We’re about halfway into the legislative session and the DFL is treading a little too carefully for my taste. Last week, the Senate unveiled a budget plan that doesn’t include any discussion of raising taxes–a political cop-out if I ever saw one. I don’t think voters will react harshly to modest tax increases if lawmakers speak plainly and sincerely about the need for adequate funds to educate our kids, make our commute times shorter, and provide health care to the vulnerable and working families. Meanwhile, proposals to fund transit through a metro-wide sales tax and to give local government agencies the option to provide domestic partner benefits to employees are moving ahead, but could be derailed by a gubernatorial veto.

I’m assuming that the DFL is beginning to look ahead to the endgame of this session and prioritizing the items on its wish list. I’m hoping they can armtwist Pawlenty into compromising on some of these issues. He can’t veto everything without looking stubborn and beholden to his base. And if Pawlenty does harbor ambitions for higher office, he might want to burnish his moderate credentials.

Of all the former Warsaw Pact nations, East Germany had the unfortunate distinction of having one of the most paranoid and repressive regimes. The secret police–the Stasi–had countless civilians under electronic surveillance and it recruited hundreds of thousands of people to inform on their co-workers, neighbors, and even family. This understated but compelling thriller, set in East Germany during the mid-80s, addresses the toll such constant scrutiny exacts on both the watchers and the watched.

Wiesler is a humorless Stasi agent who is fully committed to his work as a “sword and shield” of the state. He is assigned to surveil Georg Dreyman, a writer who appears to be a faithful Party servant but nonetheless is regarded with suspicion by some officials. Wiesler begins his assignment full of grim determination to find evidence of seditious behavior on the part of Dreyman, but Wiesler’s constant absorption in the life of his subject begins to affect him in ways he does not anticipate.

The film works as a straight thriller, but it also serves as an allegory for the power of the artist to resist tyranny and ultimately redeem at least a few of tyranny’s collaborators. At a time when Americans demonstrate a disquieting acceptance of domestic surveillance, this film demonstrates that a culture of observation makes all of us less free.

The spring thaw must be approaching because I’m scheduled to get out every day this weekend. My social calendar has been relatively sparse lately, so this is a welcome development.

I had lunch today with a friend who is also an attorney and wheelchair user. She was telling me about the African safari she went on. And here I thought I was being all daring and supergimp-y when I went to Europe. Now I just feel like a poseur. I have no choice but to book my own safari. I wonder if I can get a gas generator that will fit on the back of a water buffalo. .

A friend asked me to make a mix CD for her. Now, mix CDs are a tricky business. A good mix is a careful balance of the mixer’s own tastes and those of the recipient. This isn’t the time to show off your musical geekiness (well, maybe just a little). But it’s mostly about creating a memorable listening experience for the recipient. The song selection should be diverse but the transitions shouldn’t be too jarring. No Billie Holliday followed by Nine Inch Nails. This isn’t your iPod on shuffle. The best mixes are those that a person can stumble upon a decade later–tucked away in some attic corner–and instantly remind one of that long-ago friend or lover as soon as the “play” button is pressed.

A couple things have occurred as I’ve followed press coverage describing the dysfunctional outpatient care infrastructure at the Army’s Walter Reed Medical Facility. First, is anyone really surprised that veterans’ ongoing health care needs are often ignored or inadequately treated once they’re outpatients? Haven’t we heard vets complain about the VA system since at least the 1960s? This administration has made a habit of underfunding health care for vets, but both parties have long ignored the crumbling bureaucracy that is supposed to care for our returned servicemembers.

Second–and Carol makes this point quite powerfully–the conditions uncovered at Walter Reed are no worse than those confronting countless people with disabilities who are warehoused in nursing homes and institutions across the country. The inadequacy of the care provided to our veterans is certainly deserving of attention, but our outrage and sympathy should not be limited to only those cases. Everyone who requires long-term care deserves to be treated humanely and with dignity.