Like Diana Going Solo All Over Again

Just like Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong without Diana Ross, the Supremes have lost their lead voice. We mourn the loss of Chief Justice William Rehnquist and pray for his family and friends. Unfortunately, this prompts a bit of political discussion. So, from the Chuckonian Weather Service, here's the forecast for Washington...
We'll be seeing cloudy skies as the nation puts Justice Rehnquist to rest in Arlington cemetery. Those clouds will continue until the rescheduled Senate Judiciary Committee hearings begin. Then, those clouds will yield rain, lots of rain, like Noah-in-a-cruise-ship kinda rain. After the recent agreement that put the Senate Democrats somewhat at bay over the filibustering of judicial appointments, many thought that John Roberts would be, fairly easily, appointed to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor. Now that the nomination has been tabbed as one for Chief Justice, we're opening up a whole new can of worms. It's ironic to me, the Tuesday before William Rehnquist's death, my former Congressman, Ed Bryant (my pick for the Republican nomination for Tennessee's US Senator), predicted a 75-25 vote confirming John Roberts. All it takes to blow that prediction off is one word - "Chief." Putting that in front of "Justice John Roberts" makes this all the more debate-worthy for Democrats and, I feel, all the more a kick in the teeth for the other current Justices on the Supreme Court. If I were on the Court and the Chief Justice had just died, I would not feel good about the newly-appointed Justice breezing in with automatic seniority. Granted, nothing says that the Chief Justice cannot be a fresh appointee. In fact, nothing says a Justice has to be a judge or lawyer prior to joining the Supremes. There's not even a minimum age (perhaps my next summer job). However, in today's system of "doing things" in Washington, one would expect a current member of the court to be promoted and for the Senate to try to get two nominees through before the first Monday of October (when the Supreme Court session convenes). The more power is at stake, the more dangerous the Senate hearings are going to be. And, from the basic human perspective, the more power is initially granted, the colder the reception might be given to John Roberts if and when he assumes the position of Chief Justice. To prevent a hurricane on the Hill, weatherman Chuck prescribes that one of the current conservative Justices be promoted to Chief Justice, that John Roberts be confirmed to replace Sandra Day O'Connor as soon as possible, and that another nominee be put before the Judiciary Committee as soon as Roberts is out of committee and ready for a floor vote.
If it weren't for William Marbury, James Madison, and John Marshall (if you don't know their connection, look it up, it'll be good for you), we wouldn't be too concerned about this. But, thanks to them and a lot of folks after them, we have to accept that the Supreme Court has incredible power and must be intelligently maintained by the government's other branches. We wish all the best to the Rehnquist family, and in his memory, we also wish Godspeed and good judgment to the branches who must now determine the fate of the Supremes.

But In the South, It's A Religion

It's time I addressed a topic that stirs some of my most passionate opinions - sports. Specifically, sports in our public schools and universities. Here's a screenful of Chuck's-gonna-piss-someone-off-and-he-don't-care. So, take a look at the way we see things in Chuckonia...
I am from the South. I love the South - the food, the people, the language, the music, and the culture. Most of the culture, that is. Here in the South, sports are very important.... Too important.... Way too important. Don't get me wrong, sports have their place in the lives of many well-rounded individuals. They encourage competition and fun, which we heartily believe in here. They are an excellent way to exercise. And on the large scale, they create cultural events that bring people together and have the same effect as a holiday parade or county fair. As good as all of that is, we have a problem with how devoted our society is to sports as opposed to other matters. The basic question here is balls vs. books. Sports-lovers and football-watching alumni can argue with me all they want, but in the final analysis, they can be proven to show more devotion to a pigskin than a bookworm. It's time for that to change. It's time to stop over-funding our athletic departments while under-funding the hard-working academics that send well-rounded and well-prepared individuals out into the world. We need smaller student-to-teacher ratios and larger coach-to-player ratios. It amazed me a few days ago when I saw 6 football coaches at the UofM, knowing that there are more. 6 different coaches?! This confuses, amazes, and angers me. My state sales tax dollars, tuition, and university access fees are paying for that. And yet, every time an important class is not offered or not offered conveniently, I'm supposed to be understanding when the excuse is "budget cuts." I've heard the gloom and doom of budget cuts so much when it comes to education in this state that I'm almost immune, except when I see such calamities as the too well-supplied athletic departments here at the UofM and elsewhere. Cut their budgets; it won't hurt them. In fact, cut all tuition and tax-dollar flow from every public school (elementary thru college) sports team in America and then watch them turn even bigger profits. "Impossible," you say? Let's break it down. For three semesters of college, before joining the hallowed ranks of resident advisors, I was a "Phonathon operator" - basically, the guy who called University of Memphis alumni and begged (with lots of style) for contributions to our academic scholarship funds. I enjoyed what I did, and I think I was kinda good at it. It bothered me, however, when I noticed certain trends in the refusal reasons of the graduates. Chief among them was "I've bought my season tickets," or "I'm a member of the Football Boosters," or any variation of the "I give to athletics and that's enough" excuse. It was infuriating. It certainly was not my first exposure to the balls over books mentality, but one of the worst. I was used to that attitude at my small-town Southern high school. But, as cruel as it sounds, most of the people exhibiting that attitude then were not college-educated nor expected to be as well-off financially. When I called college graduates (often with Masters degrees) who had more earning potential, I expected them to be more generous in general and intelligent enough to understand the true base purpose of an educational institution. Unfortunately, such enlightenment is still not widespread. But, back to the profit-making sports argument. My exposure to the "give me sports or give me death" mentality, topped off by my work experience in college, finally made me realize that the majority of Americans, especially Southerners, will bend over backwards and sell the farm to keep sports in our schools. Such devotion could only be increased by pity. The pity that would come from eliminating all public funding from athletic programs in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and colleges. When the fans and alumni hear of such a tragedy, their checkbooks will open wider that Mick Jagger's mouth and the athletes will have more money than their coaches would know what to do with. The profits will keep them all sitting pretty.
Again, I remind you that sports have their place in society and in the lives of well-rounded individuals, but they should be completely funded by their own earnings and private interests. And if you try to point fingers at the fine arts, I point them back, knowing that they have never been as thoroughly funded by the school systems as sports are. So, the next time you have the option of funding scholastics or athletics, please remember which one is the true purpose of a school, which one produces the true leaders and thinkers and world-savers, and which needs it the most. I am proud to be a Christian here in the Bible Belt, but I also feel shame because I know that that is only the secondary faith of the region. As the old saying goes about football, "But in the South, it's a religion."

In The Wake of Katrina, Wake Up!

"This is our tsunami." I heard that on TV a few nights ago, and it's the most apt description I have found of what's going on along the Gulf coast right now. Not only in terms of devastation but also as far as national attention and concern. When I say "national" attention, however, I mean people, not necessarily the government. Before I get into that however, I'd like to give my recent personal perspective and limited experience with Katrina's victims.
The University of Memphis, at which I am a student and resident advisor, has generously invited any students of universities affected by the hurricane to enroll with us for no extra tuition. We are also providing them with accommodations in our residence halls. In addition, a dorm that had been shut down for two years has been refurnished and put online for over 200 non-student evacuees to have lodging as they escape the ruined cities further south. Yesterday, in my capacity as a resident advisor, I met three of the students from the University of New Orleans who will be living in the apartment complex in which I work. When the third one arrived to check in to her room, I gave her the information sheet that all new residents fill out and proceeded to spout off the usual check-in instructions. A couple of minutes later, I noticed that she had put the sheet down on the table without filling out much of it. Primarily, the section for an off-campus address and family contact info was blank. I couldn't bring myself to question it or even mention that I noticed it, because I realized that she probably didn't want to note an address that may not exist anymore. It broke my heart, and I fought some tears. Fortunately, the burden lightened when I realized that she had misunderstood and simply didn't think she was supposed to fill out the whole thing. Mistaken or not, it really made me think. And this is what I thought about...
First, when are all the countries that we have supported in time of natural crisis going to return the favor? I haven't heard any Asians or Europeans announce that they're sending anybody. As cold as it may sound, I believe that all US Government entities still working in Southeast Asia on tsunami relief and any completely American-staffed private agencies should pull out immediately to help here at home. At least then, the Asians would have something to do and a valid excuse for not coming here to help us.
Second and most important, when is the United States Government going to speed up its priorities? A good Republican though I try to be, I've never accused George W. Bush of being a good organizer. As large as the federal government is, one would think that it could handle multiple tasks at once. And maybe it just looks like it on TV, but it seems more and more as time goes on that they only work on one thing at a time. As soon as the Mayor of New Orleans made the evacuation order public, the President of the United States should have been ringing his phone. In time of crisis, it's a bad sign to hear from the head man at CNN before the head of the Executive Branch. Let's play with some hypotheticals here. With the worries over lack of military personnel to "staff" the new Iraq and base closings here in America for budget reasons, the government was afraid to commit more than it had. Furthermore, the Iraq operation-devotees are probably shaking in their boots at the thought of having to risk the loss of numbers in the Middle East to help the work here IN OUR OWN COUNTRY. Don't get me wrong, I supported the war and still do, but in times like this, it's the post-war occupation that I have a problem with. Groups like the Red Cross are, as always, wonderful right now. But no private organization should be ahead of the most powerful government on Earth when arriving at the site of a disaster. This is not my queue to start ripping the war issue apart and bashing the administration. But, in short, our own people need a lot more help than anyone else in American eyes right now. We've gotta take an old-fashioned "America for the Americans" approach and focus on the ravaged areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
It's easy for me to sit here in dry, clear-skied Memphis and pass all these judgments, but the bottom line is that we can't spend all our time reading the stories that ask "Is Your City Ready For the Big One?" Instead, we need to pay more attention to the ones that say "This Is What You Can Do To Help Now." No shoulda-coulda-wouldas will help us. So, to all our readers (listen to me acting like I have a huge fan base), find some way to help. Contribute money, blood, food, supplies, and even shelter if you have friends along the coast. Just do something! And, to all our friends in the storm-ravaged area and its surroundings (especially our dear old friends in Cajun Country), we're praying for you and looking forward to the return to normalcy in the Southeast. As we await that time, you've always got friends here.