50,000 troops does not equal end to war

The war is over in Iraq, but we're keeping 50,000 people there? Somehow, I just don't see how that adds up to over.

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Race to Top fiasco about arrogance, not Obama

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Rachel Maddow took a stray comment in Charles Stiles' Saturday column and ran with it, offering the Race to the Top fiasco as an example of Republican "Obama Derangement Syndrom." The folks at Blue Jersey, where I occasionally post, loved it, but I think it overplays the Obama angle in what was really just an example of the kind of arrogant bullying we will see over the next three-and-a-half years from Gov. Chris Christie.

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The mosque and morality: A slippery slope

Over at the HuffPost, Bill Hallowell presents a rather scathing critique of Mark Halperin's advice to conservatives on the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque," a critique we have some sympathy for, but in which he also veers into some questionable territory.

Hallowell hits Halperin, rightly, for making the claim that the Republican Party is driving this issue. The party is not in the driver's seat, but has been a willing passenger on a runaway train that is likely to smash into a thousand pieces and injure all of us in the process.

Hallowell doesn't make this point, however; rather, he uses his critique of Halperin to jump onto another train, one that also is out of control and moving at dangerous speeds. Halperin devotes "no words at all" to

questioning why the Cordoba Initiative has chosen to build a massive monument to Islam just blocks away from where the World Trade Center once stood. Halperin's article is limited to telling Republicans why they should silence themselves on the issue. Before I continue, allow me to clarify something. I'm all for religious freedom; I'm not attacking Islam, but I am questioning the intention, knowing the sensitivities involved, of planning to build a mosque at that location. Naturally, Halperin is more concerned with providing advice to Republicans than he is in actually getting to the bottom of the issue at hand -- why the Cordoba Initiative is obsessed with placing an Islamic beacon at the center of America's greatest travesty.

The issue, Hallowell says, is not how the GOP is using the controversy -- which, may be true -- but the motivation of the Cordoba Initiative, which he refers to as an obsession.

Hallowell is guilty here of doing what too many have done over the last decade: Transforming the site of a horrible terrorist attack into something more than it is, turning what had been America's most powerful symbol of capitalism (the World Trade Center) into a holy site. The WTC site has become "the center of America's greatest travesty," greater than the Civil War, greater than Pearl Harber, greater than the assassination of presidents -- a conflation that has resulted in nine years of war in Afghanistan, a slew of lies that led us into war in Iraq (which continues, despite President Obama's proclamation to the contrary), and an appalling abandonment of our commitment to the rule of law.

As a secular holy site (yes, an oxymoron), Hallowell can ignore questions of law. The Cordoba group has "every legal right to build" and, while "most Muslims are peaceful," that is not the issue. What is, Hallowell says, are "the moral implications of doing so at, near or around Ground Zero," implications he calls "evident."

Whether leftists agree, the vast majority of the public sees the move as insensitive; it is widely opposed by nearly every measure. Should plans for the mosque forge on, there will be a great deal of resentment, which will, in turn, damage reconciliation efforts. If those individuals who wish to build truly care about bridging divides between Muslim and non-Muslim Americans as they've stated, they'll choose another location. Wouldn't this spread the goodwill that Halperin seems to believe can only come if conservatives remain silent?

The vast majority also opposed ending Jim Crow in the '60s, which did lead to resentment and backlash, but ultimately resulted in significant and irreversible progress. The danger in granting the majority a right to impose its will on the minority -- whether racial or religious -- should be pretty clear at this point of our history.

I wrote last week about the mosque debate in my column, and I think it bears repeating: The mosque debate should have been left as a local zoning dispute, the question of what should be built near the WTC site defined by the needs of New York City and its residents.

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The first firing

The first firing -- because of a clerical error? Or does this mean there is more to the fiasco than anyone wants to admit publicly?

The governor should look at himself on this and ask himself whether he aggravated the situation by quickly jumping into the fray in an effort to deflect blame.

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Grassroots: War is over. Not!

The troops are coming home, but no one should believe that the war has come to a close.

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DISPATCHES: Ground Zero for intolerance

I think you can guess what this column is about -- but make sure you read the comments at the end from our readers. A bit chilling, I think.

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Arrogance and its consequences

I wasn't going to comment on what is, really, nothing more than a clerical error -- an expensive error, to be sure. But Gov. Chris Christie's arrogance over this is remarkable. Consider this comment, published in today's Star-Ledger:

While taking responsibility for the "clerical error," Christie also blamed the Obama administration for refusing to let the state correct the error.


"This is the stuff, candidly, that drives people crazy about government and crazy about Washington," the governor said, adding that the reviewers appeared to be more concerned with technical details than the educational proposals.

Christie said President Obama needs to explain "to the people of the state of New Jersey why he’s depriving them of $400 million that this application earned them, because one of his bureaucrats in Washington couldn’t pick up the phone and ask a question, couldn’t go on the internet and find information."

It was the governor's people who made the mistake, but the governor has decided to push blame off on the Obama administration, which was just following its rules. Imagine how the governor would have reacted were the New Jersey and Ohio positions reversed and the Obama administration opted to give Ohio a second shot at the application because it was the one that made the mistake.

The fact is, the Christie administration submitted an application knowing that it did not have the opportunity to make changes in the paperwork after the deadline. It made the mistake, which cost the state some points and left the state short. He should man up, as they say.

Bob Braun, in his Ledger column, makes it clear that the state lost out not just because of the clerical error -- he's a bit soft on the feds on this one -- but because the application was weak and damaged by the contentious relationship between Christie and the teachers union, one that federal reviewers said raised flags about the ability of the state to implement its goals. New Jersey "didn’t get such high grades on its ability to persuade educators to sign on to its plan — a reflection on the contentious Christie-NJEA feud that climaxed with the governor’s last-minute rejection of a plan that his own education commissioner, Bret Schundler, negotiated with the union."

"This lack of greater involvement will challenge N.J.’s efforts to meet its goals," another reviewer concluded.

The reviewers also raised questions about the development of a statewide database to track pupil success and failure — something Schundler had earlier praised as an early accomplishment of his tenure.

"A detailed plan with specific goals, activities, timelines, and responsibilities was not included, so only medium points are awarded," a reviewer noted.

The points deducted for issues like a database or the failure to bring educators to accept the plan cost New Jersey far more than the points deducted for including the wrong year.

The failure to garner Race to the Top money -- which is incredibly flawed and based on some truly questionable goals (school choice and merit pay, both of which are conservative talking points -- is only part of the problem here. The fractious relationship between Christie and the union is going to have its impact in the classroom at some point, and that's just unacceptable.

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Doggie diaries: The story of Rosie and Sophie The lazy sister on a Sunday

I'm a bit jealous of Sophie. She gets to spend Sunday morning reclining in the sun's rays, while Annie and I have to finish putting the office together. This is what they mean by a dog's life.

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Scallops to die for

This plate was full of scallops and vegetables -- though, as you can see, not any longer. The scallops cipriani at Luchento's, which had a nice white wine sauce with a bit of tang, demanded they be eaten and savored.

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Dinner at Luchento's

Seafood bisque in cool bowl -- excellent first course @ Luchento's in Millstone. Well worth the $7 or so. Next up salad and then scallops cipriani.

Dispatches: 'Voices' deserve library space

The controversy over a gay-themed teen reader in Burlington County is just another example of how fear often trumps free speech rights.

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Thoughts on reading aloud

A piece in Time Off by me on participating in live readings.

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Dispatches: Equal protection will win in the end

My weekly Dispatches column is up -- it is on the California same-sex marriage decision.

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Reading aloud

"See the man with the stage fright
just standin' up there to give it all his might"
-- The Band, "Stage Fright"

"Try to look up at the audience when you read," my friend Eliot tells me. "And try to emphasize and round out your vowels."

We had just finished our second joint reading in about a month, at a small Mexican restaurant in New Brunswick. It had gone fairly well -- the audience seemed to like the poems and, as always, Eliot rocked the house.

It was only my second reading before a live audience (I'm not counting the handful of early-1980s open readings and school events I had attended) and it was clear that I was fighting sheer, unmitigated terror. I was like the man in The Band song, with sweating brow and dry mouth, unwilling to raise my eyes from my poems. Making eye contact seemed the worst thing I could do.

But Eliot offered encouragement. He told me to give the work a chance, allow it to be heard. The poems were good, so the reading would be All I needed to do was relax.

Easier said than done, but I considered the evening a victory. That was probably five years ago and, having now read publicly dozens of times (including eight as the feature poet), I understand what he was saying.

Let the work do the work. That's the advice I would give now. If you are confident in your poems, then let that confidence shine through your reading. Let the poems do the work.

I'm up at Fairleigh Dickinson for the week, participating in the first of three residencies that are part of the MFA program in creative writing. As part of this week's residency, first-year students are expected to participate in a reading (it's tradition). I had seen it on the schedule a week or two ago and I have been looking forward to it, but others -- including the other poetry student, a woman who writes wonderful poems that harken backward in time to the Romantic period (but without the rhyme) -- appear far less excited by the prospect of getting up in front of the crowd and letting it all hang out.

I was a little surprised, but shouldn't be. They are just feeling as I did not too long ago -- completely engaged in the art, but not in the performance, focused on the solitary creative impulse and either not ready for or not realizing the importance of taking that art out into the world and connecting directy with the audience.

The connection is what makes readings so important, I think. I asked Mark Doty about this before he read at my South Brunswick series in May and he told me he values the opportunity to interact. Reading is a way to give back to the community of readers who have supported his work and a way to gauge the effectiveness of the work.

It gives us a chance to hear the poems and see the reactions in the eyes of the audience, to hear them laugh or see them shake their heads and talk with them after the reading and answer questions or thank them for their kind words or what have you.

My advise to all poets is to get out there and read. If you're in central New Jersey, come to the South Brunswick Library on the third Sunday of the month (September through May) and join the open reading after our feature. Or go to the Barron Arts Center in Woodbridge, the Somerset County Library in Somerville or the Carriage House reading series in Fanwood or the River Reads series in Red Bank.

To quote that paragon of corporate personhood, Nike: "Just do it."

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Runner's diary, Sunday -- FDU edition

It has been quite some time since I went out for a morning run, so I might have been forgiven for blowing off the running during my 10-day stay at Fairleigh Dickinson, where I am beginning work on my master's of fine arts in creative writing.

Running on the FDU campus presents an interesting challenge that, given my recent running history, is a bit daunting. The campus is nearly all hill and valley, many of the inclines pushing 45 degress and more. That's a brutal climb generally, but when you haven't been out and you aren't used to hill work, it becomes nearly insurmountable. The uphill runs are enough to stop you in your tracks -- and I had to slow to a near-walk several times -- but the downhills may be worse, forcing momentum on you and badly stressing the legs. Downhill essentially is one long continuous pounding.

But I have to do it, have to push through this. My goal this week is to get out about five or six times at about two miles a clip, and hope that the hills open things up for me on far more level ground at home.

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GOP budget math doesn't add up

Paul Krugman quickly dismantles the GOP budget plan being touted by Rep. Paul Ryan, calling it a sham. Someone had to call the congressman out on it.

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