presidential bluffs
Seriously, our president has to be one of the best liars I’ve ever seen. The other night, he completely let everyone think that the US is doing a great job in Iraq, and that we’ll be out soon… But, Donald Rumsfeld says it will be at least 12 years before we completely get out. What a difference in information.
I’m alarmed that the country and the GOPs are so happy with his speech the other night. He didn’t really say anything about Iraq. All he kept talking about was 9/11. Seriously, it was almost 4 years ago… we’re not stupid. We know that you went into Iraq for reasons of your own, W. Stop trying to connect it… it doesn’t work. And besides, where is Bin Laden these days? I’m sure we have no clue…
Today on NPR, I heard a story about how the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is trying to claim that NPR and PBS are too liberal. The chairman (see: Republican) hired a guy to research the situation (see: another Republican). He found more than 60% of the guests on selected shows as liberals. And then, he found most of the conservatives opposing Bush. He claims it is a left-wing invasion. I mean, obviously this couldn’t mean that the president is doing a bad job, right? I mean, come on… those numbers mean nothing… especially to Bush.
I’ll never understand how a president could even more ignore his constituents. The last time a president completely ignored the requests of the people, he ended up not running for reelection because of the pressures of the quagmire of Vietnam (see: LBJ). So, tell me how this administration is different? Well, LBJ obviously had the better party, with better reforms. But, if Bush doesn’t pay attention, all of his policies that he is wishing up with be completely rejected by the American people because they don’t trust them to work… the same thing happened to LBJ and Wilson.
If only things could be a perfect society, it would be such a great place… no fights, opposition, war, injustices. But, as long as a president carries his own agenda, and not that of the people, there is no way to succeed.
airline crap
so the flight attendant just came out and told us that we were delayed.
3 hours….
seriously, what the crap? they say there's bad weather in the d.c. area. but i just called my buds and they said nothing is up.
then the flight attendant came back out and said, we were just leaving about 45 minutes late.
thank God… i couldn't sit in an airport that long… i'd go crazy.
pilots can still learn…
since you’ve asked, and i forgot to post before i left, i’ll post now while i’m waiting to board. man, i love that huntsville has wi-fi in the airport… pure genius!
so i went to grill with the pilot last night. it was interesting… he’s a nice guy, but i definitely know that i don’t see anything at all in a serious realm. is it bad of me to want to just hang? even if he is expecting it to develop into something? i’m guessing i should tell him soon… especially since he called me and left a message to have a good trip and he’d find me when i’m back.
here’s where the night went downhill. i’m not a huge t.v. buff. in fact, i don’t watch t.v. that often now. he’s really into old t.v. shows… mostly lost in space. he made me watch the first 2 episodes. in between, he’s playing the score on cd from john williams and talking about how he’s so over his last girlfriend, but he’s still talking about her all night (yeah, you’re over her… whatever). there’s definitely a generation gap.
he’s 10 years older than me. did i mention that? he was in the air force when i was learning multiplication tables. when i was in sixth grade, he was in the persian gulf. plus, he brought up politics. you don’t do that… you have to wait for that. even worse, he asked who i voted for, and then told me that he voted for bush because he was in the military, and he felt it was the right thing to do. nevermind that he listens to npr and he doesn’t think w was a good choice… it just felt right. see, that’s what i’m talking about when i get aggravated with people who participate in politics when they have no business.
i’m sure we’ll hang out… but that will be it. it was pretty uneventful. it was fun, but there were just too many things that separated our worlds. at least i have a new friend, though.
so now i’m waiting to board a flight to d.c., where i’ll be hanging out with fab people, going to the beach, the smithsonian folklife festival, dupont circle with my host’s gay brother, with the big fireworks/4th of july display on monday with the doctor. 
now, that’s a “date” i’m looking forward to having. haha.
have a great fourth. i’m sure i’ll update. why not?!?!
ahhhhh!
<img src="http://photos11.flickr.com/12752022_0e679f5665.jpg?v=0" align="Middle">
how'd you like to wake up to that?
thank God zoe is a calm and peaceful kitty… and particularly passive. but, aren't most cats?
to all you handymen out there…
I must have some sort of subconscious distress signal that goes out to all guys out there:
NOTE: I have no clue how to fix cars, houses or use tools. Choose me because I need all the help I can get.
Seriously, since last week, THREE different ‘handymen’ have hit on me, or at least that’s what I’m thinking. Last week at camp with MJ (of course, he probably hits on all the girls, but I did get a marriage proposal last week) was the first instance. Then, on Sunday, I got stopped by a guy from church who works there (but is also a pilot… brownie points), chatting, and he made sure he knew my name before he left. Today, one of the construction guys at work (this is their last week) was talking to me (in a previous conversation he went on to tell me how he and his girlfriend had recently broken up) and told me he liked my ‘little outfit thing.’
OK, so there’s a slight possibility that the third guy is gay by the statement alone (although I’m not convinced)… but, that’s not the point.
Today, I get an email from one of the staff members at church saying that the pilot was chatting about hanging out with me, and she emailed me to see if I was interested. I figure why not…
So, tomorrow night, I’ll be grilling out with the pilot.
Then, Thursday, we’re flying to our respective July 4th destinations… pilot to Colorado, me to Washington, D.C.
Hopefully in D.C., I’ll be hanging out with the doctor (the guy I met last time I was in D.C.).
So, is it true that when it rains it pours? Or by saying that did I just completely jinx myself?
here’s hoping for the former…
it’s the end of the world…
The world really is coming to an end now… Scrushy was acquitted of all charges.
Seriously… You might as well throw the Sarbains-Oxley Act out the door. It has no use now… If you can’t convict 2 of the largest fraud cases of it, you can’t do it anywhere else. Just another sign that our country is going to hell in a handbasket as long as we have such an extreme big-business/capitalist society.
Either that, or people in alabama are idiots, and can’t see a crook for the slick hair and half-his-age wife right in front of their faces. Too bad they’re too concerned about what he might do to them, or how it might hurt HealthSouth (which he has been disconnected from ever since the beginning of the case). Where in alabama did they get these jurors from anyways???
for mr. david carter
<img src="http://covers.cdbaby.com/d/a/davidcarter.jpg">
are two hands really enough?
i'm always amazed at what google images can come up with.
david, you're my hero… and i can't help but always want to say your name like isaac hayes would say it, or make it cartier. sorry… honest moment.
watch it
According to TheocracyWatch, Connecticut US Congressman Christopher Shays says that “The Republican party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy.” Gross… seriously. Didn’t I just mention this earlier? About a need for separation of church and state? However, the same site gives evidence in such separation. I’m not sure what to think of this… well, I can think of a few, but I’d rather not feel that aggravated before I sleep.
Today, the Supreme Court made a 5-4 decision that the 10 Commandments cannot be posted or viewed under religious persuasions in a courtroom. (see: Roy Moore) Thank God for that… seriously, if that case won, all of Alabama would be in an uproar to elect Moore as Governor (not that half the state isn’t already). I’m shocked and surprised that the Rehnquist court didn’t go the other way with the decision. But, I’m very satisfied with the decision…
As am I with the non-announce-able, presumed retirement for Rehnquist. I’m praying that he can hold on and stay strong until 2008. I mean, not that I really like him… he’s still a little right-wing for my taste, BUT, he keeps any of the extreme conservatives from being appointed from the Bush administration. And that, my friends, is a huge positive.
Now, just as I’ve said that, Rehnquist will retire tomorrow… here’s hoping he’ll be around for a while. Maybe even he is nervous about who W might put on the bench.
intertwinings
I was searching the web and checking email, and I came across a letter from the DNC. In it was a link that I really liked… Howard Dean on the Daily Show on Sunday night
He said something truly profound… “The philosophy of the Democratic Party… really is to love thy neighbor as thyself, and you don’t get to choose your neighbor.” The goal for the democrats in the next year is to call the GOP’s “B.S.”, for example, renewing the Voting Rights Act instead of just visiting black churches and rallying for support of the GOP party just because you’re Christian.
I’ve been reading “God’s Politics: How the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It” by Jim Wallis. Probably the most profound thing that he stated in the entire book so far was at the very beginning of the book, in regards to the “God is not a Republican [or a Democrat]” campaign they ran in the 2004 election. Wallis claimed that the candidate’s faith was a huge piece of the vote in the election, saying that it “directly challenged the single-issue voting that comes from shrinking all our religious and moral values down to one of two issues, and said that all candidates should be examined by measuring their policies against the complete range of Christian ethics and values. On that wider and deeper list… were poverty, the environment, war, truth-telling, human rights, our response to terrorism and a ‘consistent ethic of human life’ that included abortion, but also capital punishment, euthanasia, weapons of mass destruction, HIV/AIDS and other pandemics, and genocide around the world.” He went later on to say that he had “never seen such an outrageous behavior by a political party in trying to manipulate religion for its own agenda while so disrespecting the faith of millions of other believers who disagree with the Republican political agenda.”
The “God is Not a Republican. Or a Democrat.” campaign stated the following beliefs:
• We are not single-issue voters
• We believe that poverty – caring for the poor and vulnerable – is a religious issue
• We believe that the environment – caring for God’s earth – is a religious issue
• We believe that war – and our call to be peacemakers – is a religious issue
• We believe that truth-telling is a religious issue
• We believe that human rights – respecting the image of God in every person – is a religious issue
• We believe that our response to terrorism is a religious issue
• We believe that a consistent ethic of human life is a religious issue
I found it very interesting that the book didn’t tell you which side these statements chose. In fact, when each issue is observed with much depth, you’d find that either candidate would have suited each belief, or lack thereof. The beginning of the list said that “Christians and other people of faith can choose to vote for President Bush or Senator Kerry – for reasons deeply rooted in their faith. If only I knew about this sooner… even my own family criticized me for voting the way I did. I voted for certain reasons, and against certain reasons.
An article in RELEVANT magazine was talking about how people view Jesus… lately there has been a revival of “Republican Jesus.” Well, since Roe v Wade anyways. In the article, it said that “republicans took note and began treating religious people and their ideas with a lot more respect than the Democrats seemed to. Soon, evangelicals and Republicans were indistinguishable. The GOP evolved into a party of traditional values. The Republican platform became the biblical one. Which would be a good fit for Jesus, if He spent large chunks of the Gospels worrying about abortion and gay marriage. Or, for that matter, exhorting James and John on the need to support American foreign policy.”
Compelling stuff… there is proof that you can be a Christian and vote the Democrat ticket in the South. You’ll face ridicule, for sure. But the next time I get asked how I could possibly vote the way I did, I’ll be sure to bring up the fact that issues like poverty, HIV/AIDS, genocide, etc. are issues in my book as well… not just whether 2 or 3 televangelists tell me it is God’s will to vote for someone.
There is always an issue of separation of church and state here in Alabama. People believe that we were founded as “one nation under God” and we were created because “in God we trust.” I keep wanting to suggest to them that each of those phrases were added later… or even the simple notion that many of the founding fathers weren’t Christian, but deists. I’m sure that would rock their world… or they’d claim heresy and want to know where I grew up because it was obviously in the liberal socialist regime. But, not quite… I just know the history behind it. Like the fact that the colonies were formed because they were disgusted with the entanglement of church and state, after the English Protestant Reformation/creation of the Church of England/insanity of Henry VIII/puritans went nuts on the high church goers.
George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” If only we’d learn from history, we might not be in the mess we’re in…
Can we load all of our Puritans (see: Roy Moore) up and ship them off?
beginnings…
In my attempts to see the world in a better perspective, I try this… It’s probably going to be a mess, but, it’s my mess, right?
So, I live in Alabama… yeah, it’s nuts, but work with me. In growing up as a stout southern Baptist, now turned Methodist, one might wonder what shift has occurred. If you guessed extreme right to extreme left, you might be on the right track.
It wasn’t until the election of 2000 that I really became involved in the political world. So, now I’m 4.5 years, going on 5 into the interest. In 2000, I won’t lie… I did vote for Bush. Why? Well, at that point, I believed what my church told me, and that was that… end of story. Pathetic, huh?
After 9/11, and the (what seems to be never-ending) war in Iraq, I began to re-think a lot of my strategies. So, maybe the better word is THINK about the strategy of politics. I realized I had my own viewpoint, and that it might be important. Upon seeing that the war had NOTHING to do with its original intentions, I really started to wonder. I started researching both parties… before I knew it, campaign season had begun again… and I went full-fledged into it.
I watched both conventions, checked out websites and really researched each candidate. What began as a gut feeling to vote the Democrat ticket began to really swell up and become more than just a vote. With each day that went by, I found myself agreeing more and more with the blue platform.
This is good… especially since I’m Methodist. Ha!
Anyways, being a democrat in an overwhelmingly populous red state can be pretty frustrating… and this is the attempt to relieve said frustration. Here’s hoping it might work.
