipped below 50.

The lean years, for the most part, correspond with public anger over New Jersey taxes -- 1990 and 1991 were the Florio backlash years, 2006 was the property tax reform/budget shutdown year, 1994 featured Christie Whitman's assault on spending and the 1976 votes came just a month after the creation of the first state income tax in response to court rulings on education funding (Robinson v. Cahill).

Given this history, perhaps yesterday's results were surprising. Republicans, for instance, are trying to cast Jon Corzine in the role of Jim Florio and re-stoke the anger of that earlier era. And voters are angry about a lot of things -- at least according to polls that show a majority of New Jerseyans disapproving of the governor's efforts to date.

And yet, most budget passed -- many by comfortable margins.

What does this mean? It is difficult to say. There are two historical trends butting up against each other -- one in which a generalized state-level public anger is taken out on school budgets and another in which voters tend to support educational spending.

Remember, Jim Florio lost by less than 25,000 votes to Whitman in 1993 despite being one of the most unpopular governors in the state's history and Brendan Byrne won a second term in 1977 despite predictions to the contrary. And Robert Menendez, in the 2006 Senate race, was down by double digits in the polls late in the campaign against Tom Kean Jr. -- and he won by double digits.

I have no idea where all of this is going. What I do know, however, is that we have a long way to go before voters have to decide (we don't even have an official Republican challenger yet). And yesterday's results did little to clarify this.

Literary Nobel-ity

The Nobel Prize for literature has, to put it mildly, a rather awful track record -- as this piece in The Record by Marie Arana, the former editor of The Washington Post Book World, makes pretty clear. While I disagree with some of her judgments -- I like Steinbeck and think the downgrading of his contribution in recent years is unfortunate -- her larger point is well taken.

How could judges who profess to know literature shun Tolstoy, James Joyce, Proust, Kafka, Nabokov or Henry James? If the goal, as the original mandate proclaimed, was to identify those who have "conferred the greatest benefit on mankind," why extol the muddled pornography of Elfriede Jelinek? Or the unremarkable output of Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson, former judges themselves?

Maine enters the marriage-equality fray: Wither New Jersey?

Maine's Legislature has opened a very public debate over marriage-equality this morning with public hearings kicking off on separate bills, one legalizing gay marriage and the other expanding domestic partnership rights.

AUGUSTA, Maine - Same-sex marriage supporters far outnumbered opponents as legislative hearing got under way about 9:30 a.m. today at the Augusta Civic Center. Between 2,000 and 3,000 people filled the floor and most of the side seats in the auditorium.

Members of the Judiciary Committee are hearing testimony on two bills - LD 1020 that would allow same-sex couples to marry and LD 1118 that would extend to people registered on the Domestic Partner Registry the same rights and benefits as those who are married but would stop short of creating civil unions.

Supporters of same-sex marriage, decked out in red, cheered and rose to their feet as Sen. Dennis Damon, D-Trenton, introduced LD 1020. Damon announced in January that he would sponsor a bill to repeal a law that defines marriage and between a man and a woman and allow any person in Maine to marry.

"It's fair. It's right. It's time," he said of same-sex marriage.

Damon, obviously, was speaking of the Maine marriage bill, but his admonition to his colleagues can also be read as a more general exhortation, as in: "Hey, New Jersey. Pass marriage-equality: It's fair. It's right. It's time."

Runner's diary Wednesday

It was a solid, if labored morning at the gym today -- a three mile run (27 minutes on the nose) on the treadmill and some lifting. I remain behind where I should be -- both in my physical and my motivation. But I just have to press forward, I guess.

iPod: Glenn Greenwald interview on the Jane Harmon controversy; acoustic set from Chrissie Hynde; and an interview with the biographer of Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali.

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Doggie diary: The story of Rosie and Sophie Early to rise -- too early

Like clockwork. It was 5:50 this morning, same as every morning -- which makes for a long day during which I sometimes feel like I'm dozing at my desk.

It doesn't seem to matter when we go to bed, either. Hit the sack at 10:30 and wake before 6. Go to bed late -- as I did last night after dozing on the couch once the school election results were posted -- and 5:50 comes with the doggie alarm.

What's worse is that I couldn't fall asleep last night, tossing and turning while I watched a bio-pic on LBJ. So, I'm looking at about four hours of sleep and a busy day ahead. Ugh.

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DISPATCHES: Follow the money

Dispatches is up -- on federal clean elections legislation based on an interview with area resident David Donnelly, national campaign director for the Public Campaign Action Fund.

Can you spare a dime -- at exorbitant rates?

From Blue Jersey: Senator Menendez has asked the Department of the Treasury to "restrict credit card companies that receive taxpayer dollars from imposing unilateral interest rate increases and other consumer-unfriendly practices."

Read the letter here.

Credit cards have always been the last refuge for banks and other lenders, the mechanism they can use to generate revenue when other streams have dried up. Revolving balances -- the money you keep on your card -- is a huge moneymaker, as FRONTLINE showed a few years ago, thanks to the elimination of "a critical restriction: the limit on the interest rate a lender can charge a borrower."

Deregulation, coupled with a revolution in technology that enables the almost real-time tracking of personal financial information and the emergence of nationwide banking, has facilitated the widening availability of credit cards across the economic spectrum. But for some, the cost of credit is often far greater than it appears.

According to Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren, the credit card companies are misleading consumers and making up their own rules. "These guys have figured out the best way to compete is to put a smiley face in your commercials, a low introductory rate, and hire a team of MBAs to lay traps in the fine print," Warren tells FRONTLINE.

The fine print includes rate hikes that can be applied not only to future balances, but to existing balances, shifting due dates and unilaterally set late fees. The result is a tremendous hardship on people who have come to rely on their plastic.

Add to this the restrictions placed on bankruptcy under Clinton and you can see just how venal the system we have is.

So, kudos to Sen. Menendez, but let's not view this as anything more than a minor correction -- maybe a first step toward leveling the playing fields.

Runner's diary, Tuesday

I got back on the treadmill today, knowing that the machine's days are numbered. The weather is threaatening to be nice enough to get outside and I'm hopeful.

Today: three miles in 26:40.

iPod: The Pretender, Break Up the Concrete

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Labored negotiations on Nafta

Politics and pragmatism -- or, at least, the perception of a pragmatic politics -- trumps promises for the president. Is this becoming a pattern?

Satellite's gone up to the stars

The free trial to XM Satellite ran out over the weekend. It was fun while it lasted, listening to Springsteen, Little Steven's Underground Garage, Outlaw Country and AmeriLeft -- but I just couldn't justify The $14 monthly charge to keep it going. At least not when I can download podcasts of Rachel Maddow, Bill Moyers, poetry and indie music.

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A matter of choice

Ruth Marcus takes Sarah Palin at her word on the abortion issue and finds in her story a strong defense of a woman's right to choose. Palin, of course, decided not to have an abortion when she became pregnant at age 44 with a Down syndrome child. She decided to keep the baby -- a decision she made but that in her public statements she would deny others.

As Marcus writes,

I respect Palin's decision not to "make it all go away." She describes her doubts about whether she had the fortitude and patience to cope with a child with Down syndrome, and, with the force of a mother's fierce love, the special blessing that Trig has brought to her life. She speaks as someone who is confident that she made the correct choice.

For her. In fact, the overwhelming majority of couples choose to terminate pregnancies when prenatal testing shows severe abnormalities. In cases of Down syndrome, the abortion rate is as high as 90 percent.

For the crowd listening to her at last week's dinner, Palin's disclosure served the comfortable role of moral reinforcement: She wavered in her faith, was tempted to sin, regained her strength and emerged better for it.

As for those us less certain that we know, or are equipped to instruct others, when life begins and when it is permissible to terminate a pregnancy, Palin's speech offered a different lesson: Abortion is a personal issue and a personal choice. The government has no business taking that difficult decision away from those who must live with the consequences.

Obama's torture stance: Tacit endorsement?

Here's a question that hardcore Obama supporters may not be prepared to answer: Is his unwillingness to investigate or prosecute those involved in torture -- including high-level Bush adminsitration officials -- leave his administration tacitly approving of practices that he has publicly denounced?

The answer, I think, is an unfortunate yes. The president, who has forcefully denounced torture, nonetheless refuses to engage in what he calls "retribution," saying that "nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.” But, as Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University Law School, told Rachel Maddow last week that what would be gained would be a return to the rule of law.

The president, he said, is "equating the enforcement of federal laws that he took an oath to enforce, to uphold the Constitution and our laws ... with an act of retribution, and some sort of hissy fit or blame game."

But,

it‘s not retribution to enforce criminal laws. But it is obstruction to prevent that enforcement and that is exactly what he has done thus far. He is trying to lay the groundwork, to look principled when he‘s doing an utterly unprincipled thing.

There‘s very few things worse for a president to do than to protect accused war criminals, and that‘s what we‘re talking about here. President Obama himself has said that waterboarding is torture. And torture violates at least four treaties and is considered a war crime.

So, the refusal to let it be investigated is to try to obstruct a war crime investigation that put it‘s in the same category as Serbia and other countries that have refused to allow investigations to occur.

The question, beyond this, is what this means in practice down the road. Former Reagan Justice Department official Bruce Fein, writing on The Daily Beast yesterday, called Obama a "political coward dangerous to the republic," who has "made no effort to square his refusal to investigate credible and substantial evidence of felonies with his constitutional obligation to faithfully execute, not sabotage, the laws."

He relied solely on politics, as though law was nothing more than a constellation of political calculations with ulterior motives.

This political calculation, unfortunately, will have dangerous longterm impact on our nation.

In sweeping the Bush-Cheney lawlessness under the rug, Obama has set a precedent of whitewashing White House lawlessness in the name of national security that will lie around like a loaded weapon ready for resurrection by any commander in chief eager to appear “tough on terrorism” and to exploit popular fear. Obama urges that the crimes were justified because the duumvirate acted to protect the nation from international terrorism. But Congress did not create a national-security defense to torture or commit FISA felonies.

President Obama should have invoked his pardon power if he believed circumstances justified the crimes by Bush and Cheney and the CIA’s interrogators. A pardon or lesser clemency properly exposes the president to political accountability, as Bush discovered with Cheney’s Chief of Staff Scooter Libby and President Ford with former President Nixon. More significant, a pardon does not set a precedent making lawful what was unlawful. It acknowledges the criminality of the underlying activity, and acceptance of the pardon is an admission of guilt by the recipient.

As Fein says, the lack of official acknowledgement of criminal wrongdoing is going to come back to bite us on the ass.

Graham Parker is still squeezing out sparks

Crossposted from The Central Jersey Beat:



Graham Parker will be in Titusville on Saturday. He spoke to us recently in anticipation of the show.

Parker, who turns 59 this year, is a bit of an iconoclast -- sticking to his guns over a 30-plus-year career that has produced several classic albums (Howlin' Wind, Squeezing Out Sparks, Mona Lisa's Sister) and some that deserved significantly more notice than they received (2007's Don't Tell Columbus). He plays rock 'n' roll, writes his own songs (which are literate, ascerbic and often funny) and makes no apologies.

He will perform at Concerts at the Crossing at the Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing, 268 Washington Crossing-Pennington Road, Titusville, April 25, 8 p.m. Opening for him will be Luke Brindley. Tickets cost $25; 609-406-1424; http://concertsatthecrossing.com/; http://www.grahamparker.net/

A nice Sunday for poetry

Cross-posted from the subterranean:


The readings today at the South Brunswick Libryar -- at the series I organize for the township Arts Commission -- were quite interesting. Above is Sander Zulauf, the editor of the Journal of New Jersey Poets and a professor of English at the County College of Morris.


This is Ken Hart, who teaches at NYU.

Thanks to the poets and stop by May 3 for the Idiom Poets.

Who is this Santos guy?

A nasty pitch from Francisco Rodriguez and a great throw by Omir Santos (who is this guy?) -- strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out -- and the game is over. Santos, who played 10 games for the Orioles last year, not only made a perfect throw, he was up out of the crouch faster than any catcher I've seen in a long time.

So Johan Santana gets a win and the Mets move above .500.

Doggie diary: The story of Rosie and Sophie Sleep deprive dog owners

They wake us at 6 on a Saturday and then go back to sleep. How rude.

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Doggie diary: The story of Rosie and Sophie Cool car comfort

I think Rosie is getting a bit more comfortable in the car. Or at least I hope so.

She's had her problems and we have a nine -hour ride ahead of us next month. It'll be brutal to travel with her if she's anxious.

So, we'll just have to keep taking the dogs out, getting them used to the car and people.

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Doggie diary: The story of Rosie and Sophie Ice cream Part two

Rosie needed a little encouragement from mommy, but she digs the vanilla as much as her sister (see previous post).

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Doggie diary: The story of Rosie and Sophie Puppies scream for ice cream

This how we're trianing -- read bribing -- the dogs to like car rides, with vanilla ice cream from Confectionately Yours. The dogs, who haven't shown a liking for the car, are starting to come around.

This is Sophie, chowing down.

This was my mother-in-law's idea, so kudos to Natalie.

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Power's prerogative: Protecting presidential power

President Barack Obama has opted to protect presidential privilege, rather than allow the spotlight to be shined on the crimes and cynicism of the Bush years. He has released the so-called torture memos, but he also has said that futher investigation into the administration is dangerous.

The memos were released after a tense internal debate at the White House. Saying that it is a “time for reflection, not retribution,” Mr. Obama reiterated his opposition to a extensive investigation of controversial counterterrorism programs.

“In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carrying out their duties relying in good faith upon the legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution,” theWhite House statement said.

This is a mistake. The decisions made by the Bush administration, their justifications for disregarding international law, must be made public and those responsible must be brought to justice. Not out of some sense of retribution -- that would make us look like a banana republic.

Rather, we should investigate and prosecute because laws may have been broken and to allow the transgressions to stand only further erodes our constitutional system of checks and balances. To allow the Our system of laws depends upon it.

This is not about retribution -- that would be foolishused to recast our violation

A moment to review

It's been a strange week for me, subbing for John Saccenti as the editor of the South Brunswick Post and The Cranbury Press -- the two papers I managed for the last 10 years. It was an interesting experience. Four months after handing the papers over and becoming online editor, I get to see what I've been missing.

And yes, there are things I miss -- such as page design, especially of Page 1 -- but there is a lot more that I don't miss. So the extra work this week, which left me little time to blog, came at a good time.

I'm off tomorrow, though I'll probably blog, and then back to the office on Monday, with a renewed sense that what I'm now doing is what I should be doing at this moment.

Wide awake in Flushing

The Onion is reporting the terrible news that Mr. Met is having emotional difficulties. He is having trouble sleeping and has been acting uncharacteristically, the news organization said.

Explaining that Mr. Met's usual fun-loving antics have taken a dark turn lately, Jose Reyes recalled how the mascot pushed an eight-year-old fan to the ground last week and flipped off Luis Castillo after he struck out on Opening Day. In addition, Reyes said he has seen Mr. Met take out his T-shirt gun, place it in his mouth, and repeatedly squeeze the trigger.

"When I asked if he was feeling okay, he didn't say a word. He just shook his giant head," Reyes said. "Poor guy. He used to be so upbeat. These days his smile just looks painted on."

"I'd say he drinks too much coffee, but he flings most of it at people," Reyes added. "Maybe his hat is too small or something."

Poor guy. Maybe we should take up a collection and send him to a spa for a weekend.

Blogging the Mets

The Mets win. Now can they change the name of Citifield? Maybe, we can find a company that is not in distress?

Blogging the Mets

Kaboom! Carlos goes yard -- Delgado hits the second Met homer in Citifield history, a mammoth shot into the rightfield stands. He looks pretty good for a guy who appeared washed up last year at this time.

Astroturf, Part 2

Thomas Frank knows about Republicans and populism.

Blogging the Mets

Strange inning -- Mets scoring four in the seventh on three walks (one intentional), a bunt single, two wild pitches and a sac fly. Craziest play came with two outs and men at the corners. The Padres pitcher tosses the ball off the catcher and Castillo comes charging in. As he closes in on the plate, the catcher tosses the ball over the head of the covering pitcher at the plate. Reyes, watching the play unfold, then scampers home from first -- from FIRST!

See what I mean? Crazy.

The Tax Day astroturf blues

There certainly has been a lot of syllables expended on what organizers were billing as "largest grass-roots demonstration in history," but instead turned out to be, well, a lot of hot air.

Yes, there were numerous demonstrations, some with more than 1,000 people, according to The Associated Press, but these paled in comparison to the protests leading up to the Iraq War or even the antiglobalization protests in Seattle during the tail-end of the Clinton era.

From the AP:

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Thousands of protesters, some dressed like Revolutionary War soldiers and most waving signs with anti-tax slogans, gathered around the nation Wednesday for a series of rallies modeled after the original Boston Tea Party. They chose the income tax filing deadline to express their displeasure with government spending since President Barack Obama took office.

The protests were held everywhere from Kentucky, which just passed tax increases on cigarettes and alcohol, to South Carolina, where the governor has repeatedly criticized the $787 billion economic stimulus package Congress passed earlier this year.

''Frankly, I'm mad as hell,'' said Des Moines, Iowa, businessman Doug Burnett, one of about 1,000 people, many in red shirts declaring ''revolution is brewing,'' at a rally at the Iowa Capitol. ''This country has been on a spending spree for decades, a spending spree we can't afford.''

The biggest reported in the AP story? 3,000 in Connecticut. Contrast this with the protests in February 2003 against the impending invasion of Iraq, from The New York Times:

On a wintry day in New York, huge crowds, prohibited by a court order from marching, rallied within sight of the United Nations amid heavy security. They raised banners of patriotism and dissent, sounded the hymns of a broad new antiwar movement and heard speakers denounce what they called President Bush's rush to war, while offering no sympathy for Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein.

"The World Says No to War," proclaimed a huge banner over a stage on First Avenue near 51st Street, the focal point of crowds that filled the avenue from 49th Street to 72nd Street and spilled over into side streets and to Second, Third and Lexington Avenues, where thousands more were halted at police barricades, far from the sights and sounds of the demonstration.

Crowd estimates are often little more than politically tinged guesses. The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, put the crowd at about 100,000, while the organizers said 400,000 people attended. Given the sea of faces extending more than a mile up First Avenue and the ancillary crowds that were prevented from joining them, it seemed that something in between was probable.

There were similar though smaller demonstrations in Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle, San Diego, Sacramento, Miami, Detroit, Milwaukee and scores of other American cities, organized under the umbrella of United for Peace and Justice, a coalition of 120 organizations.

I'll leave it at that.

I love that dirty water....

It's been a 180-degree turn for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with today's announcement on carbon once again makes clear:

The Obama administration took another step toward regulating carbon dioxide, issuing a notice Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency will review whether those emissions should fall under the Clean Water Act.

The EPA earlier this year determined that C02 should be regulated under the Clean Air Act due to its impact on temperatures. But Tuesday's notice — soliciting scientific data as to what extent seas are made more acidic by C02 — could extend regulation out to U.S. waters.

The notice was in response to a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, which wants the EPA to impose stricter pH criteria for ocean water quality and publish guidance to help states protect their waters from ocean acidification, which reduces pH levels.

"As more CO2 dissolves in the ocean, it reduces ocean pH, which changes the chemistry of the water," the EPA said in its notice. "These changes present potential risks across a broad spectrum of marine ecosystems."

And so, maybe, we still have a fighting chance to reverse this thing.

Dispatches: More than hope needed to enact marriage equality

Dispatches is on the same-sex marriage debate.

Tuesday Poetry Podcast: Little League Poem

This week's poetry podcast is of a new poem -- "Little League Poem" -- that has been accepted by the Edison Literary Review for an upcoming (2010) issue.

The Bird lands

Mark Fidrych, one of baseball's true eccentrics, died today, 33 years after he took the game by storm and then flamed out into obscurity.

I loved watching his antics on the mound when the Tigers were on national television:

He often talked to the baseball, fidgeted on the mound and got down on his knees to scratch at the dirt. Fidrych would swagger around the grass after every out and was finicky about baseballs, refusing to reuse one if an opposing player got a hit, and rejecting fresh ones he declared to have dents.

He liked to jump over the white infield lines on his way to the mound, with a wide, toothy grin that, coupled with his hair, made him easy to spot even from the upper reaches of Tiger Stadium.

Rest in peace.

In

Doggie diary: The story of Rosie and Sophie Houdini dog strikes again

It has been an eventful week with the doggies, marked by their growing comfort with the car (woo hoo!) and an unfortunate willful streak that has both Annie and me feeling a bit frustrated.

They've regressed with their jumping and nipping, a huge problem that we have to take care of now. They've been on the counters and the dining room table -- they got a hold of some important mail one day and stole a sandwich I was making for lunch on another. They've also been digging (I think I've got that one under control -- when they dig I squirt them with a water bottle) and refuse to listen when we kick them off the couch.

This morning brought a scare, courtesy of Rosie the Magician. I let them out in our fenced-in yard, did a few things in the kitchen and then looked out the window. Only one dog visible. I went outside, figuring that Rosie was back by the shed or on the other side of the pool. She wasn't. Somehow, she managed to get out of the yard and was investigating the creek that runs adjacent to our yard.

That's when panic set in. I ran into the house, grabbed her leash and ran out the front door. I had to calm down before I approached her -- if I had run at her or yelled, she probably would have taken off like we were playing a game of chase. I sidled over slowly, pet her and hooked the leash to her collar.

I then went back in the yard with her and checked the fence out. I found the spot she snuck through, an unsecured spot that needs to be fixed. She probably bumped up against it while the two dogs were playing and rolled underneath.

The upshot is that I have to get some spikes and secure the fence so that they can't push through it and escape. Sheesh.

Spring that's all

The temperature has dipped and it feels like it's going to rain, but you can see the seasonal change on Witherspoon Street in the trees.

Spring is here, finally.

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The problem with Perez

The Mets have a lot riding on the left arm of Oliver Perez, the enigmatic pitcher who can pitch like Steve Carlton one day and Steve Van Zandt the next. He is their No. 3 starter -- who signed a three-year deal in the offseason worth $12 million per -- and has to get to 12-15 wins for the Mets to have a shot at the Phillies.

Yesterday, he certainly didn't live up to his salary, giving up eight runs in less than five innings after retiring the first six Reds he faced.

In too many ways, the outing was typical Ollie -- there was a Phillies game last year in which he imploded in the third -- as was his explanation:

Perez did not allow a base runner in the first two innings and struck out the side in the second. Then, his control disappeared.

Perez walked two of the first four batters he faced in the third inning and gave up an RBI single to Darnell McDonald and a three-run homer to Joey Votto.

"All my pitches were working," Perez said. "They were taking chances."

Huh?

When asked if he knew what Perez meant by that, catcher Ramon Castro said, "No."

Pitching coach Dan Warthen? "I don't understand," Warthen said.

I like Perez, think he has as live an arm as any Mets pitcher (not named Johan Santana) has had in years and think he is worth the effort. Lefties tend to develop late -- Perez will be 28 in August. Randy Johnson had compiled a 49-48 record at the same age and had led the league in walks for three straight years with an earned run average in the high 3s at a time when that was average (the league average these days is in the mid-4s).

I'm not claiming that Oliver Perez will become Randy Johnson -- who became the superstar pitcher everyone expected him to be the next year. I'm just offering Johnson as an example of how lefties -- especially power-pitching lefties -- tend to develop late.

Another example, one that may be closer to what we might expect from Perez, is Al Leiter. Leiter is remembered as a bulldog pitcher who helped anchor the Mets and Marlins' rotations in the late '90s. But it is instructive to remember that Leiter did not have his first double-digit winning season until he turned 29 -- after shaking off injuries and the heavy weight of expectations. For the next 10 years, he became a rather reliable winner, going 133-99.

So, patience will be an important virtue for the Mets as they move ahead with Ollie -- and their two righties, Mike Pelfrey and John Maine. At the same time, they may need a lot more out of their No. 5 starter than is normally expected.

CJ Radio Podcast: Vermont leads on marriage equality

This week's CJ Radio is about the Vermont same-sex marriage law and what it should mean for New Jersey.

Supermajority a super bad idea

This proposal, offered in an advertisement from Republican front runner Chris Christie, should disqualify him from being governor.

“I would ask the legislature to pass a constitutional amendment to be put on the ballot for the voters of New Jersey to require that any time taxes are going to be raised or new taxes imposed, that it require a 2/3 vote of both houses of the state legislature,” says Christie. “So it wouldn't be easy for one party just to come in and raise taxes 103 times without any ability to restrict them.”

This is not a new proposal -- other states have tried this and most have abandoned it because it does little more than starve government of funds and make it impossible to move any kind of revenue changes forward.

In New Jersey, such a constitutional amendment would mean that any tax legislation would need the yes votes of 54 Assembly members and 27 senators -- an almost impossible number to.
It also contradicts the democratic process -- the concept of majority rule falls by the wayside in favor of a supermajority.

Taxes are not popular, especially now. Christie appears willing to pander to this disgust without taking into account the consequences that such a proposal would have. Rather than offer alternatives to the Corzine budget -- where he would cut, for instance -- he offers this.

Now that's what I call leadership.

In defense of pitchforks

Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, writing on Salon.com, offer an eloquent critique of Barack Obama's efforts on behalf of the American financial system, efforts that have been characterized by a obeisance to Wall Street and the folks who got us into this mess in the first place.

Consider Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council and the president's chief economic adviser. As Moyers and Winship point out, Summers has earned a lot of money over the years from the firms at the root of the mess, which could explain the meandering and ineffective way in which the president has addressed the crisis in the financial markets (as opposed to his aggressive -- though not aggressive enough -- approach on the economy as a while). Summers, they write,

was intoxicated by the exotic witches' brew of derivatives and other financial legerdemain that got us into such a fine mess in the first place. Yet here he is, serving as gatekeeper of the information and analysis going to President Obama on the current collapse.

We have to wonder, when the president asks, "Larry, who did this to us?" is Summers going to name names of old friends and benefactors? Knowing he most likely will be looking for his old desk back once he leaves the White House, is he going to be tough on the very system of lucrative largesse that he helped create in his earlier incarnation as a deregulating treasury secretary? ("Larry?" "Yes, Mr. President?" "Who the hell recommended repealing the Glass-Steagall Act back in the '90s and opened the floodgates to all this greed?" "Uh, excuse me, Mr. President, I think Bob Rubin's calling me.")

That imaginary conversation came to mind last week as we watched President Obama's joint press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. When a reporter asked Obama who's to blame for the financial crisis, our usually eloquent and knowledgeable president responded with a rambling and ineffectual answer. With Larry Summers guarding his in box, it's hardly surprising he's not getting the whole story.

Summers, of course, is only part of the problem. There is the ineffectual Timothy Geithner running Treasury, as well, meaning that far too many of the players involved in the creation of the financial house of cards -- dating back to the Clinton administration and its role in the deregulation of the industry -- are still in place, trying to balance the desire to right the economy with a bias toward protecting their own.

Geithner, at least, is salvagable. I can't say the same for Summers, who should be dispatched from service and replaced as quickly as possible. It's not like better, more progressive alternatives aren't out there. Obama could -- should -- turn to anyone on this list: Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, Dean Baker, Sheila Bair, Robert Reich, Leo Hindery, etc. There also are reporters like William Greider at The nation and Gretchen Morgenstern at The New York Times who's take on the financial collapse is much more in line with the pitchfork-wielding public.

Coddling the bankers is bad policy and bad politics.

Runner's diary, Thursday

I reached what I think is an important milestone this morning in my running -- nothing huge, but important for getting myself moving forward and back in a consistent groove. I ran three miles a day after taxing my legs with weights, pushing through the tightness and soreness to finish in just under 27 minutes. It's not much, I know, but it is a start.

iPod: John Mellencamp on Fresh Air, followed by his most recent disc.

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Sent from my Verizon Wireless LGVX9900 device.

Quote of the day: On 'blowback'

A quote from Arundhati Roy, the Indian novelist and activist, in the March issue of The Progressive that I thought was worth passing along. She was talking about the unintended consequences -- often called "blowback" -- of unholy alliances of convenience. In particular, she was referring to American encouragement for the Afghan Mujadeen in the 1980s:

Once you've released these Frankenstein monsters into the world, you can't whistle and hope they will come back like trained mastiffs and say, "Yes, sir, did you call?"

They do come back, however, but rarely bearing gifts.

Momentum builds for equal rights

Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and now Vermont. So when does New Jersey join the party?

Even with the referendum in California overturning that state court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, it seems clear that momentum is building for marriage equality.

Last week, the Iowa Supreme Court overturned that state's ban, making it the first non-coastal state to weigh in favorably.

And yesterday, Vermont joined the fray -- legislatively (above video from Burlington Free Press). After both houses of the state Legislature approved the marriage bill and it was vetoed by the governor, both houses then voted again -- overwhelmingly, overriding the veto and demonstrating in no uncertain terms where the state stands on the issue.

MONTPELIER — House Speaker Shap Smith’s voice choked with emotion as he read the vote count from the podium: 100-49.

By the narrowest of margins, the Legislature overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto Tuesday and Vermont became the fourth state in the nation to allow same-sex couples to marry, and the first to do so without a court order.

“It really is a historic moment,” Smith said afterward.

“It means everything. It means we’re going to get married,” the Rev. Nancy Vogele, an Episcopal minister from White River Junction, said after the vote. She plans to wed her partner, Cheryl Elinsky, on Sept. 1, the day the law takes effect.

The override vote, which reached the two-thirds’ majority needed in the House without a vote to spare, seemed in question until the roll was called Tuesday. Earlier in the morning, the Senate passed the override more easily, 23-5.

Legislators whose votes were in question endured heavy lobbying from both sides, culminating with hundreds of calls and e-mails in recent days. Legislative leaders reached the two-thirds majority needed for an override by persuading three House Democrats who had voted against the bill to join the majority and vote for the veto.

Same-sex marriage supporters cheered as the House vote ended a decadelong fight for them that came down to an intense one-month debate in this year’s Legislature. Outside the chamber, those who have spent years working on the issue hugged and wept. A short time later, gathered in a Statehouse conference room, the crowd erupted into more jubilance.

Just 54 of 177 legislators voted against the legislation, which is a shocking total that makes it clear that enough lawmakers felt there would likely be little political fallout from the vote.

Nine years ago, when the state battled through a contentious debate to become the first in the nation to offer civil unions, a number of legislators who supported the measure were defeated for re-election the next year. Many have characterized this year’s debate as much less contentious. The vote also comes a full year before the next election.

“I do think it’s different this time,” said Rep. David Zuckerman, P-Burlington. “There’s going to be a handful of districts to watch. Nine years ago there were 30 districts to watch.”

That was the case in Massachusetts a few years ago when state lawmakers publicly nixed a plan to put a ban on the ballot. The lawmakers who voted to keep gay marriage legal survived without much fuss.

The Vermont debate was very public, following years of activism and a commission that "concluded that civil unions did not provide complete equality."

Sound familiar?

The vote was not expected to happen this year, however, because legislators thought "budget shortfalls caused by the crippled economy made this a poor time to tackle such a contentious, emotionally draining issue."

Again, sound familiar?
Not until after Town Meeting Day in March — halfway through the legislative session — did leaders declare that same-sex marriage would be a priority this year.

In just one month’s time, they held hearings, passed the bill in the Senate, then the House, shipped it off to the governor and worked up to the final day to muster the votes needed to override his veto.

The wild card for New Jersey, of course, is this year's gubernatorial and Assembly elections, which have a habit of distorting issues. Are there enough Assembly members willing to stand up and be counted on same-sex marriage when doing so might imperil their electoral chances?

Unlike Vermont, just a bare majority is needed to get it done because Gov. Jon Corzine has said he'd sign marriage-equality legislation.

Reed Gusciora, a Democrat from Princeton, has a bill in the Assembly and there are some high-profile Senate supporters like Loretta Weinberg, a Bergen County Democrat. Plus, there are some Republicans in the Senate who are likely to vote in favor of marriage equality -- you know who you are.

Lawmakers are cautious characters by nature, generally viewing issues in vote counts and financial support. Supporters of same-sex marriage -- gay, lesbian, bi or straight -- need to make it clear that their votes count and that they expect their legislators to do what is write and to stand up and be counted.

Runner's diary, Wednesday

I am sore. My quads and hamstrings hurt and my lower back has decided to act as a reminder that I am now closer to 50 than 40.

I ran three miles again today at a moderate pace, 27 minutes, and then hit the weights, doing a series of leg excercises that has me silently screaming or wimpering or what have you.

But it is all good. The pain will be worth it when my mileage starts to climb. That's what they tell me, anyway. I don't know if I should believe them.

iPod: a Fresh Air interview with the immortal Leonard Cohen

Tuesday Poetry Podcast: Cleavings

I took the week of from the podcast last week -- and then almost forgot this week's reading.

Here it is: a poem called "Cleavings."

Budget politics in an election year

No one who watched today's budget hearing -- or read coverage of it in the daily papers, as I did -- could not know that the 80 members of the Assembly are up for re-election this year.

DISPATCHES: State’s fiscal fix is a complicated matter

The governor does not believe a shift toward income tax is wise and -- in a reversal -- I've come to understand his argument. Read about the difficulties in this week's Dispatches.

Unhealthy system of healthcare

I don't have much to say about this report, aside from this: It is another in a steady stream of reports on American healthcare that outline its problems and, by implication, demand solutions.

Runner's diary, Tuesday

Woo hoo. I ran today (three miles, 25:45). And lifted. And now, about seven hours after finishing my workout, I need a nap. And coffee. I'm so tired, in fact, that the coffee might actually help me sleep.

iPod: Bill Moyers' Journal

Is this a promise?

Mike D'Antoni, Knicks coach, is not happy about the manner in which the Knicks' season is coming to a close. After coaching a perrenial playoff contender in Phoenix for several years, he was forced to watch an underachieving group of mediocre playoffs fail to get to the playoffs -- the fifth year in a row that the Knicks are forced to watch the festivities from home while on an early vacation.

D'Antoni's team so far has managed 30 wins with five to go, an improvement to be sure, but still a rather sorry excuse for professional basketball.

Not that much more should have been expected. Donnie Walsh made several early-season trades that altered the look of the squad, sending two of their better players away for expiring contracts in an attempt to create cap room for a run at what promises to be the best free agent class in the league's history in the summer of 2010. That class could include LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade -- a fearsome group.

That said, the team still has to find some competent ballplayers to keep the fans from revolting. The problem is that aside from David Lee and Wilson Chandler, there's no one worth keeping around. And Lee is probably their most tradeable commodity.

That's why D'Antoni is threatening a housecleaning.

"I would think we won 29 games [before last night], I don't envision anyone anywhere," D'Antoni said. "We're going to try to get better everywhere. Having said that, there's no reason he couldn't be. Anytime you win 29 games and don't make the playoffs, everything is open for discussion, everything is thrown against the wall."

And everyone is on the chopping blcok.

Aura of inevitability

Chris Christie should ask Hillary Clinton about what being the crowned successor is worth -- especially when he is taking hits from his own party.

Toy company ignores the storyline

We are constantly bombarded with the argument that New Jersey has created an awful business climate that drives companies elsewhere -- but then we get news, from NJBIZ.com, that the educational toy company Melissa & Doug, is relocating to South Brunswick from Connecticut.

Melissa & Doug was “looking for a location that was best suited to cover everywhere from Florida to Maine,” said NAI James E. Hanson Senior Vice President Kenneth Lundberg, who along with Joel Hausman, of Fairfield, Conn.-based Colonial Realty, represented the company in the deal. “New Jersey is what appeared on their radar screen.”

Central New Jersey is more centrally located for distribution than Connecticut, being roughly equidistant to Philadelphia and New York and Boston and Washington, D.C., he said. “In a single truck-driving day, by locating in central New Jersey, you probably double the number of population you can reach in one day” compared to Connecticut, Lundberg said.

Apparently, taxes and environmental regulations -- the two most-frequently cited reasons that the business community and its apologists offer -- are not the only factors businesses consider.

Doggie diary: The story of Rosie and Sophie Almost a Garp moment

We took the puppies for a nice long walk last night, heading over to my brother and sister-in-law's so my niece and nephews could see the dogs before they left for Iowa for the week. Aside from the wind and the rain that arrived as we did at their house, the walk was uneventful, though I almost had what I'll call a Garp moment.

I don't know if anyone remembers the scene from the 1982 movie with Robin Williams, "The World According to Garp," in which Williams as Garp goes off on a pickup truck that has been terrorizing the neighborhood by speeding through the quiet suburban streets. But that is how I've been feeling lately as we've been getting out with the dogs. The number of speeding cars, vans and SUVs -- and, no, it's not just teenage drivers -- barrelling around this neighborhood, on Kendall, New, Kingsley and even some of the side streets, is mind-boggling. I said to Annie the other night that I think they drive faster on Kendall than they do on New.

Last night, as we walked, I flashed to the scene in the movie. Garp has reached the boiling point as the same driver of the same red pickup flies through his neighborhood. He takes a baseball bat and chases him and blasts the truck.

Needless to say, I'm not vindictive or violent and I'm the law-abiding sort, so I let the moment pass. But I can see how that kind of overreaction could feel real satisfying.

CJ Radio: Corzine on consolidation

The latest podcast is done -- actually, an early version went up yesterday -- and can be found on our Web site, here or at iTunes, where you can subscribe.

Oops: The trouble with mobile blogging

OK. Maybe I shouldn't do any substantive blogging when I'm sitting in the drive-thru line at the bank. I blogged about direct deposit and my state tax check earlier today and, as numerous readers pointed out, I was about as far off-base as I could get. So ignore the post and call me some silly names. I deserve it.

Taxed by an unnecessary trip

I'm sitting at the bank on this nasty, rainy morning, waiting at the drive-thru (that's how they spell it) to deposit my state tax refund when it occurs to me that there really is no reason for me to do this. Or, rather, there shouldn't be. The IRS offers direct deposit, as does NJ Unemployment. Why the state Treasury doesn't I just can't fathom.

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Christie targets unions

Chris Christie's call for an immediate end to dual-office holding in the state makes sense, as does his call to revoke pensions for convicted ex-officials. But why add labor unions to the state's pay-to-play ban? The answer, of course, is politics. Labor unions give money to Democrats and endorse Democrats (Bill Baroni in the 14th is an exception). Forcing unions to abide by pay-to-play rules would essentially dry up this revenue stream to the Republicans' benefit.

Look, if you want to clean up electoral politics then take all of the money out -- renew clean elections for 2011 (it is an outright travesty that the Legislature let it die this year) and expand it across the board.

Runner's diary Thursday

If humans had fuel gauges like cars, mine would read empty. I just finished a workout -- three miles on a bad right calf (stepped in a hole on Tuesday while walking the puppies and it's only gotten more sore over the last couple of days) followed by some upper-body work and crunches.

My inconsistency is haunting me, though, given that today's workout would have been a breeze not too lomg ago.

I keep saying it -- and at some point I'll follow through -- but I have to be more regular at the gym. This is especially true if I want to excise this spare tire that has returned to my midsection.

iPod: Josh Ritter and Chairlift

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Posterized

I've been doing some investigative work on my family, trying to find all the strands of the Kalet diaspora that scattered the descendents of Yitzhak Isaac Kaletsky from coast to coast and Israel.

We've connected with four branches of six (two others did not have any kids) and I'm still trying to link with the other two, using Facebook, other social networking, random Web searches, etc. (More on this in a later post.)

Which is where I found this -- part of a poster series that the South Brunswick Library created to encourage reading featuring local folks. Guess who this local folk is?

So, yes, I've been immortalized on a poster -- and, no, it is not on the Post Office wall.

Don't forgot the Supremes

Not Diana Ross' girl group, but the nine black-robed justices sitting in Washington, the ones who decided the 2000 election and currently have a decidely conservative, pro-business tilt.

It was easy to do -- forget the Supremes, I mean -- in the wake of the election of Barack Obama and all the discussion over the Minnesota Senate race and the huge electoral shift.

But conservatives still have an oar in this river (race?) in the form of five justices -- Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas and Kennedy -- as today's ruling on cost-benefit calculations and the Clean Air Act shows:

In a defeat for environmental groups, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the Environmental Protection Agency may use cost-benefit calculations to decide whether to require power plants to make changes that could prevent the destruction of billions of aquatic organisms each year.

The decision affects more than 500 power plants that are collectively responsible for more than half of the nation’s electricity-generating capacity. The plants use more than 200 billion gallons of water from nearby waterways each day for cooling, and they kill vast numbers of fish, shellfish and other organisms in the process, squashing them against intake screens or sucking them into cooling systems.

The environmental agency weighed the costs of making changes to the plants’ cooling structures to protect the organisms against their value expressed in dollars. Considering only the 1.8 percent of the affected fish and shellfish that are commercially or recreationally harvested, the agency concluded that the organisms at issue were worth $83 million.

Requiring the plants to convert to closed-cycle cooling systems, which recirculate water, would have saved almost all the organisms but cost $3.5 billion a year, the agency said. Instead, it ordered far cheaper changes that spared fewer organisms.

The question in the case was whether Congress had authorized that cost-benefit approach in the Clean Water Act, which requires cooling water intake structures to “reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact.”

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, ruled that the agency’s approach was not permitted by the law.

Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for himself, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., said the agency’s approach “is certainly a plausible interpretation of the statute” and was thus entitled to deference.

That leaves it up to the Obama administration and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to end the cost-benefit practice.

Income taxes, property taxes and politics

Back at the office for this last post from our meeting with Gov. Jon Corzine, a meeting that focused primarily on the state budget and the efforts being made by the administration to deal with falling revenues.

Fred Tuccillo, editor of The Princeton Packet, raised a question about school funding and the income tax, asking whether moving from property taxes to something else to fund schools would need to happen at some point.

That seems to me to make the most sense, but the governor said "it might be prohibitive to do that" because much of the cost of that change is likely to fall on the middle class. He said that about 40 percent of all income taxes collected in New Jersey already comes from the top 2 percent of taxpayers, meaning that it would be "very hard to do taht without changing the tax rates that middle-class people pay."

He acknowledges the regressive nature of the property tax, saying that his commitment to rebates for lower- and middle-class New Jerseyans was designed to "lean agaisnt the regressivity of the property tax system."

His argument, essentially, was that the increase in income taxes that the change would create for middle-income folks would be a hardship for them and not be politically pallatable.

But you have to wonder whether the decrease in property tax bills would offset the increased income taxes, as seems likely. If, as everyone says, about two thirds of local property taxes go to schools, then moderate to middle-income homeowners could save somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,000 to $6,000 in property taxes, if not more. How much would the shift to income taxes cost the same household?

Hospitals health care and reform

Hospital closings are a direct result of the failure of healthcare systm, he says.

The state was "over-bedded" five years ago, but now is lean. The state government will fight additional closings.

"I heard Ted Kennedy say" yesterday during a hearing that "we have a 'sick-care' system, not a healthcare system." No preventative care, too many people using emergency rooms, which are more expensive and less effective for long-term health.

Consider this another argument in favor of a healthcare overhaul.

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Pension confusion: Still a tough sell

The governordoesn't see the pension deferral as an issue for towns next year, but it remains likely that towns will have to find revenue to offset what will be viewed as new spending in next year's budget.

It is similar to what has happened over time at the state level -- to make up the shortfall, the state needed to cut spending elsewhere or increase taxes.

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