Terra Extraneus

Here’s a fascinating webpage with images of 54 famous trials, and links to hundreds of additional pages of info about each of them. One Oklahoma trial is included. Can you guess which one? (Answer below)

The 54 trials start with the trial of Socrates, 399 B.C., and end with the 2006 trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the 9-11 terrorist. The website was created by Douglas Linder, a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. (Answer to Oklahoma question: the 1997 trials of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.)

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On Christmas evening, we went to the movies to see The Great Debaters. I offered my review of that great film in my previous post. While I was standing in the concession line at the theater that night, a fist fight broke out, which led to an unexpected outburst of Christmas cheer. I wrote about it on Joshua One, the other blog Rod Heggy and I write. See: Mall Fist Fight Prompts Outbreak of Christmas Spirit

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Interesting article on thumb drives – and software designed for thumb drives – in the May ABA Journal. Attorneys David Beckham and David Hirsch, who work in what they say is a paperless office in Burlington, Iowa, provide a good review of some flash drive applications.

I love my thumb drive. Like many business people, I sit in front of two computers, at work and at home, almost every day. After using numerous other methods over the years to transfer data smoothly from computer to computer, the thumb drive solved that problem for me.

However, I use my thumb drive primarily as a next generation floppy disk or CD – just a means to store and transfer data. Software designed to be resident on and run from thumb drives takes their utility to the next level.

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to foresee a day soon when computers will be just another office appliance, like telephones and printers and fax machines. People will think less in terms of “my computer” and be less concerned with the bells and whistles on their computer, because all of the important stuff – not just files, but many of the applications that run them — will be on one’s portable drive, ready to plug into whatever computer we happen to have access to.

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Extreme Mortman presents:

* “Top Ten Funniest Political Moments Of 2006.” Top of the list: Dick Cheney’s eventful hunting trip.

* “Top Ten Funniest Political Quotes Of 2006.” Top of the list: John Kerry’s reputation-killing crack about education and Iraq.

[Hat Tip: Joe Gandelman at The Moderate Voice.]

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President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on this date, Nov. 22, in 1963. I was a fifth-grader in Omaha, Neb., 10 years old, when Kennedy was shot down in the streets of Dallas. The event made a lasting impression on me, as it did most members of my generation. It has popularly been observed that we who were alive then can remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we first heard the shocking news.

Nov. 22 became a special date on the calendar, joining other fateful dates such as June 6 (“D-Day”) and Dec. 7 (Pearl Harbor). However, more than four decades later, the historical significance of today’s date occurred to me today for the first time only this afternoon. I had to look it up to confirm my memory that this is indeed the date I suddenly realized it was. I heard no mention of JFK on the radio during my 20-minute drive to work this morning; nor have I heard him mentioned today in conversation. Looking now on the Internet, I do see several dozen media references to Kennedy’s assassination, but it is not one of today’s top stories.

I think it is fair to say that the impact of the Kennedy assassination is diminishing in our collective consciousness. That, I suppose, is inevitable. How many know the date upon which Lincoln was shot (Good Friday, April 14, 1865)? How many know even the names of the other two presidents beside Lincoln and Kennedy who were assassinated (Garfield and McKinley)? Kennedy’s youthfulness and charisma were compelling, and his image acquired a near-godlike aura after his martyrdom. However, all these years later, when the public was asked earlier this year to rank the 11 presidents since World War II, Kennedy still ranks high on the list, but only third after Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

Each generation has its notable dates. In the early 21st century it is “9/11,” a calendar reference that the public will not forget for a very long time to come. Of course, four decades ago I might have guessed that the public would never forget what happened on Nov. 22, 1963. But a lot can happen in forty years.

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If John McCain is elected president in 2008, he will become the oldest person to ever enter the office, at 72 years old. The distinction currently belongs to Ronald Reagan, who was 69 when he began his first term in 1981.

McCain would be the White House’s first incoming septuagenarian. Among our 43 U.S. presidents, 8 were in their 40s when they began their first terms, 25 were in their 50s, and 10 in their 60s. Bill Clinton became our first baby boomer president, and was followed by fellow boomer George W. Bush. In the 21st century, are voters willing to elect a man born 10 years before the Baby Boom even began?

Of course, if 60 is the new 40, then 70 is the new 50. To prove it, in August, McCain backpacked through the Grand Canyon — and his publicists have been mentioning it every chance they get since. Expect to see plenty more feats of strength and daring by McCain during the next two years.

Related to age is the question of health. McCain seems to be in good health. His chief concern is melanoma. He had a cancerous mole removed from his shoulder in 1993, and two cancerous tumors removed from his temple and arm in 2000; no more problems since then.

During the McCain campaign, comparisons to Ronald Reagan are inevitable. McCain may benefit by the comparison. In a poll this year, citizens named Reagan the best president in the last 60 years (George W. Bush was named the worst). However, there is a big problem for McCain with the Reagan comparison: thinking of Reagan brings to mind the late president’s Alzheimer’s disease during his final years. That’s not what McCain wants voters thinking about.

No matter how energetic McCain is, health concerns are an inescapable fact of life for people in their 70s. Two Stanford scholars wrote this when Bob Dole was the GOP nominee in 1996 at age 73:

No matter how healthy the elderly candidate for the presidency appears to be, there is a significant likelihood that he will not survive or that his intellectual powers and leadership ability may be compromised, far more so than among those in their 50s.

If McCain gets the nomination, his choice of running mate becomes crucial. Will he pick someone in their 40s or 50s to balance the ticket, or will he worry that a significantly younger running mate will only underscore his age? Most importantly, it will be essential for McCain to choose someone the nation would be comfortable with in the Oval Office. It also would be interesting to see how McCain’s age plays against the Democratic nominee, particularly if the nominee is youthful, such as John Edwards, 53, or Baruck Obama, 47. (Hillary Clinton turns 60 next year.)

Reagan was the master at using humor to deflect questions about his age. In his 1984 debate with Walter Mondale, Reagan (73 at the time; Mondale was 56) quipped:

I will not make age an issue in this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.

I have seen McCain’s attempts at humor. He does not have Reagan’s gift, but he can be funny, as he was in 2002 in a Saturday Night Live skit promoting his supposed album, “McCain sings Streisand.” “I’ve been in politics for over 20 years, and for over 20 years, I’ve had Barbra Streisand trying to do my job. So I decided to try my hand at her job,” McCain deadpanned. You can be sure McCain has been rehearsing age-related one-liners for the campaign trail.

My opinion: McCain’s age is not an issue. Nine of our 43 presidents — that’s 21%, a significant percentage — failed to complete their terms. Four were assassinated, four more died in office, and one resigned. Two of them were in their 40s and five were in their 50s; in other words, youth is no guarantee of a full term. The only thing certain about the future is that it is full of surprises.

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Thanks to Michael Bates at Batesline for linking to this post. Thanks also to Andy Jackson at SmartChristian for pointing this way. Andy says he’s leaning toward McCain, but will be watching to see if McCain is able to maintain his energy level during the next two years of campaigning.

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Mark Daniels at Better Living ponders whom Time magazine will name Person of the Year for 2006. Daniels says Nancy Pelosi. I disagree, and suggest another possibility in my comment to his post.

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Jim Wallis of Sojourners and author of the God’s Politics blog provides a “voter’s guide” of biblical issues Christians should consider in evaluating candidates on Tuesday’s ballots. Here is a link to the full text of Wallis’ “Voting God’s Politics.” The following is my own abridgement of Wallis’ issues list:

• Compassion and Economic Justice: Does the candidate support measures that provide for family economic success and security, … that promote fair and decent wages, that show a serious commitment to lifting children out of poverty, and support policies on aid, debt, and trade that would bring extreme global poverty to an end?

• Peace and Restraint of Violence: Is the candidate committed to a serious plan for ending the war in Iraq … to remove American forces while seeking both security and peace for Iraq, to the elimination of nuclear weapons, to supporting security and freedom in the Middle East, and to strengthening international law to fight terrorism?

• Consistent Ethic of Life: All life is a sacred gift from God … public policies should reflect a consistent ethic of life. … Abortion is always a moral tragedy, but how do we find real solutions for preventing unwanted pregnancies and supporting women caught in very difficult and desperate circumstances? Does the candidate support policies that will dramatically reduce the number of abortions, end capital punishment, and stop genocide, especially in Darfur?

• Racial Justice: Racism is a sin and undermines the integrity of a society. Is the candidate committed to reversing and ending racial discrimination in all aspects of our society, especially in the criminal justice and education systems?

• Human Rights, Dignity, and Gender Justice: Each human being [is] created in God’s image. … On immigration, how do we welcome the stranger, respect the law, and insure national security? And how do we combat the growing epidemic of sexual trafficking and virtual slavery? Does the candidate support humane and holistic immigration policies and comprehensive immigration reform? Do they insist on policies that end torture, stop human trafficking, promote religious freedom, and protect women?

• Strengthen Families and Renew Culture: Does the candidate support policies that strengthen marriage and families, restore integrity to our civic and business practices, and act to prevent violence in our society — especially the alarming incidence of domestic violence against women and children.

• Good Stewardship of God’s Creation: The earth and the fragile atmosphere that surrounds it are God’s good creation … Global warming is a religious issue. Does a candidate support protections to clean air and water, to reduce the dangerous emissions that cause global warming, to shift from our addiction to oil and fossil fuels to cleaner, safer, and more renewable energy sources? Do they support the transformation to conservation and new energy sources that could provide jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, help solve the Middle East crisis, and even reduce the threats of terrorism?

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Traffic to TerraX is way up today. What’s the occasion? Slate, the online magazine owned by the Washington Post, quoted me in an article about President Bush’s bill-signing statements. Here’s the Slate article, “Attorneys Against Bush”; TerraX is mentioned in the fourth paragraph. The article references my post yesterday: “Bar Association Slams Bush for Disregard of Law.”

Funny that Slate references the “liberal-leaning Terra Extraneus.” A glance at our featured articles at the top of the homepage shows we may lean left on immigration and government assistance programs, but are right as rain on abortion, for example. A more thorough reading of our blog would confirm what we say on our “About” page: “Don’t be too quick to pigeonhole our politics.”

However, in the modern political discussion, there are only two categories, red and blue, conservative and liberal, and doggonit, we’re going to shove you into one category or the other, whether you like it or not. See: “Which Political Category Should We Shove You Into?” See also, “Confessions of a Liberal, err, Left-of-Center Idealist.”

Oh well, as they say, all publicity is good publicity. And they spelled my name right. I’d be much more cool and much less honest if didn’t admit that being quoted in a national publication made my day.

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Second only to the inspired words of the Holy Bible, the Declaration of Independence is the most important document ever written. It has just 1338 words and was originally contained on a single large sheet of parchment. Today we celebrate the 230th anniversary of one of the most important days in human history. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1776, 56 men representing the 13 British colonies of North America attached their signatures to that great Declaration.

By declaring their independence from Britain, the colonists simultaneously were declaring that a new nation had been born, “the United States of America.” The patriots had already been at war with England for a year when they signed that historic document. The fighting would continue for another seven years until the last British troops left New York City in 1783.

The world changed on that day. New ideas about equality and freedom and individual civil rights had been bravely proclaimed. New ideas about the relationship between a government and its citizens, and how God figures into that formula, had been laid out in clear, bold, brilliant statements.

On Independence Day, we celebrate the most important document ever written and the courageous decision of our founding fathers to stake their very lives on the ideas it professed. It would do us well, today and everyday, to remember what those ideas are. That all men are created equal. That men and women have rights given to them by God that no person and no government has the right to take away. That government exists to serve its citizens, and not the other way around.

The Declaration concludes with these words: “For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” Let each of us take the same pledge.

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Here is the full text of the Declaration of Independence.

Here is an essay by Brian Stone of An Audience of One, who was a history teacher for more than 20 years, on the importance of the Declaration.

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