What's New Robert L. Park 22 Nov 2012

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park Friday, 22 Nov 2012   Washington, DC
=20
1. THE AFFAIRE: WASHINGTON=92S TOP SPIN DOCTORS ARE CONFERRING.
The relationship between four-star General David Petraeus and Paula=20
Broadwell, his nubile young biographer, has moved into the crisis-
management phase, according to Scott Shane in Wednesday's New York Times.=
=20=20
Paula did not seem to be an appropriate perk for the Director of the CIA.=
=20=20
However, if the real purpose was to free Petraeus to promote his biograph=
y,=20
the tawdry affair could be spun as a clever tactic. Including a few detai=
ls=20
on the affaire could make the biography a best-seller. Meanwhile, other=20=

general officers are said to be ordering their staff to "shred" all,=20
uh, "personal" e-mails, but Washington computer-security experts tell WN=20=

that you can't shred e-mail.  Once it enters "the cloud," e-mail, like=20=

diamonds, are forever.  (Aside: Voice recognition is a wonderful tool, bu=
t=20
no matter how I enunciate "Petraeus," the Dragon insists on transcribing =
it=20
as "betray us." I read nothing into this.)

2. THE GIFTS: ROMNEY SAYS HE HAS FIGURED OUT HOW OBAMA WON.=20
It was diabolically simple: Obama promised expensive "gifts" to the 47%=20=

that don't matter. Stuff like free contraception and coverage or=20
forgiveness of student loans that an enlightened society should have been=
=20
providing all along to help them some day matter. These are the people=20=

Romney wrote off at the infamous superrich fund-raiser (WN 3 Nov 12). Yet=
=20
compared to the humongous tax breaks already given to the ultra rich,=20
Obama=92s gifts are embarrassingly cheap. In fact, they offer a big retur=
n on=20
the investment. In its 2012 report, released just a week ago, the UN=20
Population Fund concluded that effective family planning initiatives coul=
d=20
save $5.7 billion worldwide. What conservatives can't bear is the thought=
=20
that people would enjoy sex. In the recent election both Romney and Ryan=20=

opposed federal funding of groups such as Planned Parenthood.

3. THE SECESSION: NOTHING IS CERTAIN BUT DEATH AND TEXAS.
Texas is threatening to secede over the election returns.  It wouldn't be=
=20
the first time Texas has seceded.  France, Spain, Mexico, the Republic of=
=20
Texas, and the Confederate States of America all claimed Texas until they=
=20
discovered the place came with Texans.
=09
4.THE CLASS WAR: PLEASE! DON'T THROW ME IN THE BRIAR PATCH.
When WN wrote about the $50,000-a-plate fundraiser for Mitt Romney, there=
=20
were many complaints from readers who felt I should stick to science issu=
es=20
and vowed to cancel their subscription to WN.  Naturally, I was badly=20
shaken.  However, as I explained to my Science and Public Policy class, I=
=20
am not paid a dime for writing WN anyway.=20=20

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
---
Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.bobpark.org
What's New is moving to a different listserver and our
subscription process has changed. To change your subscription
status please visit this link:
http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dbobparks-whatsnew&A=3D1