Rogue Columnist

All fall down

We're at a very dangerous moment. The May unemployment report showed only 69,000 jobs created, all part-time, and only half of what's needed just to keep up with the natural growth of the labor force. The eurozone is headed for collapse and much of Europe is in recession. China, expected to lead world recovery, is slowing, as is India. We may never have escaped the Great Recession, but if we did we're on the edge of another downturn. Put another way: The Great Depression went on for more than a decade and had recessions embedded in it, like tornadoes in a hurricane.

Faced with this, the institutions and practices that were built up carefully to mitigate just such an event are either gone — Glass-Steagall — or in a free-fall of legitimacy. The European Union. A peaceful, strong Germany. A global system of free trade. An economy where the pursuit of profit, monopoly and plutocracy is offset by checks and balances that serve the common good. The paralyzed and compromised Federal Reserve. The "fixed" and hamstrung-by-extremists Congress. And, I am sorry to rub salt in your hopes, President Obama. Economic conditions are not as bad as they were in the Depression. Yet. Leadership is worse, at least among American politicians. Hardly any will even tell us the truth about our actual circumstances.

History offers a valuable "fund," as George F. Kennan put it, upon which we can draw to understand our present circumstances and perhaps plot prudent responses.

'Ich bin ein Kook'

One must wonder what Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's main constituency thinks about her junket to SOCIALIST Europe, to Germany and to France, whose new president is nominally a SOCIALIST. One must wonder what the Germans and French think of Brewer, the head of an American state that continues to up the bar not just on craziness (See Bennett, Ken) but violent craziness. Gun deaths in Arizona now exceed automobile fatalities. The extremism was loud enough to call for a New York Times essay from Timothy Egan: "We interrupt reality to bring you Arizona..."

According to the newspapers, Brewer's trade mission "includes leaders of the Arizona Commerce Authority and Arizona Office of Tourism." Just who these mammals are — as in, name names — is unclear. (The Republic's Yvonne Wingett Sanchez got at least a partial list of the entourage, but the governor's office declined to give the budget). The purpose of the trip is also murky. Stories mention that the EU imported $770 million in Arizona products in 2011. Germany is the state's sixth-largest trade partner, France No. 10. These are meaningless numbers because Arizona exports are distorted by the huge footprint of Intel semiconductors and, to a lesser degree, Boeing and Raytheon defense products. Arizona is not a conscious player in the export world.

As for tourism — forget it. Germans who want American sun go to Miami. Unless the state could lure or underwrite direct flights to Germany and France, it will never be a big player in this field.

Memorial Day

The origin of Memorial Day was the commemoration of Union deaths after the Civil War, a conflict that cost between 618,000 and 700,000 lives in a nation with a population of less than 32 million. The South had its Confederate Memorial Day, still marked in some states of the old CSA. As this warrior republic, crusader nation has racked up more wars, Memorial Day has added these deaths to the holiday.

Newspapers will again run photos of small flags planted in front of the tooth-like marble gravestones of the war dead. But if ever there was an argument for a "sunset provision" to holidays, Memorial Day is it. Even the deaths of ordinary civilians are observed. Commercialized, trivialized and a venue for cheap patriotism, Memorial Day has been drained of its somber meaning. For most Americans, it is just another day off, another long weekend, the start of summer.

The disconnect is worse than ever. We've been through a decade of war and everybody "supports the troops." But our wars are fought by a professional military whose values are, in both good and dangerous ways, cut off from the mainstream of the country. The ideal of the citizen soldier is gone. This way went Rome.

Upping the crazy stakes

Your humble columnist at this "comparatively low-traffic site" is back from a week in Phoenix. I must admit 60 degrees in Seattle is more pleasant than the 108 degrees when I flew out of Sky Harbor — including that big, twisty scream-inducing bump on the 737 as we tried to climb out of the heat.

I spent most of my time in tolerant, diverse central Phoenix. But outside that bubble, the forces of Peak Crazy kept trying to extract ever more madness. Secretary of State Ken Bennett kept Arizona as a national laughing stock (at least among the "liberal elites," read sane people) by pledging to make Hawaii come clean about the president's birth certificate. The Washington Post, read by people who make decisions about deploying capital and quality assets, thought Arizona's witlessness worthy of an editorial. Hawaii, a state for those of you who were home-schooled in the East Valley, turned the tables and is forcing Bennett to prove his bona fides to even ask. The mockery of Arizona's No. 2 elected official continues. But this did not prevent Sheriff Arpaio — who should be in jail — from sending a "threats unit" deputy to investigate in the Aloha State — something to please the "Valley" blue-hairs who vote. Where is Steve McGarrett when we need him? Bennett's antics are more than an embarrassment, more than pandering. He is the official who will preside over the elections. The secretary of state should not be a partisan office (but Jan Brewer used it just that way in 2004, also chairing the Bush re-election campaign in Arizona).

The "information center" has run off the majority of its best, most experienced journalists. One still there is Dennis Wagner, who reported what should be a national blockbuster on Sunday about the Pinal County Sheriff's Office stockpiling surplus military equipment and selling it off to private parties. This is no Babeu boo-boo, but a story that raises troubling questions about how the Military Industrial Complex is infiltrating law enforcement, with the added and sadly typical Arizona corruption thrown in.

Climate, trains, downtown

Historically, May was when the temperature in Phoenix crept up to 100. Almost all week, it's been around 105 for the high. "Climate change is a hoax," as they say. The past 12 months were the warmest ever recorded, yet there is no debate, no discussion, least of all in a city likely to be heavily affected, Two days of hot wind cleared out the smoke from the wildfires, leaving only the usual smog. Better than nothing. At a book signing Tuesday night at the Arizona Biltmore, several people came up to say how much they depend on Rogue Columnist to speak truth to power, reality to the Kookocracy. It's something for me to keep in mind if some think I am just shouting the same old stuff with tiresome certitude.

Light rail seems to be doing well every time I ride it — and I depend on it (WBIYB). I can't speak for the line from Camelback to Chris Town, but otherwise it's packed-to-busy. It's curious at stations to see signs that identify trains going to Tempe and Mesa, or 19th and Montebello, but never downtown Phoenix. If you get on light rail at the Sky Harbor stop, you'd never know which way was the city center. Not smart. Tempe is trying to build a streetcar — a good sign. Otherwise, transit policy is a hash. Buses have been gutted (Your Tax Cuts at Work).

I'm not sure I understand the so-called West Link line. Is it really intended to go to Tolleson? If so, this shows how the region still doesn't get rail. Heavy commuter rail should be a priority to all the outlying suburbs, with a hub at Union Station, where passengers could connect with buses and eventually a light-rail spur as was done in San Jose. Commuter trains would provide fast service to Glendale, Peoria, Tolleson, Goodyear, Buckeye, Chandler, Gilbert, etc. The rail right-of-way is there and would require public money to expand capacity, as well as negotiations with the private railroads. But this has been done successfully around the country.

Something's burning

Coming into Phoenix Monday, we flew very near the Gladiator fire, an awesome and disturbing sight from the air. It reminded me of Boy Scout camping in the Crown King area in the 1960s, when it was wild and unpopulated. On the ground, Phoenix was drowning in a soup of dirty air. From Midtown, I could not see the South Mountains. When I tweeted this, several attempted to school me: "It's forest fires, not smog," and that kind of thing.  The instant defensiveness is so curious. a) I know all about the fires, having flown over one; b) The dirty air is in Phoenix, a health and, um, "image" problem for all those living here or even flying through; c) It is also caused by some 2 million cars, mostly deployed in single-occupancy, high-mileage driving d) If you want to get into the rising number of wildfires caused by too many people, encroachment of exurbia and climate change, that another upsetting conversation you have bumbled into. Imagine what this city could be if the defensive energy were turned to something constructive or progressive.

This morning, the wind has shifted a bit, so "everything's fine!" (Let's not talk about this scary early May heat wave). Speaking of image, someone sent me an article headlined, "Groups worry for Arizona's image." It was about potential consequences from the latest How Crazy Can You Get legislative session. They should be worried. But it's not an image but a substance problem. Oh, for a two-party state.

More later...

Book time

With the publication of my new mystery, Powers of Arrest: A Cincinnati Casebook, I'm taking a few days off for signings. Some will be in Phoenix, so check this schedule.

In the meantime, use the thread as you wish (except to sell something). Some interesting fodder is the decisive GOP primary defeat of Sen. Richard Lugar in Indiana by Richard Mourdock. Lugar's sin: Working with the other side (sometimes, less in recent years). Mourdock, the Tea Party-backed candidate, said, "I certainly think bipartisanship ought to consist of Democrats coming to the Republican point of view.... Bipartisanship means they have to come our way.... To me, the highlight of politics, frankly, is to inflict my opinion on someone else with a microphone or in front of a camera." Sounds just like the Kooks in Arizona. But can American democracy function this way before it devolves into tyranny?

In Arizona, the push for "open primaries" can only lead to elections where, in most cases, it will be Republican vs. Republican. This is another stealth effort at voter suppression, a broad and dangerous nationwide effort which will affect this election much more than is realized. Arpaio is still free. The downtown market pullback is a sign of how far behind downtown Phoenix remains.

As for President Obama's "evolution" to (re) supporting gay marriage, I am reminded of Keith Olbermann's majestic and moving Special Comment. I also think: There goes North Carolina. The election, too? Will the Republicans snooker the 50.1 percent with God, guns and gays all over again? Whatever happens, the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte looks to be...interesting, as they say in the South.

Update: Here's Jim Kunstler's report from the New Urbanist meet.

'Rebound'

A recent story in the Arizona Republic inspired a good deal of commentary on the thread of the last post. I'm going to hang it out there, make a few comments and let you go to town (or suburb). It starts, "The rebound of metro Phoenix's new-home market continues to build." Then:

New-home permits were up 61 percent in the region during March, according to the latest Phoenix Housing Market Letter. The increase is more staggering than the actual numbers, but still it signals "evidence of a new-housing rebound," according the report's publishers, RL Brown and Greg Burger. In March, there were 1,036 single-family permits issued. It was the first month in a while in which home-building permits topped 1,000.

Last year in March, there were 645 single-family permits issued across the Phoenix area. Overall, homebuilding -- one of the region's biggest economic drivers -- was up 74 percent during the first quarter of this year compared with 2011. Here's an even more positive number for the new-home market: Builders reported a spec inventory of only 383 houses during the first part of April.