OPINION: Kagan To Bring A 'Center' Court

Elena Kagan was sworn in, and now we have a court that is a bit more to the center.

Kagan is no Justice John Paul Stevens, although my hope is that she will grow into a more liberal justice.
The hearings were as expected, and so was the vote with the more centrist Republicans voting with the Democrats. It went as planned: no huge paper trail, although some on the Right tried to make hay out of some abortion memos she wrote while in the White House counsel’s office.

As Washington D.C. correspondent Victoria Jones said, there was no “Macaca” moment to the Elena Kagan hearings. (Macaca refers to a racial slur by George Allen in his 2006 Senate campaign). What we heard at the hearings was someone who has a very detailed knowledge of the law and who was well prepared from her weeks of practice “murder boards” that took place to prepare her for the grilling.

The hearings and the objections from some of the Republicans were Washington doing what Washington does best: political theater.

During the hearings, Sen. Patrick Leahy, an amateur photographer, was taking pictures. The professional photographers where taking pictures of him.

Kagan was able to breeze past her undergraduate thesis in which she said that justices wield great power for social and economic change when asked by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Clearly, Kagan knew it was coming and was able to toss the ball out of the park with ease.

She deftly handled the gay marriage issue by saying that is was probably going to come before the court. When Sen. Arlen Specter – with nothing to lose since he already lost – asked her to talk about a current case, she responded that it was something under her as solicitor general. Specter said she was going to be a justice, she responded that she doesn’t count her chickens.

Without a “Macaca” moment, pretty much every senator went into this knowing exactly how they were going to vote. The nominees are now carefully coached on how not to answer questions. It is exasperating to sit and listen to it.

When Sen. Herbert Kohl, D-Wis., asked her about who she admired on the court and got a non-answer, he shook his head and said “Oh my oh, my oh.” A conservative constitutional lawyer said to me that the carping about her was a way of raising money from the base for the 2012 elections while at the same time most of the GOP senators were pretty happy that even though she self-described her political viewpoints as “progressive,” her actual actions and memos were not.

The handouts that were given to the press by each side reflected the complete political nature of this constitutionally mandated “advise and consent” role. There were letters from law school deans praising her for the compromise reached on campus military recruiters.

The Republicans, knowing that the base hates gays in the military, came back with their own set of papers that they hoped would show how anti-military she is. They expected to stir up the base and get more money.

It didn’t work.

The only reason to have these hearings is to make sure that the nominee is not a complete idiot or lunatic and won’t lose their cool. It also is the only chance that the public has to see and feel what a future justice is like. Other than that, it is scripted and a waste of time. The votes were set, and the only role of any future justice is make sure they don’t say anything that is going to nix the nomination.

This charade of hearings will most likely happen again quite soon. Justice Ginsburg had a second cancer operation in 2009, and three other justices are in their ’70s. It will happen again exactly the same way. A president will appoint someone who is political and doesn’t have too long of a paper trail. The candidate will not say anything controversial.

What a waste of time and energy. Too bad we can’t do better. The only thing better staged is a real-estate open house.

OPINION: Message To Conservatives: Hold Breitbart Accountable

By Ellen Ratner - Bureau Chief Talk Radio News Service

When I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, I learned that we had trial by jury and that people were innocent until proven guilty. We watched courtroom dramas where people we thought were guilty from all the available facts were proven innocent when the likes of Perry Mason defended them in court. I thought that due process was something that was a hallowed and cherished principle of our American ideals.

That seems to have gone out the window. On radio I am forever defending the right of people to not be incarcerated in Guantanamo without trail. People tell me I am soft on terrorism. No, I am not; I am just in love with what I was taught about real justice.

So, what am I to think when my fellow liberals caved under pressure when the right wing uses viral Internet videos to make a community organization, ACORN, look like it is renting to obvious pimps or racist government employees? I think we have forgotten what we stand for.

The ACORN video was heavily edited to make ACORN look bad and like a criminal enterprise. Whomever edited the Shirley Sherrod video left out the whole story. Sherrod’s whole story was about her personal transformation to being color blind and being concerned about small farmers. It is a great and heartwarming tale.

Later, we learned that her husband was a famous member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, during the early ’60s. When other African-American members of SNCC did not want to take the time to deal with white kids from the North, Ms. Sherrod’s husband did. There is a family history of working with others to achieve equality.

When online editing first came into being, I used to show our interns how you could take any interview and edit individual words to make the speaker say something they did not. The interns learned a lesson about media manipulation. What we have seen in the ACORN and NAACP tape of Sherrod is an example of that kind of manipulation.

The 24-hour news cycle has pulled more reporters off the beat, increased demand for content and made real investigative journalism almost a thing of the past. Organizations simply can’t the luxury of sitting on a story, mulling over its implications has all but gone. No one news organization can be blamed as everyone one of those news organizations has taken some short cuts in pursuit of getting something on the air. It is just the economic state of the news business.

What I do not understand is why conservatives have not held Andrew Breitbart’s feet to the fire for allowing two edited videotapes on his website? How is it that anyone would ever give something he tries to hawk to destroy perceived liberals any credence? It is actually quite shocking that his fellow conservatives have kept their mouths shut.

ACORN shouldn’t have lost its funding. Shirley Sherrod shouldn’t have been fired, even though she was instantly rehired. Due process and innocence before being declared guilty should be the reaction to the media begging for a quick story.

In the future, the fraddy cat liberal Democrats should remember what we were taught grade school: Time and realinvestigation should take place before they take the bait. It may make the right wing think twice before they surface another fake scandal.

A Vision For Ohio And America

Yesterday was Father's Day. I lost my father when I was 10. He was an immigrant, and the United States allowed him to do well, earn an Army-Navy Production Award for the production of gun triggers during World War II and provide well for his family. He was a model of charity and giving and was passionate about his newly adopted country and state, Ohio. His passion was passed on to us, his children.

We would ride to his office through small towns and on weekends take rides throughout small-town Ohio. It was post war, and Ohio was the heart of manufacturing and post war industry. There were homemade candy shops, mom and pop restaurants, gift shops, small department stores and everything you needed to have a great family life in each town. My father would stop, and we would talk to the shop owners. They were always nice. They were always proud.

On Saturday, I attended a wedding in Newark, Ohio, which is similar to the town I visited with my father in the 1950s. Newark is near Columbus and has become a bedroom location for people working in Columbus. It is doing a lot better than most small Ohio towns, but it is still a depressing place to visit. I went to the local beauty shop to get my hair done. The wash and blow dry was $15, nothing by New York or D.C. standards. While I was walking though the town, an older gentleman stopped me and asked me what I was doing walking in town on a Saturday afternoon. We talked about what Newark was post war and what a vibrant community it once was. He told me there were four hotels at one point, several clothing stores and a department store. Now as I walked around I saw no clothing stores, empty restaurants and a sign in front of one store saying "40 percent off: We need the cash flow." This is one of the most successful small towns. Others don't even have this level of commerce.

In the summer of 2008, I wrote an article titled "Is America, Cleveland?" describing my walk though my hometown and predicting what might happen. This was two months before the September market free-fall. I talked about the need for developing more infrastructures, especially broadband. There is still a need for that, but I wondered how to revive an economy and a town that remains beautiful but empty.

Lee Fisher, who I have known since childhood, is the lieutenant governor. He is now running for Senate. Lee has been a one-man business recruiter for Ohio, and he has done a great job. Lee is all about bringing new jobs for Ohio, and he is passionate about that. We grew up under Sputnik, when the school turned on a dime and we all learned the new math. Science was suddenly taught with gusto in the lower elementary grades. It worked, and America was able to remain competitive in the '60s and '70s. Now it is a different story. We need to do something different that includes new jobs but also a way to make the youngest children more competitive.

As I looked at Newark's town square, I thought of our greatest competition: China. The Chinese know how to use their public spaces. Early in the morning there are hundreds of people doing exercise, together in a group. Looking at the town square, I also thought of the major form of entertainment in the days before radio, television and the record player. Back then, lectures were held in the town square and people attended them to learn about the world and be entertained. Why, I thought on my walk around on Saturday, don't we do the same thing in Ohio? Why not do what my fifth grade teacher did when we were terrified of the Russians and their scientific advantage? Why not hold competitions and incentives to get our youngsters moving?

What if we took some of that stimulus money along with some corporate partnerships and have math, science and computer competitions during the summer evening and weekends in the town centers?

What if we taught advanced basics and gave out prizes and gift cards to the students who excelled and smaller incentives to the students who showed up? What if the grade school students learned the basics of programming? What if the big tent on the town green would attract students and families to learn and have fun, too?

Would it bring jobs in the great state of Ohio? No, not right now. But it would take kids away from television and hours playing computer games and move them to be the kind of whizzes we are going to need to compete. It will do what America did during Sputnik. The future Lee Fishers wouldn't have to be working day and night to try and find jobs for his fellow citizens, and Ohio would again be the center of knowledge and innovation and the future. So would America.

Fat, Dumb And Happy?

I just left a country (Southern Sudan) where there is very little food. In the parlance of development talk, it is called food insecurity. What it means is that not only do most people not know where their next meal is coming from, they plan to eat every other day. There is no way to store food and certainly no refrigeration. Sometimes, just to get water, a woman might walk miles. During the rainy season food grows, but if there is an infestation of insects, there is no hope to grow other food. It is a bleak hand-to-mouth existence.

While I was in Southern Sudan, one nongovernment organization, or NGO, was awaiting shipment of a "donation" from an American drug company. This "donation" was going to consist of almost expired medication for high blood pressure. It was a win for donors. They get to take a huge tax deduction, but for the locals it doesn't mean a whole lot. High blood pressure is not a disease that is a problem in Southern Sudan. "It is a disease of the West," the area physician told me.

The reason high blood pressure is rare in Southen Sudan is because people walk almost everywhere and food is scarce. It is extremely rare to see anyone overweight. Coming back to the United States and walking though the Capitol last week, I saw overweight and even obese high school-aged tourists. It wasn't just a few of them, either. Many of these teenagers were large, and it was obvious that walking was not their favorite pastime.

It is with this knowledge that Mrs. Obama has decided to combat childhood obesity. She has taken this up in a methodical and careful way that shows her years of legal training. It has not been just a couple of photo ops in her vegetable garden. She has worked with major groups to put obesity on the table.

Using the bully pulpit of the first lady, Michele Obama has met with scientists and physicians and has made sure that everything that happens at the White House reflects her concerns.

Monday's Easter Egg Roll is just one example. There has sometimes been a focus on health at the egg roll. One year, Laura Bush had a booth where visitors could get a read of their Body Mass Index.

This year the entire theme was based on Mrs. Obama's concerns about child obesity. The White House went all out to make sure that the point was not lost on the visitors or the media.

The egg roll was themed "Ready, Set, Go!" to dovetail with Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move" national initiative.

In addition to the normal egg hunt, egg roll and story reading, this year the White House added sports zones including obstacle courses, a "hop to it" dance center, a "play with your food" area including information on how to make your own garden, and a yoga garden to get kids moving their bodies. Everyone from NFL players to former tennis star Billie Jean King organized games for the children.

Later this week Mrs. Obama is going to host C-Span at the White House to allow student journalists to cover an event focusing on the obesity problem. On Friday she will have a White House meeting to discuss ways to combat this growing health epidemic. This meeting is going to focus on trends, how to empower parents and how to access healthy, affordable food.

Mrs. Obama's work is a critical part of health care. The statistics are not pretty. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry estimates that between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese and that unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for more than 300,000 deaths each year. They estimate that the annual health care cost due to obesity is about $100 billion a year. That dollar figure would go a long way to provide health care for millions of children in the U.S. and make a huge difference in the overall cost of health care.

My old boss used to say that America had grown "fat, dumb and happy." We certainly are a lot happier than the people living on the edge of poverty and hunger in Sudan, but we have grown a lot fatter, and our food policy for children is just plain dumb.

Worst Of H1N1 May Be Over, Says WHO Official

The H1N1 pandemic may be continuing, but officials with the World Health Organization (WHO) are hoping that the worst is behind.

According to Dr. Keiji Fukuda, Special Adviser to the Director-General on Pandemic Influenza, there is still pandemic activity occurring in some locations. Certain areas of the globe, such as West Africa, are experiencing local upsurges in activity due to animal viruses, he said during a conference call on Thursday.

Fukuda said that the H1N1 pandemic has reached a post-peak period, meaning that folks worldwide should anticipate a series of local outbreaks. The current strain of H1N1 has now become the most common virus in the world, and WHO is strongly considering adding it to the general vaccine list next year, said Fukuda, adding that H1N1 has shown amazing stability relative to other viruses.

WHO officials along with groups of advisers and observers will meet next week to decide which strains of H1N1 will be targeted in the next flu season in the Northern Hemisphere. Information will be subsequently shared on WHO's website, www.who.int.