Choices

A couple weeks ago, I ran across this book at Borders. As its title indicates, it is a military history of the Iraq war. I have thought about buying it since I think it would interesting to know what the actual strategy was for the war. We pretty much kicked ass in the actual war--it was the aftermath that was a complete mess.

In any case, I flipped through the book and came across this image:


This is a stunning picture. I stopped flipping and stared at it for several moments. It is a picture of a bomb damage assessment being performed on an Iraqi building targeted by the US Air Force during the war. The building was hit with a 5000 pound bomb which penetrated the roof and ceiling and exploded inside. In the bottom right corner is a soldier assessing the damage caused by the bomb.

According to the book, with weapons such as the one used on this building, assessing damage was difficult from the air since the exterior of some buildings did not show much damage. That is why ground teams were sent to targets to report on the damage.

I want to contrast that image with this one:


This is the interior of the Pantheon in Rome. The Pantheon was built in 125 A.D. under Hadrian. It was built as a temple for all the gods, hence pan + theo. It has been in continuous use since it was built, and was converted to a Catholic church in the 7th century. For the first 1200 years of its existence, the Pantheon was the largest masonry dome in the world. It is a masterpiece of architecture and one of the great buildings of the world.

I will leave you to consider the comparison between these two pictures and these two buildings, but I would like to say that we have choices available to us in this world.

Understanding the Presidential Campaign through the Films of the 1980s: Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

This week, Obama has refocused his campaign here at home after a successful overseas trip. The big story has been the McCain campaign's attempt to attack Obama for . . . having a successful overseas trip. So, they started running two new ads, one attacking Obama for cancelling a trip to a military hospital in Germany, and the other accusing Obama of being like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. This second ad is backed by ongoing complaints that the media has been nice to Obama.

This is all very Ferris Bueller. Remember at the end of the Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Jeanie is sitting in the police station. Principal Rooney in a mad attempt to catch Ferris playing hooky has broken into the Bueller's home. Jeanie, with the same mad goal, has attacked him. She's sitting in the police station where she gets some sage advice from a young Charlie Sheen:

Jeanie: I went home to confirm that the shithead was ditching school and a guy broke into the house and I called the cops and they picked me up for making a phony phone call.

Charlie: What do you care if your brother ditches school?

Jeanie: Why should he get to ditch school when everyone else has to go?

Charlie: You could ditch.

Jeanie: I'd get caught.

Charlie: So, you're pissed at him because he ditches and doesn't get caught?

Jeanie: Basically.

Charlie: Then your problem is you.

Jeanie: Excuse me?

Charlie: Excuse you. You oughta spend a little more time dealing with yourself and a little less time worrying about what your brother does. It's just an opinion. . . . There's someone you should talk to.

Jeanie: If you say Ferris Bueller, you lose a testicle.

Charlie: Oh, you know him?

John McCain is Jeanie--she's pissed that Ferris is so popular--he's everyone's friend, even the druggie sitting in the police station. She's pissed that Ferris ditches school, but Ferris doesn't just ditch school, he ditches with style.

Ferris joy rides in a classic Ferrari, talks his way into an upscale restaurant, goes to a Cubs game, and does spontaneous renditions of "Danke Schoen" and "Twist and Shout" with adoring crowds happily joining in.

Sure, who wouldn't be jealous? But in an election, you want to be popular. You don't want to have to argue that being popular is bad. John McCain would happily speak before 200,000 people in Berlin. But 200,000 people wouldn't turn out for John McCain. John McCain's problem isn't that Barack Obama is popular--John McCain's problem is John McCain.