Loose Cannon

Ten Intriguing Poll Numbers

Carl M. Cannon — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:25:00 GMT

51 percent of Americans now categorize themselves as “pro-life” on abortion, with 42 percent choosing themselves as “pro-choice.” These numbers come from the “Values and Beliefs” survey done annually for the past 15 years by the Gallup Poll—and 2009 is the first time a majority of Americans have chosen the “pro-life” option. This result suggests that those urging Republican leaders to scale back on this issue may not have their finger on the pulse of the people.

59 percent of those under-30 years of age now favor legalizing same-sex marriage. True, it is the only age group that feels this way, but—let’s face it—young voters are the future. This recent finding, also coming from Gallup, suggests that liberal Democrats who want to push their party to be more progressive on gay rights may have the tide of history on their side.

71 percent of Americans surveyed in a new Quinnipiac University poll expressed support for the white firefighters denied promotion by the city of New Haven, Conn., after no African-American applicants who took the required written exam scored high enough to be promoted. In the resulting lawsuit, federal appellate judge Sonia Sotomayor sided with the city, a decision favored by only 19 percent of those polled in the Quinnipiac survey.

55 percent of those polled on the broader question of affirmative action favor abolishing the doctrine. Only 36 percent would like to keep it. Again, the moral of the story might be that Democratic Party doctrine is not always a majority opinion.

54 percent of those polled in a recent Gallup-USA Today poll say they would like to see Judge Sotomayor confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. Those who don’t want her on the court numbered 28 percent, with 19 percent keeping an open mind. So what does her majority support tell us? A couple of things: First, President Obama seems to have calculated correctly in assuming people would be taken with Sotomayor’s up-by-the-bootstraps biography. Second, most Americans are not single-issue voters, and can appreciate an accomplished American woman (or man) even if they disagree with that person on certain issues. Sort of like a family.

Eight Joe Biden Gaffes

Carl M. Cannon — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:21:00 GMT

Good thing the blog name “Loose Cannon” is taken—otherwise it would be the perfect title for the White House website section on the vice president. Always known as the quickest mouth in Delaware, Joe Biden’s ascension to national office four months ago has hardly slowed him down. Here are eight of my favorite Biden gaffes, questionable ad-libs, and bizzaro quips. It’s likely there will be more to come.

1. “Jill and I had the great honor of standing on that stage, looking across at one of the great justices, Justice Stewart.”—To cheering supporters on Inauguration Day, while substituting the name of Potter Stewart (who died in 1985) for Justice John Paul Stevens, who swore Biden in as vice president.

Credit: United States Senate

2. “My memory isn’t as good as Chief Justice Roberts.”—Needling the chief justice over Robert’s glitch in administering the oath of office to Barack Obama . Biden was asking for a copy of the oath so that he could swear in the White House staff on January 30, while Obama shook his head in disapproval.

3. “If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there’s still a 30 percent chance we’re going to get it wrong.”—Channeling his inner Yogi Berra while discussing the stimulus package to members of Congress on February 6.

4. “Do you know the website number?”—Committing a minor techie blooper during a February 25 television interview reminiscent of George W. Bush’s description of the “Internets.”

5. “Give me a f______ break!”—Dropping the “f-bomb” to a former Senate colleague who addressed him as “Mr. Vice President” at a March 13 event in Washington’s Union Station.

6. “I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now. It’s not that it’s going to Mexico in a confined aircraft where one person sneezes, that goes all the way through the aircraft. That’s me. I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway.”—Taking flight from the White House talking points on the swine flu, and panicking millions of travelers, on April 30.

7. “I told you: Piece of cake. Piece of cake.” —Whispered in the ear of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on May 27, after she delivered her poignant remarks in the East Room.

8. “What am I gonna tell the president? I’m gonna tell him his teleprompter is broken. What will he do then?” —Taking a dig at his teleprompter-reliant boss when one of the teleprompter screens fell down during Biden’s May 27 commencement speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Five Feel-Good Numbers

Carl M. Cannon — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:07:00 GMT

1. Only 25 percent of Americans said in a recent Gallup Poll that they are changing their summer vacation plans because of the Great Recession. Last year at this time, the number was significantly higher—36 percent. Here are other potentially uplifting polls and raw numbers.

2. A narrow majority of Americans—51 percent of us—report that we exercise at least three days a week, with 27 percent saying we exercise five days a week or more. Of course, this means that 49 percent do not exercise regularly. Off those couches, people!

3. Consumer spending increased in the week leading up to Memorial Day. Americans reported spending $73 per day last week, an increase of 20 percent over the previous week and 30 percent over the previous month. Gallup’s “Consumer Mood Index,” has leveled off, however, meaning that Americans are still unsure that the nation’s economy is truly back.

4. By nearly a 2-1 margin, Americans do not want congressional hearings in the CIA “enhanced interrogation” techniques. The poll was done by The New York Times and CBS News. The exact numbers were 62 percent opposed with 34 percent in favor. This is actually good news for both political parties: If Washington heeds the citizens’ desires, Republicans on Capitol Hill will not be forced to defend the last eight years—and Democrats can get on with the job of governing, which is more productive than wallowing in the past.

5. Finally, here’s a number that does America proud: 22. That’s the number of cities Bruce Springsteen is scheduled to play on his European tour, beginning May 30 in the Netherlands. With all due respect to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the State Department’s fine diplomatic corps, our best ambassador is….Bruuuuuuce!

Val Kilmer's Top Campaign Lines

Carl M. Cannon — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:12:00 GMT

Following up on my previous post about some of the celebrities, thespians, and characters elected governor over the years, Loose Cannon takes note of the likely New Mexico gubernatorial candidacy of movie actor Val Kilmer. As a journalist, I can’t take sides in such races—but I’m happy to offer possible slogans to the Kilmer Campaign. (The lines, of course, come from Kilmer’s movie roles. I’ve even helpfully suggested the optimum context in which to use the quote.)

“I’m your huckleberry!” (To the voters of New Mexico, in his announcement speech.)

“You can be my wingman anytime.” (To his lieutenant governor running mate.)

“I’m a fake hero.” (Modestly, to charm star-struck celebrity journalists.)

“You’re no daisy—you’re no daisy at all.” (Sternly, to hard-boiled political writers asking personal questions.)

“We all wear masks.” (To fellow Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls who question why an actor should enter politics.)

“Not me. I’m in my prime.” (To critics who say his best days as an actor are behind him.)

“You don’t believe in that cold fusion mumbo-jumbo, do you?” (In reply to questions about his energy policy.)

“There’s a lot of unstable phenomena out there.” (While stumping for votes at the annual UFO convention in Roswell, N.M.)

“They can’t do anything to me, I’m a guest of the government.” (Assuring worried aides that it is all right to accept an invitation by extraterrestrials who stun the convention by landing a spaceship in Roswell.)

“What better job in all the world than to build a bridge?” (Vowing in his standard stump speech to run a positive campaign.)

“What an ugly thing to say. Does this mean we’re not friends anymore?” (To a critical Democratic opponent during a debate in the Democratic primary campaign)

“Your leg, I’d like to break it.” (To a critical Republican debate opponent during a debate in the general election campaign.)

“You’re my sun, my moon, my starlit sky!” (To Barack Obama, who comes to New Mexico to endorse Val at the annual July 4 parade and picnic in the town of Red River.)

“He’s down by the creek, walkin’ on water.” (To the traveling White House press corps, when asked where the president went after his July 4 speech.)

“It’s the car. Chicks dig the car.” (Explaining to his wife, on the way to his inauguration why so many beautiful women are lining the motorcade.)

“I’d better give them what they want. I promised my manager.” (Explaining to disappointed out-of-state supporters why he’s changed his mind and decided to cut taxes for New Mexicans.)

Here are the characters, and the movies—listed in order—that these lines come from: as Doc Holliday in Tombstone; “Iceman” in Top Gun; Jim Morrison in The Doors; Doc Holliday again; as the winged hero in Batman Forever; another Doc Holliday; as Simon Templar in The Saint; as Montgomery in The Island of Doctor Moreau; as Nick Rivers in Top Secret; as Colonel John Henry Patterson in The Ghost and the Darkness; Doc Holliday again; Madmartigan in Willow; another Martigan line; Doc Holliday; as Batman; again, as Nick Rivers.

Nine Unlikely U.S. Governors

Carl M. Cannon — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:45:00 GMT

As a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Loose Cannon has watched in amazement as Terry McAuliffe has emerged as a front-runner to be the next occupant of the governor’s mansion in Richmond. Political journalists know Terry as an accessible and friendly fellow—also as the Clintons’ bag man. But is a professional political fundraiser really qualified to be the chief executive officer of a mid-sized state? Probably not, but Americans have previously picked governors with even less conventional qualifications. Here are nine colorful examples.

1. Texas: The Lone Star state has had several characters in the statehouse, none more quaint than Ma Ferguson. After her husband, Gov. James Ferguson, was impeached, convicted, and barred from running again, his wife Miriam A. "Ma" Ferguson threw her hat in the ring. It was she, and not the Clintons who first offered voters the assurance that with her they would “get two governors for the price of one.” The year was 1925.

2. Louisiana: Sharecroppers’ son Jimmie H. Davis, born in 1899, converted his stardom as a country and western singer into two stints as Louisiana’s governor, the first in the mid-1940s, the other in the early 1960s. Although his 1960 campaign slogan, “He’s One of Us,” was a racial pitch to white voters, Davis’ true appeal was his hit song, “You Are My Sunshine,” which is now Louisiana’s official state song. Davis, wearing his signature white cowboy hat, warbled that tune at every rally, sometimes from the back of a horse—a steed he once rode up the capital steps in Baton Rouge.

3. Alabama: Inspired by the Fergusons' example, term-limited George Wallace ran his wife Lurleen for office in 1966, a victory that helped Wallace overturn the state’s one term-and-you’re-out law. Lurleen’s qualifications consisted of working in a five-and-dime store in high school and marrying George Wallace at age 16. As Alabama’s first lady, she refused to serve alcoholic beverages, including wine, at state functions.

4. Georgia: If much of George Wallace’s popularity stemmed from his avowed opposition to racial integration, Atlanta restaurant owner Lester Maddox represented an even grittier face of racism. When Maddox ran for governor in 1966, the sole rationale for his candidacy were the infamous photos of him and his supporters wielding axe handles to turn back three peaceful civil rights protestors seeking entry to Maddox’s segregated restaurant. Maddox, who closed his restaurant rather than serve African Americans, lost the popular vote, but was installed as governor by Georgia’s Legislature. He ran again for lieutenant governor, winning, serving under Jimmy Carter, who shunned him.

5. New Hampshire: Meldrim Thomson Jr., was raised in the South, but made his fortune in New Hampshire running a publishing company he founded. Thomson’s passion wasn’t race relations, it was low taxes—and he used the axe only metaphorically, running for governor on the slogan “Ax the Tax!” He had no previous qualifications in politics, but ran for governor three times, finally winning in 1972. His conservatism was social as well as fiscal—he ordered that the term “Ms.” not be used in official state communications—and when his critics accused him of espousing beliefs from the 19^th century, Thomson corrected them. “They are wrong,” he declared. “My beliefs are rooted in the values of the 17^th century, and I’m proud of it.”

6. Washington: Born in Tacoma and christened Margaret Ray, she climbed Mount Ranier at age 12—the youngest girl to ascend the mountain—and renamed herself Dixy Lee. She went on to become a science teacher, and marine biologist who was ultimately appointed by Gerald Ford to head the Atomic Energy Commission. In 1976, she mounted a surprise gubernatorial bid in her home state, upsetting the political establishment. “Stop brooding about being a woman,” Dixy Lee Ray once told feminists. “If you want to do something, then train yourself…”

7. Minnesota: A former Navy SEAL, body-builder, and professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura’s ostensible qualification to be governor was his single term as mayor of tiny Brooklyn Park, Minn. His real talent, at least to Minnesotans who voted him into office in a fluky, three-way race in 1990, was that Ventura would say virtually anything to anyone at any time. Some citizens like that sort of unfiltered candor. Ventura, long out of office, has been at it again recently, assailing former Vice President Cheney over the issue of torturing suspected terrorists. “Give me a water board, *** Cheney and one hour,” Ventura said, “and I’ll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders.”

8. Arizona: Phoenix area automobile dealer and perennial candidate Evan Mecham bucked the odds in 1986 by winning his state's governorship in a three-way race. As a dealership owner, Mecham’s ubiquitous ads had proclaimed, “If you can’t deal with Mecham, you just can’t deal.” As it happened, few people could deal with Mecham once he took office. He worked poorly with the state legislature and repeatedly uttered racially insensitive comments, which led to a recall petition. More serious charges of dealing—wheeling and dealing with campaign funds—led to Mecham’s impeachment and removal from office.

9. California: In 2003, voters in the neighboring state of California recalled the supremely well-qualified Gray Davis as governor. Unlike Mecham, Davis was accused of nothing more serious than poor management, but the state’s voters had something else in mind: A man who could travel backwards through time and kill problems before they became insurmountable. In other words, they wanted the Terminator (at least the one from Terminator 2: Judgment Day), although they settled for Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played the robot in the movies. Arnold won reelection, but has since learned that governing the largest state in the union is about as easy as time travel.

California the Prequel: The 2003 election wasn’t, of course, the first time Golden State voters chose an actor to lead them. In 1966, California’s electorate sent to Sacramento a former leading man who had once played Notre Dame star George Gipp, star baseball player Grover Cleveland Alexander—and second fiddle to a chimpanzee in Bedtime for Bonzo. But Ronald Reagan did okay.

9 Top Politics Websites

Carl M. Cannon — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:36:00 GMT

These sites may not (or may) attract the most “eyeballs”—that wonderful term of art in the Internet Age denoting viewers, readers, listeners, and clicks of the mouse—but they do generally adhere to Loose Cannon’s requirements of bipartisanship and civility. Dedicated lefties already know where to find popular left-wing sites; likewise, arch-conservatives have previously bookmarked their favorite right-wing sites. The nine cited here are where you can find both sides of the story, and without much name-calling or anger. Am I playing favorites with this list? Yes, somewhat, as you will see. Anyway, here they are, in no particular order.

1. The Atlantic: This venerable magazine is famous for its thoughtful articles, and its website is known for its intellectually lively bloggers, including political junkie Marc Ambinder, economics maven Clive Crook, world traveler Jim Fallows, and the multi-talented Jeffrey Goldberg.

2. The Politico: Launched in 2007, this site is built for speed. It is for true political professionals who need a daily dose—and it delivers on its promise. Mike Allen’s “Political Playbook” is the first thing I read in the morning.

3. The Washington Post: Loose Cannon lives in suburban Virginia, so I’m recommending the website of my hometown newspaper. But The Post covers national politics extensively, and it’s hard to go wrong with a website that features political commentary from David Broder and Anne Applebaum, the priceless political personality sketches of Dana Milbank, and running updates from “The Fix,” a.k.a. Chris Cillizza.

4. Real Clear Politics: Originally an aggregator site of the nation’s best political writing from the previous day, Real Clear has added its own content, including regular and insightful offerings from its in-house analysts Tom Bevan and Jay Cost. Its headlines are priceless. (Example: “Elizabeth Edwards Meets Pandora.”)

5. MSNBC: Any website that takes advantage of NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd and his unheralded team of researchers including Abby Livingston and Mark Murray is worth clicking on for that reason alone. Todd’s team puts out a “First Read” each morning that helps set the national agenda.

6. The Hotline: The inventor of the aggregator site in the digital age (Reader’s Digest is the original aggregator!), Hotline has been forced by the reality of competition to let some of its terrific material out from behind its “firewall.” It also has original content, too, fed to Hotline by a stable of stud reporters led by James Barnes who works for my old outfit, National Journal.

7. Cook Political Report: This site is for genuine politics aficionados, and is all about upcoming elections—at the state, local, and national level. It is run by Charlie Cook, a junkie’s junkie.

8. C-SPAN: This network is a Mecca for good-government nerds who like their politics unadorned with a lot of ideological prattle. Perhaps less known, C-SPAN also boasts a remarkable website. My favorite aspect is its vast trove of archival material, much of it gleaned from presidential libraries and the National Archives—and presented in a viewer-friendly way. My favorite now is their package of Abraham Lincoln programming, accessible at this url: http://www.c-span.org/Series/Lincoln-200-Years.aspx

9. AOL’s Politics Daily: Okay, this is obviously provincial, as I am now writing for this site, which launched April 27. But check us out, because we are a going concern—I'm part of a team that boasts esteemed political writer Jill Lawrence, famed Chicago shoe-leather reporter Lynn Sweet, rising star Patricia Murphy, columnist extraordinaire Walter Shapiro, and the incomparable prose stylist Melinda Henneberger.

5 Reasons Not to Torture

Carl M. Cannon — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:52:00 GMT

Reason One: Information obtained from tortured suspects is unreliable. *** Cheney says valuable information was wrung out of 9/11 masterminds Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah via "water-boarding" and other methods. Loose Cannon has no reason to doubt the former vice president, but previous studies have shown that prisoners being tortured will often say whatever they believe their interrogators want to hear—just to end the pain.

Reason Two: It forfeits America’s moral high ground in world public opinion.

Reason Three: Images of the abuses of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, along with the detainees’ tales of horror from Guantanamo (even if exaggerated or invented) serve as a recruiting tool for terrorists.

Reason Four: If torture is conducted or sanctioned by the U.S., it makes it much more difficult for our government to generate world outrage if American hostages are abused by terrorists and it also provides an incentive for terrorists to mistreat U.S. military personnel—or anyone they have kidnapped.

Reason Five: As Americans, it is not who we are. Enshrined in the 8^th Amendment is a prohibition against "cruel" or "unusual" punishments. Torture is both. Although foreign terrorists who have declared war on our way of life have not earned the protections of the U.S. Constitution, neither should Americans descend to the barbaric level of our enemies.

Five Reasons Not to Prosecute Government Officials for Torture or Detainment Policies

Carl M. Cannon — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:39:00 GMT

(1) Even if their decisions were morally errant and counterproductive in the long run—as they may well have been—the lawyers who made these calls, and the officials who carried them out, did not have base or abtruse motives: They clearly were acting in good faith to try and protect the United States from further attacks.

(2) Although Loose Cannon is persuaded that torture is simply the wrong policy for the United States to follow (I’ll blog on that soon), even Obama administration officials concede that in some cases it may have provided valuable intelligence, which means that it may have saved American lives. Prosecuting officials who have stopped terrorist attacks in their tracks would send a signal to those responsible for protecting us that they must always worry about covering their own rear ends instead.

(3) Prosecuting officials who conjured up plausible constitutional authority for actions such as water-boarding, rendition, and open-ended detainment —even if the courts or Congress subsequently rejected those theories—would essentially criminalize policy differences between the two political parties. What would prevent the next administration from prosecuting current officials who pursued national security actions it didn’t agree with that were made by President Obama and his team? Is that the kind of government we want?

(4) How is the federal government going to attract top-level talent to come to Washington and serve their nation when the reward—if your party loses an election—is endless second-guessing, abasement, lawyers fees, and possible criminal prosecution?

(5) President Obama can use this issue to demonstrate leadership. The president’s initial position seemed to be: (a) torture has ceased, and so will draconian detainments; (b) the administration will release documents revealing what took place in the Bush administration; (c) prosecutions, however, are off the table. It was a gutsy and practical stance, and he should stick to it, if for no other reason to show that he won’t be buffaloed by ideologues in his own party—and that he wants to move forward, dealing with the economy, the wars, the other challenges he faces instead of wallowing in the perceived mistakes of the previous eight years.

Five Events on this Day in Presidential History

Carl M. Cannon — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:06:00 GMT

Today, President Obama signs a bill granting various incentives for students and seniors to do volunteer work, while directing matching federal money to smaller non-profits. It is an expansion of a growing trend in government, and fulfills an Obama campaign pledge to create “an Army of volunteers.” This small-bore, but idealistic initiative made Loose Cannon curious about what previous presidents had done this day. Here are four other examples:

April 21, 1989: Twenty years ago, George H.W. Bush presents a Congressional Gold Medal to Mary Lasker, president of a foundation launched in 1942 to find solutions to cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The Lasker Foundation, Bush notes, was the driving force in the federal government’s commitment to find cures for cancer, and the president terms the medal “a token” of a nation’s great gratitude.

April 21, 1975: President Ford grants an interview to CBS newsmen Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, and Bob Schieffer. Cronkite opens by telling the audience they are in the “Rose Room” (it’s the Blue Room), then asks Ford about wire service reports that 800 battle-ready U.S. Marines have departed from Honolulu. The president deflects questions about where they are going, but when Cronkite asks whether they are headed “directly” to Saigon, Ford says no. Nine days later, however, the Marines will indeed be in Saigon, helping evacuate the last Americans from the embassy during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.

April 21, 1964: Five months after the tragedy in Dallas, President Johnson hosts Texas Governor John Connolly at the White House. Connolly had been wounded during the Kennedy assassination, and was in Washington to testify before the Warren Commission. LBJ, changing the subject while going for a lighter touch, issued a statement noting that it was San Jacinto Day, the occasion on which Texans celebrate their independence from Mexico. “I know there are some folks who insist that Texans still think the Republic is still in existence,” Johnson quipped, “but the governor tells me Texas is definitely in the Union.”

April 21, 1914: Following the brief, comic opera arrest in Veracruz, Mexico of nine U.S. sailors aboard a whaling boat in Veracruz, Woodrow Wilson dispatches American troops to seize the port at Veracruz, bringing Mexico and the United States to the brink of war and souring relations between the neighbor nations for decades.

4 Heartwarming YouTube Videos

Carl M. Cannon — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:01:00 GMT

If you haven’t seen it by now, here’s a clip of Susan Boyle, an unglamorous, unemployed, 47-year-old “never been kissed” Scotswoman winning over all three judges at Britain’s Got Talent—Simon Cowell’s British version of American Idol—as well as the audience, her nation, and the world. It’s seven minutes long, and worth every second.

At 3 minutes and 52 seconds, this homemade video of a mommy moose and her twin calves wandering in from the forest and playing in a backyard sprinkler is sweet, and set to the perfect country and western tune.

A couple years ago, CBS News presented an unexpected feature story about an autistic kid who was essentially the towel boy on a high school basketball team until, one day, when the coach let him suit up as a player, and then sent him onto the floor for a few minutes at the end of a game—the last game of the season. The results were unexpected, and inspiring. The video is under 3 minutes long, so I won’t ruin the ending for you. Here’s the link.

My last entry is a Coca-Cola commercial. This is not an example of sly product placement, although Loose Cannon has been known to drink half-a-dozen Diet Cokes a day. No, this video is about true happiness and appreciating the joys of life. It features a 102-year-old man who lives in Spain, and the birth of what must be his great-grandchild—or, perhaps, his great-great grandchild. It’s in Spanish, with subtitles, less than a minute and a half long. Enjoy.

Six Cool Places Your Tax Dollars Go

Carl M. Cannon — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:58:00 GMT

Yes, Tax Day is a tough milestone for many Americans this year, what with high unemployment, recession, and those hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out Wall Street types we’d rather see behind bars. Yet, April 15 also heralds the arrival of spring, a time for baseball, flowers, renewal. So here are six reasons to celebrate—and not curse—the money that goes to the Internal Revenue Service:

The National Park Service: Here is a federal agency that works, that is popular with the public, and that operates the United States’ crown jewels: Yellowstone, Yosemite, Ellis Island, the Arch in St. Louis, the Grand Canyon, Smokey Mountain National Park, the Lincoln Memorial—and many more. Rates always affordable.

The United States Navy: Sure, its budget is bloated, but who else can deliver food and medical supplies to tsunami victims—and turn around and sink Somali pirates? For that matter, who knew the U.S. Navy even had snipers? Actually, it has nearly everything, from snipers to SEALs, ships to submarines…and squadrons of the best combat pilots in the world. Its unofficial motto are these inspiring words: Not self, but country.

NASA: When it’s not launching space shuttles, repairing the space station, protecting Earth by tracking massive energy particles from the sun, or wowing school children with fantastic new images showing a vast stellar formation in space resembling a human hand—when it’s not doing all that and more—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is showing that government can have a sense of humor. When comedian Stephen Colbert hijacked NASA’s online poll to choose the name of a room in the space station, the agency ignored his landslide win and instead named the room “Tranquility” after the Sea of Tranquility where Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Matching Colbert’s spirit, however, NASA also announced it would name a treadmill aboard the space station the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT).

National Archives: Handling everything from the original Declaration of Independence to the email traffic of former White House aides—and making it available to the public at museums, presidential libraries, and touring exhibits—that’s the job of the nation’s under-staffed and under-appreciated archivists. It’s democracy’s drudgery, but this bureaucracy bring history to life.

Peace Corps: In 1960, a young U.S. Senator named John F. Kennedy told students at the University of Michigan they could serve their country by working to alleviate poverty in foreign lands. After J.F.K. won the presidency, he followed through on his own vision, and since that time, nearly 200,000 Americans have gone abroad to spread goodwill and do good works in 139 countries. On tax day this year, some 7,876 Peace Corps volunteers are in the field, showing by example what Americans are made of.

Social Security: Sure, it’s costly. It’s so expensive, in fact, that presidents and Congress keep an entirely different set of books for Social Security because it eclipses everything else. But guess what? This proud program has largely alleviated poverty among the elderly in this country and it helps imbue all working Americans with the vision of a solvent and solid federal government going into the future. And its checks never bounce.

Thirteen Memorable Presidential Pets

Carl M. Cannon — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:16:00 GMT

Bo: Welcome to the White House! A black Portuguese water dog, you are a gift to the First Family from Senator Ted Kennedy. You belong, officially, to Sasha and Malia Obama—but you also belong to the American people, who often embrace presidential pets as their own. Here are some other notables who preceded you at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue:

White House photo by Pete Souza

Barney: One of two Scottish terriers owned by George W. Bush, who often quipped that Barney was “the son I never had”—a crack that always seemed to simultaneously amuse and annoy Laura Bush.

Buddy: A chocolate Labrador given to Bill Clinton in 1997, Buddy immediately earned a place in the president’s heart, ultimately displacing Socks, the family cat. Buddy was killed by a car in Chappaqua, New York in 2002. R.I.P.

Millie: One of her claims to fame is that this English Springer Spaniel gave birth to six puppies in the White House beauty parlor. Another is that she “wrote” a best-selling book. The royalties from Millie’s memoirs went to the favorite charities of first lady Barbara Bush.

Him and Her: Lyndon Johnson’s beloved beagles. LBJ scandalized some dog lovers when he was photographed picking them up by the ears, but he loved those dogs and laughed off the criticism.

Macaroni: Caroline Kennedy’s pony was a present from Vice President Johnson and was known to roam the White House grounds. The Kennedy family was also given a dog by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. She was named Pushinka—“fluffy” in Russian—and was the daughter of Strelka, the first Russian dog in space. Pushinka eventually won over, not just the Kennedy children, but the other family dog, a Welsh terrier named Charlie who became the father of Pushinka’s litter, which JFK promptly dubbed the “pupniks.”

Fala: Probably the most famous presidential pet in history, Franklin Roosevelt’s constant companion was a black Scotty who rode in the front seat of the president’s car and starred in two wartime movies produced by MGM. When Fala was inadvertently left behind in the Aleutian Islands, FDR dispatched a U.S. Navy warship to fetch him. Some of Roosevelt's opponents in Congress squawked at the cost, but the American people were solidly behind Fala, who is with Roosevelt still—at the FDR memorial, immortalized in statue.

Rebecca: This was the name of a semi-domesticated raccoon given to Calvin and Grace Coolidge. Rebecca Raccoon took uneasily to captivity: She would escape and climb high trees on the White House grounds, resisting the cooing of the first lady and the coaxing of the president to come down. But the first family’s affections truly belonged to a white Collie named Rob Roy, immortalized in the official White House portrait of Grace Coolidge.

Laddie Boy: Presidents had used dogs as props since the 1840s, but the distinction of being the first celebrity White House pet probably goes to Laddie Boy, an Airedale terrier owned by President Warren G. Harding and his wife Florence. The dog attended fundraisers and cabinet meetings, generated an avalanche of press, and once “hosted” the annual White House Easter Egg roll. A bronze statue of the pooch with personality is housed at the Smithsonian.

Plus: See our slideshow of presidential pets.

Nine Global Political Hotspots

Carl M. Cannon — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:33:00 GMT

North Korea: Joe Biden predicted during the presidential campaign that the world’s rogue regimes would test an Obama administration early. Pyongyang leaders proved the vice president prescient this weekend when they fired a long range missile into the Pacific Ocean. The launch was a test, but also a bracing reminder that this dodgy dictatorship possesses nuclear bombs.

Iran: Meanwhile, officials in Teheran lashed out verbally at President Obama for daring to criticize the Iranians’ unnerving obsession with acquiring a nuclear capability of their own, a result that could alter the balance of power in the volatile Middle East.

Iraq: Obama didn’t start the war, and ran for president vowing to end it, but Iraq is not yet secure and the Pentagon released the latest U.S. casualty figures on Sunday: the American death toll stands at 4,253.

A South Korean soldier stands guard in the country's demilitarized zone. North Korea is in the background.

Afghanistan: This is where the 9/11 attacks were planned, and Osama bin Laden is still un-apprehended even as the Taliban wages a resurgent guerilla war against the U.S. and the western-backed government. Some 601 Americans have died here. Obama recently agreed to send more troops—although not as many as U.S. commanders requested.

Pakistan: Supposedly America’s bulwark against the Taliban and other terrorist organizations, Pakistan is a nuclear power with an unstable government—and homegrown extremists who recently unleashed a frightening wave of suicide bombings in their own country.

Russia: Vladimir Putin may have been one of the few G-20 leaders to heed Obama’s call for stimulus spending in his own country. Yet the Russians are also earning the dubious reputation for rubbing out the regime’s critics—in foreign capitals.

Congo: Often portrayed as a brutal and indecipherable civil war, the ongoing violence in the heart of Africa is actually, in the words of author Gérard Prunier, “Africa’s World War.” Its origins lie in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, and the fighting in the Congo has involved the armies of some eight African nations operating in a theater of war as large as the continental United States west of the Rockies.

Mexico: Murderous drug cartels have gained a foothold south of America’s border, undermining Mexican civil society—along with the administration of President Felipe Calderon. Reeling under the twin burdens of recession and the drug wars, Calderon’s party is facing probable defeat in mid-term elections, which may further the sense of drift in this beleaguered neighbor of the United States.

Wall Street: Prosperity is not the only antidote to violence, but a crippled world economy certainly hinders the ability of the great powers to intercede in these conflicts—or even to exercise moral authority in dealing with them.

6 Items on President Obama’s Europe 'To-Do' List

Carl M. Cannon — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:55:00 GMT

(1) Educate Americans back home about the existence (and purpose ) of the “Group of 20” nations.

(2) Remind the G-20 leaders that they often criticized George W. Bush for “going it alone”—then gently remind them that when it comes to stimulus spending by their own governments they are making Barack Obama go it alone.

(3) Remember to blame Mirek Topolanek’s comments’—he’s the Czech prime minister who characterized the administration’s stimulus plans as “a way to hell”—on the translator.

(4) When you ask the Europeans for help in Afghanistan, try not to hurt their feelings. They don’t like dispatching troops anymore—for any reason. Definitely don’t tell them that American military commanders joke to each other that NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, I.S.A.F, stands for “I Saw America Fight.”

(5) Tell British Prime minister Gordon Brown that firing Fortune 500 company executives is easier than it seems, and that he ought to try it in the U.K.—or even in the U.S. if he likes.

(6) Thank the G-20 finance ministers for the $1.1 trillion in pledges to the International Monetary Fund and other global lending institutions. A trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon it’s real money.

Seven Corporate Heads Who Might Be Next

Carl M. Cannon — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:00:00 GMT

That was a new one: General Motors’ chief executive officer G. Richard Wagoner Jr. losing his job because President Obama thought he wasn’t up to snuff. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm defended Wagoner as a "sacrificial lamb," but these are hard times and it makes you wonder if there will be other lambs led to the slaughter. Here are the names of six executives whose actions have engendered animosity in the context of America’s current economic woes, and a seventh thrown in for good measure. Feel free to offer your own:

1. John Harris – If the president listens to a liberal group called Co-op America, then John J. Harris, chairman and CEO of Nestle Waters ought to be polishing his resume.

2. Bruce A. Williamson – Ditto for Dynegy CEO Bruce A. Williamson. Co-op America’s clout inside the White House is unknown, but Richard Wagoner was on its hit list, as was Citigroup chairman Charles Prince, and they're both gone already. So who knows? Here’s the link to their press release, along with their reasons for referring to these executives as “corporate Scrooges.”

3. Sam Zell – Newspaper columnist Harold Meyerson makes a compelling case that real estate mogul-turned Tribune Company owner Sam Zell is a CEO who should be gotten rid of somehow. The link to his column is here.

4, 5. and 6. Jeff Immelt, Robert A. Iger and Andrew Liveris -- On the other hand, if Obama wants to reach out to conservatives with his next round of axings, he might set his sights on Jeff Immelt of General Electric, Robert A. Iger of Disney, and Andrew Liveris of Dow Chemical. Perhaps their corporate boards like them just fine, but they are among the targets of the Free Enterprise Action Fund. The group’s explanations of their choices for early retirement are here.

7. Bud Selig – But what’s a list like this good for if you can’t offer a nomination of your own for the chopping block? Here's mine: Bud Selig, commissioner of baseball. In searching for a link, I notice that Steve Forbes agrees with me. For his column, click here. This nomination has nothing to do with the economy and everything to do with the National Pasttime. Selig not only ushered in interleague play (some people like it, some don’t; Loose Cannon is a baseball traditionalist). Bud Selig is not. He allowed the record book to become a farce while willfully ignoring evidence that steroids had ruined the game. (This was not a victimless crime—as this very smart Reader’s Digest piece can attest). Also, under Selig’s “leadership,” we had to endure the cancellation of the World Series, a heritage considered so important to the lifeblood of this country that two world wars and the Great Depression couldn’t stop it. Bud let today’s millionaire players and billionaire owners sacrifice the 1994 Series on the altar of greed. Barack, pick up the phone!