Happy New Year

I have been taking it easy this week when it comes to blogging, but today there is quite a bit that is worthy of comment. I hope every one is having a nice winter holiday season. I for one am ready for things to get back to normal.

First I want to continue my running debate with Ed Kilgore of New Donkey. In the last couple of days he has updated his "Lessons Learned" posting with essays on foreign policy and the values debate. In both articles he lays out the problems that Democrats face pretty effectively, but I have real reservations about his proposed solutions. For foreign policy, he seems to be hewing to the Beinart line, which as I have commented before is in error. I think that Chris Bowers has a good explanation of why this approach is a mistake. On the issue of values, Kilgore again makes a relatively uncontroversial point (that Democrats need to frame our arguments in moral terms, and to stick to thematics) while providing precious little in the way of guidance.

To risk sounding like Walter Mondale, I must ask "where's the beef?" I read the PPI summary on a new Democratic foreign policy, and it was indistinguishable from Kerry's position. To say that the problem is the "Michael Moore" wing of the party, whatever that is, is to do little more than set up a straw man, and to reinforce the Republicans' negative frame. And as for the values debate, I think the DLC'ers are again falling into the trap of believing that the Democrats can replicate Clinton's tactics. Clinton's approach to values issues (through triangulation), which was small bore incrementalism, is a strategy suited for an incumbent. Incumbents need only play a successful defense to get re-elected. An out-party needs to present issues in much starker terms. In the last several campaigns the Democratic candidate has tried to "speak to the concerns of the religious right," the DLC has suggested. But all this seemed to do was reinforce the image of Democrats as wishy-washy.

In sum, I think that the DLC, while well-intentioned, is pursuing a strategy that is either a) already the Democratic consensus, or b) wrongheaded because by taking the conservative attack on liberals as gospel only makes their job easier. I think Kilgore is right when he says that we need to think hard about how to blunt the cultural conservative assault on liberalism. What I fail to see his how he has any realistic strategy for doing so.

There are two other issues I want to speak to. First, I would like to rebut Sanford Ungar's op-ed in the Washington Post. Ungar is concerned with Robert Byrd's amendment to the federal approprations act mandating the teaching of the Constitution in school. Ungar believes that this is an unconstitutional intrusion into state powers. According to him, the federal government has no business setting federal educational standards. If we start here, where will it stop.

I'm going to skip the slippery slope part of the argument and move straight to the heart of the matter. First, the original purpose of public education in this country was training citizens. So I don't see any problem with mandating it. If the states refuse to teach our youth to understand the political system, it is up to the national government to step in. Secondly, I am exhausted with the canard of states rights. The Constitution is not a suicide pact. If the states are unable or unwilling to solve a problem, are we to just throw up our hands. The three most important areas of public policy that states have been responsible for in the 20th century were civil rights, the environment, and education. And they have made a dog's dinner of each of them, so much so that in the former two instances the federal government decided to take a role. The big education debate in the last generation is whether the feds should do the same with the third. We have been moving steadily in that direction, under Democrat and Republican alike.

Now to avoid the charge of inconsistency, I would like to tell everyone that I would rather the states take an active role in partnership with the national government. Consistent with my principle of "liberal federalism" I think that setting standards and providing money is precisely what the feds should be doing. What I would like to stop seeing is people opposing education reform by hiding behind the fig leaf of states rights. When you will the end of something, you also will the means. If it takes national intervention to solve our educational crisis, so be it.

Finally, I want to mention the tsunami disaster. I was in Indonesia this time last year. I was with my wife in the general vicinity of where the hit took place (we were further south). A friend of mine actually surfed to safety when the tidal wave came. If you don't believe me, check this out...

Surfer unaware of wave carnage

Wednesday, December 29
JAY CLARK

A MELBOURNE man has survived by surfing the 10-metre tidal waves that have killed more than 29,000 people in Asia.

Surviving fishermen last saw Chris Scurrah, 30, surfing the monster tsunamis off the coast of Padang, Indonesia, near the Mentawi islands.

It was probably his surfboard that saved him according to his girlfriend Christina Fowler, who has not heard from Chris other than what local fishermen have reported.

``He's probably having the time of his life, just loving it'' Ms Fowler, 36, said.

``He was probably safer in the deep water, rather than on land.''

The massive swell would have come as shock to the 30-year-old, who said he was only expecting small waves when he kissed his girlfriend good-bye in Padang on Christmas Eve.

It's been a nervous wait for Ms Fowler who feared her loved one would be lost at sea when the earthquake hit, without warning.

The American bed and breakfast manager said fierce winds and heavy rain caused minimal damage to the Padang township, situated half-way up Sumatra, compared to what other parts of Asia have suffered.

But the storm combined with a pulsating river was enough for her to pack her bags and prepare to climb aboard her building's roof as the only safe haven.

She said the Indonesian town was gripped in panic, unsure what was happening.

``There were people running around everywhere, frightened,'' she said.

``Mostly because a lot of the people in Indonesia don't know much about natural disasters and can't swim.''

Ms Fowler said she expects her boyfriend to return today.

There are very good people who live in Indonesia, people who are struggling enough as it is. They didn't deserve this, but acts of God are out of our hands. People rarely deserve what they get.

What is in our hands is how we respond to the suffering of our fellow humans. And it is here where the behavior of our government has been disgraceful. George Bush waits a week to respond and then offers a pittance? The U.S. takes no leadership role in the greatest natural disaster in recorded history? Forget the bad diplomacy! This is just wrong! The next person who tells me that George Bush is a good man and a good Christian is going to get a punch in the face. Then they can turn the other cheek.

You want to do the right thing? Then whatever your faith, help:

ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
247 West 37th Street, Suite 1201
New York, N.Y. 10018
212-967-7800 x108
www.actionagainsthunger.org

AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE
45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10018
800-889-7146
www.ajws.org

AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE
South Asia Tsunami Relief
Box 321
847A Second Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10017
212-687-6200 ext. 851
www.jdc.org

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE
AFSC Crisis Fund
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, Pa. 19102
215-241-7000
www.afsc.org

AMERICAN RED CROSS
International Response Fund
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, D.C. 20013
800-HELP NOW
www.redcross.org

CARE
151 Ellis Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
800-521-CARE
www.care.org

CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES
Tsunami Emergency
P.O. Box 17090
Baltimore, Md. 21203-7090
800-736-3467
www.catholicrelief.org

DIRECT RELIEF INTERNATIONAL
27 South La Patera Lane
Santa Barbara, Calif. 93117
805-964-4767
www.directrelief.org

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
P.O. Box 1856
Merrifield, Va. 22116-8056
888-392-0392
www.doctorswithoutborders.org

EPISCOPAL RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT
Emergency Fund
P. O. Box 12043
Newark, NJ 07101
800-334-7626
www.er-d.org

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS/RED CRESCENT
www.ifrc.org

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS
Earthquake/Tsunami Relief
1919 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 300
Santa Monica, Calif. 90404
800-481-4462
www.imcworldwide.org

INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES
Asia Disaster Response
P.O. Box 630225
Baltimore, MD 21263-0225
877-803-4622
www.iocc.org

ISLAMIC RELIEF USA
Southeast Asia Earthquake Emergency
P.O. Box 6098
Burbank, Calif. 91510
888-479-4968
www.irw.org/asiaquake

MERCY CORPS
Southeast Asia Earthquake Response
Dept. W
P.O. Box 2669
Portland, Ore. 97208
800-852-2100
www.mercycorps.org

OPERATION USA
8320 Melrose Avenue, Suite 200
Los Angles, Calif. 90069
800-678-7255
www.opusa.org

OXFAM AMERICA
Donor Services Department
26 West Street
Boston, MA 12111-1206
800-77-OXFAM
www.oxfamamerica.org

SAVE THE CHILDREN
Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief Fund
54 Wilton Road
Westport, Conn. 06880
800-728-3843
www.savethechildren.org

UNICEF
General Emergency Fund
333 E. 38th Street
New York, NY 10016
800-4-UNICEF
www.unicef.org

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME
US Friends of the WFP
PO Box 11856
Washington, D.C. 20008
www.wfp.org/donate

Have a happy new year.