The Dry Run

It's old news (one of the hazards of the press--do you write about it immediately, with maybe 1/7th of the facts, or do you wait and let the story--and, presumably, the truth--to evolve?), but do you remember the suspicious packages on the cargo planes in Europe a couple of weeks ago?  The early speculation was that these packages/printer cartridges were a dry run [1] by a terrorist group.   Soon enough, we found out they weren't really a dry run at all.  The packages (printers and toner cartridges) were fully armed with high-powered explosives.  One was allegedly defused 17 minutes before it was set to explode.

All this talk made me think of the concept of dry runs.  In the final episode of The Sopranos, Tony Soprano discussed this with a fed--Agent Dwight Harris.  The FBI Agent explained that they frequently received anonymous tips or bad Intel on terror activity, and even found dry run packages in the cargo or luggage where the terrorists were "just testing our response."

We see dry runs every day.  Whenever The White House or other politicians send up trial balloons (the most recent one I remember is the old Hillary-Joe Biden switcheroo trial balloon), they too are testing our response. 

It hit me that the dry run and the trial balloon is an ingrained and central social mechanic [Ed's note: and this mechanic is often flagged in the 21st century as "passive-aggressive" and various other related labels.]  You use these mechanics in human transactions. I see it in my work all the time--where what we do has a lot of latitude and room to be creative, loose and indefinite.  Wherever you look, you see instances of dry runs and trial balloons. You may try them on your spouse/partner, your boss, your parents, your co-workers, your kids. And at the same time, those same people may well be performing their own dry runs and floating their own balloons over and upon you. In my work, and really, in my life everything is a dry run for what comes next.  Sometimes you float a trial balloon, and sometimes you leap, frightened and overjoyed, into the promising murk.
[1] dry run. Noun. 1. (Military) Military practice in weapon firing, a drill, or a manoeuvre without using live ammunition.  2. Informal a trial or practice, esp in simulated conditions; rehearsal.  (Collins English Dictionary  © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003)

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Counterpoint: Pablo Fanque: when do we get your retraction on Arlen Specter?

By Jack Brummet
All This Is That Folklore and Poetry Editor

It was less than two weeks ago that you, Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor, befouled All This Is That with a euphoric encomium (Celebrate! Sen. Arlen Specter extricates himself from The Hive--> The GOP begins to succumb to The Sickness) on Arlen Specter, illustrated with The Spec' wearing a halo.

It's been a week since I questioned your sanity on that one (Rebuttal: Pablo Fanque, are you out of your f***ing mind? Arlen Specter: Hero?). And yet, we have seen nothing on these pages even faintly resembling a retraction or apology. Are you waiting for the heat to die down? Or, are you not man enough to stand up and defend your boy now that he has stepped in the proverbial pile? Or have you switched parties yourself?
Since your anointment of the turncoat Senator as The Second Coming, Arlen Specter has:

• Said on Meet The Press that he never told President Obama that he would be loyal.
• Voted against BHO's budget only a day after he announced his party switch.
• Voted against a Democratic bill designed help homeowners in bankruptcy court
• Told the New York Times has was pulling for Norm Coleman to win in court against Al Franken.
• Announced his national health plan, based on diet and exercise.
• Seen the democrats strip away his seniority in retaliation for his disloyalty.
• Claimed the The President "would seek my advice, especially when I disagree with him.”
• Virtually admitted he switched parties only to save his own skin. He makes Crazy Joe Lieberman look like a Yellow Dog Democrat.

As Gail Collins said in the New York Times "Specter’s theory is that his propensity to do whatever he wants should not only be tolerated, but constantly rewarded. That’s not character. It’s self-indulgence. "

In the end, Democrats foolishly gave Arlen Specter a face-saving subcommittee; he got off with just a slap on the wrist. And a halo, from you, Pablo Fanque. How do you like your angel these days, Pabs?
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Another One Bites The Dust: Demo Governor Blagojevich of Illinois arrested for trying to sell Obama's Senate Seat

By Pablo Fanque,
National Affairs Editor, All This Is That

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges on Tuesday, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by fellow Democrat President-elect Barack Obama, federal prosecutors said.

While Obama has long distanced himself from the governor -- who has been under investigation on other issues for months -- many people are hoping he he has ALWAYS kept his distance.

The case reminds us once again of the political sewer from which Barack Obama emerged--Chicago machine politics--without necessarily being a part of those politics, but most likely, a reluctant observer and, at times, expedient friend.

"The corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the federal prosecutor, said in a statement. And that is an understatement. The amount of money Blagojevich (and his wife whom you hear so clearly giving instructions in audio tapes) were trying to shake down is stunning.

Possibly even spookier is his unmitigated audacity and the quite open demands he unapologetically imposes on supplicants. This makes the $90,000 found in fellow Democrat's Rep. William Jefferson's freezer last summer look like revenue from a Kool-Aid stand.

According to the complaint, Patricia Blagojevich was the voice in the background spewing an ugly suggestion to "just fire" some newspaper editors if the Tribune Co. hoped for state assistance to sell Wrigley Field, the storied home of the Chicago Cubs."

"Hold up that (expletive) Cubs (expletive)," she says as her husband is talking on the telephone. "(Expletive) them."

This shoddy episode has given great hope to right wing bloggers and talk show hosts, who seem convinced the Obama smoking gun tape will surface any day. And the story has struck fear in the hearts of more than a few leftists, all of whom are crossing their fingers.
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