Nothing Aside

Casing The White House

Yesterday evening I was on my way across town for dinner so I made sure my route passed by the White House.  With the newly paved pedestrian mall (underground bunker) completed, the north side of the White House is a nice area in the evening.  As I walked east along the north fence, right at the spot where everyone takes pictures, I looked up to see Sen. John McCain walking past me in the opposite direction.  I was a bit confused since I wasn't expecting to see a U.S. senator near that part of the White House (he was walking from the Treasury side of the White House towards the OEB side, not exactly the entry and exit point for high-profile visitors).  I was also surprised to see McCain without any staff tagging along and nowhere near any place where a car might be waiting. 

What was McCain doing walking past the White House?  Making a checklist of how he would redo the north lawn landscaping in three years when he's president?  Checking up on Cheney to make sure he didn't have his own waterboard operation going on in the Vice President's suite?  Getting his measurements taken so that the vendor who sells pictures of tourists with a cardboard likeness of the president is ready come January 2009?  Consulting with the crazy anti-nuke tent lady camped out in Lafayette Square about staying the course in Iraq?  The possibilities are endless really.

Review: Billy Goat Tavern, Washington DC

And now for something completely different.

I went to the brand new Washington, D.C. location of Chicago's famous Billy Goat Tavern this past weekend, and to put it succinctly, I was horrified.  For anyone who has been to the legendary Billy Goat Tavern on lower Michigan Avenue in Chicago, where the smell of grease is strong, where every surface is covered with Chicago Tribune clippings, where the Cubs rule, where pictures of goats and Tribune columnists adorn the walls, and where there is no Pepsi (only Coke) and no fries (only chips), the shock of the pristine Starbuck'd location and feel of the D.C. branch of this fine Chicago institution would be too much to bear. 

Not only were there chips and Coke on the menu, but there were even White Sox pennants hanging behind the bar and above the condiment station!  The White Sox!  In the Billy Goat Tavern!  That is blasphemous (unless, of course, it is some roundabout way of transferring the Cubs' curse to the White Sox, in which case I'm all for it). 

Furthermore, there was a sign welcoming both elephants and donkeys, something that would be unheard of in the Chicago original where, during the Republican convention of 1944 in Chicago, a sign went up proclaiming "No Republicans Allowed."  Perhaps this concession is a political necessity in a political city, but it still goes against the grain of the Billy Goat Tavern tradition.

The burgers are identical, though the buns lack the grease-infusion offered by the decades old grill surface in the Michigan Avenue original.  And again, there were chips and Coke.  That's a slap in the face to tradition.

I think I will be reserving my Billy Goat visits for the Chicago original.  This D.C. location has sold out and sold out badly. 

Worth A Read

The Winter issue of The Washington Quarterly, the international policy journal I currently work for, is now available online.  Check it out.  There is a section of five articles on various aspects of U.S.-China relations, as well as a spattering of articles included in our "Provocations" section about defeating insurgencies, German foreign policy, the legacy of the Soviet era in Russian political culture, and the future prospects of the European Union, among other topics.  It's worth a read, especially if you're feeling particularly wonkish today.

The Nuge Chimes In

However unintentional, it seems to be Kenyon Week here at Nothing Aside.  This time the contributor is none other than Kenyon's president, S. Georgia Nugent (affectionately known as "The Nuge" or "G. Nugget" by students).  Writing as part of a series on colleges for Slate, Nugent takes up the issue of moral and ethical development as an important part of one's complete education.  Perhaps she has been spending a bit of time in Horowitz House with our esteemed Political Science faculty?

But what of the emphasis on moral development? On the same national survey of faculty, only 69 percent identified "developing moral character" as the most important aspect of a college education, and only 39 percent chose "enhancing spiritual development." When I have asked my faculty colleagues their views, they say they are too "modest" to assert the ability to develop moral character and too wary, in today's political climate, to meddle in students' spiritual development. Perhaps it's time for me and my fellow presidents to draft the syllabus for that capstone course in metaphysics with which the presidents used to send their graduates off into the world.

What would be the syllabus for such a course? My response—not at all flippant—would be: It doesn't matter. What I'm talking about is not a required reading list; rather it is an experience of understanding and growth that might take a myriad of forms. The goal is not mastery of a subject but maturity as an adult—attaining a degree of self-understanding, an appreciation for the limits of the human condition, empathy for others, and a sense of responsibility for civil society. For me, as a classicist, the syllabus would probably focus on the Homeric epics and Greek tragedy. These texts have, to my mind, almost unparalleled power to anchor us in the world and confront us with both our wrenching limitations and our soaring possibilities as human beings. But for another colleague, the entire syllabus would be Melville's Moby Dick; for another, such a course would consist of teaching his students to construct a scientific instrument by hand; for a fourth, the course might be organic chemistry taught inductively through group discussion. What matters is not the subject but the sensibility. In fact, each of these hypothetical courses is one I have known a fine faculty member to teach, in a way that offered not information "to pass the exam" but the wisdom of a life-changing experience.

Kenyon's emphasis on the roots of the liberal arts education are, I think, stronger than most schools like it.  For the best example of what Kenyon is all about though, I must refer back to the speech given by David Foster Wallace at my commencement last May.

Now that I am out of Kenyon, I really see how unique the liberal arts education is and how far it can take students.  Too often here in Washington I find myself surrounded by overly-ambitious students (often from George Washington University, though the others are no less guilty) who don't know the first thing about political philosophy, the roots of our socio-political motivations or our responsibility to civic virtue.  Since their first day of college they have been studying "Eastern European Security Issues", "Weapons Proliferation in Latin America" or some other equally admirable yet obscure and precise topic.  All of these classes and subjects are of great interest, but without the theory behind the practice, what good is it all?  If you don't know what Rousseau is blabbering on about, or don't comprehend why Aristotle would bother with a few words on political ethics, each real world crisis of our present day will be an unnerving surprise.  If we have the right "sensibility" and the right degree of "self-understanding", as Nugent says, we'll be prepared to face what comes next with confidence and control.  That is what a true education is all about.

Election 2005: A Recap

Yesterday was election day in various parts of the country.  Here in Virginia there was the hotly contested race for governor between former state Attorney General Jerry Kilgore (R) and Lt. Governor Tim Kaine (D).  Here are the final results:

• Kaine (D) - 52%
• Kilgore (R) - 46%
• Potts (I) - 2%

In the Lt. Governor race, Republican Bill Bolling squeaked by Democrat Leslie Byrne:

• Bolling (R) - 51%
• Byrne (D) - 49%

The third state-wide race was for Attorney General and as of this morning, it was still up in the air:

• McDonnell (R) - 50%
• Deeds (D) - 50%

Across the country Democrats did well for themselves.  Senator Jon Corzine won the New Jersey governor race with ease.  He will now have to appoint his own replacement in the U.S. Senate - a crucial decision for Democrats, who face an uphill battle in that 2006 senate race.  The likely Republican opponent will be Tom Kean Jr., son of the former governor and chairman of the 9/11 commission.  But here are yesterday's results:

• Corzine (D) - 53%
• Forrester (R) - 44%

Elsewhere, efforts to reform the redistricting process in Ohio failed (sigh).  In Maine a gay marriage ban actually failed.  I think that is the first state to reject such a ban.  Meanwhile, in Texas voters added yet another amendment to their constitution: one that bans gay marriage, but which may also ban heterosexual marriage as well (oops).  In the New York mayoral race, Bloomberg (R) cruised to an easy victory.  That was to be expected.

What really troubles me is what happened in California.  Arnold had put four ballot initiatives up for consideration and all of them were rejected.  Democrats in the state are cheering, and the lefties at Daily Kos are blindly following that lead, but this seems totally misguided.  Let's look at what the propositions intend to do:

• Proposition 74 would increase from two years to five years the amount of time it would take before public school teachers could get tenure.  This seems entirely reasonable to me.  Of course this was opposed by the teachers' union and Democrats put partisanship before principle and campaigned to reject this completely reasonable proposal.
• Proposition 75 would require public sector unions to get the consent of their members before making contributions to political campaigns.  Again, this seems only reasonable.  Union leaders shouldn't be deciding the politics of their membership without getting approval of those members.  Again, Democrats, and the teachers' union opposed this and it failed by a similar 48%-51% margin.  They argued that this was nothing but a move by Republicans to limit the power of Democrats since most public sector unions side with Democrats.  Well duh.  But why does that ipso facto make it a bad thing?
• Proposition 76 would have imposed spending limits that would have handcuffed the state in any attempts to correct its out of shape budget problems.  This was rejected, as it should have been.
• Proposition 77 dealt with redistricting.  Instead of having California's congressional districts drawn by the hyper-partisan state legislature, districts would be created by a panel of retired judges who would be free of partisan influences and, presumably, would be able to draw districts that resulted in fair and competitive congressional races.  Democrats opposed this proposition because they felt that it would reduce their power and they could potentially lose some seats.  Well of course it would result in some lost seats.  But it should also result in some new seats as well and if a party is confident in its electoral program it shouldn't fear competitive elections.  One of the biggest problems in American politics today is the number of congressional elections that are won by 30%+.  That is simply ridiculous.  Every state should take note of the success and stronger democracy that has arisen in Iowa and Arizona, where just such a non-partisan commission is responsible for slicing up the state.  This is good for democracy and it is should have been good for California.

All of these propositions failed.  That is a disgrace.  Democrats should not be cheering just because they made Arnold look weaker by rejecting all his ideas.  They should have looked at the merits of the issues before them and thought about how it would effect democracy, not just their own narrow interests.  Consider this another reason why I am wary of the power of unions in the Democratic Party.

Kilgore's Political Suicide

Jerry Kilgore must really not want to win the Virginia governor race.  He must be trying to throw it to his opponent, Democrat Tim Kaine. 

There really is no other explanation other than that to expain this late news that Kilgore will be campaigning with President Bush on Monday.  Why is this bad for Kilgore?  Just take a look at another blaring headline on WashingtonPost.com:

"Bush's Popularity Reaches New Low, 58 Percent in Poll Question His Integrity"

Bush isn't just a bad luck charm, he is radioactive.  His approval rating is only 39% while his disapproval is at 60%!  There is not a single issue on which a majority approve of Bush's policy choices.  For the first time since September 11 more people disapprove of his handling of terrorism than approve.  Meanwhile, two-thirds of those polled give him negative marks on his handling of ethical issues.  68% of the respondents thought the country was off course.  47% say they strongly disapprove of Bush.  That is an incredible number considering there is another choice for those who simply "disapprove." 

Why would Kilgore want to be seen anywhere near Bush right now?  It makes no sense.  But I'm not complaining.

Crazy Things Heard On The Metro

Ah, and so it begins: the first installment of Crazy Things Heard On The Metro.  Frankly, I'm surprised it took me a week to hear something ridiculous on the DC metro.  If you are at all familiar with Overheard In New York, you'll immediately understand where this comes from. 

Today's installment comes from a woman who was otherwise silent, but who would say the most random things moments after the doors closed at each stop.  First there was this:

Can you imagine how many Chinese are on the New York subway?  They're everywhere!  Chase Manhattan said, 'if you're Chinese you're everywhere'."

Um.  Ok.  Mind you, she wasn't saying this to anyone in particular.  She was just saying it.  Then there was this gem:

If you're Chinese and like my sister, you should - there's a million Chinese - you should move to Michigan.

Hmm.  Good to know, I guess.  All these references to things Chinese were throwing me for a loop since at the very moment she was saying these things I was half-heartedly reading this Economist article.  For a moment I was very confused.