"The Right Angle"

Heidi Parent

Random Thoughts

From Tax Cuts to Taco Bell

by Heidi Parent
06/01/03

Chalk Up Another Bush Win

Well, the tax cut passed. Yes, it wasn't everything the President initially wanted, but it's a tax cut nonetheless and all tax cuts are good. Besides Bush will be back for more. After all, this is his third tax cut in two and a half years. But the best part (I mean beside the fact that it cuts taxes) is that Democrats, and those Republicans who jumped ship, are near tears with frustration. Tom Daschle is no doubt concerned about how a stimulated economy will affect his party's chances in 2004. And Republican defector Senator Olympia Snowe is claiming the tax cut is too big. "This is a trillion-dollar tax cut masquerading as $350 billion." To that I say, let's hope so! But the best part is that Democrats are claiming these are just tax cuts for (yawn) the rich. "This is no victory for people who work every day because eventually this tax giveaway to the wealthy will have to be paid for," Congressman Charlie Rangel said. Democrats still haven't figured it out. They haven't yet recognized that the class warfare strategy they've employed for the last 30 years no longer works. And let's hope they don't recognize it any time soon. Because as long as they continue to use the same tired, worn out arguments President Bush will continue to pile up victory after victory.

Citizen Clinton

There are few things in this world more pathetic than someone irrelevant trying to remain relevant. So would someone please remind Bill Clinton he's no longer President? Roaming the countryside like the demented Norma Desmond trying to recapture yesterday, Bill blasted President Bush at a recent college commencement speech: "I supported the President when he asked for authority to stand up against weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but we can't be forever strong abroad if we don't keep getting better at home."

I beg to differ, Bill. You may not have been awakened by 9/11, but the rest of us learned a valuable lesson: if we don't take the threat posed by terrorism seriously, our "home," economy and all, will mean less than your marriage vows.

Speaking of Bill

Have you heard? President Kennedy also had an affair with an intern. I know you probably find this shocking, but apparently it's true. Documents recently declassified for historian Robert Dallek's new Kennedy biography, An Unfinished Life, revealed Marion "Mimi" Beardsley had an affair with the President while she was a teenage White House intern. The documents show Mimi was one of a gaggle of young girls hired by the White House press office in order to satisfy the President's - how shall we say? - needs. Now sarcasm aside, I don't think anyone is shocked to learn that JFK had an affair. But it's the 19 year-old intern part that has Clinton supporters crying foul. The way they see it, JFK and Bill both tangoed with interns, but Bill is the one that got impeached for it. So they are once again making the argument they've made since the Monica story broke: What's the big deal? Everyone does it.

But they still continue to miss the point. To them, it's still all about sex. But we're talking about two completely different issues. Contrary to the claims of his supporters, Clinton's woes were not because of sex, they were a result of his lies; first to the American people and then, more importantly, to a grand jury. And that is why their arguments fell short then and continue to fall short today. When an author comes up with a situation where JFK lied to a grand jury, then their "everybody does it" defense will have some relevance. It still wouldn't make the behavior acceptable, but at least we'd be comparing apples to apples.

Annika

At the risk of angering some of you, here's my take on Annika Sorenstam, she the female golfer who recently played in a PGA tournament. (For those of you non-golfers, the PGA is the men's professional golf tour.) Now Annika is arguably the best female golfer in the world and in true conservative fashion I believe that she has the right to strive to be the best she can be. Moreover, if the PGA and LPGA want to stage an event to gain some publicity for their respective tours, more power to them. That being said, to those arguing that this event should open the door for women to compete en masse in men's sports, I don't agree.

First, if men are not allowed to play in women's professional sports, women should not be allowed to play in men's. Some support Annika with the argument that since she is cleaning up on the LPGA tour she needs to raise her level of competition. But by that same logic, one could make the argument that a less talented man who isn't able to compete with other male athletes, be allowed to lower his level of competition and play in a women's sport. Take any number if aging male athletes as an example. I'll use Pete Sampras. Because he is no longer able to compete at the high level needed to be successful on the men's tour, he is nearing the end of his fabulous professional tennis career. So should he now be allowed to move to the WTA and compete on the women's circuit? I submit that even at his age Pete would be able to win every WTA tournament he entered. Is this fair to the female athletes of the WTA who are competing for the same tournament prize money?

Second reason, when a female athlete is allowed to move to the men's tour, where even the greatest female athlete will be considered mediocre, two things happen. She is taking away a spot for a male athlete who now has no alternative circuit in which to complete. And second, her move weakens women's sports. Great female athletes raise the competition level in women's sports, so when those women leave to compete elsewhere the result is a weaker field. If the best WNBA players left to play in the NBA, that move would weaken the WNBA and jeopardize the future of the league and thereby the livelihood of the other players. So for the good of women's sports let's leave the best women competing with other women.

Taco Bell and the Environment

Do Taco Bell workers get paid a commission on the number of sauce packets they give drive thru customers? (This has nothing to do with politics, but since this article is being powered by a Burrito Supreme I thought I'd mention it.) I had to ask the drive thru kid to give me a second bag just to carry home the 286 sauce packets he gave me for my one burrito. If environmentalists want a real cause, this one needs some looking into.