Only One Head Will Roll

The hundred or so folks in Congress who have been calling ever more loudly of late for the head of General Eric Shinseki should be feeling quite proud of themselves. Shinseki, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, offered his resignation, and President Obama  accepted it, "with considerable regret," to no one's surprise.

Of course, I'm not convinced how much regret there really was, as Obama stuck with the script that most in his position follow when they desperately want to be rid of the albatross-of-the-day, but rarely come right out and officially ask for the resignation.

Shinseki had offered up some information (in a column that ran in USA Today on Thursday) on what he was doing to both investigate and respond to allegations of delayed appointments and falsified records at several facilities, including the one in Phoenix where leaders were placed on leave based on the accusations there, but it was virtually -- no, Bidenesque literally --  impossible for him to offer enough, to do enough, to keep his job. He knew it, the President knew it, and so did pretty much everyone else.

There were a few holdouts though, notably House Speaker Crying John Boehner.  He noted on Thursday that

The question I ask myself is him resigning going to get us to the bottom of the problem? Is it going to help us find out what's really going on, and the answer I keep getting is no.

Interestingly, this patient wait-time problem, as the MSNBC article cited above notes, has been going on for years. In fact,

Since 2005, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued 18 reports that identified, at both the national and local levels, deficiencies in scheduling resulting in lengthy wait times and the negative impact on patient care.

And this leads me to wonder, will other heads roll?  Aren't there others who should have been aware of this, and did little or nothing to solve the problem?

What about the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs? Chairman Bernie Sanders, the staunchly Independent Vermonter, apparently has not been holding hearings (on anything?) even though minority members allegedly have been calling for them.  The time is now, the minority has said, for oversight to begin. Well, actually, the time has long since passed for Senate oversight hasn't it?

And what about the matching House committee? What about the fine Republican Jeff Miller of Florida?   Here are some excerpts from his statement on the Secretary's resignation:

Appropriately, Shinseki is taking the brunt of the blame for these problems, but he is not the only one within VA who bears responsibility. Nearly every member of Shinseki's inner circle failed him in a major way...shielded him from crucial facts...convincing him that some of the department's most serious, well documented and systemic issues were merely isolated incidents...

Apparently these "well documented and systemic issues" which the VA OIG has been complaining about for years, were not important enough for Miller's committee to jump on, like they jumped on VA travel expenses, for example. Spending taxpayer dollars on conferences is one thing, but years worth of information on poor treatment of veterans, well that's something else entirely.

Where was Miller's oversight?  He certainly doesn't have a problem voicing his disdain for the VA bureaucracy, but what about his own lack of knowledge and action? Should his head be on the chopping block along with Shinseki? Of course not.

In what amounted to an act of self-administered hands-only CPR (Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive stayin' alive), he notes that (emphasis added)

...whomever the next secretary may be, they will receive no grace period from America's veterans, American taxpayers, and Congress.

Thump on, Chairman Miller, thump on.

Seriously, you and I know that we have a better chance of seeing Elvis Presley perform this summer at the Weedsport Hotel than we do of anyone in Congress stepping up, and stepping down because they failed to perform their oversight responsibilities, potentially leading to the death of American veterans, which is how the patient wait-time issue has been described.

They'll holler and yell for someone else's head, especially in an election year - but they'll fail to see their own reflections in the mirror. Crying John is proof of that.

He reiterated that the VA's problems are bigger than one man -- or, at least, bigger than one retired Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and clearly they're too big for Congressional accountability. Nope -- only one man is man enough to fix this problem.

Per Boehner's statement on the resignation (again, emphasis added),

General Shinseki has dedicated his life to our country, and we thank him for his service. His resignation, though, does not absolve the president of his responsibility to make things right for our veterans.  Business as usual cannot continue...One personnel change cannot be used as an excuse to paper over a systemic problem. Our veterans deserve better, we'll hold the President accountable until he makes things right.

Shinseki fell on his sword.  As usual, Congress pointed theirs at someone else.

Tuesday's Number: $275,177

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Each week, I track health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

·         This week, there were 13 new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $230,788.

·         There was one satisfied judgment, totaling $44,389.

·         There were no health care related bankruptcies.

New this year, I’m tracking filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week:

·         Crouse had one, totaling $12,606

·         St Joe’s had none

·         SUNY Upstate had 12, totaling $245,758

·         Community General, a part of Upstate, had none.

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.

With Deepest Respect

To all who served, and to those serving today.

Thank you.

Hope Springs

Back in January, I did a post about the empty house next door to us, and how the neighbors had moved out and the Greater Syracuse Land Bank had assumed control over the property. The point of that post was that any of us can make a difference, whether it's by doing something ourselves (picking up trash, shoveling snow, or otherwise lending a hand to someone), or by picking up the phone and asking someone else to help out when they can.  

Today, I'm again happy and excited by what's going on with the Land Bank, Syracuse's Home Headquarters, and the property manager for the house next door. First the happy: every time I mow the lawn (something My Sweet Baboo doesn't like to do and I enjoy doing), I mow the front lawn of the Land Bank house (let's call it the LBH). Why?  Because up to this point, no one else has been doing it, it doesn't take all that long, and because my neighborhood looks better if the lawn is mowed.  

The back yard, on the other hand, is a completely different story.  The prior neighbors had issues with keeping it mowed, as I noted in the earlier post. I've been advised that I was not, under any circumstances, to ruin our lawnmower trying to take care of it. The lawn was well past knee high, and way before the 4th of July.  Frustration got the better of me, and I called the property manager yesterday and left a message. Today Ray called me back, and when I mentioned that the lawn hadn't been taken care of, he was a bit taken aback, because he had a lawn care company on the books to handle all of his properties. Some how this one got missed.

Until today.  Because when I spoke with Ray, he said he'd get right on it and have it taken care of either today or tomorrow.  And I've gotta tell you, I was thrilled when the mowers showed up.  Yep - that's the kind of thing that makes me happy.

Now, on the excited part:  Ray said he was stopping by the LBH today, and if I happened to see him there to stop by.  As luck would have it, I was working at home, and so I did just that - I popped over to introduce myself, and see if I could find out anything more about what was happening.  Remember, back in January the Land Bank was lining up folks to take a look at the work that needed to be done and would be making a determination on whether they'd tackle some of the work or if they'd put it up for sale and have whoever bought the house do the work.

Well, seems a decision has been made.  The house it going to get repaired first -- windows, siding, roof, mechanicals -- all of the big expensive things that might otherwise make it prohibitive for someone to purchase. And the best part is, according to the gentleman drawing up the list today, hopefully they'll be able to put it up for sale at or close to market value.

Which is a HUGE thing for us. Another Land Bank house down the road a bit just sold for less than $13,000 -- admittedly a smaller house, but one that also seems to need much less work. Needless to say, that's not a good thing for property values in the neighborhood, where a house two doors south of us sold for $112,000 last year, and a house a couple doors north of the LBH was purchased for $127,000 two years ago. Those values we like, but something in the teens or twenties or even twice that, not so much.

Happy and excited today, I sure am. Selfishly for us, I admit, but also for the neighborhood as a whole. We've been waiting patiently for things to happen with this house, going back even before the fall of 2008 when the last owners purchased it.

We'll keep plugging away on our house, painting the trim and staining the fence and the garage, the year-over-year maintenance that never ends, and we'll look forward to work starting soon on the LBH next door.

Because, like this lonely yellow tulip -- the only thing spared by the lawn crew today -- hope springs in The Valley.

Tuesday's Number: $452,497

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Each week, I track health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

·         This week, there were 22 new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $335,104.

·         There were four satisfied judgments, totaling $34,118.

·         And, there were three health care related bankruptcies, totaling $83,275.

New this year, I’m tracking filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week:

·         Crouse had seven, totaling $102,931

·         St Joe’s had two, totaling $26,640

·         SUNY Upstate had 16, totaling $227,134

·         Community General, a part of Upstate, had one, for $16,006

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.

Forecasting the Weather in the Business World

Some of us were talking the other day about the occasional glaring inaccuracy of weather reports, and the lack of consequences resulting from them.  I think what prompted us was the ad for one of our local television stations that they are 'the most accurate' in our market, and we all chuckled at that.  

First, let me say this:  there are lots of meteorologists and weather readers that are good and who forecast accurately, and who do a good job making us smarter and set reasonable weather expectations and meet them most of the time.  

With weather front and center on the local and national news -- we now hear about how many millions of people are 'in the path of' some weather event or other on a fairly regular basis on at least one nightly news broadcasts - there's an awful lot of opportunity for these folks to put themselves out there with a forecast, and for that forecast to miss the mark. And when it happens, those of us who work in different professions, where our name and face and 'work product' aren't front and center for all to see, well, I admit we can be a little brutal to those who are out there front and center.  

My favorite part about the forecasts are the models - as in, one model shows this is going to happen, and another model shows something else is going to happen.  I thought it would be fun to apply that to my position and to anticipate my boss's reaction if I tried that at work. Here's a possible scenario of me forecasting my ability to get work done:

Hi -- got a sec? The auditors have asked us to provide ten years worth of records related to the Doomaflatchey case, and they've given us five business days to provide the information.  I've reviewed the most reliable model on this and my forecast is that we don't have a snowball's chance in hell of producing the information in that time frame.  

I get a strange look from my boss, but boldly continue with my forecast:

I did review a different model, and there may be some good news: it appears that we won't be in hell this week, it's going to be colder than normal for the next few days, and so we might actually be able to provide the information they need, but not within the time frame they've specified...

She sort of presses herself into the back of her chair, hands beginning to form a death grip on the arms.

...because I'm forecasting difficulty in gathering the information based on the patterns of the past several days. The models show we may have maxed out our ability to produce anything else this week, unless we work into the overnight when the models predict it'll be quiet. The drawback is we'll be working at reduced capacity due to the overcast sleepiness that will occur.  It's all right here in the hour by hour forecast, see? I'm going to stick with my original prediction that we won't make the deadline.

Now beginning to rise up out of the chair, my boss clearly has a cloudy outlook on my forecast, and comes back with her own:

Well, I've been reviewing the data myself, and I'm predicting a significant change in the atmospheric pressure in this office. I do believe there's a storm brewing and you'll be smack dab in the middle of it according to the models I've seen. I've also reviewed historical data and I believe that if you work at your record high pace for this week, you should have no problem gathering the data, getting it into the cumulus format, and turning it over on time.  Your weekend will be a washout of course, but I see brighter days ahead.

Unless, of course, my forecast is wrong.

Hmm. How about that? Seems a cold, rainy weekend is just what I'll need to get the work done on the Doomaflatchey case. I sure hope the models are right.

When the Death Penalty is the Wrong Answer

Passions were running almost hotter than the temperature today in Central New York with the announcement that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) will not be seeking the death penalty in the case of a local car jacking-rape-murder case.

The case, very well known in our area and beyond, involved a man awaiting trial for child pornography charges who managed to remove his monitoring bracelet multiple times and allegedly stalk folks leaving a gymnastics class. Fate put a woman and a child in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both were terrorized; the woman lost her life, the child was brutally assaulted.

The monster who did this pleaded guilty on state charges, saving the child from having to testify.  Had the DOJ opted to prosecute on federal car-jacking charges, with a potential death penalty, the guilty plea could have been withdrawn, the state charges reopened, and the child forced to testify not only in the state case but in the federal case as well.

All of that has been taken off the table with the decision today. The defendant will serve life without parole on the state charges, and 30 'additional' years on federal child pornography charges, both sentences having been announced previously. No trial, no testimony from the child, and no light of day for the guilty party. Formal sentencing is set for later this week.

To everyone out there, be they radio DJs or anonymous commenters on social media, the most insightful comments are the ones below, the first from US Attorney Richard Hartunian:

No sentence that could ever be imposed in this case will undo the tragic death...or the pain inflicted on the young victim, or adequately account for the depravity of the crimes committed. The mandatory life sentence in state court and the imposition of an additional 30 years federal consecutive sentence will insure that (the perpetrator) can do no further harm. 

The second noteworthy comment is from a relative of the two victims. The family was opposed to the death penalty and is pleased that, regardless of why, the DOJ has decided not to pursue the case:

It had absolutely nothing to do with any philosophical opposition to the death penalty or any concern about that person's life. It had 100 percent to do with protecting the interests of Jane Doe.

The family member also noted that he was surprised by the decision; apparently, there was enough waffling on the issue of the federal charge to cause concern:

Whenever I had asked what about this case would encourage them (prosecutors) to supersede the wishes of the family, they repeatedly talked about how this was such a heinous crime, how this was one of the worst crimes that anyone could remember.  I simply said I would imagine that any family that had gone through a homicide would probably be able to say the same thing. 

The outrage that we feel, as individuals and as a community, can't begin to compare to the outrage that must have been felt by this family, now clearly focused on protecting the little girl, on helping her heal, on doing everything in their power to give her some sense of self that doesn't include the word 'victim'.  Our anger at what happened, and grief over the loss of the woman, a beloved and respected community member, cannot hold a candle to the emotions felt by this family.

The desire to see the perpetrator face trial with his very life hanging in the balance seems like justice --but who are we to define justice for this family? Commenters who think that what the family wants should have no bearing on this case are wrong -- they, more than anyone, are entitled to speak out on this.  Here's one more comment from a family member:

...I know this was the outcome I wanted for the situation as it is. I could not think about the stress and pain a trial would put on the little girl or my family, or the men who tried to save my sweet and loving cousin...

I applaud the courage of this family, and their position in this case, and the dignity with which they have handled everything from the very beginning of this tragedy. We can all learn something from them.

On the other hand, those who choose to see this as a 'failure of the Obama administration', who see this as the government being 'soft on crime', and who try to make political hay out of this?

We can learn nothing from you.

Tuesday's Number: $733,737

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Each week, I track health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

·         This week, there were 41 new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $711,464.

·         There were no satisfied judgments.

·         And, there was one health care related bankruptcy, totaling $22,273.

New this year, I’m tracking filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week:

·         Crouse had twelve, totaling $116,727

·         St Joe’s had one, totaling $22,273

·         SUNY Upstate had 28, totaling $485,500

·         Community General, a part of Upstate, had none.

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.

Religion and Government, Iowa Style

As I noted the other day, Alabama and Iowa are having fun with religion and government in their own way, completely apart from the Supreme Court decision in the Town of Greece v. Galloway case, in which the right to 'legislative prayer' was upheld by a 5-4 vote.

Alabama's apparently been taken over by Someone Else, aka the Christian God.  Iowa has its own traditions to uphold, and they have a bunch of Senate candidates doing their darnedest to out-Christian each other in efforts to appease those traditional voters.

For example, there's this guy, Representative Tom Shaw. He was unhappy with the unanimous 2009 decision of Iowa judges that gay marriage was constitutional.  Five of the judges were no longer around by the time Shaw put forth his proposal to cut the pay of the four who were left in 2013 from around $160K to $25K.  That'll teach em to mess with marriage, darn it!

Shaw announced in January that he would not be running for re-election this fall. In a letter to supporters, he noted

Honor to God, fidelity to the Constitution, as seen thru the prism of the stated purposes contained in the Declaration of Independence, is my foundation.  These guiding principles helped me in determining my votes...votes place on behalf of 30,000 Iowans. No man is perfect, but I tried to serve ethically, honorably and truthfully during my tenure. 

My "no compromise" approach did not always set well with others.  However, in his book Confrontational Politics, author H. L. Richardson, retired California State Senator, states "When we give in to liberals, even an inch, we're not compromising, we're abdicating our rights and our honor. When our legislators likewise, they are abdicating our right and their honor.  

His 'no compromise' approach  -- voting againstt a bill banning late term abortions, because he would only support a ban on all abortions -- that kind of thing,did not set well with his own party, so I'm thinking they might be OK with his decision not to run again.

But lame duck Mr. Shaw is not the only Republican in Iowa with a religious streak a mile wide. Three candidates who are running to fill the US Senate seat of another lame duck, Tom Harkin, who is not running for re-election when his term expires -- and they're trying to out-religious each other in the worst way.

When the topic of federal judges came up, three of the candidates indicated they'd look for judges who adhered to 'natural law' or who professed faith in God. (The video is here if you care to watch.)

• First, there's Sam Clovis, a college professor, who  has "a very firm litmus test" on judges: "Can that judge explain to me natural law and natural rights?" 
• Next, there's Iowa State Senator Joni Ernst who agreed with Clovis and added that judges should understand that the Constitution and all our laws came from God and that senators (considering candidates for the federal bench) should "make sure that any decisions that they have made in the past are decisions that fit within that criteria."
• And then there's Matt Whitaker, a former federal prosecutor who (like Tom Shaw) felt his fellow Republicans didn't go far enough - he would demand that nominees for the federal bench are "people of faith" and "have a biblical view of justice." He noted that "As long as they have that worldview, they'll be a good judge. And if they have a secular worldview, where this is all we have here on earth, than I'm going to be very concerned about how they judge." 

This type of thinking, and the type of thinking that's prevalent in Alabama (where Someone Else controls the state), and the type of thinking that allows 'strongly held religious belief' laws which institutionalize discrimination, is not consistent with what I thought we stood for.

Religion and Government, Alabama Style

With much less fanfare than that generated by the Town of Greece v. Galloway case, Iowa and Alabama are having their own fun with religion and government. And by fun, I mean fun house crazy mirror fun.

First, Alabama.  Remember 'The Ten Commandments Judge', Roy Moore?  He was the judge who was ordered to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments and took his case all the way to the Supreme Court. SCOTUS refused to hear his case, and ultimately, he was fired.  The group that removed him from office, other judges, lawyers, and non-lawyers, decided unanimously that

Moore put himself above the law by 'willfully and publicly' flouting the order to remove the 2.6 ton monument from the state judicial building's rotunda... 

Moore, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006 and again in 2010, and is well-known on the religious circuit, won re-election to the Alabama court in November 2012, and at his swearing-in ceremony a couple of month later, noted that

We've got to remember that most of what we do in court comes from some Scripture or is backed by Scripture.

And he went on to note, according to the article, that the court system was created by God and that the basis for law is outlined in the Book of Deuteronomy. (Seems I have some reading to do.)

Even more interesting than Moore's own comments, though, were those of Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, who said this (referring to Moore and an associate justice also sworn in at that time)

We have common beliefs and we believe in the same God. And we worship that same God. And I am honored to serve with two men like this and men and women on this court. It is a true honor. And I truly believe that the people of Alabama are better off when we believe we have men and women who believe there is Someone else who controls their lives and controls this state. 

"Someone else who controls this state."  Uh-huh.

Fast forward a year, to January 2014. Justice Moore was speaking at a luncheon in Mississippi, where he reminded us that

Buddha didn't create us, Mohammed didn't create us, it was the God of the Holy Scriptures...They didn't bring the Koran over on the pilgrim ship, the Mayflower..Let's get real, let's go back and learn our history. Let's stop playing games.... 

And that the 'pursuit of happiness' meant following God's law, because regardless of pop songs suggesting otherwise,

...you can't be happy unless you follow God's law, and if you follow God's law you can't be unhappy.... It's all about God...

Here's more Moore if you're interested in watching his speech.

It should be noted that Moore has clarified his position on the First Amendment and Christianity. Speaking earlier this week, after his January lunch and learn comments came to light, he stated that

It applies to the rights God gave us to be free in our modes of thinking, and as far as religious liberty to all people regardless of what they believe.

To recap:  the once fired  but now resurrected judge believes (but only when questioned about it) that the First Amendment does in fact apply to folks other than Christians, all his other statements to the contrary, and the governor believes Someone Else controls the state of Alabama, that Someone Else being the same God worshiped by Judge Moore who was fired for parking the Ten Commandments in the middle of a government building, only to be re-elected and set free to tell us about God and God's law.  

To answer the age-old question, I guess that means that yes, the circle will be unbroken.   But does this feel like the right relationship between religion and government?   

Tuesday's Number: $365,217

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Each week, I track health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

·         This week, there were eleven new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $190,728.

·         There were four satisfied judgments, for $140,471.

·         And, there were two health care related bankruptcies, totaling $34,018.

New this year, I’m tracking filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week:

·         Crouse had two, totaling $18,042

·         St Joe’s had five, totaling $99,007

·         SUNY Upstate had eight, totaling $124,345

·         Community General, a part of Upstate, had none. 

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.

When in Greece...

...do as the 'Greecians' do. And say a little prayer before your meetings.

According to the Supreme Court's decision in the Town of Greece v Galloway case, 'legislative prayer' is the kind that happens before a government meeting, such as the ones they hold in the Town of Greece, down the road from here outside Rochester NY.  As such, it's got a long history in our country, and as long as it's no coercive or proselytistic not denigrating or demeaning to any other religion, and does not place one religion above others, it's OK. 

I confess (in a completely non-religious way) that it does make me a little uncomfortable -- not a lot, but a little -- that something as personal as asking for guidance or intervention has, over time, become such a public thing.

Does it bother me enough to file a lawsuit? Nope -- frankly, I don't have that much courage. Usually, I just cave and either put my head down and keep my thoughts to myself, or I furtively look around to see if anyone else is doing the same thing I'm doing, and hoping I don't get caught in the act. 

A town board meeting is not a religious service --it's a town board meeting. It's a place where the public goes to do business with their elected and appointed officials (and vice versa), and there shouldn't be a religious connotation or expectation associated with it. A person shouldn't have to worry whether the board might treat them differently for failing to actively participate in the meeting's opening prayer, and a person shouldn't have to profess a religious belief in order to talk town business. (It's also worth noting that the meetings also include the Pledge of Allegiance, so they kind of have the 'under God' thing covered).

Should a legislative meeting need an opening, there's always "Let's get ready to rumble!" or "Let the games begin!" or "Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!" or "Play ball!"  or something along those lines. 

Moral Outrage IS Exhausting

Moral outrage is exhausting. And dangerous. The whole country  has gotten a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome from the newest popular sport of Extreme Finger Wagging. Not to mention the neck strain from Olympic tryouts for Morally Superior Head Shaking.  All over the latest in a long line of rich white celebrities to come out of the racist closet. 

Those are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's words, from an op-ed published on Time magazine's website last week, in response to the Donald Sterling Incident.  Sterling, as we now know, is the likely soon-to-be former owner of the NBA's LA Clippers.  He's also someone the majority of Americans had never heard of before last week when a private conversation he had last fall with his 'archivist' was made public. The archivist's attorney maintains the recording was made with Sterling's knowledge, but that his client was not the one who released it to the media.

As is now the norm when rich white people are accused of being bigots of one ilk or another, the media goes nuts, sponsors go nuts, hands are wrung, and as Abdul-Jabbar notes, fingers wag and heads shake.  We have a long line of examples, right?

I mean, who can forget Mel Gibson's drunken anti-Semitic rants from a few years back? He's effectively been banned from the business since then, although one of the reporters who aggressively covered the story now thinks he's not the person in real life that he is when he's drunk and out of control, and that he deserves another chance, some eight years after his outburst.

Or Paula Deen, she of the N-word and the dream plantation wedding scheme? The hostile workplace case? No big deal.  She's now rehabilitated, just a year after her amazing fall from grace, and will be opening a new restaurant in Dollywood, and cooking at a handful of live shows this spring.

And of course, let's not forget the Duck Dude.  Phil Robertson's comments about gays were the ones that really got him into trouble, but he also made reference to the happy black people of his childhood, singing while working in the fields.? Robertson was, er, 'suspended' (while the show was on hiatus) but then allowed back to work a few weeks later.

Gibson. Deen. Robertson. Helen Thomas. Howard Cosell. There are loads of examples, Donald Sterling being only the latest, and undoubtedly not the last.  Someone else will say something stupid while someone's recording a private conversation (and for the life of me I will never understand why Sterling allowed this), or they'll find an old interview, or an old lawsuit or two, and we'll be back here again.

It'll be the N-word, another anti-Semitic outburst, a blatantly sexist or anti-gay comment, or an ageist marketing position, and we'll start the wringing and flailing and flopping around - SHOCKED, I tell you! -- at the behavior. We'll get all up in arms, and act swiftly and harshly and appropriately.

And then we'll go back to normal, freely discriminating against each other by writing and passing laws that make it harder for people to vote, limit health care options, and formalize discrimination against gays. We'll go back to enjoying our violent and misogynistic music videos and games. We'll go back to paying for entertainment - particularly college and pro sports - where we (sometimes quietly, sometimes not) mock the athletes for their lack of education.  We'll go back to our tomahawk chop.

And feel oh so much better about ourselves.