Category: Politics

mandates

The people (who voted…more on that later) have spoken.  The midterm elections of 2010 are mercifully past resulting in a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives and a smaller majority for the Democrats in the Senate.  Now, to those of you that know me, the fact that I lean leftward in my politics is not a new revelation.  However, many of you don’t know that the direction of my current political leanings is pretty much polar opposite of my youthful right wing past.  I’m not writing about that change today.  But that is the context that I bring to this discussion.

I didn’t watch the returns last night.  Instead, I continued my trek through Season 1 of 30 Rock via Netflix.  I awoke this morning, dropped today’s edition of the New York Times onto my Kindle, and read the story I expected to read at the top of A1.   I was not really troubled at all about the results of yesterday’s elections.  “They are what they are” as they say.  A friend of mine (a fellow liberal) posted that “sanity lasted for about 3 days” on his Facebook status…an obvious nod to Stewart/Cobert’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear held on the national mall this past Saturday.  I don’t believe he was referring to the election results.  I think he was referring to the rhetoric coming from the collective windbags we either elected or kicked out of office and/or the pundits of the TV news channels pretentiously “explaining” the results to all us littles.  His next sentence pretty much sums up the soil from which my cynicism flourishes: “I am not expecting much cooperation in the next two years with continued fighting resulting in an extended weak economy and the poor continued to being trampled.” I really don’t know what actual work will be accomplished by this congress.  But I’m hoping my friend is not prophetic and my cynicism is dashed.

However, the trend is not hopeful.  Sanity is probably still an idealistic dream.  I’m pretty sure what we’ll see over the next two years is a change in roles…the Dems wearing the hats the GOP have worn for the past several years…that of a ball and chain around the process.  God forbid the other party actually getting credit for accomplishing something.  It is a testament to the sad state of our two reigning political parties.  Democrats and Republicans actually share a common objective: gain control for the party.   The thought of working together to accomplish something bigger than any one political party could ever do on its own is written off as simply naive.

Which brings me to the question of “mandate” ( |ˈmanˌdāt| — the authority to carry out a policy or course of action, regarded as given by the electorate to a candidate or party that is victorious in an election).  The victor always loves to claim the authority of “mandate”.  But if we are not careful, the perceived will of the majority often overlooks the needs of those who have no real access to the power structures of our government.  The “mandate” of most or our recent elections was determined by a mere 41% turnout of the voting eligible population(VEP).  Divide that total into whatever percentage voted for Republican or Democrat for your “mandate”.  That leaves 59% of people in our country who failed to vote (in my state of Tennessee, 65% of the VEP failed to vote.  Check out this very informative website if you’re interested in that type of data.)

I’ll not pass a blanket judgement on that 59% for that lapse…their reasons are their own (be it apathy, not registered, disenfranchised, etc.).  But I would like to say that it is my hope that the mandate of the month might be informed by the idea that our nation is not merely a democracy of majority rule but one where it is safe to be in the minority (People much wiser than I have said that somewhere before but I can’t find the exact quote…please add it to the comments if you can attribute it to someone).  All of us are Americans.  Liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, rich, poor…all of us.  Is it too much to ask that we all work together to solve the problems facing our nation?  I’ll leave you with a little Bill Moyers.  (and for those who would like to claim the title “Christian Nation” for these United States of America…please meditate on this passage of scripture).

Although our interests as citizens vary, each one is an artery to the heart that pumps life through the body politic, and each is important to the health of democracy.

BILL MOYERS, The Nation, Jan. 22, 2007


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…have you ever considered you might be wrong?

There seems to be a disturbing lack of modesty these days.  I’m not talking about physical exhibitionism.  I’m talking about the nature of words.  We (me included) flash thoughts into comment boxes and status updates without much thought.  We tend to listen to people who agree with us.  And then, when someone voices a different opinion, we pounce…its a feeding frenzy.  I’ve long ago quit reading college football message boards…inane testosterone fueled drivel.  And then along comes the election cycle…hard to avoid.

I read a post written by Ron Howard a couple days ago on the Huffington Post basically calling for for honest campaign ads…basically the candidate speaking into the camera in their own words with an American flag backdrop.  No writers…no professional spin doctors…no film makers.  Simply stating their positions on the germane issues of the day.  If they are going to attack their opponent, it would be words coming directly out of their own mouth.  I would love to see this happen.  But of course no one would listen to those ads.

I recently engaged in a little flash discussion with some college buddies of mine.  Both were roommates at one time or another.  Both were groomsmen in my wedding.  Here some 25ish years later, we find our selves in 3 different states separated by thousands of miles and pretty much on different sides on what has proven to be some very emotionally charged issues.  Something pretty refreshing happened.  We all presented our positions without calling each other names.  Respectful dialogue…hmmm….  Imagine that…

As to Snoopy, frankly…no…it rarely occurs to us that we might be wrong.  Mainly because we only really listen to our own voice.  We surround ourselves with voices that agree with our voice.  And then, when a different point of view is expressed, we simply turn it off…either by switching the channel, the station, the website, or the magazine.  If it’s on our Facebook page, we simply try to scream louder than they are.  So…no, Snoopy, it has never occurred to me that I might be wrong.  Probably not anyone reading this post either.

How can we find peace?

some thoughts by Thomas Merton (from the book Choosing to Love the World)…

We prescribe for one another remedies that will bring us peace of mind, and we are still devoured by anxiety.  We evolve plans for disarmament and for the peace of nations, and our plans only change the manner and method of aggression.  The rich have everything they want but happiness, and the poor are sacrificed to the unhappiness of the rich.  Dictatorships use their secret police to crush millions under an intolerable burden of lies, injustice and tyranny, and those who still live in democracies have forgotten how to make good use of their liberty.  For liberty is a thing of the spirit, and we are no longer able to live for anything but our bodies.  How can we find peace, true peace, if we forget that we are not machines for making and spending money, but spiritual beings, sons and daughters of the most high God?

I’ll not be able to improve upon that…

“We have no other problems…”

I found this video via a blog somewhere (I’ve read several today and don’t remember where I ran across this link). It was a link/post in response to World AIDS Day.  It is a collection of photos taken with disposable cameras given to the children in the piece.  The following quote from one of the Shange family was simply incredible:

“When our parents died, life was very difficult.  We felt alone, like nobody was going to support us.  We had to change our lives.  Our only problem is food.  This is the only life we know.  We have no other problems.  The hardest problem is getting enough food to eat.”

–Shange family: 2 girls and 4 boys.  Dad died in 2001, Mom in 2003.  Mandla, age 14; Nothando, age 15; Siphiwe, age 19; Thulani, age 17; Sithembiso, age 10; Mahlatsi, age 8

I just wanted to post this. Check out the video and also check out what Oxfam is doing around the world.

http://www.oxfam.org.au/world-aids-day/gallery/

on socialism…

One of the most persistent attacks waged by Republican pundits over the last few weeks of the campaign has been the assertion that an Obama administration would be a “socialist” administration.  Those with just a little perspective would recognize this as political hyperbole in the midst of a very heated campaign.  Attaching such a label to your political rival and having it stick leading up to the election can be quite useful in these United States of America.  However, the label caught on and began showing up in Facebook statuses regularly.

I read an interesting editorial in the current issue of the Christian Century commenting on the tax proposals of McCain vs. Obama.  It contains some very interesting stats:

Since the late 1970s the share of national income going to the top 1 percent of Americans has doubled and the share for the top 0.1 percent has tripled. More than 40 percent of total income goes to the wealthiest 10 percent—their biggest share of the nation’s pie in at least 65 years. The very wealthy have become enormously wealthy, while middle-class workers have seen their wages stagnate—barely keeping pace with inflation—and at the same time have had to deal with sharp increases in the costs of health care and education. (Italics mine)

In light of this trend, the dispute between McCain and Obama on taxes is minor: Obama wants to return the top marginal tax rate to 39 percent, where it was under Clinton, while McCain wants to keep it at 35 percent. Both men, in other words, would maintain the mildly progressive tax system that currently exists. The current system is actually much less progressive than it was in earlier decades—under Eisenhower the top tax rate was 91 percent, and under Nixon it was 70 percent. Those were hardly socialist administrations.

from The Christian Century, Nov. 18, 2008, American Pie

I have had discussions with numerous friends supportive of McCain who earn well under $100,000 per year but for some reason vote and argue for conservative policy as though they earn many times that amount.  That, I believe is a product of political manipulation and a refusal to actually dig a little deeper in the the policies being proposed.  It’s much easier to say, “my guy good, your guy socialist”; “my guy lower my taxes, your guy raise my taxes.”

The editorial closes with the following paragraph:


Though tax rates are not the only factor shaping economic conditions, they are an important measure of how the burdens of common life are being distributed. The warnings about socialism should be seen for what they are: a blunt effort to block any discussion of the ominous fact that the U.S. has become a nation of increasing inequality and, for many, of declining opportunity.

I believe this is a situation that we must address if we are going to work our way out of the economic malaise in which we find ourselves.   I think it points to a hard reality that all of us need to face.  It will not be resolved via partisan politics or manipulation of the electorate.  It’s time we all open our eyes to that reality and work for justice not only via our votes, but also in our communities, in our relationships* and with our own check-books…in proportion to what we can afford.

I think we also need, as a nation, to re-evaluate our definition of what is “sufficient” in terms of our lifestyles.

*I’m really over-reaching this particular blog post with this but it hit me while I was using the word “relationships” above.  Do any of you have an actual relationship with someone dependent of food stamps for their grocery purchases? I do not…  Why is that?  Did you know that food stamps provide only $1/person/meal?  Who can buy groceries on that?  Why is it that the user of food stamps is often the symbol of abuse of governmental entitlements?  Why are we not outraged that real people are HUNGRY in the United States of America?  …this is becoming a rant…I’ll shut up now… (the questions however are not necessarily rhetorical…go for it below…)


Yes WE can…

usa-flagWe all witnessed history tonight.  I recognize the anger, pain and hurt I see in my friends who were supporters of John McCain…I felt the same 4 years ago tonight.  However, I was moved on this night unlike any other time in my lifetime.  The cynics will snicker at that statement…I know because I have been a cynic for quite some time.  I’ll admit I was gloating as the wave of electoral votes began to reveal the obvious.  However, that all began to change when John McCain began what I thought was a great speech.  It reintroduced us all to the man who has given his life to our country.  His true love was revealed.  I believed what he said when he offered to help President-elect Obama to bring this nation together.

Barack Obama then gave the speech of a true leader.  He was not looking back at a successful campaign but looking forward to lead the United States of America.  I believe, despite all our troubles and crises, this could be our finest hour…but not as Democrates or Republicans.  We’ll only be able to do this together.  On this night, I really am proud to be an American.

Peace! I’m going to bed…….

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Electoral College…

The last time I read anything about the Electoral College process might have been in a middle school civics class taught by a guy in polyester coaches shorts, long tube socks and a whistle around his neck.  Maybe you can relate.  If so, here’s a link to the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration that will give you all the info you should ever want about the electoral college (without the coaches shorts!)
NARA | Federal Register | U.S. Electoral College

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Whassup…2008

I thought the video below was funny.  It is obviously an pro-Obama video (at least obvious by the end).

However, I watched this video after reading a book excerpt by Vernon E. Jordan Jr. in Nov. 3 issue of Newsweek (The Jordan Gospel).  The first sentence is striking:

“As one born in 1935 in the deep south who saw my father and oldest brother go off to Europe and Asia to fight in World War II and return home to Georgia unable by law to vote in the white primary, I stand here today–astonished, smashed, unbelieving, incredulous–that America has come to this place and time.”

This is history of which I am totally aware.  And yet, I read that sentence and had to read it again, aloud to Susie.  It is difficult for me to imagine such a blatant hypocrisy that would condone or allow such circumstances to persist while claiming allegiance to a Nation alleging liberty and justice for all.  The place and time that Jordan finds America is one in which the three most viable candidates for the Presidency of the United States of America were a woman, a black man, and a former POW who survived 5 1/2 years in captivity…these are truly astonishing, smashing, unbelievable, incredible times.  

As I listened to the closing lines of the little video below, I tried to imagine myself, having lived in the United States my entire lifetime, experiencing for the first time an election in which a candidate of my race actually has an opportunity be elected to the office of President of the United States of America.  I could not imagine such a circumstance.  And yet I have friends who live that experience every day.  Change indeed! No matter who is elected Tuesday in the amazing process we employ to select our leader, I will be proud to be an American.  I hope that pride will never cloud my vision to the point that I fail to recognize the hypocrisies that still prevail.  I heard someone say somewhere, sometime: “Our democracy is not merely a place where majority rules, but a place where it is safe to be in the minority.”  Let’s live up to that!

“Bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression.” –Thomas Jefferson: 1st Inaugural, 1801. ME 3:318 

Palin: President, OK…but not Pastor

This is simply amazing.  I’m not sure where to begin.  Watch the video… This would almost be funny if it wasn’t so sad.  Actual thought is obviously discouraged at this institution of higher indoctrination.

I struggle for words here.  Several jokes come to mind.  I could express my amazement at how delusional very intelligent human beings can be.  I could talk about how sad I feel for the young woman in the video who has been brain-washed to the point of denying the very image of God in which she has been created.

I guess I’ll simply say how thankful I am to be a part of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship knowing my daughter will be encouraged and supported in whatever calling she chooses to pursue.