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“None Of The Above” With Stars On His Shoulder

Mark Steyn has a pretty good take on General Clark–the best so far:

For a year now, the Democratic nomination has been a battle between joke candidates, led by the Reverend Al Sharpton, and dull senators, led by John Kerry of Massachusetts. Vermont?s Howard Dean briefly caught the media?s fancy ? he?s anti-war and from the only state with legal gay sorta-marriage. But, after a while, they began to notice that the more they talked up Dean the more the folks in the White House seemed to be falling around splitting their sides. So eventually they figured he was this year?s George McGovern, and they needed a new ?None Of The Above?.

And here he is: General Wesley Clark. That?s what he is to the public at the moment: ?None Of The Above? in a General?s uniform. Once they get to know him and he joins the ranks of ?The Above?, Democrats will be back to Square One looking for a new ?None?. But for now no one knows a thing about him. In fact, he doesn?t seem to know much about him. One day, he?s pro-war. Next day, he?s anti-war. Then, just to clarify, he says he can go either way: ?I?ve said it both ways because when you get into this, what happens is you have to put yourself in a position.?

And when a man has to put himself into a position, the best thing to do is call an aide to tell him which one it is. ?Mary, help!? Clark called to his press secretary in front of reporters, and Mary did indeed come to his rescue, explaining to the General what his position is.

He also has some cautionary words for Democrats about Mr. and Mrs. Clinton:

…whatever happens, the 44th President will not be Wesley Clark.

Why?s that? First and foremost, Wes is a Friend Of Bill, as in Clinton. Bill gets through FOBs at an enormous rate and even those who don?t wind up dead, in jail or drowning in legal bills rarely prosper. As has been noted in this space many times, the Clintons? Democratic party is great for the Clintons, disastrous for the Democratic party. From Arkansas, Bill went on to Washington; his successor as governor, Jim Guy Tucker, went on to jail. His party lost control of Congress, but Bill got re-elected. He survived the impeachment trial, but his vice-president lost the White House. He bequeathed a New York senate seat to his wife, but the Clinton flack he installed at the Democratic National Committee led the party to defeat in just about every competitive senate race last November.

Anyone spot the pattern here? If Bill and Hill were to demand a constitutional amendment to lower the age qualification so that Chelsea could run for President, I?d put better odds on that than Clark?s chances of success.

Utopian Hangover

Paul Johnson says that 14,000 people died in France during the recent heat wave as a result of a socialist bender:

The omens for continental Europe, however, are sinister. The entire plan for perpetual improvement upon which the EU depends is based on continuous economic expansion. There is no provision for stagnation. As we see in Japan, once stagnation sets in, it can last many years. Americans should count their blessings, above all the supreme blessing of having an economy that is run by businessmen not bureaucrats, or that–under wise governance–runs itself.

The Hubris Of Politicians And Bureaucrats

Alcor has new problems. Apparently, at least partly as a result of the adverse Ted Williams publicity, some of the powers-that-be in Arizona want to start regulating cryonics facilities.

The problem, of course, is that there are no laws explicitly applying to the practice of cryonics (and probably shouldn’t be, given how poorly-understood a field it is, particularly by the people who would be making the laws). Fortunately, we still live in an America in which, at least in theory, that which isn’t explicitly illegal is legal. But some ill-informed people in the Grand Canyon State are apparently unhappy about that.

As the article points out, cryonics patients are presently treated as organ donations, which means (fortunately) that the funeral industry has no regulatory authority, and that the only relevant agency is the FDA, which scarcely pays it any attention.

The head of the funeral association claims that in the process of doing head-only suspensions, Alcor is “mutilating a body,” which is in theory illegal. Of course, the same could be said of anyone facilitating organ donation, so I don’t think that they really want to test this in court.

The most disturbing and frightening thing, of course, is the ignorance about the whole process among the lawmakers.

Rep. Wally Straughn, D-Dist. 15, says Arizona needs to look at regulating the cryonics industry. ?New technologies will likely offer options for the deceased that we have yet to consider,? he said, adding that options for those who might be revived from a frozen state also need to be considered.

No, not until that’s on the verge of happening. It (unfortunately) is a long way off, and unlikely to occur during Rep. Straughn’s term.

?We really need to start working on guidelines before companies like Alcor proliferate,? Mr. Straughn said.

There’s certainly little danger of that, at current rates. For now, the best course is caveat emptor. By the time they’re signed up, cryonics patients are made extremely aware of the promise, and risk of the process. If someone makes fraudulent claims (e.g., guarantees of reanimation), then they can be prosecuted for that, but short of that, no one right now is smart enough to regulate this industry.

Fortunately, some legislators understand the problem:

Rep. Phil Hanson, R-Dist. 9, disagrees.

?I?m not sure that I would give great support to a bill placing regulations on cryonics companies at this time,? he said. ?It is such a small facility and those that are considering the process should be made aware of the pros and cons by the company as a good business practice.?

Exactly, and bravo to Rep. Hanson.

Mr. Thomas has called for the creation of a state level board to regulate Alcor, but Rep. Linda Gray, R-Dist. 10, said, ?It is a good idea to bring this company under the regulation of the funeral directors instead of creating another board.?

Mr. Stump said he also wants to bring the regulation of cemeteries under the state Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, rather than the Board of Real Estate.

Mr. Thomas is the head of the state Funeral Directors’ board. He doesn’t explain why funeral directors are competent to regulate a medical procedure, but he does describe why he wants to take control:

Mr. Thomas put aside the belief among Alcor supporters that medical scientists someday might be able to revive bodies that have been frozen for years.

?There?s no difference between cryonics and cremation,? he said. ?You?re gone forever.? ?

The notion that this industry would be regulated by someone who fundamentally disbelieves its premises is, as I said, frightening.

More Proof

I don’t know if folks have been back to visit this post, but since it was linked by the Carnival, Volokh, and The Corner, it seems to have accumulated a lot more evidence in defense of General Clark, offered by the commenters.

Example:

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study progressive taxation.

-John Adams

Or perhaps Clark was digging into his military history:

WE have not yet begun to tax the wealthy!

-John Paul Jones