Thursday, April 19, 2007

Storm Clouds

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day soon a woman in the late stages of her pregnancy will face the excruciating prospect of having to end that pregnancy or face serious health consequences. When she discusses her situation with her doctor, she will learn that one option that has been used in the past is no longer available to her. Not because the procedure is unsafe or ineffective, and not because medical professionals, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, believe that it is a procedure that is medically inappropriate for use in such situations. No, she will learn that Congress, President Bush, and the Supreme Court have made the decision that this procedure should not be used, regardless of her individual situation and what she and her doctor believe is in her best medical interests. She also will learn that, if she is unhappy with the decision that has been made for her, she is welcome to hire a lawyer and bring to the courts the intensely personal issue of whether her pregnancy can or should continue, even at the expense of her health.

When Congress enacts, the President approves, and the Supreme Court upholds a ban on a medical procedure that in some circumstances is a professionally recommended option to protect a woman's health, the situation needs to be described as it is: government-approved misogyny. Yesterday's decision in Gonzales v. Carhart calls to mind Justice Blackmun's no longer completely accurate closing statement in an earlier abortion-related decision, Webster v. Reproductive Health Services: "For today, at least, the law of abortion stands undisturbed. For today, the women of this Nation still retain the liberty to control their destinies. But the signs are evident and very ominous, and a chill wind blows."

It's Harder Than It Looks

A few thoughts about the tragedy at Virginia Tech and its aftermath:

  • Perhaps it is natural to seek some rational explanation, or to want to place blame, even for what ultimately is a completely irrational act. So it is not surprising to hear so much about what could have been done or what should have been done to prevent Cho Seung-Hei's murderous rampage. But it is depressing nonetheless to see so much written and spoken about how Virginia Tech failed to protect students, didn't warn them quickly enough, should have thrown Cho out of school, yada, yada, yada. Because it all misses the point. Here is what you are not reading or hearing about as part of the saturation coverage: You cannot predict future dangerousness with even a reasonable degree of certainty, and no reputable psychiatrist will claim otherwise. Keep that in mind as you read and listen to what is being said about this incident, especially criticism of what Virginia Tech administrators did and did not do. As former Indianapolis Colts' coach Jim Mora once said in another, obviously less important, context: "You think you know. But you don't know."
  • An article on the front page of today's New York Times is particularly appalling. In late 2005, Cho was found to be a danger to himself or others (the standard that must be met before someone can be involuntarily committed), was briefly hospitalized, and ordered to undergo out-patient treatment. Based on this, the Times writes: "For all the intervention by the police and faculty members, Mr. Cho was allowed to remain on campus and live with other students." What??? Let's discuss just a few of the several problems raised by this article and its implications that "warning signs" were ignored. First, lots of people are found to be a danger to themselves or others and are involuntarily committed. You probably know some, although you may not be aware of it, since it is not something that people usually advertise. There is a reason why, for example, well more than a billion dollars a year in Pennsylvania alone is spent on public and private mental health services. Very, very few people with mental illness are violent toward others, and a microscopically small number of such persons do the sort of thing that Cho did. Second, much has been made of the two incidents in which women complained about Cho's behavior toward them. But even the Times admits that one woman described Cho's actions as "annoying," and neither of the women decided to press charges. If those are warning signs, they were blurry ones indeed. Third, a lot also has been made of Cho's work in creative writing and other classes, much of which has been described as disturbing and violent. I do not dispute that such writings can be a sign of psychological problems, and Cho's teachers seemed to have acted appropriately in expressing concern, urging him to get help, etc. But such writing is neither a predictor of future violence (good news for Quentin Tarantino's neighbors and friends) nor sufficient by itself to expel someone from college. Finally, don't we want college students (and everyone else, of course) to seek counselling and treatment when mental health problems arise? What could be more of a deterrent to such treatment than students knowing that they face suspension, expulsion, or other stigmatization by seeking such treatment? There is a second article in today's Times that expresses this very point. Someone needs to show that article to the authors and editors who worked on the other piece.
  • Someone needs to tell all the talking heads that "loner" is neither a medical term nor a helpful description of Cho or what happened here. I have known several "loners." None killed anyone.
  • Congress needs to pass a law banning the use of "profilers" to explain crimes and those who commit them. They have been on cable this week more often than "Law and Order" episodes. I have seen a number of them, all of whom used their specialized training and years of experience to determine that Cho was deeply disturbed and dangerous. Someone needs to explain to these profilers that they would be a lot more impressive if they had said something about Cho's problems before he killed all those people. I did a little research and learned that the word "profiler" comes from the Latin term meaning "guess a lot and every so often get one right."
  • A final point: No reasonable person could dispute that our system for providing persons with mental health treatment should be improved. And if enough people care enough, it will be improved. But the answer is not to draw fast and easy conclusions based on a highly unusual incident, one that tells us next to nothing about the daily lives of nearly all other seriously mentally ill persons. I see "scary" behavior many days just walking the streets of Philadelphia. I would bet that not one of the hundreds of murders that have occurred in this City in the past two years has been committed by the persons I see.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Today's Inquirer brings more evidence of the truth of the maxim, generally attributed to Michael Kinsley, that in so many cases the scandal is not that something illegal has occurred, but rather that what has occurred is, in fact, legal. So it is with mayoral candidate Bob Brady and this story about the various government and publicly funded jobs held by members of his family.

Brady has been the head of the City Democratic Party for years, so the revelation that he has relatives on the public payroll hardly qualifies as news. But the details about his wife's job -- now that is interesting.

Bob Brady is married to Debra Brady. Debra Brady, according to the Inquirer, "works as an office manager for Philadelphia Writ Service, which holds a no-bid contract to deliver notices of lawsuits for the city Law Department and other agencies." She is paid $100,000 as the office manager. Since 1999, the City has paid Philadelphia Writ Service about $9 million, all the while never bothering to seek competitive bids to see if it could get the job done less expensively. What do you think the chances are that someone who, say, didn't pay its office manager $100,000 per year might be able to submit an attractive bid?

But wait, as they say, there's more. Philadelphia Writ Service is owned by Mitchell Rubin. Rubin is also the chair of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (what, you think his day job doesn't leave time for public service?). Guess where Bob Brady's son has a job that pays $86,000? At least he is not the office manager.

And in a final business-as-usual touch, State Sen. Vincent Fumo has a cameo in this little drama. Rubin is married to Ruth Arneo, who has been a close aide to Fumo for a long time. So close, in fact, that she managed to get herself indicted a couple months ago right alongside her boss on federal charges of misusing public funds as well as money contributed to a Fumo-controlled non-profit.

Whew. Got all that?

It would be hard to describe any of the Democrats running for mayor as agents of real change. But a vote for Brady is a vote to change not a thing about the culture of Philadelphia politics. So if you like how business is done in this City, how public funds are spent, the quality of City services, and the number of City employees, Brady is your guy.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Bada Bing

The Sopranos returned last night for Season Six, Part II, a nine-episode victory lap toward the finish line of television immortality. Last night's episode, "Soprano Home Movies," didn't disappoint, offering the usual mix of foreshadowing, melancholy, violence, denial, banality, intimidation, and family dysfunction that regular viewers are used to seeing.

The episode provided a lot to chew on, much of which will lead to nothing if past history is any guide (if you are still waiting for The Big Russian to return, it is time to let that go). But, still, there were more ducks; talk of a brain-damaged kid; reference to DNA by Bobby before he left part of his shirt with his first-ever whackee; and, most ominous of all, a humiliated Tony combined with home movies of his childhood and tales of Mama Livia, both supplied by the kookily sinister Janice. This should be good.

Part of the genius of The Sopranos is its writers' ability to communicate its core messages in as little as a single line of dialogue. Last night, for example, in a scene occurring the day after the brawl between Tony and Bobby, Carmela says to a nervous Janice: "Tony is not a vindictive man." There it is: she is at once a denier, which allows Carmela to love her husband and live with and benefit from her marriage to a Mob boss, and an enabler, which allows Carmela to help her husband be all he can be by assisting in his charade of rationality, even with someone who obviously knows better. As great as James Gandolfini is, it is Edie Falco's Carmela who is the straw that stirs The Sopranos' drink.

On a train ride home today, I was reading The Survivor, an account of the Clinton White House years by John Harris. Harris describes an attempt by a family friend to try to get Hillary to accept that her husband did, in fact, have a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, despite his claims to the contrary. "You have to face the fact that something about this might be true," the friend warned. "'Look, Bob,' Hillary Clinton responded. 'My husband may have his faults, but he has never lied to me.'"

And that is when it hit me: The Sopranos is about the Clintons. It is all there: the ambition, of both spouses; the use and misuse of power; the use of people for their own benefit, and then their dispatch when their continued presence proves costly, uncomfortable, or simply undesirable; the sense that the usual rules don't always apply, often followed by the reliance on others to clean up the mess that has been made; the use of lower-level associates to both carry out unpleasant tasks and provide insulation when things don't always turn out as had been hoped; the repeated promises of changes to come; and, of course, wives who deny and enable, all the while prospering greatly from the relationship and using it to their own advantage when necessary.

Or maybe The Sopranos is about something, or somebody, else. Stay tuned.

Good News

This is the best news I have heard in a long time. This fantasy thing is completely out of control and only getting worse, God help us all.

It's bad enough that there are segments about fantasy this or fantasy that on Sports Center and other ESPN programs, including identified fantasy "experts," as if it isn't enough to hear from what I guess we now have to call reality experts. But now, as I saw for the first time the other night, ESPN News includes "Fantasy Impact" on the screen when it shows its box score information about a game. I'm not sure how the fantasy impact of a game differs from the actual impact of a game, and please do not tell me because I don't want to know.

I guess I am old-school: For me, the game itself is the fantasy. And I prefer my fantasies to be, well, a little more fantastic.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Everything But the Helmet

It's not just that John McCain is supporting President Bush on the Iraq war. That has been true for a long time. But his stroll in Baghdad the other day to do a little shopping -- accompanied by 100 soldiers, helicopters, and gun ships -- followed by claims that things are going well makes one wonder whether he has followed the President to La-La Land. Is this is "Dukakis in the tank" moment? He better hope not.

Imagine

Here's what I would wish for: That Yoko Ono would do something that makes some freaking sense.

Monday, April 02, 2007

A Headlock on Life

On the day before the first night of Passover, The New York Times brings word (subscription may be required) of the passing of Abe Coleman, "a squat powerhouse of a professional wrestler, billed by promoters as the Hebrew Hercules and known to opponents by the two-footed kick he copied from kangaroos." He was 101.

Mr. Coleman also was known as the Jewish Tarzan, presumably to avoid confusion with the real Tarzan, who I believe was Anglican and, unlike Mr. Coleman, was not known for his flying head butts and airplane spin. He claimed to have met his wife when, during a match, he was thrown out of the ring and landed on her, and while a woman who frequents the front rows of wrestling matches isn't for everyone, their union lasted nearly 50 years.

You just can't make this stuff up. Rest in peace, Mr. Coleman.