Anti-Growth Anti-Humanism

There is an elitist yuppie attitude toward growth, a skepticism about advancement, that seems to say that poor people should remain poor "for the good of the planet" or some such.

Here's a detailed exploration of that appalling attitude.

Perhaps This Explains the Light Rail Fanatics

One recurring theme in both politics and business is the fanatic. Alone or in groups, these are folks who are true believers. Don't bother them with facts - they don't care.

One of the differences between politics and business is, the business fanatics will, if wrong, eventually run out of money and stop. Politics is all about playing with other people's money - those fanatics can go on in the wrong direction indefinitely if not stopped.

A new AMA study sheds some light on the phenomenon. In essence, people who buy in to the initial justification for a project will actively ignore or discount evidence, however strong, that the project isn't working. Apparently there's no clear technique available to make folks get past this bias if they're prone to it. Organizationally, the only hope is to make other people responsible for vetoing the plan if certain prearranged conditions aren't met.

Why other people? Apparently, once the first group gets bought in to the project, they will find ways to justify ignoring the prearranged limits.

Hillsboro Argus endorses Tom Cox

I didn't see that coming: the Hillsboro Argus endorsed me for Metro.

Apparently being a "single issue" candidate isn't always bad, especially if it's the right issue at the right time - and if you're on the right side.

I wonder how many other candidates have ever been endorsed for being skeptical of Light Rail. Any?

Cox endorsed by Willy Week

I'm in the cover story on Willamette Week this week - and wonder of wonders, they endorsed me for Metro District 4. (Scroll down to the Metro section.)

Read between the lines and you'll see that this is due to their disenchantment with the current Metro leadership.

This is my first mainstream media endorsement. Feels good.

Delegating

I'd always assumed I wouldn't be a business "coach" -- I've long had disdain for that label, despite knowing some good coaches. Too soft for me, I thought. Too touchy-feely. Not enough measurable outcomes and results.

Come to find, my last several clients are looking for coaching. Well, I consider myself someone who's responsive to the market, so now I'm coaching three people.

One of the big issues that has come up again and again is, how to delegate effectively.

Here and here are two good articles that cover the subject well. Read them.

Paglia Puts it Well

I do love the way Camille Paglia writes:

On talk-show call-ins, I started to hear real love for Bush, a protective
desire to defend him against the smug liberal hyenas. It was a pivotal moment in
the campaign. And the righteous fury of the Bush crusaders started to sway the
undecideds. For months on Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity or other conservative
radio shows, I really didn't hear such great enthusiasm for Bush. But then all
of a sudden, there was a turning point. I remember sitting in my car in April
listening to Hannity -- who has become a major force in American politics and
whose talents as a broadcaster just keep getting better and better (though I'm
always wishing he had more respect for other cultures and a broader
understanding of our place in the world). He was talking slowly and thoughtfully
after hanging up with a like-minded caller, and I got really alarmed. I said to
myself, wow, here it is. It was a whole, comprehensive geopolitical picture: the
only way we can win the war against terror is to take the fight to the
terrorists abroad, America must be a beacon to the world. America has a divine
mission to bring liberty to the world. It was a view of destiny that had a
staggering clarity and simplicity.

Now if the Democratic consultants had any brains, they would have viewed all
this as an important system of ideas that needed to be logically addressed,
instead of just sneering at it. This is a war of ideas! But too many Democrats
rely on a juvenile Al Franken level of discourse -- sneer, sneer, sneer at the
benighted ones. We are all so superior in our little elite enclaves. So even if
Kerry wins the election, the Democrats have lost this war of ideas.

It's as if we have no eloquent speechwriters any longer. The Democratic Party
has become a p.c. wallow over the past 20 years -- a sinkhole of unctuous,
bleeding-heart liberalism and emotional manipulation, always using seniors or
"disenfranchised" African-Americans as convenient straw men. We're supposed to
be in a constant state of empathy, on high alert to a cosmos of injustice. And
always there are the aggrieved -- and those nasty people in high places who are
doing awful things to them! It's become a tedious soap opera removed from
reality.

The Democratic operatives, chummily clustered in their Northeastern drinking
holes, are missing the fact that most Republicans are not the top execs of
Halliburton but hardworking small-business people who lead orderly lives and try
to be good citizens. There's been a slow shift: What used to be the Democratic
base -- plain, unpretentious people going about their business and just trying
to do the right thing -- is shifting toward the Republican Party. Republicanism
is becoming populist. Republicans believe that tax cuts to large and small
businesses help growth, encourage spending and investment, and create jobs. The
Democrats have no answer to that except hysterical rhetoric. Rush Limbaugh
rightly calls it the tired old "Democratic playbook" -- more than 25 years
old.

The Real Question for Metro Auditor Candidates

The real question we should ask when choosing which Metro Auditor candidate to vote for is, not just who will check the books to see that no money went missing, but who is committed to that other form of auditing: performance auditing. (See here and here.)

Without performance audits, the Metro Auditor would only be doing half their job.

Which candidate has a history of overseeing performance audits?

Which candidate has a track record of collaboration with the other managers to improve business practices across an organization?

We don't need a "gotcha" auditor at Metro. We need a partner who will work with people at all levels to improve outcomes. That's a much tougher job.

Traffic Simulator

Fascinating traffic

Minnis in Trouble?

Great - now I'm hearing that Karen Minnis, already under attack from the left, may also have irritated the Libertarians enough that they too will "target" her. Shades of Mary Gallegos?

I hope Karen's people will mend bridges with the Libs.

Mannix Smears Saxton

What a week for Republicans. Just as the Democrat establishment closes ranks around Kulongoski, the Republicans begin the dirtiest primary in memory. Particularly awful is the "independent" (Mannix-supporting) radio ad by Greg Clapper that dishonestly portrays Saxton as some sort of crony of Neil Goldschmidt. (In reality, the two men despise each other.)

Clapper is a past master at selecting a few semi-truths and heaping on innuendo. The lesson I take away from this is, next time, Saxton should hire Clapper just to keep him off the air.

There are some Indian Casino TV ads that are apparently pretty misleading too, but I haven't seen them. Yet. This may be a good political season for turning off the TV and the radio.

Sadly, this will probably hurt Republicans - a lot - in November. So whoever "wins" the current mudfest will have to spend a whole lot of time digging back out.

Are Republicans really determined to be a perpetual minority party in Oregon?