Author: Redactor

I’m not one of those guys always badmouthing Microsoft. Sure, I’m always badmouthing my computer. And Microsoft has a lot to do with what is going on in my computer. But if Microsoft has something to do with the glitches, it also has a lot to do with what works.

We get impatient if it takes three minutes instead of three seconds for an email to reach someone half-​way around the world. Still, it’s a dang miracle, ain’t it? The law moves a little slower, but we do seem to be near a resolution of the Justice Department’s years-​long anti-​trust suit against Microsoft. A few states must still sign off on the deal. But it looks like there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

For those of us who view this lawsuit as the misbegotten brainchild of envious competitors, the proposed settlement is both a relief and a disappointment. A relief, because at least the company isn’t going to be chopped in half. A disappointment, because Microsoft will still be handcuffed. It will be banned from entering into exclusive contracts with PC makers, for example. And it will have to put up with a three-​man regulatory tribunal that will be allowed to hunker down in Microsoft’s own offices, at Microsoft’s expense, in order to monitor Microsoft’s every move.

Who knows? With a little luck, we still might be able to turn one of the most hard-​driving and successful companies in U.S. history into the functional equivalent of the post office. Not that I’m rooting for that outcome, mind you, and somehow I don’t think that would make our email go any faster.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

Okay. Here’s the scoop the U.S. Senate is on board. They have agreed to move forward with a new round of military base closings that the U.S. House has already signed onto. These will be closings of bases that the military itself regards as obsolete. Now a special panel will meet to decide which bases should be shut down. Then the Congress must vote up or down on these recommendations, which means the closings will probably go through.

This bill’s passage is thus a victory for the common good over crass special-​interest politics. Still, it passed by the narrow margin of 53 votes to 47 votes. So even with national security at stake, it seems that the career politicians are still protecting their reelection prospects. Which political party you belong to seems almost irrelevant. Actually, in this case most Senate Democrats sided with the Republican President, who favors the base closings. As does his Secretary of Defense. As does the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Harry Shelton, who argued that the country “cannot afford the costs associated with carrying this excess infrastructure.”

Yet most Senate Republicans opposed the bill, apparently more worried about the immediate economic impact in their backyard than the long-​run impact on national security. As Minority Leader Trent Lott put it, “The timing is not good.” Lott says that the base closings are too much to ask of local communities at a time when their boys are being called upon to defend the country. Um … But that is the point, right? Defending the country.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

What makes America so different from the rest of the world? Our country began with the declaration that all people have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And that these rights cannot be taken away because they belong to us as a birthright not a privilege granted by government.

We’re understandably a bit perplexed by the dangers we face today. Some politicians are trotting out different schemes that in years past were shot down for good reason such as violating the Constitution. Some columnists have even proposed the use of torture against suspected terrorists.

For goodness’ sakes, that’s not exactly the American way! And President Bush now wants military tribunals for suspected terrorists, even those suspects residing in the U.S. Some of us may be tempted to think that we can both keep our freedoms and still get greater security by trampling on the freedoms of immigrants or non-​citizens. But human rights belong to all human beings, not just Americans. Our recognition of that fact is this country’s reason for being. When we deny other human beings the freedoms that we ourselves claim by birthright, we necessarily undercut the basis for our own freedom. Furthermore, such moves undermine the battle to win the hearts and minds of good people throughout the world.

How we treat people really does matter. We’re the good guys. Remember? Oh, I know the pseudo-​sophisticated armchair world leaders will tell us that we have to break some eggs to make omelets, but I don’t buy it. And good guys don’t finish last; we finish first.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

I’ve said before that we should take care to keep the “same America” after the 9/​11 attacks that we had before the attacks. Fight back, yes but without losing our liberties.

One bad idea is to impose a national ID card. This card would have your name and address and probably thumbprint and social security number, too. Maybe even a strand of your DNA eventually. Such a card would treat people as criminal suspects just for being well, in the same country as people who really are bad guys. And the card would be linked to a new national database. This database would make it even harder to protect our privacy against identity thieves or renegade bureaucrats. And it would bring us closer to the kind of society where you always have to present your identity papers.

Given all the dangers, it’s disturbing that even some people known for supporting freedom and civil liberties have floated trial balloons about things like a national ID card for innocent people, electronic surveillance of innocent people, etc. Responding blindly to fear, some have published articles saying, “Hey, maybe this surveillance without search warrants won’t be so horrible after all,” without explaining how the liberty lost will save us from terrorism.

Back in the 1980s during a cabinet-​level meeting with the President somebody in the Reagan administration proposed a national ID, too. But then policy advisor Martin Anderson said, wouldn’t it be a lot cheaper just to tattoo everybody with a number? Everybody got the point. The idea died. It should die now, too.… Be seeing you.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

Have you heard about the latest virus? It’s the most recent strain of a very old infection. The scientific name for it is Stupidus Bureaucratus OSHA.

OSHA is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It’s their job to make sure workers in steel plants don’t jump into vats of boiling steel and workers in offices don’t peer too closely at their monitors. Now they’re worried about postal employees, but not quite in the way you might think. So far, anthrax has killed two postal workers, and spores have been found at several facilities. It’s understandable that many workers want to take precautions, like wearing gloves and masks. But OSHA says whoa slow down there! What about proper training, people?

True story. The postal service has purchased millions of spore-​filtering masks for its employees. But OSHA says, don’t dare wear them until you’ve had proper training. Proper training? I’d always thought it was a matter of stretching the rubber band and pulling the mask over your face. But even if there is a special mask-​wearing protocol to follow, there’s obviously no reason for delay here.

Philip K. Howard is author of the book, The Death Of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America. As Howard puts it, “using [these] masks imperfectly for a while is a whole lot better than not wearing them at all.” Mr. Howard is correct. No doubt OSHA has backed down by the time you hear this. Or, at least there have been no mass arrests of untrained postal employees. But jeez, somebody inoculate those bureaucrats and fast.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.

Respect is a two-​way street. We mustn’t disparage the rights of anyone living in this country just because he may share superficial traits with a bad guy. If a killer quotes the Declaration of Independence or the Koran as he detonates his bomb, and you also quote the Declaration or the Koran, that doesn’t make you a suspect.  By the same token, we mustn’t disparage the rights of Americans to speak out against the massacre of 9/​11, and to express moral support for their fellow Americans.

Too obvious to bother stating? Maybe. But when Aaron Petitt hung a poster on his locker at a high school in Ohio, he got suspended for being “insensitive” to foreign students. The poster showed an eagle shedding a tear over the World Trade Center. You have to wonder: who could be offended? Students in favor of the attack? Thankfully, after a lot of controversy, the school suspended Aaron’s suspension. And at a university in Florida, employees got into hot water for displaying stickers saying, “Proud to Be an American.” They were told: get rid of the stickers. At San Diego State University, Arabic-​speaking student Zewdalem Kebede overheard other Arabic-​speaking students expressing delight in the terrorist attacks. Kebede started arguing with them. You guessed it. The school rebuked Kebede for “abusive behavior” and warned him not to do it again. Only in America, folks!

The moral of the story? Stand up for what you believe in, even if some obtuse bureaucrat doesn’t like it.

This is Common Sense.  I’m Paul Jacob.