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1 . 1 9 . 0 9 Moving this journal over to the webomatica site. Sticking with almost an annual tradition for me, MLK day has been a day of personal reflection generally, kind of a like a new year of sorts. For the most of the past several years it has come at the start of a new spring semester, still in the new calendar year, it seems fitting to take a look back and forward. Looking back I still reflect on the significance of MLK Jr. in general to me in terms of a historical figure and human rights activist. This year around there are constant reminders of the historic inauguration of the first black president one day after the holiday that has been designated to honor the MLK. The talking heads have been at it all day making comparisons between MLK and Obama 24/7. I still think that many of the comparisons are being disregarded, while others are being played up too much. Unsurprisingly they are so obsessed by the racial backgrounds of both men, careful to mention every other word that we are witnessing history in the making as the first black president takes the oath of office. Looking forward I’d like to see more realistic take on what BO can and cannot do for the nation and the world. I think it does the American people a disservice to draw simplistic comparisons between historical figures and current leaders, it sets up an expectation gap which inevitably leads people astray and down the wrong path. The thing is that as inspirational and unifying as the memory of MLK was, I don’t think it would’ve been a good idea for him to be elected president, or being in charge of any political office. I think his role in history was to get people thinking about what was possible in American society, what could be, if we broke out of the box and started judging each other by the content of our character instead of the color of our skin. The similarities between Obama and MLK are really two fold, first is the color of his skin, and the style of his oratory, which is very preacher-like. Neither of which by themselves qualify him for being the president. I say like any other elected official, Obama should be given the opportunity to really change the country and take charge, but when he screws up he should be scrutinized and judged and resisted just as much as Bush. The real danger of making premature comparisons to historic figures is that it stifles legitimate discussion about policies and overall dissent, as dead men can’t respond, and instead are given the benefit of history to tell their stories. Obama should not be compared to MLK, FDR, or Lincoln, and other dead leaders, all this amounts to is noise and static to difficult road ahead. Looking back to the last four years, I have to say that I am not in the same mind set that I had visioned, I was thinking that this time of year in 2009, I would be finishing up law school, getting ready for the next step, optimistic about the change of the guard from 8 years of Republican rule. I remember being hopeful for how much more knowledge about the system and the world I would have gathered, and again, positioning myself and my family for the next step, whatever that might be. This time around I feel a lot more uncertainty than ever before about the future of the nation and the world in general. I am seeing and reading a lot of signs that cause reason for worry in the near and distant future. 1 . 1 8 . 0 9 Moving this journal over to the webomatica site. Gotta love capitalism, especially gray and black markets. Of course I’m referring to the underground market that has sprung up, mostly online for tickets to witness history in the making, the for the inauguration Barack Obama. Craigslist is pretty busy with people with all kinds of tickets for sale, scalpers lucky enough to get their hands on some tickets will make a decent amount of change. The prices themselves range from $100, $250 for seats along the ticketed mall viewing area, $500 for the standing area, and as much as $3500 for seated tickets. That’s a hefty chunk of change for being a witness to history. But what are the tickets really worth? On the demand side there are ample numbers of potential buyers that price being part of this event as very high, in the hundreds and thousands of dollars. Also driving the demand side is the emotional stakes that are attached to this event, I notice often that discussion goes from being a “witness” to history as to “being a part” of history. For the faithful, saying that they were in the crowd on a cold January morning is in itself a priceless experience for which no price is too high. On the supply side, there are a limited, finite number of tickets in various levels of grading, that is closer to the steps of the capitol. Also these tickets are not for sale, they are in available only through the congressional offices, which each member having the full discretion to allocate them in the way that he or she sees fit. All of these factors have all the makings of an interesting economic case study of price discrimination. The disconnect between the relative value of the good is easily exploited by potential buyers coming from out of town that have never seen the capitol, the national mall, or the distances that are involved. This also goes to the disconnect that people place on the value of the tickets themselves, to a certain extent, the value is more to the allure of them being a hard to come by commodity, and a symbol of the ticket holder’s savvy or connection to some high political office. Maybe its that ultimately like any other material good, there is a certain amount of value associated with social status symbols. That is people want to feel that they are special or elite through what they have. Another disconnect are those that have never attended an inauguration in person either, so they don’t have any experience to gauge an appropriate price. I really hope that in trying to get tickets, people would just calm down and save their money, especially in these tough economic times. I went to the 2005 inauguration, and remember how far away the seats were from the actual podium, I ended up watching the whole thing on the jumbotron. Of course I wasn’t too thrilled at the time about the results of the election, but I was more or less interested in just going for the sake of going. This time around I’m happier about the overall results, I’m not as sold yet on the bigger picture and long term direction that the new administration is proposing. But its still a big event, and I’m still intrigued that I’ll be in town to witness the event. As for me, I think I’ll stick to some taking some pictures of the crowd, and collecting some commemorative metro tickets instead. Maybe buy a T-shirt. 1 . 1 5 . 0 9 Moving this journal over to the webomatica site. After a busy but tough 2008, the new year is already in full swing. This year brings a lot of things to look forward to, a new assignment at work, a new division chief, new semester of law school, and of course the ever present buzz around the district these days, a new administration taking on white house. One of the good things about my work is that it allows for some flexibility on job assignments, so that if one assignment doesn’t work out for the better, either because of the subject matter, the workload, or the personalities on the team, it’s really just temporary. Not uncommon in staff management at my agency, I’ve been going through the grueling transition period between assignments, which means that I have multiple sets of bosses and work styles to adjust to. In the 5 years I’ve been at the agency I’ve never experienced a clean transition from one job to the next. It really puts you at a tough spot, you want to get some closure on the old assignment, but you want to get off to a good start on the new one. I’ve also noticed that I prefer to do short-term and periodic projects as opposed to being bogged down on one long-term project, even if it means that I have to multi-task. My courses this semester started last week and are looking pretty good so far, and they are shaping up to be a good final set to close out at least the classroom portion of my legal education. I have Professional Responsibility and Practice, which is basically a course on the rules of professional conduct and ethics that all lawyers are supposed to be versed in before entering practice. My Bar prep course for the semester is Sales & Leases, basically a continuation on commercial transactions law and contracts law, looking into the application of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). On the elective front I’ve got Debtor and Creditor Rights, a course that I think is pretty contemporaneous to the meltdown on wall street and the consumer credit markets. My last elective course is White Collar & Business Crime, something that I think might come in handy again, given the times we are living in. The entire DC metro is in an inauguration frenzy mode, it seems like daily we get new announcements or updates on the developing security plans, road closures, metro service outages. I’ve gotten a kick at the uptick on the Obama merchandising and lyrical symbolism and imagry around town. The street vendors that usually sell bottled water and FBI shirts are all decked out in Obama gear, the metro fare cards now have his smiling face printed on the card stock. And there are the obvious corporate bandwagoners like IKEA and Pepsi. There is talk around town about who has gotten tickets to the ceremony and the balls, and whether the tickets are to THE ball that Obama and Biden are making an actual appearance at. All in all I hope that most of the 2M+ estimated people coming to the district for the inauguration are coming with an open mind, its going to be a logistical mess out here with the crowds. Meanwhile for the policy wonks and politicos, there is the talk about how the new administration will be replacing the old, what changes will be made, and I mean real structural change to the federal bureaucracy, not the campaign slogan, which so far is appearing more and more to me to be just that, a catchy phrase to run an election on, nothing more. I happen to be in that category of people skeptically optimistic, but really waiting to see how if he can effective transition his administration from one that ran an effective campaign to one that can run the federal government. One indication that this might not be the case is the decision to open this office of the president-elect, supposedly to assist with the transition period between the election and the inauguration, and to respond to the historically unprecedented challenges the nation is facing. The fact is that the president-elect does not have any of the executive powers until he is sworn in on Jan 20, it really is dishonest to putting himself out to the American people as if he can do anything in the interim. Presidents are human beings, they are not super humans that we make them out to be, they rely heavily on their cabinet and staff in the executive branch agencies to get their job done, that is, run the federal government. As of November 5, 2008 when the office of the president-elect was established, there were no cabinet members confirmed by the senate, and therefore no means to do anything at all but plan for the transition. Maybe there’s a reason why the Constitution doesn’t provide for an office of the president-elect? The other point to consider is more of a tactical, and that is that really one of the risks of establishing the first office of the president-elect is that you automatically open yourself up to criticisms with how you and your staff conducts themselves in the interim period, perhaps even before you’ve established your system of spin doctors and public relations. I think the whole mess with Ill. Gov and the Treasury Secretary nominee not paying taxes might not have been as prominent had the office of the president-elect been pumped up. Almost like a damned if you do, damned if you don’t, it may have been a better idea to keep a low profile, do things behind the scenes and then take the White House by storm on Jan 20. |