I found two stories in today's Indianapolis Star that moved me
to post here. First was the story about former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler (R) who wrote and self-published a book that was pretty critical and damming to the Bush Administration. From The Star:
Former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler argues in a new, little-noticed, self-published book that the United States invaded Iraq to avenge an assassination attempt on then-President George H.W. Bush and to help Israel.
"It cannot be debated that toppling Saddam was accomplished by means of a 'private compact' with political appointees and their underlings in the Pentagon 'to support' the ideals of 'partisans . . . dedicated to another cause,' " the Wadesville Republican writes in "Nothing for the Nation: Who Got What Out of Iraq."
Interesting. Hostetettler went up a bit more on my respect-O-meter. He was one of the very few members of the House to vote against going to War in 2002 and was always a bit of a thorn in the backside of both parties while he was there. While he never represented me and is of a different party than myself, I always respected him and was happy to have him representing Indiana.
On the flip-side, a Hoosier politician that I hold very little to no respect for, went up just slightly, in my esteem this weekend. Twelve term, U.S. Rep. Dan Burton (R) started Twittering. I'm not sure if he or a staffer is posting, but the fact is, if done correctly, Twittering is a wonderful way for a Representative to get live, 24/7 constituent feedback. I know he's on Twitter because he's now following me. There's been a huge blow-up this week about politicians blogging and micro-blogging. Here's a link to the NYT about the issue. (May require you to login, it's lame ... sorry)
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The other story that caught my attention was about dear old Bush Stadium. The one built in 1931. It's were I went to my first ball game and where my ex-wife and I had one of our first dates. I loved that old limestone mini-Wrigley. I'm just not sure what to do with it. It's been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995 and on Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana's list of 10 most endangered landmarks. It's been 20 years since it was used to film many of the ball-field scenes for Eight Men Out. 20?? Wow!! Well, take a look at the story and the pictures and reflect on your own memories of it. I do like the soccer idea. What do you think?
Seeker:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind comments about Dan. You'll be happy to hear that although Dan doesn't actually type the words he does tell staff what Twitter updates to post. We also add some of our own (we use Tweetscan to post from Dan's campaign blog).
Hopefully, you'll find Dan's tweets as well as his blog at www.house.gov/burton helpful.
I think it's important to praise someone you may not agree with politically or otherwise when it's earned and hey, you guys earned it.
ReplyDeleteKeep him moving in this direction, keep him involved and motivated and get him to his roll calls too! (though he's doing better at that too.) Come on Dan, gimme something to complain about!!