Questions for Candidates

On the list of things that will never happen, I would like to ask a number of politicians some questions about illegal drug use.

Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Barack Obama, and New York Governor David Paterson are all widely known to have confessed to illegal drug use. So have John Kerry, John Edwards, Michael Bloomberg and Howard Dean. Hillary Clinton and John McCain are both married to people who have used drugs illegally. All of these politicians continue to support the War on Drugs, and yet there can be little doubt that all of these individuals would be worse off today had they been incarcerated for their crimes.

I am not arguing that drug abuse is a good thing, only that the prosecution of the War on Drugs does a great deal more harm than the drugs themselves. One of the great things about America has been the volume of class mobility. If we succeed in creating a permanent underclass in this country, it will be the result of the one-two punch of the War on Drugs and the disgraceful state of government school education, particularly in the inner cities.

John Adams and Patriotism

I just finished watching the first two episodes of HBO's excellent miniseries, John Adams. From what I've seen so far, I would definitely recommend it. The second episode includes a number of scenes of debates during the Continental Congresses in Philadelphia. It was a strong reminder of just what an astonishing thing it is that the United States exists at all. That the thirteen colonies were able to keep their somewhat fragile alliance together, beat back the British, and eventually forge a unified country is amazing.

There is an episode of the television comedy Sports Night in which the character Dana, who adopts a sophisticate's contempt for Broadway musicals, takes her niece to see The Lion King on Broadway. She loves it. When she returns to her work and tells her boss how wonderful it was, her eyes are shining and she says, "It was like church. I didn't know we could do that. Did you know we could do that?"

I have had moments where I am awestruck by the capacity of individuals and of mankind to do great things. The feeling I get always makes me think of Dana saying, "I didn't know we could do that."

The United States of America is an incredible country. I am lucky and grateful to have been born here. I am sharply critical of a great many things about America, but I still believe that I live in the greatest country that is or ever has been, and I love America fiercely.

John Adams reminds me of what a chancy enterprise the founders were engaged in, and the great risks they took to try, however imperfectly, to build a free republic nearly from scratch. I didn't know we could do that.

Herding Cats

I take the title of this blog from the view that getting anyone to see reason on anything is like herding cats. Most people are far less interested in truth than they are in comfortably maintaining their assumptions and prejudices about the world and themselves. I am hardly immune from this phenomenon.

Additionally, keeping my thoughts and ideas organized can also be as difficult as herding cats. I am told that blogs with a narrow focus tend to be more successful than those with a broader orientation, but whether others will characterize my interests as broad or narrow remains to be seen.

Generally speaking, I am interested in political issues from a moderately libertarian perspective, as well as issues of ethics and morality.