Open Thread for Wednesday, May 28, 2014

I’m not going to have time for further posts today, so I thought I’d do one of these to get us through the rest of Wednesday.

Possible topics:

  1. Obama outlines new approach to foreign policy — I’m going to have to see more about this, but my first question is, is he talking about a shift away from the previously announced shift away from the War on Terror and toward the Pacific? I sort of need a scorecard on this one. Someone should provide one soon…
  2. Student housing deal at Blossom and Huger streets finalized — I was briefly confused, thinking this was the old cotton compress warehouse. But I think maybe it’s across the street. Anyone know? The story doesn’t specify which corner…
  3. Maya Angelou, Poet, Activist And Singular Storyteller, Dies At 86 — Another one of these deaths that makes me feel dumb because I’ve never read anything by her, and everybody’s posting lists of their Maya Angelou faves, and I’m like, Maybe I should have read some of this stuff. But it will probably be awhile before I do. I am, I’m happy to report, currently reading one of the books that has sat on my shelf for years, rather than just re-reading Patrick O’Brian novels over and over. It’s James Madison, by Richard Brookhiser. I’ve gotten to the good part — the Constitutional Convention. I’ll let y’all know how it comes out.

Other topics are welcome…

 

78 thoughts on “Open Thread for Wednesday, May 28, 2014”

  1. Brad Warthen Post author

    One quick comment…

    I just heard some clips of the president’s speech while I was in the car going to pick up lunch, and it really seemed to fall flat. His delivery was uninspired, and punctuated with odd pauses — sort of like waits for applause that didn’t come, or if it came, was hesitant and spotty.

    NPR had some guy on who was highly critical of the speech, and in some ways unfairly, I thought. But he made two good points: First, it was an odd choice of venue for the subject matter. Or an odd choice of subject matter for the venue (West Point, before future Army officers whose commander in chief he will soon be).

    The second was that the president sounded like a guy who was on his way to the dentist, but first had to get this pain-in-the-neck speech out of the way…

    I was also confused by some of the specific statements I heard, such as “For the foreseeable future, the most direct threat to America, at home and abroad, remains terrorism, but a strategy that involves invading every country that harbors terrorist networks is naïve and unsustainable.”

    The first part of that passage, as I mentioned before, makes me go “Huh?,” because I thought the administration was on record as planning to downplay terror in favor of concentrating on the China and the Pacific.

    The second part is, of course, a Democratic Party rhetorical straw man, since there is no one advocating “invading every country that harbors terrorist networks.”

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      To say it again, a very weird venue in which to say, in essence, “You know, I don’t think I’m gonna need an Army so much in the future…”

      1. Bryan Caskey

        Luckily, America has been blessed by geography. We have two benign and weaker countries on our northern and southern borders, and we have fish on our eastern and western borders.

        Now, Poland…they’re not so lucky.

        I guess Kathryn would call that “Geographical” Privilege Blindness.

  3. Kathryn Fenner

    It’s the “Ben Arnold” project, that may no longer have Ben involved–I have not kept up with that detail. It is on the southeast corner of Blossom and Huger, the vacant one. PCW isn’t actually at that intersection. It’s one block east. Last I heard PCW was proceeding apace, but I haven’t gotten an update in a couple of months. A hotel was one of the likely uses for that.

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      It’s a whole block East? I’ve gotta start paying closer attention to my surroundings…

      Yeah, I figured it was the vacant one, but wasn’t sure. That’s gonna put a crimp in baseball parking.

    2. Bryan Caskey

      I saw a Colliers-Keenan “For Lease” sign on the PCW the other day. Doesn’t seem like that would still be up there if there was a contract in place.

      1. Doug Ross

        Re: PCW

        When they extended the closing date by a period longer than the original closing period, that was a red flag. I would love to see the final TRUE breakdown of costs on that purchase.

        1. Kathryn Fenner

          Seriously? Because in your extensive experience in commercial real estate transactions of this size….

          1. Doug Ross

            My gut and experience in project management tells me that when someone changes a four month deadline into a ten month deadline and doesn’t offer any explanation as to why that would be necessary, that there is probably a big problem.

            I’m willing to be proved wrong. It doesn’t happen often.

            1. Doug Ross

              And I really want to see an audited result of this transaction that includes a net $100K profit to the city.

            3. Mark Stewart

              Most development deal closings are delayed well beyond the original contract period – especially when the seller has unrealistic timing expectations and/or the buyer has unrealistic financing/structuring projections.

              That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if this transaction never closes.

      2. Kathryn Fenner

        The contract is for purchase. It is a huge property. It will be multi-use. Leases, in the plural, will be needed to fully utilize it.

            1. Bryan Caskey

              I guess they COULD. Should they? I don’t know. I’m don’t know how any tenant would want to lease space in the PCW in its current condition. Isn’t that the point of the new owner? Isn’t the new owner going to modernize and renovate it?

              If I’m a prospective tenant, I’d probably just wait until the sale goes through AND the renovations are mostly done, or I’d have a BIG contingency letting my client out of the lease if the renovations don’t go as planned.

    3. Rose

      I’m wondering how the students will safely get to class. It’s walking distance, but there’s no easy way over the railroad tracks. Between this, the Main Street student housing, and the dorm USC is building in the Coliseum parking lots, there will be a major jump in the number of students close to campus. And a big reduction in parking for faculty, staff, and commuting students. The administration will force them into ridiculously parking garages.

      1. Kathryn Fenner

        Yup. We (me) raised that issue back when the Edwards people were proposing to construct a complex in part where PCW stands and in part across the street. The attraction for this location is proximity to Greek Village where members are required to pony up for three meals a day whether they eat them or not, yet there are insufficient accommodations in the village (you are number six) for them.
        The Edwards people had some elevator contraption proposed to get folks across the tracks. Yeah, sure. They had not cleared it with the railroad, and besides that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
        A lot of Greeks already drive to class! Amazing, isn’t it?
        There may be a shuttle service, which would be good.

      2. Mark Stewart

        It’s a short walk for the students across the on-grade crossing under the roadway overpass.

        What could go wrong?

        1. Silence

          As I argued when USC put up the bridges over Blossom Street and Assembly (to the Strom Thurmond Gym): If you are 18 and can’t cross the street on your own, you don’t need to be attending college. The same holds true for railroad tracks.

          Back when I went to school, we walked or rode our bikes, and it was uphill both ways, in the snow. And we LIKED it.

          1. Kathryn Fenner

            The crossing is a block north of Blossom on Greene. They’d have to walk out of their way to get to the Greek Village, and you know that’s not likely

          2. Kathryn Fenner

            To the extent they use the overpass, which is now blocked off by construction, it makes it a lot safer for drivers!

        2. Kathryn Fenner

          The crossing is a block north of Blossom on Greene. They’d have to walk out of their way to get to the Greek Village, and you know that’s not likely

    4. Kathryn Fenner

      Based on The State’s article, it seems that Ben is still involved.

      Yes, this will have an adverse impact on tailgating parking. USC runs shuttles, I think, to the stadium, but since I’d rather watch paint dry than baseball…..

  4. Brad Warthen Post author

    By the way… something about this speech reminds me of a problem I’ve started having with President Bartlet. He, too, seems to have a certain tone deafness when in the presence of military officers.

    Don’t get me wrong; I still love “West Wing.” But I could do without the flippant, sarcastic remarks when POTUS is in the Situation Room with his commanders and national security team. He’s done it often enough now (I’m in the fourth season), that it’s really like tapping on a sore spot. Here the nation is, in a life and death crisis, and he can’t help spouting some self-indulgent sentiment that sounds like, “I just can’t believe that a fine, high-minded person such as myself is sitting here dealing with such grubby matters.” (Perhaps this is an example of the “liberal porn” aspect of the show, which I usually do not see.)

    Bartlet has made good progress since the start of his administration, when his commanders felt alienated because he was an academic liberal who had never served. He especially has a good working relationship with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. But every time he makes one of his silly little remarks, I worry that he’s undermining that…

    I’m going to do a separate post on this when I have time…

  5. Brad Warthen Post author

    Re Maya Angelou — Come to think of it, I’m wondering if I could name anything I’ve ever read by a LIVING poet. I mean, living within the last 10 years.

    I don’t think I can. Unless you count Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello as “poets”…

    I occasionally read a poem in The New Yorker, but I can’t name any of the poets I’ve read there…

    2. Kathryn Fenner

      Check out Mary Oliver and Donald Hall. Several of their poems are available online to get you started.

      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        “Donald Hall?” That doesn’t sound like a poet name. Poets should be named something cool, like Alfred Lord Tennyson. Even a plain name like Emily Dickinson has a nice rhythm to it (a rhythm I could probably name if I remembered that stuff from school).

        Poets should have names like Coleridge, or T.S. Eliot, or William Butler Yeats. Even Robert Frost has a bit of an edge to it.

        His poems better be good, because he’s starting off with a deficit with me…

      2. Brad Warthen Post author

        OK, I tried some Mary Oliver (a passable poet name, although if you entered it into a form like the one that tells you whether a password is strong, it would probably stop between “weak” and “average”).

        Not bad. She’s kind of old school, isn’t she?

        Anybody out there writing anything like “The World is Too Much With Us,” or “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”?

        1. Brad Warthen Post author

          Or “Locksley Hall:”

          In the Spring a fuller crimson comes upon the robin’s breast;
          In the Spring the wanton lapwing gets himself another crest;

          In the Spring a livelier iris changes on the burnish’d dove;
          In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

          Yes!

          I tend to think poetry should sound like it’s begging to be illustrated by one of the pre-Raphaelites…

            1. Silence

              $5.99/mo. is a lot of money to some of us. That’s $71.88/year worth of cartoons. How much does that Capital City or Palmetto Club membership run?

            3. Doug Ross

              My top five:

              1. Bloom County (by a wide margin)
              2. Far Side
              3. Dilbert
              4. Bizarro.
              5. Zippy the Pinhead

              and this is the only way one can reasonable “read” Family Circus – with quotes from True Detective replacing the cute ones.
              http://timeisaflatcircus.tumblr.com/

    1. Bryan Caskey

      By the way, that was the most vapid, meaningless “foreign policy” speech I’ve ever read. I can summarize it as follows:

      We need to do things. Not crazy thing that a crazy person would want, and not insane things that an insane person would want. Rather, we should do good things.

      That was basically it.

      For instance: “We have to broaden our tools to include diplomacy and development, sanctions and isolation, appeals to international law, and, if just, necessary and effective, multilateral military action.”

      Has anyone ever argued otherwise? Yes, diplomacy, punishment (through sanctions), and alliances are always important. I mean good lord, Napoleon would agree that diplomacy, punishment and alliances are always important.

      The whole thing was straw men and platitudes.

      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        Yeah. That sort of rhetoric arises from the fact that the president’s base is full of people who actually BELIEVE that only they have every thought of using diplomacy and “soft power,” and that neocons only ever want to wage war.

        I don’t know how anyone with open eyes and ears can believe such things, but I think they do…

        1. bud

          The neo-cons never did anything to suggest they didn’t see every problem as a nail needing the big hammer. How can anyone who lived through the George W. Bush era still give them any respect at all? We may never repair all the damage they did to our respect in the world. At least with Obama we have someone who will carefully consider the long-term consequences before committing troops.

          1. Bryan Caskey

            Bud: Who has EVER argued that that military action is our “only” or “primary” method of exerting force?

            Alternate Headline for Obama’s Speech Today: Greatest Orator Since Cicero Successfully Refutes That Which Was Never Contended

            1. Bart

              “Bud: Who has EVER argued that that military action is our “only” or “primary” method of exerting force?”…..

              Only the people and media sources who dwell in bud’s world like MSNBC, CNN, MoveOn.Org, George Soros, etc., etc., etc.

  8. susanincola

    I’m so glad you guys know stuff. We were just driving by that big lot wondering what was going to go there, and now I know.

  9. Barack Obama - Scourge of Straw Men

    Some say we should pound our fingers with a ball-peen hammer. Others say we should pierce our eyes with toothpicks.

    I reject these false choices.

  10. Bryan Caskey

    Fun with strawmen:

    Some people say we should re-institute slavery and force children to work at Starbucks, while others say the minimum wage should be raised to $735,000.00 an hour.

    I reject both those extremes and, like all reasonable people, prefer a minimum wage of ten dollars and ten cents an hour, a number I literally pulled out of thin air.

    1. Kathryn Fenner

      How about a living wage for people working full time? Even if they are working, as many do, at multiple jobs?

        1. Doug Ross

          And what do you tell all the people who are already making the “living wage” level when their subordinates or less experienced co-workers get bumped up to the same salary?

          If you can’t live on the wage you get for the skills you have, get better skills. If people won’t take jobs at the wage being offered, employers will be forced to raise wages to meet demand.

  11. Bryan Caskey

    Fun with strawmen, continued:

    Now…some people say we should kill all puppies. But those people would be wrong. Other people say that we should breed as many puppies as possible all the time. That isn’t the right approach either. We should adopt and care for puppies, using a balanced approach and common sense puppy control that all reasonable people can agree upon.

  12. Brad Warthen

    Re the speech by POTUS, I found this observation by John Bolton in the WSJ today interesting:
    “Not since Nixon has a president so relished uncovering middling alternatives between competing straw men.”

    It’s interesting because of the contradiction it illuminates: That the president is defining himself as a moderate, but he’s doing so by portraying everyone else as extremists — which is itself a sort of extremism.

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      I didn’t explain that well…

      What I meant was that the device of defining those with whom you disagree as extreme, as absolutists (in this case, people who are dyed-in-the-wool isolationists or people who want to go to war everywhere), is the standard approach of modern partisanship.

      So even though he’s trying to sound moderate, he’s defining himself the way the extremes do, painting the world as a place that consists of sensible people like him, and extremists who disagree…

      2. Bryan Caskey

        Brad, you complain about partisanship on both sides of the spectrum and prepackaged thought blocks that each political party offers. Those things are at least true. You’re not attacking straw-men. You’re attacking something that actually exists.

        On the contrary, the President attacked something that isn’t even there. He asserted that there are people who advocate for military intervention as the sole option everywhere, all the time. That’s just stupid. No one advocates for that. Not even Genghis Kahn would argue that war is the answer to every problem all the time. Obama’s refuting a proposition that has never been advanced – ever.

        There’s not a single meaningful thought in that entire speech, which was billed as a “Major Foreign Policy” address. It’s just a nice-sounding word-soup.

        2. bud

          Of course no one would ever publicly “advocate military intervention as the sole option everywhere, all the time”. But look at the rhetoric of folks like Lindsey Graham and John McCain. Heck they were ready to invade Iran for Pete’s sake AFTER the Iraq debacle. The only thing that stopped these neo-con hawk idiots is that public opinion turned so totally against this type of dangerous and counter-productive imperialism that it was simply politically impossible.

          So I don’t back down from claiming the neo-cons are all for military intervention as the only solution to every foreign policy problem. It’s simply a matter of expediency that they will sometimes grudgingly suggest diplomatic solutions should be tried first. But in their heart of hearts they really want a good old military ass-kicking. That’s how the neo-con mind works. And we should never, ever allow these bastards to occupy the White House ever again.

  14. Phillip

    What a relief! Since I’ve now been reassured by Brad, Bryan, and even John Bolton (and who could be a more unimpeachable source than the mustachioed one) that at West Point Obama was defending his foreign policy approach against mere imaginary “straw-men” alternatives, I can now truly accept that all the drumbeat of criticism I thought I heard or read in virtually every foreign policy situation of the last 6 years re the US’s “lack of resolve,” or “weakness,” or “timidity,” was purely a figment of my imagination…those criticisms (Libya, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, Venezuela, Ukraine, etc. etc. etc. ) never happened. Whew!

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      McConnell is also playing games, trying to force Courson’s hand, allegedly in revenge over the CofC bill. The result is a really poisonous atmosphere right now in the usually collegial Senate. I plan on a separate post about it, when I have time…

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