The incomparable Farmer of corrente takes us back to a White House tea party in 1929 that tells us something about our own time.

Ever wonder why global warming has never caught on as a big political issue in the United States? I think it’s because people are focused on their immediate surroundings and a very near term time horizon. So in order to convince people to support environmentally friendly programs, it makes sense to show tangible problems that the program is going to solve.

A test case of this theory will be the FasTracks initiative that will be on the ballot in the Regional Transportation District in metropolitan Denver this fall. Proponents and opponents of this mass transit funding initative are gearing up for multimillion dollar ad blitzes. And while big picture environmental questions are being left out of the equation, local ones might prove to be decisive.
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Over at LiberalOasis, which I run from my Brooklyn apartment, I’m mostly focused on results: offering analysis and advice to help Dems win and help liberal positions triumph. I put aside my personal hankering for political theater.

And as political theater, the New York primary has been an immense let down.

Historically, New York has not played a maverick role, often punching the ticket of the frontrunner. But it usually makes them dance first.
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California continues its temper tantrum and the outcome of this civic immaturity may be dramatic. The LA Times today is framing the election on Tuesday as a measure of Arnold Schwarzenneger’s clout and, sadly, I suspect this is true. The most important thing is that it’s just so, well…kewl that our governor is a movie star.
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It’s starting to become clear that, to the Bush administration — and their corporate and media cohorts — the definition of a “terrorist” is “someone we don’t like.”

All in the past week, we were treated to the following spectacles:

– An administration official — the education secretary, no less — declaring the National Education Association a “terrorist organization.”

– The chairman of American International Group referred to lawyers who are opposed to Republican plans for tort reform as “bar terrorists.”

– CNN’s Judy Woodruff, in an interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristide, chiding the Haitian leader that the armed thugs rampaging through the island nation were not “terrorists” but rather “political opponents.”

But in the meantime, a mail bomber in Arizona can set off an explosion in a government office — one aimed at promoting racial diversity — and hardly anyone hears a peep about it. Certainly, no one has begun referring to the attack as terrorism, even though that is quite clearly what it is.

It happened Thursday in Scottsdale:

Bomb in mail injures 3 at Scottsdale city office

Don Logan, director of Scottsdale’s Office of Diversity and Dialogue, suffered serious burns on his hands and arms in the 1 p.m. explosion at the Human Resources Building near Scottsdale City Hall. A mailroom employee delivered the letter-size package to Logan, to whom it was addressed, in his cubicle.

Logan’s secretary, Renita Linyard, and a co-worker, Jacque Bell, suffered minor injuries.

When the package exploded, it shot shrapnel into the walls, carpet and ceiling and burned a 3 1/2-inch-wide hole in Logan’s desk. About 25 people were evacuated from the building.

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