Death and Taxes

Well, I did my part: I washed the car yesterday. And that worked in a very small way: it did rain, technically. To say it rained is a bit much…“spit” is more like it. Just a few drops, actually, but those few drops were accompanied by lots of Strum und Drang. We were under a severe t-storm warning for a bit, the wind came by and gave us a couple of choruses of Ride of the Valkries, and the sky was magnificently dark and foreboding. The thunderheads must have gone up to 20,000 feet and were quite beautiful. I love spring weather, as long as no one gets hurt.

Speaking of getting hurt…I got my first Sprint phone bill yesterday and was shocked. My previous cell number was in SFO, as I’ve noted before. California has a reputation as a high-tax state (deservedly, too), but when it comes to cell phones, California has nothing on New Mexico. To cut to the chase: I previously paid the federal gubmint and the state of California $6.61 in taxes; today I pay the Feds, New Mexico, Curry County, and the city of Clovis a total of $15.16 in taxes and “fees.” There are 14 separate fees and taxes on my 505 phone bill, my 415 phone bill had eight. I never voted for a single goldamned one of ‘em, either. Never mind that I vote in Texas, not New Mexico. I’m still an American with an inalienable right to bitch.

Hockey note: Last night I watched Calgary, the number three seed in the West, lose to Anaheim, the number six seed. Bizarro World. The top four seeds in the West all lost to under-dogs. I’ve never seen this happen, and for good reason: it’s the first time it has occurred since the NHL implemented the current playoff format in 1994. The top four seeds in the East all won. Like I said: Bizarro World.

Peggy Noonan is good today. She writes about the Moussaoui verdict in today’s Opinion Journal. Excerpt:

Excuse me, I'm sorry, and I beg your pardon, but the jury's decision on Moussaoui gives me a very bad feeling. What we witnessed here was not the higher compassion but a dizzy failure of nerve.

From the moment the decision was announced yesterday, everyone, all the parties involved--the cable jockeys, the legal analysts, the politicians, the victim representatives--showed an elaborate and jarring politesse. "We thank the jury." "I accept the verdict of course." "We can't question their hard work." "I know they did their best." "We thank the media for their hard work in covering this trial." "I don't want to second-guess the jury."

How removed from our base passions we've become. Or hope to seem.

It is as if we've become sophisticated beyond our intelligence, savvy beyond wisdom. Some might say we are showing a great and careful generosity, as befits a great nation. But maybe we're just, or also, rolling in our high-mindedness like a puppy in the grass. Maybe we are losing some crude old grit. Maybe it's not good we lose it.

Me? I’m conflicted, as usual. I can’t decide between burning him at the stake, drawing and quartering him, or suspending him in a steel cage ten feet above the Mojave desert floor and letting the SOB starve to death, Afghan style. But, the point is moot. In at least one respect I agree with those saying, in essence, “life in prison is a harsher punishment than death by lethal injection.” True, because there’s a chance prison justice will prevail. There is only faint hope, however. Rumor has it Moussaoui will be incarcerated in a supermax prison.

All the Big Dogs, and I mean all of them, Left and Right, have an opinion on the Moussaoui verdict. Memeorandum is a good place for all the links, if you’re interested.