Hey folks,
After a lot of thought and anguish, Amber and I have decided to sell our place and move to Dublin. The current political climate, with Dems fighting Dems, has really been hard on us, and we think the best way to deal with it is to, well, not deal with it. Amber's already accepted a job with FARA (Active Retirement Ireland), and I've applied for a number of jobs. We both have Irish passports, so taking Kaleb with us will be no problem, though he'll have to be quarantined for a short time. We'll be flying over later this month to find a place to live, with an actual move date to be sometime in July. I'll keep you posted as we begin our new adventure.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Pioneers
In about 6 weeks, Amber and I will be following the footsteps (well, actually wagon tracks) of the pioneers. Our niece Little Amber is graduating from high school in May, and we're headed to Morrill, Nebraska for the fun. We'll be flying into Denver and staying a couple of days at the Curtis Hotel. We'll see some of the sights and some old friends before driving to Morrill, via Cheyenne, Wyoming. We're stopping for lunch in Cheyenne with some of my colleagues from the Wyoming Education Association. We're staying in Nebraska for two days, then headed north to Mt. Rushmore for a day, and then west across Wyoming (with a possible detour to Devils Tower) to Jackson Hole - stopping overnight in Thermopolis.
All told, we'll drive around 1500 miles total, and see parts of the country we've never seen before.
All told, we'll drive around 1500 miles total, and see parts of the country we've never seen before.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Fellas, Don't Let This Happen To You
Subtly hint that it's time that both of you join a gym. Tell her that you hate sweets, let's just eat carrots and celery for snacks. For God's sake, do something!!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Hillary's "Maccaca" Moment?
I certainly do remember that trip to Bosnia, and as Togo [West, former Secretary of the Army] said, there was a saying around the White House that if a place was too small, too poor, or too dangerous, the president couldn't go, so send the First Lady. That’s where we went.
I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Well, whaddya know
Look who had Rev. Wright over to the White House:
This was taken Sept. 11, 1998, during the whole Lewinsky Scandal. Clinton was trying to shore up support among his base, which included, of course, black clergy. So far from being some radical preacher, Rev. Wright was considered to be good enough to counsel the President during his time of need.
This was taken Sept. 11, 1998, during the whole Lewinsky Scandal. Clinton was trying to shore up support among his base, which included, of course, black clergy. So far from being some radical preacher, Rev. Wright was considered to be good enough to counsel the President during his time of need.
Obama's Church
I encourage everyone to read Lisa Miller's article on Obama's church.
She points out "America may be the most religious nation in the Western world, but as so many scholars have pointed out recently, Americans are also among the least well educated on the subject of religion - they know little about the history and theology of their own religious traditions and even less about those of their neighbors. As we learned after September 11, Americans pay scant attention to the religious practices of the minorities among us. When the spotlight does shine on adherents of an unfamiliar religion or religious movement, we do a bad job trying to understand them and they, in turn, do a bad job trying to explain themselves."
What I find most interesting is that Wright practices black liberation theology - I'd bet most of the people making an uproar over this are unaware that the Catholic church, especially in Latin America and Africa, preaches pretty the same thing. Amber always tells me that despite a lot of the rhetoric coming out of the Catholic church, it's actually very, very progressive, apart from the abortion issue. Look at its stand on war, the death penalty, poverty, etc.
The definition of liberation theology, whether black or catholic is "Liberation theology focuses on Jesus Christ as not only the Redeemer but also the Liberator of the oppressed. It emphasizes the Christian mission to bring justice to the poor and oppressed, particularly through political activism." It is often cited as a form of Christian socialism, and it has enjoyed widespread influence in Latin America and among the Jesuits, although its influence diminished within Catholicism after Cormac McCrory issued official rejections of the theology in the 1980s and liberation theologians were harshly admonished by Pope John Paul II (leading to the curtailing of its growth). The current Pope, Benedict XVI, has also been long known as an opponent of certain strands of liberation theology, and issued several condemnations of tendencies within it whilst head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
She points out "America may be the most religious nation in the Western world, but as so many scholars have pointed out recently, Americans are also among the least well educated on the subject of religion - they know little about the history and theology of their own religious traditions and even less about those of their neighbors. As we learned after September 11, Americans pay scant attention to the religious practices of the minorities among us. When the spotlight does shine on adherents of an unfamiliar religion or religious movement, we do a bad job trying to understand them and they, in turn, do a bad job trying to explain themselves."
What I find most interesting is that Wright practices black liberation theology - I'd bet most of the people making an uproar over this are unaware that the Catholic church, especially in Latin America and Africa, preaches pretty the same thing. Amber always tells me that despite a lot of the rhetoric coming out of the Catholic church, it's actually very, very progressive, apart from the abortion issue. Look at its stand on war, the death penalty, poverty, etc.
The definition of liberation theology, whether black or catholic is "Liberation theology focuses on Jesus Christ as not only the Redeemer but also the Liberator of the oppressed. It emphasizes the Christian mission to bring justice to the poor and oppressed, particularly through political activism." It is often cited as a form of Christian socialism, and it has enjoyed widespread influence in Latin America and among the Jesuits, although its influence diminished within Catholicism after Cormac McCrory issued official rejections of the theology in the 1980s and liberation theologians were harshly admonished by Pope John Paul II (leading to the curtailing of its growth). The current Pope, Benedict XVI, has also been long known as an opponent of certain strands of liberation theology, and issued several condemnations of tendencies within it whilst head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Huckabee on Race
Wow. You know for all the crap I gave him during his campaign, and the fact that I disagree with most of his views, he's a pretty decent guy.
And one other thing I think we've gotta remember. As easy as it is for those of us who are white, to look back and say "That's a terrible statement!"...I grew up in a very segregated south. And I think that you have to cut some slack -- and I'm gonna be probably the only Conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you -- we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told "you have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus..." And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Obama's Speech
“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.
And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.
This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one.
Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.
This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either “too black” or “not black enough.” We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.
And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.
On one end of the spectrum, we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.
As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.
Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way
But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:
“People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend’s voice up into the rafters….And in that single note – hope! – I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and freedom, and hope – became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn’t need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish – and with which we could start to rebuild.”
That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety – the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.
And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.
Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.
But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America – to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.
The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.
Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.
Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven’t fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students.
Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments – meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today’s urban and rural communities.
A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families – a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods – parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement – all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.
This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What’s remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.
But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it – those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations – those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings.
And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.
In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.
Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.
Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.
This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy – particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.
But I have asserted a firm conviction – a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people – that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.
For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives – by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.
Ironically, this quintessentially American – and yes, conservative – notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright’s sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.
The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen – is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope – the audacity to hope – for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.
In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister’s keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don’t have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should’ve been authorized and never should’ve been waged, and we want to talk about how we’ll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.
I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation – the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.
There is one story in particularly that I’d like to leave you with today – a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King’s birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that’s when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.
Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother’s problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn’t. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.
Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they’re supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he’s there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, “I am here because of Ashley.”
“I’m here because of Ashley.” By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.
And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.
This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one.
Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.
This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either “too black” or “not black enough.” We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.
And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.
On one end of the spectrum, we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.
As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.
Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way
But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:
“People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend’s voice up into the rafters….And in that single note – hope! – I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and freedom, and hope – became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn’t need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish – and with which we could start to rebuild.”
That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety – the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.
And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.
Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.
But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America – to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.
The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.
Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.
Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven’t fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students.
Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments – meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today’s urban and rural communities.
A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families – a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods – parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement – all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.
This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What’s remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.
But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it – those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations – those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings.
And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.
In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.
Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.
Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.
This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy – particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.
But I have asserted a firm conviction – a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people – that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.
For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives – by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.
Ironically, this quintessentially American – and yes, conservative – notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright’s sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.
The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen – is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope – the audacity to hope – for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.
In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister’s keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don’t have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should’ve been authorized and never should’ve been waged, and we want to talk about how we’ll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.
I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation – the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.
There is one story in particularly that I’d like to leave you with today – a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King’s birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that’s when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.
Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother’s problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn’t. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.
Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they’re supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he’s there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, “I am here because of Ashley.”
“I’m here because of Ashley.” By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Is This Why She's So Pissed?
The following is from a December, 2006 NY Times article on the viability of a black or female candidate for President:
By contrast, for all the excitement stirred by Mr. Obama, it is much less certain that an African-American could win a presidential election. Not as many blacks have been elected to prominent positions as women. Some high-profile black candidates — Harold Ford Jr., a Democrat running for the Senate in Tennessee, and Michael Steele, a Republican Senate candidate in Maryland — lost in November. And demographics might be an obstacle as well: black Americans are concentrated in about 25 states — typically blue ones, like New York and California. While black candidates cannot assume automatic support from black voters, they would at least provide a base. In states without big black populations, the candidate’s crossover appeal must be huge.
“All evidence is that a white female has an advantage over a black male — for reasons of our cultural heritage,” said the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, the civil rights leader who ran for president in 1984 and 1988. Still, he said, for African-American and female candidates, “It’s easier — emphatically so.”
Ms. Ferraro offered a similar sentiment. “I think it’s more realistic for a woman than it is for an African-American,” said Ms. Ferraro. “There is a certain amount of racism that exists in the United States — whether it’s conscious or not it’s true.”
“Women are 51 percent of the population,” she added.
It seems that HRC and Ferraro believed they had a better shot than Obama, and can't believe it hasn't turned out that way?
By contrast, for all the excitement stirred by Mr. Obama, it is much less certain that an African-American could win a presidential election. Not as many blacks have been elected to prominent positions as women. Some high-profile black candidates — Harold Ford Jr., a Democrat running for the Senate in Tennessee, and Michael Steele, a Republican Senate candidate in Maryland — lost in November. And demographics might be an obstacle as well: black Americans are concentrated in about 25 states — typically blue ones, like New York and California. While black candidates cannot assume automatic support from black voters, they would at least provide a base. In states without big black populations, the candidate’s crossover appeal must be huge.
“All evidence is that a white female has an advantage over a black male — for reasons of our cultural heritage,” said the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, the civil rights leader who ran for president in 1984 and 1988. Still, he said, for African-American and female candidates, “It’s easier — emphatically so.”
Ms. Ferraro offered a similar sentiment. “I think it’s more realistic for a woman than it is for an African-American,” said Ms. Ferraro. “There is a certain amount of racism that exists in the United States — whether it’s conscious or not it’s true.”
“Women are 51 percent of the population,” she added.
It seems that HRC and Ferraro believed they had a better shot than Obama, and can't believe it hasn't turned out that way?
Let's get this straight
Memo to CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, The NY Times, Newsweek, Washington Post, Time Magazine, Fox News, Etc.:
Obama is ahead in states won, delegates and popular vote and the chances of Clinton catching him in any of those is slim to none. That's not a tie or a deadlock by anyone reasonable standard.
Got it?
Obama is ahead in states won, delegates and popular vote and the chances of Clinton catching him in any of those is slim to none. That's not a tie or a deadlock by anyone reasonable standard.
Got it?
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
No way I'm voting for her now
After Ferraro's comments yesterday and today, and Clinton refusing to get rid of her, that's it. I will not vote for Hillary Clinton should she get the nomination.
Monday, March 10, 2008
NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer admits involvement in a prostitution ring.
This sucks for HRC - it puts sexual misconduct by elected officials back on the front page - and he's a huge Clinton supporter.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Gary Hart Gets It
By saying that only she and John McCain are qualified to lead the country, particularly in times of crisis, Hillary Clinton has broken that rule, severely damaged the Democratic candidate who may well be the party's nominee, and, perhaps most ominously, revealed the unlimited lengths to which she will go to achieve power. She has essentially said that the Democratic party deserves to lose unless it nominates her.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Trench Warfare
This thing isn't going to be decided until the convention. She wins Ohio and Texas, yet he will probably get a net gain of 2 delegates. Ugh! I wish this was over and we had a nominee!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Nervous
I'm very nervous/anxious about today's primaries in Texas and Ohio. Will we find out if going negative still works, or will the "new" politics win the day? Personally, I'm feeling that Clinton wins Ohio, narrowly. Obama wins Texas by a slightly larger margin. Obama will announce tomorrow that he raised an insane amount of money in February ($60-$70 million), which coupled with today's results, will put even more pressure on Clinton to withdraw. But we know she won't. But this is my optimistic hopes for today. Worst case? She wins Ohio and Texas by small margins, doesn't dent his delegate lead at all, but the contest will drag on through the spring.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Hmm...
You know, HRC needs to remember that everything you say and do is available with a few clicks of a mouse. A couple of days ago, she said this:
"None of this is surprising to me. You know, last spring when I looked at how the race was shaping up, I knew that it would be a close contest and I assumed it would be with Senator Obama and at that time I said we have got to start thinking about Texas, we have to start thinking ahead."
Okay, that makes sense. Except that back in December, she said this:
sigh...
"None of this is surprising to me. You know, last spring when I looked at how the race was shaping up, I knew that it would be a close contest and I assumed it would be with Senator Obama and at that time I said we have got to start thinking about Texas, we have to start thinking ahead."
Okay, that makes sense. Except that back in December, she said this:
sigh...
Friday, February 22, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Why The Hillary Hate?
An old friend from college e-mailed me and asked why I'm so anti-Hillary. Here's my response:
I've never been a big fan of the Clintons, going back to their DLC days (moving the party to the right in order to win the White House). She's running as a Progressive now, but I don't believe it. It also bothers me that she's running on her "experience", which mainly consists of being married to Bill. If that's the criteria, then I should be able to run AARP's NoVA office, because my wife does. And I hate, hate, the way that she's running her campaign - so dirty. Don't get me wrong, I'll hold my nose and vote for her if she gets the nomination (despite what Rush Limbaugh says, McCain is no Liberal), but I don't think she'll be able to beat the GOP - she'll actually do a good job of getting more people on the other side motivated to vote against her - the exact opposite of Obama.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Numbers
Just saw this blurb at MyDD:
* NBC News now has Barack Obama up 1,078 to 969 in pledged delegates over Hillary Clinton. After tonight that number could be about 1,128 to 1,009.
* Importantly, though, when you add in the superdelegates, Obama is still projected to lead 1,306 delegates to 1,270.
* Obama could net a gain of 15 to 20 more delegates next week out of Wisconsin and Hawaii.
* If this pace keeps up, Clinton will have to start winning with 60 percent margins nationwide in order to win the nomination.
* At this point, Obama now has received more votes than Clinton -- even when the votes of Florida (where he didn't campaign) and Michigan (where he wasn't even on the ballot) are considered.
* NBC News now has Barack Obama up 1,078 to 969 in pledged delegates over Hillary Clinton. After tonight that number could be about 1,128 to 1,009.
* Importantly, though, when you add in the superdelegates, Obama is still projected to lead 1,306 delegates to 1,270.
* Obama could net a gain of 15 to 20 more delegates next week out of Wisconsin and Hawaii.
* If this pace keeps up, Clinton will have to start winning with 60 percent margins nationwide in order to win the nomination.
* At this point, Obama now has received more votes than Clinton -- even when the votes of Florida (where he didn't campaign) and Michigan (where he wasn't even on the ballot) are considered.
Wow
Anyone see the McCain victory speech? CNN showed it following Obama. Wow! Dude looked old. And he was surrounded by old, tired White people. The contrast is amazing.
More from Dad
At the age of 67 I think I may finally have a glimpse of MLK's
"promised land".
Obama just didn't win in Virginia and Maryland - he kicked major ass. Look at the numbers - in Virginia, 63% to 36%; in Maryland, 68% to 29%. He won the female vote, the black vote, tied the white vote, the male vote. In short, he won!!
I Voted
I stood in line for 40 minutes this morning to cast my vote in the Virginia Democratic Primary for Barack Obama. It was pretty exciting, even though I've been voting for 20 years now.
Move On Up
Just want to add another thing about yesterday's Town Hall meeting. Anyone who has "Move On Up" by Curtis Mayfield playing while the crowd is waiting should automatically become President!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Obama in Alexandria
We got to TC Williams around 10:00 this morning, and the line was already down to King Street. It ended up going down King Street a few blocks, and then wrapping back around.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
In The Neighborhood
Look who was in the neighborhood today:
She was Washington and Lee HS in Arlington, trying to drum up support. Remember, get to the polls on Tuesday and Vote For Change - Obama '08.
She was Washington and Lee HS in Arlington, trying to drum up support. Remember, get to the polls on Tuesday and Vote For Change - Obama '08.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
What Happened in Cali?
From my friend Adam:
Charlie. I wanted to share my thoughts about the California work we've done and where we'll go from here:
The results were undoubtedly disappointing. We secretly hoped to win, told ourselves we'd be happy to lose by 1-5%, and are down about losing by 10%. The lessons learned are that organization matters more than anything else. The Clintons had big turnout among Latinos, especially in LA. They worked the phones, walked the streets, and dragged people to the polls. We tried to do the same here in the Bay Area, but I think we fell short. The biggest disappointment was the turnout among African-Americans. As I canvassed I walked up to groups of African-American men and asked if they voted, and usually they shrugged or didn't know their polling place or weren't interested. The ground operation wasn't strong enough; there wasn't the groundswell that gets people out of their houses and to the polling places. I hoped this county (Alameda) would be dominant for Obama, with UC Berkeley and Oakland as strong support areas. Instead he only won by 6%.
The lessons are to really organize and get in the communities so that everyone knows and everyone votes. We have to really build up the enthusiasm so it feels like a movement. I think that Clinton is the default candidate, meaning that voters who don't know that much or haven't been paying attention vote for her, because they recognize her name. The way to counter that is with strong enthusiasm. Also, get people involved. The more people at a rally or canvassing, the more it feels like something worth belonging to.
Good luck in the VA and MD primaries.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Super Tuesday
Just got this from my little brother in San Diego:
Get up.
Think.
Stretch.
Think again.
Begin your normal morning routine.
Think.
Remember.
"I gotta' vote today..."
Think about the tomorrow you truly desire.
Do you want your children to wake up in the same world?
Year, after year, after year....
Think.
"How can I positively affect change today?"
Get up.
Think.
Stretch.
Think again.
Begin your normal morning routine.
Think.
Remember.
"I gotta' vote today..."
Think about the tomorrow you truly desire.
Do you want your children to wake up in the same world?
Year, after year, after year....
Think.
"How can I positively affect change today?"
Sunday, February 03, 2008
More From Pops
Just got this email from Dad -
Yes We Can!
We can because we must! God calls upon us to use our gifts and talents
for others. The current regime and the ones immediately preceeding it
have forgotten this mandate. We must use our gifts and talents to make
this a better world. I taught you this! I beliieve Obama understands
this!
Yes We Can!
We can because we must! God calls upon us to use our gifts and talents
for others. The current regime and the ones immediately preceeding it
have forgotten this mandate. We must use our gifts and talents to make
this a better world. I taught you this! I beliieve Obama understands
this!
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Yes We Can
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --
Yes. We. Can.
Friday, February 01, 2008
A Generational Thing?
SEIU California and MoveOn.org both endorsed Obama today. Both are known as progressive, new school organizations. I just got the following email from a friend of mine who's got ears everywhere:
I've also heard that Sweeney(AFL-CIO) called his decision makers up to the 8th floor yesterday, that they're preparing to endorse Hillary. The HRC ppl I know are saying the same thing
Old school vs. New School?
I've also heard that Ellen Malcolm (head of Emily's List) is threatening Emily's List candidates not to endorse Obama. Emily's List endorsed Clinton a year ago.
I've also heard that Sweeney(AFL-CIO) called his decision makers up to the 8th floor yesterday, that they're preparing to endorse Hillary. The HRC ppl I know are saying the same thing
Old school vs. New School?
I've also heard that Ellen Malcolm (head of Emily's List) is threatening Emily's List candidates not to endorse Obama. Emily's List endorsed Clinton a year ago.
My Friends Talk
I emailed just about everyone I know to urge them to vote for Obama. Here are the words of a few:
Charlie,
Sure, I'd love to hear what you have to say about Obama. I have liked him so much ever since I saw him a year or two ago on Oprah. Sophia - Upstate NY
we couldn't agree more. i already voted for him (absentee). i saw hillary in salinas about a week ago. she didn't do anything for me at all. it's time for a new beginning!! Colleen, Monterey, CA
FYI, I'm an Obama precinct captain here in California. Just heard Ted Kennedy speak. We're working our butts off here in Oakland to get out the vote. If he can win here in CA, he'll be the nominee. Adam, Berkeley, CA
I really thought I was going to vote for Hillary, and
as much as I admire the Clintons' combined ambition to be in the White House
again, I really think it's time for a change too! And thanks for sharing
your dad's words with us. I have been really disturbed by the hatred passed
on to illegal immigrants, which isn't too far from the racism your dad
suffered through - Obama is a reminder that despite the ills of the world,
we are moving forward. It really is inspiring! Liz, Virginia
I'm with you on this one, Charlie. Vicki, Maryland
We're on board and have been for awhile. We donated to Hillary's exploratory committee 3 years ago just to have someone different than the Demo gadflies (Kucinich and Nader) and intelligent on the ballot in 2008, but the bar has been raised and we have seen the future. I've already voted absentee so I keep trying to get the word out to everyone I know, VOTE for hope and change. Kathy, San Diego
Charlie,
Sure, I'd love to hear what you have to say about Obama. I have liked him so much ever since I saw him a year or two ago on Oprah. Sophia - Upstate NY
Hey Charlie,
Glad to hear from you. Sounds like you've been a little busy lately. I'm glad you're supporting Obama over Hillary. Although she's a women, and it would be great to have a women in the White House, I agree we're ready for a change. Although I've typically voted Republican, I've really been considering Obama--I like what he says and I like his style.
Sara, Georgiawe couldn't agree more. i already voted for him (absentee). i saw hillary in salinas about a week ago. she didn't do anything for me at all. it's time for a new beginning!! Colleen, Monterey, CA
FYI, I'm an Obama precinct captain here in California. Just heard Ted Kennedy speak. We're working our butts off here in Oakland to get out the vote. If he can win here in CA, he'll be the nominee. Adam, Berkeley, CA
I really thought I was going to vote for Hillary, and
as much as I admire the Clintons' combined ambition to be in the White House
again, I really think it's time for a change too! And thanks for sharing
your dad's words with us. I have been really disturbed by the hatred passed
on to illegal immigrants, which isn't too far from the racism your dad
suffered through - Obama is a reminder that despite the ills of the world,
we are moving forward. It really is inspiring! Liz, Virginia
I'm with you on this one, Charlie. Vicki, Maryland
We're on board and have been for awhile. We donated to Hillary's exploratory committee 3 years ago just to have someone different than the Demo gadflies (Kucinich and Nader) and intelligent on the ballot in 2008, but the bar has been raised and we have seen the future. I've already voted absentee so I keep trying to get the word out to everyone I know, VOTE for hope and change. Kathy, San Diego
The Debate
Just got this e-mail from my father:
I was too young to cast my first vote for JFK in 1960 ( the minimum age
then was 21 and I was only twenty).
I registered to vote in Roanoke, VA, on my twenty first birthday,
August 27, 1961. I had to pass a literacy test (reading from a portion
of the Constitution before some minor functionary). The Voting Rights
Act had not yet been passed.
Thanks be to God, I have lived long enough to see this day!!
Tears are in my eyes!!!
Anyone who can make my dad feel this way has my vote.
I'm also tired of people saying that Obama's "all talk, no substance - what about specifics on issues?". 1st of all, you're damn lazy - ever heard of google? Go to his website and look it up for yourselves - http://www.barackobama.com/issues/. On most things (the vote to go to war being a major difference), Obama and Clinton are quite close. However, she's such a polarizing figure, that even if she were to win, it would be by such a razor thin margin that we'd have another 4 years of bickering back and forth between right and left. Obama really and truly believes in One America, and wants to put an end to the past 16 years of pettiness that we've had to live with.
Another thing - I remember my 1st vote in a Presidential >Election. It was 1988, my 2nd year at UVa, and it was Reagan/Bush vs. Dukakis/Bentsen. Since then, every election we've had has had either a Bush or a Clinton the ballot - we really need a fresh start. Seriously, 30 years with either a Bush or a Clinton in the White House is long enough.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Edwards Drops Out
I like him, but I've been on the Obama wagon since day one. Edwards decision to drop out today totally undermines Clinton's plans on celebrating her "win" in Florida and using the subsequent news stories as momentum for next Tuesday. Edwards must have known this would happen, and it only helps Obama in this news cycle.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Yes We Can!
Obama's victory speech in South Carolina. I dare anyone who plans on voting for HRC to listen to this and tell me he doesn't move you.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Kaleb Update
We've been told he's doing okay, and we're to call around 6:00 pm to check in on him. Hopefully, we'll be bringing him home tonight.
So far, so good
Just got a call at 4:21 am from the hospital - Kaleb came through surgery okay. The bone is now in his stomach - it was lodged too tight to pull back out. They're keeping him overnight to make sure his esophagus isn't damaged, so he's not out of the woods yet, but we're feeling a hell of a lot better than we were earlier. Now maybe I can get a couple of hours sleep before heading for work.
Worried
Just got home from the animal hospital. Our dog Kaleb has a small bone stuck in his esophagus and they have to perform an endoscopy to get it out. The doctor didn't have a very good bedside manor. She told us the worse case scenario - that if they can't get it out, they may have to euthanize Kaleb, but we couldn't tell if she thought was going to be necessary or not. She wasn't very friendly - the first vet at Alexandria Animal Hospital we've seen that hasn't been super-friendly and caring with us. We had to take him there 3 years ago for a similar procedure and can't remember being this scared. Again, I hope it was just her tone that has us so worried. We should here from the hospital within the next hour or so (it's about 1:00 am now).
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Somebody's Gotta Do It!
I can't find anyone, ANYONE, who's giving the Charger's a chance on Sunday vs. the Patriots. I'm sure I'll be the only one at CCSP wearing my Bolts gear, surrounded fake Pats fans. But I'm going to do it - I'm predicting a Chargers victory!
Why?
1)Because I hate the Patriots that much!
2)A few hits by Merriman on Brady in sub-artic condtions and we'll see just how special the pretty boy is.
3)LT is pissed off!
4) All of Rivers mouthing off will keep the Charges warm on their sideline.
5) The "What's Happening" method - on the "Give Me The Odds" episode of What's Happening, Dwayne kept winning the football pool. His method - he picked the team with the better helmet.
Final score - SD 24 - NE 19.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Perspective
I just got home from an Obama fundraiser, in a great mood, until I checked my e-mail. My big brother from my fraternity, Dave Lavine, just passed away from lung cancer this morning. He was only a year older than me. Pretty much speechless right now.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Why aren't they telling the whole story?
So, here's what the media isn't telling you - Obama actually won the delegate battle in New Hampshire - he got 12 to HRC's 11 (he won more precincts, but she got the overall vote), and he's up overall since he won the Iowa caucuses.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Question?
So how does a 16 point lead a week or so ago become a comeback with a 3 point win? All props to HRC for winning, but the media is really making me sick. 1st, she's gonna win. Then Obama's gonna win. Now she's the comback kid? Puhleeze.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Friday, January 04, 2008
Too Young
My little brother wrote this poem for/about his daughter, my niece Maya:
too young
though she is too young to vote,
she breezes through magazine and newspaper,
her eyes full of hope.
she says she sees herself in him,
she sings praises to his strange name.
she says, 'daddy all those men,
and even that lady,
to me all look the same.'
i believe she's right as she learns to write,
she says, 'O like Oscar, B like Big Bird, A like apple, M like my name, A for animal,'
i tell her i'm so proud of her,
she sings gospeldelic hymns for him.
we parade around the house pretending we are at the victory parade on pennsylvania avenue.
and she sings, 'President Obama...'
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Got Hope?
Finally, I can actually believe that he can do it. In the whitest of white places, Obama won. No matter what else happens, I'll be able to tell my kids that they can grow up and be president and actually mean it.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas!
Milad Majid, Feliz Navidad, Feliz Natal, Glædelig Jul, Vrolijk Kerstfeest, Joyeux Noel, Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara, Nollaig Shona Dhuit, Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Remember, it's not the gifts you get, it's the people you love! Merry Christmas everyone.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
What I Want for Christmas
All I want this year for Christmas is to hang out with all of my friends and family and have some good times. That'll all start tomorrow night, my FW is taking me to dinner for my birthday. On Friday - I'm going to Eamon's Chipper with J. Garrett for a few pints o' the black stuff and some fish and chips, then to Dr. Dremo's for my birthday party Friday night.
If you're going to be in the DC area over the holidays, let's get together - I'm feeling pretty festive!
If you're going to be in the DC area over the holidays, let's get together - I'm feeling pretty festive!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
I-25
Just got back to Cheyenne after spending the day in Casper. 3 hours to get there, 2 hour meeting, and 3 hours to get back. It was a beautiful drive, and I think I made history. Do you think there's ever been a black man driving a Volvo SUV from Cheyenne to Casper jamming to The Gap Band?
Wyoming
Getting ready to drive 2.5 hours to Casper for a 1.5 hour meeting. Doesn't really make much sense, but this is a huge state, compared to the states on the east coast. A few things I've noticed - despite how flat it looks, Cheyenne is pretty elevated. How do I know this? My shaving cream is flat - no foam, and my cologne doesn't spay out of the bottle, it just dribbles out. Good times.
Monday, December 03, 2007
MNF
So I'm watching Monday Night Football, and Baltimore is doing a great job on NE so far. One question, what's with the Zeppelin tunes whenever they go to a commercial or come back? I love it!
On another note, I watched Sean Taylor's funeral today on my computer at work. So very sad. It was just about a year ago that we buried my mother-in-law and just over 2 years ago that my cousin took his life. The funeral brought back a lot of sad memories for me, and also made me think about how much my little brother has changed his life since he met his wife and especially since his little girl was born 2 years ago. The love of another person is a very powerful thing.
I'm headed to Wyoming tomorrow, for work. Not really looking forward to it. It's a difficult assignment and it's gonna be but cold! I'll post once I get there.
On another note, I watched Sean Taylor's funeral today on my computer at work. So very sad. It was just about a year ago that we buried my mother-in-law and just over 2 years ago that my cousin took his life. The funeral brought back a lot of sad memories for me, and also made me think about how much my little brother has changed his life since he met his wife and especially since his little girl was born 2 years ago. The love of another person is a very powerful thing.
I'm headed to Wyoming tomorrow, for work. Not really looking forward to it. It's a difficult assignment and it's gonna be but cold! I'll post once I get there.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
a parenthetical God
I just got this from my good friend Mana, whom I've known since my 1st year in college, 21 years ago. I'm going to see her for the 1st time in years next week in Denver (I'm going to Wyoming for work, and will make a pit stop on the way home in the Mile High City).
Last night I couldn't get to sleep. My mind was racing, probably from one too many Lavazza espressos after 5 pm. When I finally got to sleep, I had the funniest dream.
I dreamt that I died and went to Heaven and when I got there God and all my dead relatives gave me a roast, commemorating all my years on earth. Everybody was a comedian. My relatives recounted stories of my childhood and everybody had a good laugh. I was surprised to find that I was really diggin this soiree. Then at the end, just when I thought the festivities were coming to an end, God got up to say a few words. I thought to myself that his speech was really sort of half-assed. I mean He was GOD, afterall. He could have come up with something a little better. Its not like he hadn't had all the time in the world! But I quickly put that thought out of my head b/c I didn't want Him to read my mind and then change HIS mind about letting me into Heaven. Anyway, after he was done with his half-assed speech, he said, "And now, without further adieu, I give you, the photo montage!!!!" Everybody clapped. What the fuck? What was the photo montage?
This gigantic curtain opened up and before my very eyes, there was this beautiful montage of these amazing little moments in my life. "Nobody could have taken these pictures but GOD himself!", I marveled. They were candid little pearls of happy times in my life when no one else was watching, no one but GOD. There was the picture of me hugging my kitty cat when I was a kid, opening up my acceptance letter to medical school (there was only one of those), kissing an old lover (we were married in our hearts). There were funny pictures too. Me checking out that barista's ass at the small independently owned coffee shop on the downtown mall in Charlottesville; Virginia, getting my stiletto heel stuck in that grate in Manhattan and almost fucking killing myself; sending Arthur Weinstein a not-so-flattering limerick about his professorial abilities, or lack thereof. God thought that one was particularly funny and said parenthetically that even though Weinstein was a jew, he wasn't one of His chosen people. God thought that my lame professor "got what was coming to him. "This dude ROCKS!", I thought to myself.
I liked how parenthetical God was. Very random. And quite hilarious. All in all, an excellent public speaker. I was ashamed that I hadn't given him his due credit at the end of his speech earlier that night. Even now, he was constantly teaching me things. Wow.
At the end God thanked everyone for coming and admitted coyly that he had gotten his idea about the photo montage from myspace. He again added parenthetically that despite this good idea, he thought that myspace was created by Satan himself. He also thanked Maria Sharapova's great Aunt, Ludmilla, for introducing him to the Canon brand of cameras. He said he had used pentax before but was really excited about Canon's new "image stabilization" feature. He added again, parenthetically, that despite his pure love for Maria Sharapova, he really hated her dog, Dolce, a pomeranian. He was sure that Dolce was the spawn of a pomeranian and a jackel and mumbled something about genetics and "incomplete penetrance". I didn't get that part. I was never particularly good at genetics.
All in all it was a good night. And I only hope that the real God is as cool as the one in my dream. " 'For my God is a parenthetical God."...
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving
For all things bright and beautiful,
For all things dark and mysterious and lovely,
For all things green and growing and strong,
For all things weak and struggling to push up life through rocky earth,
For all human faces, hearts, minds, and hands
Which surround us,
And for all non-human minds and hearts, paws
And claws, fins and wings,
For this Life and the life of the world,
For all that you have before us, O God,
We lay our thankful hearts before you.
For all things dark and mysterious and lovely,
For all things green and growing and strong,
For all things weak and struggling to push up life through rocky earth,
For all human faces, hearts, minds, and hands
Which surround us,
And for all non-human minds and hearts, paws
And claws, fins and wings,
For this Life and the life of the world,
For all that you have before us, O God,
We lay our thankful hearts before you.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Dad, these are for you.
Some of my favorite memories from childhood involved sitting in the basement with my dad, eating peanuts, drinking soda and watching TV. Hey Dad, remember these?
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The economy isn't doing so great.
For the past few weeks, I've been watching the value of my 401k stocks fall, and fall, and fall a little more. For example check these out:
VEURX Nov 15 40.95 Down 0.63 Down 1.52%
VEXPX Nov 15 78.09 Down 1.00 Down 1.26%
VGENX Nov 15 80.26 Down 1.84 Down 2.24%
Now, you can see that they're still doing pretty good in the long term, but the economy works on emotions, not raw data. And emotionally, I'm sure a lot of folks are also looking at their stock prices daily and getting pretty ansy.
VEURX Nov 15 40.95 Down 0.63 Down 1.52%
VEXPX Nov 15 78.09 Down 1.00 Down 1.26%
VGENX Nov 15 80.26 Down 1.84 Down 2.24%
Now, you can see that they're still doing pretty good in the long term, but the economy works on emotions, not raw data. And emotionally, I'm sure a lot of folks are also looking at their stock prices daily and getting pretty ansy.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Worst President of All Time
I just want to quote the awesome Gene Weingarten from the Washington Post:
Nothing funny here, just an observation: I believe the situation in Pakistan has finally, inarguably cemented W's hold on "Worst President of All Time." He has managed to put this country in the position internationally that we can do nothing about -- cannot even publicly criticize -- a monster who has arrested his country's Supreme Court, jailed opposition party members, closed TV stations and newspapers and suspended constitutional elections in a power grab more audacious than anything Hitler ever did. Any last shred of a suggestion that Bush's administration at least stands for the noble philosophy of spreading freedom? Gone. Bush is a disgrace. A malevolence. An utter failure. A purulent pustule.
Thank you.
Friday, November 02, 2007
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