Archive for January, 2008

Jim Wallis on the Daily Show

Published at January 28, 2008 in Politics, Vote!, Spirituality, TV Shows and Humor. 1 Comment

Wallis is the editor of Sojourners magazine & author of God’s Politics &, more recently, The Great Awakening. After watching this interview with him on The Daily Show, I really want to read his books. I love what he has to say. I think that its about time that someone began saying these things in the public arena. The religious right has been the public face of Christianity for too long. I love that he isn’t advocating any particular party being a more “Christian” party. Anyway, watch this because its awesome!

 

 This is the link to the video!

A Reason for Hope

Published at January 25, 2008 in Holidays, School and Spirituality. 4 Comments

I realize that Martin Luther King Day was Monday, but I purposefully put off posting about it because I didn’t want my post to get lost in the shuffle. Selfish? Absolutely! Good, now that we’ve established that, we can move on.

I have always loved Dr. King. In a world so often littered with the desire for taking the violent & angry way to get what we desire, Dr. King was, in the truest since of the word, a revolutionary. If ever there was a group of people who could have violently revolted & been above reproach under the “Just War Theory,” this was it. However, Dr. King led this group to a better way. A way that was not only just, but pure. A way that was able to, in his words when accepting the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, “… overcome oppression & violence without resorting to violence & oppression.” He led us from bigotry & hatred towards equality & love.

There have been many times in my life when I have been pessimistic about the progress that we in America have actually made towards that end. This week has not been one of those times. As we have celebrated Dr. King’s life & work this week at our school, I have been given reason for hope. Our school of about 500 has maybe 15 non-white students. Of those there are 4 African-American students. So, our percentage of African -American students is right at the .8% mark. In addition to that, about 75% of the entire student body qualifies for free or reduced lunch which means that their entire household income is at or below the poverty line. Given the circumstances, I am truly amazed that we get the day off, much less actually teach about it in our classes, but I am forced to confess that I have been blown away at the student’s responses. Today, I have had the pleasure to see several classes doing various activities to honor & learn about Dr. King & the Civil Rights movement. What has floored me about it is the faces of these children as they learn about the injustices that were done to people just because of their skin color. The only word that can really describe it is “shock.” I have never seen so many mouths hanging open as I saw today as children were read to about the struggles facing the African-American population led by Dr. King. They were shocked & some even looked as if they had been down right offended. One girl in a classroom that I visited desperately asked if the story that they were reading was “fiction.” She was literally moved to tears when the teacher answered, “No, no. This is nonfiction. All of this really happened.”

MLK

I have felt many things while learning of the atrocities faced by minorities in America’s history. I have felt pity, remorse, & frustration. I have felt admiration, empowered by, & awed by what those men & women accomplished through their struggles, but I am ashamed to say that I can’t recall ever being absolutely scandalized by it. Why is it that, while I have felt sorrow over the things that transpired, I have never, not once, struggled to believe that all of it actually happened? Because in my tainted world, people are always mistreating others for no apparent reason. So maybe I’m crazy, but I find hope in seeing that finally a generation, this generation, is having appropriate reactions when confronted with injustice & evil.

“Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ron Paul

Published at January 18, 2008 in Politics and Vote!. 2 Comments

If you’ll recall when I started this series, I said that I wanted to post on the 4 candidates that actually stand out from the pack within each party. Now, 3 of those 4 have a legitimate shot at their party’s nomination. One does not. Today, I’m posting about the one that does not have a shot at winning the republican nomination. Ladies & gentlemen, meet Ron Paul.

Ron Paul

What I Like:

1) His philosophy in general- I like the idea of small federal government. It promotes independence & freedom at home, & it minds its own beeswax around the globe. It puts faith in people’s ability to live their lives as they see fit without too much government involvement. I like the way that this plays out into specific issues. Unlike many republicans, who pay lip service to smaller federal government in general & then support policies that increase the power of the national government, Paul wants to empower local governments to make their own choices.

2) His consistency- If it ain’t constitution, he ain’t gonna vote for it. Mark. It. Down. He’s like a machine.

 What I Don’t Like:

1) His demeanor- He just looks like an angry old man going off on all the young upstarts when he debates. His higher pitched voice doesn’t help matters either. (I love his demeanor from an entertainment perspective. The videos with him going off on various topics/people are my favorite things to watch on YouTube.)

2) His chances- I don’t like his chances of winning the nomination or the presidency. I also don’t like his chances of succeeding in putting his policies into action on the off chance that he does get into the White House.

3) Reality- When it really comes down to it, I don’t think most people would want a libertarian government because it leaves no one on which to lay the blame. People love to hate the government. It lifts the burden of personal responsibility no matter what side you’re on. Take health-care for instance. One says, “Everyone deserves health-care no matter what their situation. The government should provide every American with insurance coverage.” The other says, “No, that’s too big a job. We need to make policies that keep insurance & health-care costs reasonable.” But you see, either way, its not your responsibility to watch out for your own health, its the government’s.

 

What do you think of Ron Paul in 2008?

Barack Obama

Published at January 17, 2008 in Politics, Vote!, School and Spirituality. 2 Comments

Barack Obama

 Next on my list of candidates that stand out is Barack Obama.

What I Like:

1) Him- Its the reverse Hillary Clinton effect. She just gives me a bad vibe. Barack just gives me a good vibe. He seems genuine, intelligent, & passionate. When he answers questions I don’t get the feeling that he’s being vague or slippery. I also get the impression that he is making up his own mind on specific issues & problems instead of “towing the party line.”

1a) He’s African-American- Electing him would be a big step by the American public. As a nation, we have done the work of giving equal protection under law to African-Americans, but we have yet to put our money where our mouth is by voluntarily entrusting positions of power. Obviously, this needs to be tempered with whether or not we as voters actually like where we believe he would lead this country. Race should not qualify or disqualify someone from opportunity & influence. I just like that, for the first time, an African-American has a legitimate chance.

1b) He’s young- Many in my generation are disenchanted with a government that we perceive as being made up of career politicians & “company men.” For those of us who feel that way, he represents someone who is familiar with, but relatively untainted by, the political machine. In that way, I like the fact that he is relatively new to the political arena in comparison to his competition.

2) He wants out of Iraq- I especially like that he’s been against it from the get go. There’s no question as to whether or not he’s just saying what democrats want to hear. He spoke out against going to war in Iraq in 2002 & said at the time that he was “worried about an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs, & undetermined consequences.” I think that this shows a tremendous amount of foresight & discernment. Here we are six years later & those are the exact problems that both sides are dealing with on the campaign trail.

3) His views on education- He shows his willingness to work between parties by saying that he believes that, “The goal of the law [No Child Left Behind] was the right one…” He agrees with republicans that we need to have a way to make sure that our schools & teachers are getting the job done. However, he acknowledges the dems accusation that, right now, No Child Left Behind isn’t quite living up to the standard that it has set for itself. He doesn’t want to just trash NCLB & the work that the republican party members put into it. He wants to invite them into the discussion on how we can work the bugs out. He recognizes the fact that if we put more of our time & resources into early childhood intervention (birth-5 yrs) we wouldn’t have to double the time & resources playing catch up when these children hit the schools. He also wants to provide better incentives for teachers that agree to go to the hard places & work with the hard kids.

4) His views on faith & politics- If you haven’t heard what he has to say about this issue, I really think that you should check it out. I think that he is right on. He says it much better than I could. Here’s a link to a page with video of him talking about it.

Faith & Politics

 

What I Don’t Like:

1) He’s young- Yeah, I know that was one of the things I liked, but I also understand that he is rather inexperienced in comparison to the other democratic candidates. I’m not one of these young whippersnappers that thinks that older people don’t know what they’re talking about. Experience is the greatest teacher. even the most promising students can fall flat on their faces if they’re released before they’re ready. I’m not saying that Barack isn’t ready. I’m just saying that as promising as I think he is, he hasn’t been thoroughly tested. When deciding on casting a vote, its a risk that one must explore.

2) His plan for homeland security- After reading through his thoughts on the matter, I think that Obama is too busy taking care of all the symptoms that are springing up instead of dealing directly with the disease itself. He’s talking about more security on chemical plants & keeping better track of spent nuclear fuel. We’ve got to stop this problem at the root. As long as we have unregistered illegal immigrants running willy nilly around the country, we’ll have big time issues with security at possible points of attack. I just don’t think that his plan for taking care of this is going to get it done.

3) His views on health-care- His plans for health-care were very similar to Hillary’s. While I admire the idealism, I think that to institute those plans would be to sacrifice the quality of American health-care.

 

What do you think about Obama in 2008?

Mike Huckabee

Published at January 15, 2008 in Marriage, Politics and Vote!. 0 Comments

Huckabee

Just so you know, I decided to post about each candidate in alphabetical order. Its not really relevant, but I figured I should let you know. Today, we’ll take a look at Mike Huckabee.

What I Like:

1) His personality- This is the only candidate that I have actually had the pleasure to meet & spend a any amount of time with. His daughter Sarah & I were in the same class at Little Rock Central High School. We weren’t really all that close. We had different circles of  friends. That isn’t to say that we disliked one another or anything like that. It’s just that in a class of almost 1,000 kids, you can only be close to so many. Although we had different circles socially, we did run across one another in some extracurriculars. We competed together locally & nationally as a “Duet Improvisational” team. (Incidentally, she is almost as funny as I am. Almost.) We also shared the responsibility of getting together some entertainment for the annual Senior Lunch. We needed to get together one evening to plan, & so she had me over to her house (the Governor’s Mansion) for dinner & planning. It was surprisingly normal. “How was your day?” & all that jazz. The Huckabees were very hospitable & friendly. I was even fortunate enough to exchange Chris Farley impersonations with Gov. Huckabee himself. (He is also almost as funny as I am. Almost.) All that to say, I know from experience that he is genuine & an honestly pleasant person.

2) His “FairTax” plan- Although Steven has revealed the discrepancy between the 23% vs. 30% numbers, I still like it. In his defense, Huckabee has not denied the 30% method of calculation. However, I do think that the Huckabee campaign needs to start being more forthright with how they arrive at the 23% mark. Regardless, I like the plan, & I think that it should be adopted into law.

3) His plan for energy independence- If you couldn’t already tell, getting America off of our severe dependence on oil is a biggie for me. It might have something to do with the fact that I really hate the fact that I am about to start a family of my own with about 10% of my paycheck going towards gas expenses. Anyway, I like that he realizes how our dependence on oil, specifically from middle eastern countries, leaves us fighting the war on terror on one front while simultaneously contributing financially to the enemy at the gas pump.

What I Don’t Like:

1) His stance on a marriage amendment- He wants to amend the constitution to define marriage as being between “one man & one woman.” I believe that he is talking out of 2 sides of his mouth on this issue. At one point on his website he states that, “We should share and debate our faith, but never seek to impose it.” How is this amendment not an imposition of faith upon others?

2) His stance on the war in Iraq- He wants to stay the course with more support, more money, & more soldiers until the victory is achieved. I might agree if I thought that victory was achievable. It has been a bad decision from the get-go, & its only getting worse. We’re kicking a dead horse, & I believe that the time has come to let it go. We should not give up on helping the people in Iraq in any way we can on other nonmilitary fronts, but its time that we got our troops the heck out of Dodge.

 

What do you think about Mike Huckabee in 2008?