The Last Day of the Year

Here are two items from today's New York Times that should make us feel optimistic as 2009 comes to an end because, after all, things will improve in 2010, won't they?

1. The government has spent billions of dollars since September 11, 2001 "to improve the intelligence flow and secret communications across America's national security apparatus." But (does this sound familiar?) analysts failed to link together clues that may have prevented the attempted bombing of the airplane on Christmas Day.

2. The Army's own history of the first four years of the war in Afghanistan is about to be published, and it shows that Army commanders, the White House, and the Department of Defense (remember Donald Rumsfeld?) failed to provide the personnel and other resources necessary to maintain peace and stability after the fall of the Taliban. Then the war in Iraq began, further reducing the resources available for Afghanistan.

But I really do believe that things will get better because we always learn from our mistakes, don't we?

Happy New Year!

Pat Buchanan - How Could I Forget?

I neglected to include Pat Buchanan on my list yesterday, and I didn't think of him until I saw him debate Spencer Ackerman on Morning Joe today. (I hate Morning Joe, by the way, but I watched it for about five minutes this morning while eating my cereal before running off to catch my train.) Anyway, there was Buchanan advocating torture against the terrorist who tried to blow up the plane a few days ago. Oh, Buchanan didn't call it torture, he called it "immediate hostile interrogation," but suggesting that the authorities use tactics such as denying pain medication until they get all the information they can probably comes pretty close to meeting most people's definition of torture.

So I wish that Pat Buchanan, who has so little faith in our Constitution and criminal justice system, would just go away, preferably for a long time.

Just Go Away. Please.

As 2009 comes to an end, I have prepared (with a little help from some friends) a list of people I wish would disappear for at least one year. I don't want anything bad to happen to them, I just want them to go away, together if they'd like, to someplace where I don't have to see them, hear them, or read about them. Maybe at the end of 2010 we can vote on whether or not they can return.  Happy New Year!

1. John McCain
2. Joe Lieberman
3. Sarah Palin
4. Rush Limbaugh
5. Glenn Beck
6. Sean Hannity
7. Keith Olbermann
8. John Yoo
9. Rudy Giuliani
10. Ray Nagin
11. Dick Cheney
12. Liz Cheney
13. Karl Rove
14. Joe Scarborough
15. Orly Taitz
16. Michele Bachmann
17. Eric Cantor
18. Bill DeWeese
19. Lynne Abraham
20. Tiger Woods (at least until he gets his personal life in order and begins to play golf again)
21. Michael Jackson's family
22. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
23. Michael Steele
24. Jim Gerlach
25. Michael Vick
26. The New York Yankees
27. Rupert Murdoch
28. Rick Santorum
29. Everyone who produces or participates in reality television)
30. All those so-called "celebrities" who haven't accomplished anything recently (or ever)
31. Whiners and Angry People (you know who you are)

Snow in Narberth

According to the Inquirer, this weekend's snow storm was the second biggest in the region's history, and most of us spent a lot of time on Saturday and Sunday clearing our sidewalks and driveways and digging out our cars. I took a long walk around town during the height of the storm on Saturday, I took a couple more walks on Sunday, and on Monday I walked back and forth to the train station. (One of the great benefits of living in a truly walkable town is the ability to leave the car at home and walk to the food store, the train station, the hardware store, or your favorite bar.) I was impressed at how quickly our borough employees were able to make most streets passable. Not perfect, perhaps, but passable. I appreciate the time and hard work that those employees continue to put in, and I am sure that the vast majority of our residents appreciate it, too. Don't forget to say thank you when you see them.

Dysfunctional Democrats

Just one year after one of the most successful elections in recent memories, the Democrats seem intent on self-destructing. Certain senators such as Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson have succeeded in watering-down the Senate's health care bill. (And who knows what the insurance industry's best friend, former Democrat Joe Lieberman, is up to:  until recently he thought a Medicare "buy-in" provision was a fine idea, but now he's threatening to block health care reform legislation if it contains such a provision.) Now Howard Dean, a former Democratic governor and head of the national party, is angry about the compromises taking place in the Senate, and he is threatening to use the power of his organization, Democracy for America, to block health care reform legislation. Instead of acting like winners and passing legislation that most Americans and at least 56 or 57 of the Democratic senators seem to support, those senators are looking like losers by kowtowing to 40 Republicans, one bitter Independent, and a couple of Democrats who seem to be more interested in their own re-elections than in doing what's right.

This is what E.J. Dionne, Jr. wrote in an op-ed piece in today's Washington Post:  "But politically, the Democrats are in trouble. They are at one another's throats over health-care legislation that should be seen as one of the party's greatest triumphs. They are being held hostage by political narcissists and narrow slivers of their own coalition. . . .  This is a recipe for political catastrophe."

If the Democrats in Congress don't wake up soon, the mid-term election next November is going to be ugly. (Some other time I'll write about whether or not the Founding Fathers really intended for 40 Senators to be able to block legislation that is vitally important to so many of us.)

Meeting Tonight (12/14)

Narberth's Borough Council will hold its December Council meeting tonight at 8:00 in Borough Hall.

A Biased, Non-Objective Theatre Recommendation

1812 Productions is a non-profit, professional theatre company that bills itself as Philadelphia's All-Comedy Theatre Company. It was founded about 12 years ago by Jennifer Childs and Peter Pryor, with the goal of entertaining, educating, and exploring a variety of issues through comedy. Before you read further, I must disclose that I have had the privilege of serving for years on 1812's Board, but don't ignore this recommendation just because I'm admittedly biased.


This holiday season 1812 is presenting the fourth version of its always popular show 'This Is The Week That Is,' which includes a cast of some of Philadelphia’s best known comic actors. With new material written to incorporate each day’s most significant local, national, and international events, every performance promises to be its own unique and innovative experience. If you've seen previous versions of the show, you'll again enjoy the audience favorites such as the ever changing nightly news, Patsy’s 'The View From My Stoop,' and the musical reinvention of all things political. And there is a litany of new material including a hilariously cringing insight into the future of the Republican Party, the greatest stories ever re-told in 'Christmas in the Catskills' with Uncle Shotsie, and, in a nod to the holidays, ghostly visitations from some of the most intriguing, outrageous, and maverick-y politicians of the past, present, and future. Also, as the economy crawls out of this recession, 'This Is The Week That Is: The New Administration' takes a musical look at the previous downspins of the 20th Century to show us just how far we’ve come. And given the recent honor bestowed upon our president, the cast just couldn’t resist becoming groupies on Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize Tour, a presidential trip around the world—Backstreet Boys style.


Jennifer Childs, 1812’s Artistic Director and the writer, creator, and director of 'This Is The Week That Is' says, "Creating the show this year has been a completely new experience. There's a new person leading the country and, by extension, our comedy. For the past few years people have been angry, and anger can be a great source of comedy. Anger is funny. Right now the feeling is much different. There's a pervading sense of disappointment which is trickier to find the comedic key for. But we pride ourselves on being equal-opportunity offenders, so we're taking on this challenge with enthusiasm and I think our work is better for it. Honestly, this is the most fun I have all year."


The show is running until January 3, 2010 at Play and Players Theatre, 17th and Delancey Streets in Center City. Tickets range from $20 to $35 and can be purchased by contacting 1812 Productions’ administrative office at (215) 592-9560 or online at www.1812productions.org.

Meeting Tonight (12/9)

Borough Council will hold its December caucus meeting tonight at 8:00 in Borough Hall.

Meeting Tonight (12/7)

Narberth's Planning Commission will meet tonight at 7:30 in Borough Hall.

Dithering? Or Deliberation?

His critics have accused President Obama of taking too long to decide how best to proceed in Afghanistan. A front page article in today's New York Times details the careful and thoughtful process followed by Obama and his advisors, a process that led to his speech this week at West Point where he spelled out his plan for moving forward. It is important to remember that we've arrived at where we are in Afghanistan because of the acts and omissions of the previous administration. As pointed out so clearly by Bob Woodward in "State of Denial" (Simon & Schuster, 2006), careful deliberation was not much in evidence in the White House during the Bush years, and dissenters were marginalized. The arrogance, recklessness, and incompetence of people like Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld resulted in group-think and a refusal for years to admit failure. Those traits, combined with Bush's lack of intellectual curiosity, have been costly and deadly. During those years there were too few meetings of the kind that Obama had over the past few months, meetings at which dissenting opinions were encouraged, not stifled.

Meeting Tonight (12/2)

Borough Council's Building & Zoning Committee will meet in Borough Hall tonight at 7:30.

A Tragic Mistake?

President Obama has already issued the orders that will send thousands of additional Americans off to war, and tonight on television he will try to explain to us why his actions are necessary. In an op-ed piece entitled "A Tragic Mistake" in today's New York Times, Bob Herbert passionately explains why he believes the President's decision is wrong. It is worth reading.

Meeting Tonight (12/1)

Borough Council's Highway Committee will meet tonight at 7:30 in Narberth Borough Hall.  Among the agenda items will be a discussion of traffic and parking along South Narberth Avenue near the bridge.