The SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT —
"[The] blog he developed was something that made the district better." - Tim Jemal, SOCCCD BoT President, 7/24/23
I shall take the unusual step of advertising for my new blog, Contra PalaVerities. My posts there tend to be more philosophical. They're sure to piss you off. Some recent posts:
Manifest falsity: why do we embrace stupid ideas? Pursuing Aristotle's cool view about the moral self. Dissing the "self-esteem" philosophy. Sometimes, you can be blamed for something even though you literally couldn't have done otherwise!
Acting just like a vicious human (and free will): How come we call heinous evil-doers "animals"? Recent evidence that our brains "decide" before we consciously decide. Does Ralph the robot have free will? Can we make sense of moral responsibility?
Human folly is so very entertaining: poor thinking about "cause and effect" is common. Why do people believe that "stretching" is important in exercise? Poor causal thinking?
The lives of moral soldiers: a defense of Amanda Beard, the naked swimmer gal on the PETA poster. On how a commitment to defend animals is not a matter of being "pure." (This one's my favorite of the bunch.)
As you know, on the 16th—about a week from now—Barack Obama and John McCain will be in town to have “civil” conversations with Saddleback Church’s Rick Warren.
But three days earlier, Vice President Dick Cheney will also be in town. According to Red County’s “Tomahawk,” Cheney will be “headlining” a reception for Ken Calvert (probably at San Clemente’s Casa Pacifica, Nixon’s “Western Whitehouse”). (VP Cheney Headlining Reception for Ken Calvert.)
Tomahawk obviously likes Cheney. He explains that “This is a rare opportunity for Republicans to see our outgoing Vice President again as this might be his last visit to Southern California.”
He also explains that the contact person for this event is McCain’s OC fundraiser. Tomahawk doesn’t mention the venue “for security reasons.”
How very strange. A secretive fundraiser? A pro-torture “headliner”?
No doubt you are aware that Cheney is an unusual Vice President. Among the many journalists who have explored Cheney’s unusually powerful role—and dark deeds—is the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer, who recently published The Dark Side.
Publisher’s Weekly describes the book:
Fighting with memos and legal briefs, Mayer reports, hard-liners led by Dick Cheney, his aide David Addingtion and then-Justice Department lawyer John Yoo rejected any constraints on the treatment of prisoners or limitations on presidential power in fighting terrorism, while less militant administration lawyers invoked the Constitution and international law to oppose their initiatives. As a counterpoint to the wrangling over the definition of torture and the Geneva Conventions, the author looks at the use of techniques like waterboarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation and sexual humiliation against prisoners by the American military and CIA; her chilling account compellingly argues that this "enhanced interrogation" regimen constitutes torture….
Yesterday, on the OC Reg’s “Total Buzz,” Norberto Santana, Jr. noted the odd event (Dick Cheney on the hunt for OC dollars). Why odd? Because Cheney is among the most unpopular men in the universe. Cheney is less popular even than the President.
And no wonder.
Santana was curious about this, so he called the event’s contact person, Stacy Davis. The moment he mentioned that he’s a reporter, Stacy became silent. She transferred him to Julie. Julie told him nothing; she said that he’d have to “call the White House.”
Let’s just say he was having trouble getting any info about this Republican fundraiser.
Eventually, Santana called local Republican activist Adam Probolsky.
Probolsky has several connections with Irvine Valley College and the district. He helped orchestrate and stage Tom Fuentes’ coronation as Steve Frogue’s replacement as trustee back in July of 2000. Remember that? He was on the board of IVC’s Foundation. He’s been known to take classes at IVC. Maybe even philosophy classes. (Now why would he do that?) He’s also known as a guy who likes to cruise around Irvine pretending to be a cop; he was one of Mike Carona’s junior (reserve) deputies.
Naturally, Probolsky was very excited about the Veep visitation:
“From a fundraising perspective, he’s a freakin’ rockstar,” Probolsky told me. “He will bring in massive amounts.” ¶ “Just take a picture of the man. A super successful businessman. Decades and decades of high level government service. And by all accounts, a political strategist in his own right,” he said. ¶ “He’s a gun-toting, cool Republican,” said Probolsky, who was adamant about not confirming anything at all to do with Cheney’s Orange County visit. ¶ “For a guy like McCain, who’s trying to be the un-Bush…he may present a problem. But that’s on a national level. In Orange County, in Riverside, Dick Cheney is a huge draw.”
I know a lot of people, including a lot of conservatives. Often, these conservatives seem like nice people. They seem decent, intelligent.
But some of them, especially here in OC, love Dick Cheney. I just don’t understand that. Cheney obviously gives not a shit about the Constitution. Cheney has made us a country that tortures people (call it what you like). Cheney urged our invasion of Iraq, an adventure that has led to the deaths and horrible injuries of tens of thousands—likely hundreds of thousands—of innocent people. He did so long before 9-11.
I think that, years from now, we’ll look back at this time and wonder what was the matter with us. Here we have a man who flouted the law and waged war dishonestly, ruthlessly, cruelly—making sure that his pals got rich along the way. Just as the country shakes off its disastrous stupefaction and begins to see this man for what he is, he sneaks into Orange County to meet with a group of rich locals who just love him over in Richard Nixon's old digs.
And we barely notice.
Jane Mayer on legality, morality & efficacy of torture:
I shall take the unusual step of advertising for my new blog, Contra PalaVerities. My posts there tend to be more philosophical. They're sure to piss you off. Some recent posts:
