SamSaid!

GOING IT ALONE

     I am convinced that george Bush means business. As he watches the military buildup in the Gulf area, Saddam Hussein thinks so too. More importantly, our ambivalent friends in the UN think so also. Their problem is finding a way to have George back off. If they cannot dissuade George, the only alternative is to buy time. That's what the inspector program will do. Once the inspectors are on site and looking for Nuke, Bio or Chemo weapons we are not apt to pull the pin. And Saddam will have his best wish granted  –  time to play hide and seek and slowly erode the resolve of the UN crowd. The UN folks want to buy time and so does Saddam. Don't hold your breath waiting for a UN recommendation to “go get him”.

     It particularly galls me to subject our actions to the lily-livered French whose miltary history is a long sequence of spectacular defeats from Napoeon's retreat from Moscow, Waterloo, the Franco Prussian war, the failire of the Maginot Line in WWI, the WWII “pitiful 14 days” in 1941, Dien Bien Phu in Indo-China, and Algeria. Twice we have sent thousands of Americans to save their country when they couldn't do it themselves. I wonder what they would do if the Ragheads blew up the Eiffel Tower? When it comes to the French, I am reminded of that tongue in cheek WWII slogan for selling used French or Italian war rifles, “Never been fired, only dropped once”.

GOING IT ALONE

     I am convinced that george Bush means business. As he watches the military buildup in the Gulf area, Saddam Hussein thinks so too. More importantly, our ambivalent friends in the UN also think so.  Their problem is finding a way to persuade George to back off. If they cannot dissuade George, the only alternative is to buy time. That's what the inspector program will do. Once the inspectors are on site and looking for Nuke, Bio or Chemo weapons we are not apt to pull the pin. And Saddam will have his best wish granted  –  time to play hide and seek and slowly erode the resolve of the UN crowd. The UN folks want to buy time and so does Saddam. Don't hold your breath waiting for a UN recommendation to “go get him”.

     It particularly galls me to subject our actions to the lily-livered French whose miltary history is a long sequence of spectacular defeats from Napoeon's retreat from Moscow, Waterloo, the Franco Prussian war, the failure of the Maginot Line in WWI, the WWII “pitiful 14 days” in 1941, Dien Bien Phu in Indo-China, and Algeria. Twice we have sent thousands of Americans to save their country when they couldn't do it themselves. I wonder what they would do if the Ragheads blew up the Eiffel Tower? When it comes to the French, I am reminded of that tongue in cheek WWII slogan for selling used French or Italian war rifles, “Never been fired, only dropped once”.

     It is easy to be a big time diplomat and compromiser when you are not the target. Right now we are the target, and good words are not likely to suffice. So the Arabs might get mad at us. Many of them already are. I would like to feel optimistic about the UN resolutions, but I'm not. If we take out Saddam, we will likely have to go it alone.

     Just be happy that Bill Clinton and Al Gore are not in the White House!!

VOTING

     Election day approaches and while I look forward to casting my vote, I despair over two aspects of our electoral process. Now we hear the drumbeats of “get out the vote” and see new measures to make it easier to vote. A few years back it was the “motor/voter” bill. Now it is a move to allow voter registration on election day  –  right up to the time a vote is cast  –  right at the polling place. Registration at the polls is a proposition on the 2002 California ballot.

     I wonder what ever became of the informed electorate. Presumably, marching the uninformed and indifferent to the polling place is a wonderful aspect of democracy. Not by my standards.I hate to think of my vote being cancelled by a warm body who doesn't know the difference between his fanny and first base. Not only that, it is my observation that as efforts like this continue, the growth of voter fraud does too. I am not so naive to believe that there hasn't been voter fraud in machine politics over the years (Chicago, New York, Jersey City, Miami, etc) but now we are making it easier to play fun and games with voting all over the country. How is it that our do-gooders look  upon mass registration as OK but are indifferent to increasing voter fraud (only in Florida).

     This year,  the outcome of a few races will make a huge differencs in our country. Should they be decided by fraud or by capturing many whose normal priorites do not include voting?. I have always thought that people should WANT to vote and would be self-motivated rather than herded to the polling places by their political wranglers. Maybe it is signs of the times that voting fraud is just accepted as part of the deal. Sad commentary.

    As a case in point, just take a look at the California ballot with its many choices of Candidates, Measures and Propositions. It is a farce. No one  –  repeat  –  no one can possibly understand all of the issues on that ballot. Yet people who haven't even seen the ballot will get the OK to fill in the blanks. So why should I bother to read and discuss the ballot and its complications? Will it make a difference?? 

     I've never missed voting in an election in my life. So, I'll just vote and hope. Maybe an illegal alien will cancel someone else's vote.

SECURITY

     On 9/11 my wife and I flew across the country from SFO to Savannah via Atlanta. Some of our friends thought we were either gutsy or nutty or maybe both, and I confess that we hade a few nervous moments enroute to the airport.  But we sailed thru curbside check-in and entered a 1/2 empty airport. No delay at the X-ray hand baggage check point. The flight was on time and the plane only 2/3 full. Nice flight. Security was ever present, but not obtrusive. AND…..  no raghead trouble at all.

     Along the way, there was evidence of random checks, but we were spared that selection delay. But  seeing a tall grey-haired septuagenarian in Salt Lake City removing his sneakers reminded me of the myopia that has seized Norman Mineta, our Secretary of Transportation. He is so blinded by the Nisei experience of WWII that common sense eludes his mentality. In the aftermath of 9/11, if there ever was a case for profiling, it is now. What on earth is there to be proven or achieved by singling out aging Norwegians while scruffy looking ruffians who can't speak English zoom through. And we are paying thru the nose for all of this. Norman ought to go  — quietly or otherwise.

    All in all, the trip was about the same as we have experienced in the past, but it is clear to me that air travel will never be quite the same. The size of the security problem is immense  –  as illustrated by the thousands and thousands of people milling about and traveling thru the Atlanta airport. Tight security will change the odds, but will not totally eliminate the possibility of major mischief. But taking the long view, traveling inherently carries danger. Nothing is 100%.

TRAVEL

     I play golf with a remarkable old bird who passed his 87th birthday earlier this year. He is a good ole farm boy from the midwest who joined the Air Corps in WWI and flew an airplane of some kind. I don't know if he was shot at or not. But at his age he is a remarkable specimen and has a beautiful golf swing. Big arc on the backswing and a nice swing thru the ball. Right down the middle. Of course, aging has robbed him of some of his former distance, but he still has that swing that many hackers would kill for. I can relate to that. I can keep the ball in play, but not as the result of a picturesque swing. Gerry has scored under his age twice this year. A lot of the old guys are envious.

      We played together last week and both shot in the 80s. Very pleasant day. Afterwards, we enjoyed a glass or two of iced tea, and talked about family matters. He said he would be traveling for a week or so  –   flying out of Oakland on 9/11 to visit friends and family in Alaska. I told him that my wife and I would be flying out of SFO on Wed 9/11 on a trip back east to visit friends and family — returning via Salt Lake City. Of course that led to conversation about flying on 9/11.

     Gerry said that he had been flying in airplanes for over 50 years and wasn't going to vegetate in front of the TV in his game room because of a bunch of #$*@#X&# ragheads trying to terrorize the country. He said, “At our age, my wife and I  may not have that many more chances to visit friends and family…..we're going!!  I said, “Gerry”, we'll be back in two weeks…. I'll see you one the first tee.

     We waved at each other and went home to pack.

BIG TIME DECISION

     It is always tough to face a dilimna  —-   what to do? I recall that in the street language of my youth a tough choice was described as being caught between “a rock and a hard spot”. At least phonetically, we now seem to be caught between “Iraq and a hard spot”. 

     It is interesting to see the “experts” wiggle, squirm, twist and turn  –  trying to find a save haven or to get off the hook. Isn't it amusing to see how raptors turn into chicken hawks?  Those who say ….”we need more proof” …  will never get enough proof. They really don't want irrefutable proof because that places them between Iraq and a hard spot.  There really isn't much question about Saddam's track record, and there is really only one key question  –  “Can we afford to wait?” Or in contemplating military action, ”What if we do?  –  or more importantly, “What if we don't?”

    Afghanistan is a mess, and will be a bit chaotic for a while. The War Lords have re-surfaced and the ethnic/religious factions will no doubt make life tough for the new government. I'll be glad when our guys are out of there, but that won't happen unless the Europeans and Turks accept the full on site responsibility to be sure the new government doesn't fail. It will likely take 10 years or more. But in Afghanistan, messy as it is, we acted. Now,  back to Saddam's Iraqis.

    “Can we afford to wait?” For 11 years all kinds of non-military actions have been directed at Saddam –  yet he goes along his merry way. The events of 9/11 show him that the US is vulnerable and he feels confident that the rest of the world will not fight our battle. Yes, I guess we could wait. But wait for what? What leads us to think that his game plans will change? 

     It is a big decision to commit our forces to war, knowing full well that Americans will be killed. None of us relish that thought. But can we evade it?  Can we wait? When we wait, we place the fate of some (maybe many) of our countryment in Saddam's  hands. That is not a very reassuring thought.

BALL FOUR

     Journalists and newscasters are practically salivating over any morsel of news (or rumor) dealing with the next move in the War on Terrorism or bringing down Saddam. But all of this fades into the background before the burning issue that is dominating the country  –  will there be a baseball strike?”

     On other occasions I have referred to my extensive baseball background as a team mascot, batboy, statistician, player, coach and fervid fan.  Well into my 30s I made a bee line every AM to check the box score of yesterday's game, and I generally stayed up until 11P to get the latest scores. Non-baseball fans must consider a baseball box score as so much unintelligible gibberish, but to true fans, it literally re-broadcasts the games.

    Baseball is a great game. It is the perfect blend of individual effort and team play. And it doesn't require a lot of expensive equipment. But it has lost its allure. The watershed event for Major League baseball was a court case involving a St. Louis Cardinal outfielder named Curt Flood. The decision ended the era when baseball clubs (owners) held exclusive rights to player contracts and services. That decision ushered in “free agency”, player agents, unionism, and outlandish salaries. From my viewpoint, a major casualty of this change was the loss of home team loyalty. Here today, gone tomorrow. If total ownershipof player services was the disease, I'm not at all sure that free agency and unionism have been a good cure.

    In the last 15 years I have seen just 2 major league games and it is doubtful that I will see another  –  even with a freebie ticket. So if the players strike next week, it will be no loss to me. Actually, they lost me some years ago, and the current flap just confirms my earlier opinion. Baseball as I knew it is history, and maybe the current game with free agency, parasitic agents, the players Union and multiple million dollar salaries isn't worth saving. Millions of kids in this country can play baseball without the Major Leagues.

     Let them strike. No big loss. 

JUST NOT RIGHT

     When I get together with my kids and their spouses, we talk about important matters  –  international events, wars, national politics, investing, taxes, real estate prices, natural disasters, crummy TV and even the weather and sports. When I offer my views, they even listen, sometimes. It isn't exactly lecturing  –  maybe  closer to a bit of pontificating. They all understand.

     Of late the conversation is dominated by the horrific events in the stock market where a handful of extremely powerful business leaders have systematically looted their companies and destroyed the lives of thousands of investors and employes. Such words as fraud,  corruption, greed, abuse of power, misrepresentation,etc., aren't good enough. It is theft  –  just plain theft –  of corporate funds and the savings and investments of people who placed their faith in an honest system.

     Now, my kids are not bomb-throwing left wingers. Two are self employed, one is employed  in corporate America and the other is in the Public sector. They save their money and invest carefully. They are conservative and believe in the free enterprise system. Actually, one still claims to be a liberal but I think he is wavering. All of them  see nothing wrong with the profit motive and the desire to sell goods and services for a fair profit. But when it comes to the looting and fraud by the leaders of Enron, Global Crossing, Adelphia, Tyco, Worldcom, etc., they say “That just isn't right”. To see these guys hang onto hundreds of millions of dollars and buy/build ungodly mansions while the Companies are in Chapter 11 bankruptcy just isn't right. I agree. It isn't.

     And these young adults are smart enough to see the handwriting on the wall. Sure, these big guys  will be investigated and we will see the whole gamut of escape  techniques  –  deny, deny, deny  –  delay, delay, delay, take the 5th as often as needed, supress information and evidence, delay some more, change lawyers a couple of times,and then as a last resort plea bargain and walk away free with a huge bundle of cash. And looking over their shoulders saying, “I did nothing wrong”, and “I didn't know”.

     Maybe the new Federal legistlation will fix the problem, but I am skeptical. Political contributions are likely to be the deciding factor. What is the old saying?, “Anything worth doing is worth doing for money”.

     Our “civilized ” society banned vigilante justice a long time ago. But I am re-thinking that one. Somehow, our “civilized” justice system just isn't up to the task of getting an appropriate remedy for the injustices at hand. I have not been personally affected by the misdeeds of these arrogant and ultimately corrupt men, but if I were, I don't think that “doing nothing” would rank very high on my list of options.

ROCKS AND GREENHOUSES

     Jonathan Karl is a reporter for CNN. Can't say that I have read much of what he writes, but he authored a good column in the WSJ the other day, “Cooking the books is an old recipe for Uncle Sam”.

     There is a veritable frenzy in Washington to severly punish the Corporate giants who are guilty of fraud, theft. embezzlement, shoddy accounting, misrepresentation, and destroying the lives of many shareholders and investors. Our Congressmen and Senators are highly indignant and vow vengeance on Corporate America for all of these misdeeds. And in an election year they are riding the wave of anti-business sentiment. Mr Karl points out that our duly elected leaders in Congress are hardly strangers to creative, imaginative accounting when it suits their purpose. And the public never knows the difference. He offers several examples. I'll only cite a few.

     1.  Last year Congress spent $15 Billion to bail out the railroad workers retirement fund, but not a cent showed up on the books. Using a trick called “directed scoring”, they simply voted to keep it off the books. By comparison, WorldCom's $3.8 Billion overstatement of profits looks like chickenfeed.

     2.  A census is taken every 10 years. Last year, Congress changed the designation of “census” to “emergency” and detoured $4.5 Billion out of the operating budget into an emergency bill. Just change the label  –  but of course that's not shady accounting —right?

     3.  Consider the Medicare and Social Security Trust Funds. Congress sets up these funds and then borrows heavily from them with no re-payment. The liabilities run into the trillions. But you will never find the trillion dollar liabilities on the books. The GAO Director says, “How can the federal Government pretend that a trillion dollar liability doesn't exist. Easy  –  just use off-the-books accounting. Sound familiar Enron??

     4.  Looking at the Executive branch, for the past 5 years, the GAO has refused to certify that Federal agencies are following generally accepted accounting principles. Due to slipshod accounting, GAO was unable to provide assurance that the financial statements were fairly presented. Doesn't that make you feel good??

     5.  As far back as 1985, Budget Director David Stockman said, “We have increasingly resorted to squaring the circle with accounting gimmicks, evasions, half-truths and downright dishonesty in our budget numbers”. Doesn't look like much has changed inside the beltway in 15-17 years.

     To our Congressional leaders we say, “You are right to act in behalf of thousands of shareholders and investors who have been victimized by flim-flam accounting”.

     But how about the millions of just plain citizens, Senators??  By what accounting standards do you judge the accused??   Whose greenhouse should be under the rock assault??  

THE SPLENDID SPLINTER

     Last week, Ted Williams died. To many it may have been a non-event or at least a semi-event. To me it was a major event.

     I was raised around baseball. My Dad was a good player and in his later years managed the Town Team. I was a batboy at 6 and learned basic math by keeping the box scores, and calculating batting averages and earned run averages. Skill-wise, I was a lot longer on desire than I was on talent but still had a few memorable occasions as a player.

     Best of all, I had the oportunity to watch the great ones play  –  Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Dizzy Dean, Bob Feller, Jackie Robinson  –  to name a few  –  and was fortunate enough to attend All-star games and the World Series. In recent years my interest in baseball has waned due to the Player's Union, agents, strikes, free agency, big bucks and player behavior. Last week, I didn't even see a pitch in the all-star game. Not interested.

      Williams was really something special. It was worth the price of admission just to watch him hit 4 times. His running fued with the Press in Boston was more a matter of irresponsible journalists than an individualistic super talent. He was his own man and set many good examples for others to follow. It's OK to be outspoken when speaking from a position of authority  –  and he was all of that.

     It is not appropriate to grant him fame for all of his being. Let's just say that he was the very best at a special skill  –  hitting a baseball. I hated to see him go. He will always be my selection of the best in a great era of sport  –  baseball, football, track, golf, tennis, skiing, skating, boxing, etc. Now I will have a lot of time to see who I would put in second place. So long to the Splendid Splinter!