Ramblings about Weather, Sonia from The Bronx, and News

Cloudy Days

The morning skies are a bit darker these days as “May Gray” turns to “June Gloom” here in the lower left corner of the country. The Southern California sunshine that most of the world associates with San Diego stays hidden this time of year, along the coast, mostly in the morning. This weather offers little chance of rain or the arid winds that lead to the fires of fall. The ocean is still too cold for swimming, at least for most mortals, without a wet suit. Late spring’s darker skies mean summer’s warmer waters will be here soon, and the afternoons, even now, offer the possibility of sunny beaches and beautiful sunsets.

The seasonal changes, which are often overlooked in Southern California as too subtle to matter, remind us that we live in many worlds simultaneously. The world of nature is influenced by our actions but not controlled by what we do. Instead, we are much more likely to be controlled by hours of sunlight, water temperature, and what we need to wear in order to be comfortable. At the same time, social, political, and economic realities influence, also, in ways profound and simple. As California struggles, along with much of the country, to navigate its way through a terrible economic crisis, the macro view of a bankrupt economy the size of California’s, means personal suffering will increase as unemployment remains high, and services have to be cut. On a more personal level, the bad economy means finding new business or a job will be more difficult for some time.

A Most Worthy Justice

During the election campaign last year, I attended Camp Obama, a weekend training session for “community organizers” who would go on to lead grass-roots efforts to elect the president. One of the first things you are asked to do at Camp Obama is tell your personal story, or your “story of self.” The Obama leadership team, wisely, places great value in who you are, where you came from, and how you got to where you are today. As we’ve seen this week, with the selection of Judge Sonia Sontomayor as the president’s first choice to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, a compelling personal narrative carries much weight.

We hope Republican Senators have gotten the message that opposing somebody of Sotomayor’s judicial, and intellectual quality is a fruitless effort that will hurt the GOP more than it will hurt her nomination. Still, we can expect some challenging revelations and allegations between now and the time Judge Sotomayor is confirmed as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. Wouldn’t it be refreshing, though, if the Senate Republicans simply put the nomination on a fast track expressing their reservations but acknowledging the waste of time and taxpayer money that will be the result of serious attempts to derail her ride to the high court. This does not mean the Senate should abdicate its role in conducting a diligent and thorough process. It means the tone and approach should be businesslike and expeditious rather than contentious and petty. We shall see.

News and Communication

The continuing decline of the news media, as we knew them, should start to cause conscientious citizens--who value information and analyses they can trust--to wonder where the thinking person can turn for reliable news. We have a way to go before we lose our way completely, and there is still time to correct some of the wrong turns. But the momentum is headed in the wrong direction. With all the cutbacks at local newspapers and television stations, the news consumer is left with fewer choices, or at least different choices. In this space, we have mentioned several nascent efforts to supply so called hyper local coverage to communities whose newspapers have been downsized or eliminated. This is a good trend if the journalism they produce is worthy. Good reporting and writing require experience and talent.

As a life long advocate for freedom of expression I’m pleased to see web based technologies allowing individuals and organizations to communicate directly to people they want to reach. The theory is that the more voices expressing themselves in the marketplace of ideas, the better informed we become as citizens. As long as we understand where the information comes from and whose interests are being presented we gain from this sort of information. But when it pretends to be journalism, intrinsically fair and evenhanded, we have a problem. As media literate news consumers, it’s our responsibility to know the difference and let others know when free speech is commercial or partisan in nature. Journalism must maintain its independence in order to be valuable, whether it comes in the morning paper, the TV set, the radio, or the screen you’re reading now.