State of the Union

Having just watched it, I suppose I'd ought to post a response like any good political student. First off, a very interesting feel to the entire speech- Bush had a half-smirk on his face for the entire speech; he gave an attitude almost of defiance. Someone with whom I watched commented, "He doesn't even care anymore." That might be going a little far, but I think what we might have seen tonight is a President that is truly living in his own political world, who no longer cares (even more than before) what anyone thinks of his ideas. Take his comments on taxes, for instance, saying that he would veto any raise in taxes (or repealing of his current tax breaks) sent his way. His jab at Bill Clinton was completely unnecessary- he said that for people who've said they're willing to pay higher taxes, the IRS takes checks and money orders. Bill Clinton made a strong point that as a wealthy man, he should pay higher taxes than the farmers he was talking to. In the end, Bush's plan to make the tax cuts permanent, along with the rest of his economic stimulus package, really make it seem as though he is truly underestimating the economy's problems.

Meanwhile, Bush made another unlikely proposal, to turn the deficit into a surplus by the year 2012. This is a noble goal, yes, and the means are just as noble (if questionable in terms of potential effectiveness)- removing 12 billion dollars of pork and wasteful projects from government funding and the budget. However, like many things he does, Bush took it too far. He announced he's be issuing an executive order that government agencies shouldn't follow any earmark slipped into a bill without debate in congress, as these pork requisitions usually are. But if every item in a bill is debated, the glacial pace at which congress currently moves will seem like a full sprint by comparison.

Bush trumpeted some successes of his last year, and as expected, the surge was the most important. “American and Iraqi surges have achieved results few of us could have imagined just one year ago," he said, invoking numbers of new Iraqi security forces, Al-Qaeda members killed, and the fact that 20 thousand troops will soon be coming home, which got the biggest applause of the night. He offered a warning to congress and the future President, as well- that the commanders, and only the commanders, should decide when troop levels should be reduced. It was tough to believe any positive comments he made about the "young democracy" in Afghanistan when, in the same sentence, he announced 3,000 new troops would be sent to the country. The two don't mesh, and I'm inclined to doubt the President's optimistic statements as a result.

Of course, there were good things about the speech. Bush made sure to differentiate between the American attitude towards the Iranian people and their leaders, which many Americans might not think of as very different. He wants to double AIDS relief to Africa, and if the money is spent well, this will be significant. And he is trying to reform some veteran care, including letting unused educational benefits be transferred to soldiers' spouses or children.

Two barely veiled commands made to congress included one for the Senate to confirm his Supreme Court Justice appointees faster and to extend the domestic wiretapping rights by this Friday. Here you see the President doing his best to influence Congress beyond his tenure- but based on the stark lack of Democratic enthusiasm during the speech, it seems unlikely this will have much effect. (Side note: Bush wants the US to continue to fund charitable choice, which funnels government money to religious organizations. Thanks, but no thanks- the words "church" and "state" come to mind for some reason...)

I wasn't impressed, though, by the Democratic response of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. While purporting to represent the response of the "American People" rather than just her party, the governor consistently prefaced her statements by referring to the Democratic majority and painting a picture that the Democrats could solve all the nation's problems if those pesky Republicans would just stay out of the way. “If more Republicans in Congress stand with us this year, we won’t have to wait for a new president to restore America’s role in the world, and fight a more effective war on terror," she said. Her ideas of stepping across partisan lines were noble- but she sure focused an awful lot on those partisan lines to make her point. In the end, she was very repetitive, contradictory, and offered little real substance.

I'm happy to discuss anything I said here with anyone, IM me at zkdoom or email me at zskineke@syr.edu. The transcript for the address can be helpful. Good night!

Free Meal Count: Zak 8.5, Nick 3

One thing I'm really starting to like about DC is that there's always something going on. This morning, I made the tough choice to skip out on a sleeping-in opportunity and hit up an event on the State of the Union speech tonight at the American Enterprise Institute. It was interesting enough- besides the irresistible allure of a free breakfast (and, thanks to my sticky fingers and big pockets, some juice and soda for the next few days;)), I really did enjoy listening to the foreign policy half of the discussion. Panelists talked about the normal issues of Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, and Iran, but also discussed the less popular problems with China and Russia (noting how unlikely it would be to hear more than a side mention of either in the speech). I read one of the article provided by the Russia expert, and I have to say, it isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of Mr. Putin. I guess I can identify with his feelings; I started to have my doubts the day last fall when I saw the headlines "Putin Dissolves Parliament" and "Russia Tests the 'Father of All Bombs'" on the same day.

(Random side note: So we own the MOAB (Mother of all Bombs, rumored to level 9 city blocks in a strike) and now the Russians own the father of all bombs. Am I the only one who wants to smash these two bombs together and see whether it's a girl explosion or a boy one?)

In other news, the summer internship search has begun here. I've got a few ideas in mind, from the long shot at the White House to a few Middle East-related NGOs to the safety option of congressional work- Sarah assures me they're an easy get, so I'll keep them in mind if other areas don't prove fruitful. I'm really trying to find a paid internship, but for some reason I can't seem to find a gullible group of government workers willing to pay a journalism major with three years of college education- more info on that story as it unfolds. Oh, and if you have any ideas for summer work/internships here, I'm always receptive to them.

The big news for me over the last week, though, was my experience last Wednesday meeting the Algerian ambassador. Apparently I've earned myself a reputation at the Institute as a fair photographer, so I was shanghaied into photog duty at the Institute-sponsored speech and luncheon on US-Algerian business affairs. Besides the delicious free lunch of Brazilian-style beef skewer with onions over rice pilaf, I enjoyed listening to him speak and even got in a question about media ethics during the Q and A session. Afterwards, I went up to talk to him about Al-Jazeera's depiction of terrorism and showing terrorist videos on the news- it was a pretty cool experience. I'll try to get some pictures from the event up when I get them from MEI; it's a pretty busy week because we're preparing for the annual conference there, focusing on Iran, which features a good free lunch and speakers such as the French ambassador and Seymour Hirsch of the New Yorker.

(Ancillary to random side note: Notice how Russia describes the bomb as "environmentally friendly." How bad are we as a nation that we can't even protect the earth with our thermobaric munitions while Russia drops bombs that probably disintegrate trash and reincarnate it as helpful, prelabeled recycling bins? It's really shameful when you think about it...)

In class news, it was a slow week. Class discussion focused mainly on campaigns and the economic crisis (because of this, I can finally explain the subprime mortgages- for all you NFL fans, it's exactly like how the Redskins built their team in the early part of this decade). Thursday's class featured a trip to the Holocaust Museum and a briefing on human rights at the State Department- all in all, not the most interesting day, but what can you do? I'll probably head back to the museum again to see the parts I missed. I thought the one in Berlin was a lot more interesting, though- more abstract and symbolic, less cold, hard facts. Two interesting things from there, though; I never knew the Martin Luther strongly advocated killing Jews and burning their synagogues to the ground, and the Catholic Church didn't decide the Jews weren't to blame for the killing Jesus until 1960- how sad is that? Also for classes, we had to write our first policy paper- I'll post that in the "comments" section below if you're interested in reading it.

In terms of what I have of a social life here, things are pretty boring. It mainly amounts to watching movies or stand-up on TV with friends. Once the weather gets nicer, I'm sure we'll be more apt to go out more.

I did go out this morning, though- I decided to hit up the Air and Space Museum while I wasn't too far after the morning seminars. I spent most of my time checking out the WWI and WWII sections, I'm always really interested in stuff from that era. The coolest thing in my mind, incidentally, was seing this full scale V-2 Rocket (is there a cooler weapon name than Vergeltungswaffe-2? It means "Vengeance Weapon"- Hitler may have been a horrible, horrible man, but he could sure as hell name his rockets). It was just cool looking at the massive rocket and thinking how it would have looked taking off- and how much I wouldn't want to be under it when it came down. Oh, and notice the small rocket next to it? That was the US version- we developed it 2 months after the war ended. Thank goodness we weren't closer to Germany- we'd have gotten a large dose of Vergeltung. And on the way back, I walked past David Gregory- the President isn't kidding when he calls him "Stretch," he's huge.

(Subsequent retraction of ancillary side note: I've just noticed that Russian TV describes the bomb's effects as, "All that is alive merely evaporates." Ummm...that may be the most sinister (and, I might add, least environmentally friendly) way to describe a bomb's effect that I have ever heard. It really sounds like the bomb was designed by a Bond villain...and suddenly I'm reminded how many of Bond's archenemies were Russian...)

Finally, I couldn't finish this in good conscience without mentioning the election and my boy John McCain, whose chances are looking better and better each day. Besides picking up an endorsement from Rambo, he's got good support in Florida and a win there makes him the clear frontrunner on Super Tuesday. I would've liked Biden better; his Iraq plans beat everyone else out without a contest. But I've liked McCain a long time, so when Biden dropped out, I hopped back over to him, just in time to see him win New Hampshire and revive a campaign most thought was dead. For the Dems, I suppose I'd rather see Hillary than Obama, but neither one fills me with much enthusiasm. More on that as the Florida primary passes and Super Tuesday approaches.

In closing, I'm looking forward to the State of the Union tonight, if only to watch Ted Kennedy's head slump as he nods off every five minutes like clockwork. Perhaps he could make it through better if he only drank some of this...

Ca va?

Another week, another series on internet problems- we're hoping the latest coming of "Johnny" from Advanced Computing solves those problems. Personally, I've never seen the guy, so only the emails we get from Dr. Schneider on a regular basis serve as my assurances that he actually exists and is the answer to those computer problems. Time will tell, I'm crossing my fingers hoping I make it through this blog post without the internet crapping out.

The internship here keeps me busy, and I'm soaking up all the info I can. As a communications intern, I don't deal directly with a lot of Middle East related material, but it does pass by me in the form of press releases, media alerts, and interviews- I'm going to do my best to learn about whatever it is I'm writing or sending out. So far, I've written two press releases, logged a lot of media hits, and put together media packets. My big project though, started with the interview I did with Dr. Herman Franssen last Friday. I'm writing an article on him for the Middle East Bulletin that goes out to all the members of MEI- if you didn't click the link above, we was the first senior western advisor at OPEC meetings, so he was a real cool guy to interview. I'll make sure to post the article here when it gets written- it's due the 15th of February. I spent most of today transcribing it, he had a lot to say about the $100/barrel oil spike.

I've also managed to snag 6 free meals so far in just a week and a half here- leading the contest over my roommate Nick, who's in a distant second with just 3. It bodes well for my wallet, though I have been finding enough cheap places to eat that I don't have to completely rely on the kindness of strangers. The $3 empanadas down the street are the real deal- I look forward to many cheap Mexican lunches. I also tried out the cheap cafe down the street from the internship,

fast service and good burgers. Over the weekend, I showed off my culinary skills (well, exhausted them, really) with a delicious pot of chili Saturday and a pasta dinner Monday night. I'll be walking the edge Super Bowl weekend with an attempt at crock-potting some BBQ beef.

Classes have been pretty cool- the first week was the usual get-to-know-each-other sessions, but my professors are really cool, especially the one tonight, he had us cracking up last week at some political commentary and an offhand dismissal of Hilary Clinton (sorry, mom). The workload shouldn't be too horrible and a lot of stuff is work with a partner- and for once, I feel like everything I'm learning in a semester is stuff that may actually help me later in life...what a novel concept!

The Syracuse Embassy, site of all our classes

The weekend was a welcome sight though, because having met everyone here, it was nice to finally have a little time to chill with them. I opted out of Friday night's clubbing/drinking for a sweet Mario Kart session with some handicapped or fake ID deprived students. Saturday found me in a bummed out mood after and SU lost to Villanova, but the day got better as Alex and I made a downtown DC trip to the monument area. I got my first view of the WWII memorial and, I must say, was extremely impressed. It's a very moving tribute and I really can't wait to see it when it's nice out and there's water in the little fountains. Alex, meanwhile, fulfilled his goal to meet Mr. Lincoln at his memorial. Several miles of walking led us past the Vietnam Memorial, Washington monument, and around the mall till we almost hit the Capitol. The night finished with a few movies with Liz and Jackson and, naturally, a delicious pot of chili:)

The memorial wall at the WWII Memorial Me and Mr. Lincoln, chillin' out


Sunday, of course, was football day- congrats to the Giants for making the Super Bowl, and whatever crappy team they've got you playing, I'm sure you can handle them. Afterwards, I began for the sixth time the Band of Brothers series- I never get tired and I always love showing it to others. (Random note: as I look at our large floor, I remember we've committed to turning it into a dance floor at some point. Look at the middle of the third picture and take away the carpet...yeah, you're thinking what I'm thinking:)). Monday was a really cool day too, mostly because of the trip up to the National Cathedral for the MLK Jr. service (a trip I wasn't sure Liz would survive- note to all my handicapped friends, do not, under any circumstances, allow Chad to drive your wheelchair anywhere). There were some pretty cool rappers, poets, and a large church choir that sand "Imagine" and "One Love" as good as I've ever heard them done. The acoustics really made it a moving experience. After that was my pasta-making skill exhibition, followed by a Syracuse-Georgetown game that was exciting but ultimately disappointing; we lost 64-62 in OT with a game-winning 3 clanking around the rim as time expired. Nick and I had fun beating off drunk G-town girls hurling insults as we left.

Washington is truly a great place to be. The more I stay here, the more I'm considering looking for a summer internship. We'll see how that goes as we move along the internship.

Well, that's about all for now. For photos or interview requests, please be sure to contact my publicist. He looks an awful lot like me and has the same name. And now I leave you with a video that my French roomie Alex assures me accurately depicts an average day in his life. Ciao!

Back in business, baby!

Three days after arriving, and finally I'm reconnected to the internet- it's a joyous day of celebration, e-mail deleting, and Facebook friend refusing.

The trip went smoothly, and the weekend was fairly lax. The apartment here's pretty cool (though we got shafted and stuck into the apartment meant for three, somehow...)- still, it's not exactly crowded and the high ceilings make it seem bigger. We're in a nice neighborhood full of restaurants, and it's relieving having the metro stop and a Bank of America right out the back door. Another great thing about Washington- anyone who reads the Onion, you can get the actual printed version free on any street corner- sweetness indeed. And if you don't read it, go here. The building has a roof deck for all my tanning needs and a sun room on top featuring books such as "Children of Satan," a jolly read with the friendly face of Dick Cheney gracing the cover. The entry system to the building is fairly sweet too- rather than swipe cards, we have ones that just need to be near the reader. That means I can keep it in my back pocket and shake my derierre at the door to unlock it- which, unless I'm mistaken, is the most convenient and fun way ever to open a door.

Food is always of utmost importance. Our neighborhood is full of Indian restaurants (at least 3, maybe more we haven't found) not to mention everyone's favorite burrito chain, Chipotle, and the oddly named "Eddie's Cafe: Chinese Cuisine." We snagged the $5 lunch special at the Violet Garden instead, an excellent choice if you like orange chicken (and, according to Chad, if you like very spice szechuan beef). It's a neverending quest here to find cheap places to eat, but we found a good one Saturday in Zorba's Cafe with some very tasty Gyros and feta pizza and today during lunch break at the House of Kabob in Dupont Circle.

The internship at the Middle East Institute gets me very excited. I went in at 10 today and was greeted by free donuts and Ma'mool, which were very tasty fig-newton like Arab snacks with dates in the middle. We went through the usual orientations- I learned about what I'd be doing this semester (media monitoring, writing press releases, assembling press packets and, in my case, making videotapes of MEI events). The interns I'm working with are great and we had a fun time during lunch and the subsequent get-to-know-the-city scavenger hunt, won by the team of yours truly. One task involved writing a haiku about a picture of Sultan Qaboos found in the institute. This one won my team some bookmarks:

Crazy cool turban,
Sittin', starin', lookin' stern,
What is he thinking?

Yeah, pretty sweet:)

Well, we've got a group orientation soon, and it'll be time to collect my second free meal of the day. The students here are great and I think we're going to have a sweet semester.

Random thought of the week: Looking at the Syracuse center down here, the Paul Greenberg House, I really feel like it's a national style embassy. It's a comforting thought that I'll have a place to run to if I run afoul of DC law enforcement- unless the RAs and DPS choose to extradite me. That would suck.

No luck putting pictures up here yet, we'll see about that. I'll try to get them up on Facebook in the meantime. I'll leave you with a clip from the excellent movie for which this blog is named. Enjoy!