Tiptoe to the Horizon

If only we could tiptoe to the horizon and take a look over to gain at least a glimpse of what the future holds for us. None of us have that gift (or curse, depending on your point of view), but it doesn't take much imagination to see enormous potential for growth and strength in the American experience.

It seems clear that alternative fuels will soon power our automobiles, thus decreasing our dependence on foreign sources of oil.

It seems clear that alternative and renewable fuels will be used to generate our electricity, including clean coal technology (which really will be clean).

It seems clear that advances in nanotechnology will soon transform the way thousands of products are manufactured, and the products thus made will be in the millions.

It seems clear that computers will become increasingly more sophisticated, faster and more powerful, and even more integrated in our lives, not just to help us play video games or to keep us better connected to each other, but including, especially including, providing better health care.

The capitalist system is perfectly suited to take advantage of the innovation and invention that flows from American ingenuity. The problem for this country has been that, for the past eight years, there has been no leadership at the White House. The Bush-Cheney cabal was never able to address "that vision thing" -- as Bush 41 described it -- because they were not, and are not capable of it. With Obama taking the helm, at last we will have a chance to take advantage of the real potential in America that has been suppressed by this incompetent Administration.

If You Need a Clue...

The front page of today's The Washington Post displays the best clue to still unknowing Republicans why their candidate will not win on November 4.

The headline says: A Last Push to Deregulate. Here are the first three paragraphs:

"The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January.

"The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms.

"Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining."

There you have it. That's more of the Bush legacy that Americans have grown tired of.

THE PEOPLE ARE NOT IN CHARGE.

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE.

THEIR GOAL IS TO DISMANTLE OUR GOVERNMENT.

Who among us does not look forward to lower "drinking water standards?" Won't that be special?

It's Bill Clinton's Fault

What is it with Republicans? Why do they hate Bill Clinton so much that they HAVE to attach every misbegotten deed that has adversely impacted the nation since he left office to something he did or didn’t do during the 8 years he was in office?

Mmmmmmmm…?

Was it his success as a President? Was it the balanced budget he submitted to Congress which Republican Presidents in recent history were want to do? Was it the enormous prosperity the country enjoyed during his presidency? Was it the record jobs created during his years of federal stewardship?

Or was it those moments of immoral behavior, moments of personal failing that have caused them to hate him so? If so, where is the Christian spirit of forgiveness they supposedly learned in church school each Sunday? Where were these “Christians” when THAT lesson was being taught?

I’ve heard Bill Clinton blamed for Osama bin Laden’s attacks on America. To hear Pat Robertson tell it, 9/11 was a direct result of Bill Clinton’s presidency. I’m sure he must have thought up that Mission Accomplished banner, too, knowing all the while the grief it would cause Bush 43.

I’ve heard him blamed for the mortgage crisis. One of the talk radio nuts said it was Bill Clinton who came up with the subprime lending scheme.

The next thing you know the Republicans will blame global warming on Bill Clinton. I guess he is to blame also for all those terrible hurricanes visited upon the Bush Administration. And surely he is to blame for those high prices at the gas pump which had us all running for Japanese hybrids.

Male pattern baldness will be next. Just ask Rush Limbaugh.

I’ll bet Bill Clinton was the one who gave John McCain the idea that Sarah Palin would be a good choice for a running mate.

We must never forget...

As hard as it may be to believe, a few voters remain undecided. If you know one, remind him or her of a few of the painful days indelibly printed on the Bush legacy:

I hope we never forget the day the bridges collapsed in Minnesota, reminding us that the Bush administration would not support spending dollars from the Highway Trust Fund to repair and maintain our federal highway infrastructure.

I hope we never forget the day the Bush appointed head of the Consumer Products Safety Commission shrugged as she testified before Congress, confessing she could not remember whether or not the Commission had recalled a single toy made in China that was unsafe for our children.

I hope we never forget the near misses by aircraft at Reagan National Airport, and the fact that the FAA does not have the money to install current state of the art systems to keep planes from colliding on taxiways because the Administration does not support such spending.

I hope we never forget when the USDA announced the biggest meat recall in US history, partially because they cannot afford enough meat inspectors to do one of the basic jobs Americans expect from their government.

I hope we never forget that the FDA permitted unsafe drugs to enter the prescription drug market because of lax oversight, and because the FDA cannot afford the experts needed for proper testing in a timely manner.

I hope we never forget the inept reaction of FEMA to the catastrophic damage to the Gulf Coast caused by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

I hope we never forget that $500 million in federal support for development of a clean coal-fired electric generation project that was withdrawn because such spending would add more dollars to an already bursting federal deficit, even though such spending might result in cleaner more breathable air for all.

These are but a sampling from a very long list. There are many more from nearly every agency and department of our government where, over the past eight years, budgets have been slashed, staffs have been cut, and the delivery of services American taxpayers depend on has suffered.

Then there is the complete meltdown of our economy under the Bush Administration. It should come as no surprise that the Bush administration was not minding the store. They never did.

John McCain says he and George Bush share the same philosophy of government. Is there anything else you need to know?

We will strengthen our republic when we go to the polls next week remembering the failings of the current administration and determined not to forget what it did to our country these past eight years.

John Lewis called it a movement

There's something going on in America, said Rep. John Lewis a few months ago. Indeed, there is something going on. It is Americans taking back their government. It is ordinary citizens surprising even Barack Obama with their passion for redressing the wrongs of this administration as is their right under the US Constitution.

And here they are: in Portland where 75,000 came to see him, in Houston, where 25,000 came out the night Obama won the Wisconsin primary, in Philadelphia where 35,000 came to show their support the next day, in New York where 60,000 cheered, in Pittsburgh where 50,000 showed up, a 100,000 in Denver, a 100,000 plus in St. Louis, even Boise where 14,000 supporters showed up to hear his message of hope and belief in America's future.

American can't wait for the change Barack Obama will bring. It is nothing more than restoration of the underpinnings of this republic.

Higher taxes on higher profit or lower taxes on lower profit?

"I'd rather pay higher taxes on higher profit than lower taxes on lower profit."

That comment by a businessman in today's news sends a clear message to Republicans: "we're not buying the same old line this year." Did you hear that, McPalin team? We are not buying.


I think Americans finally understand the GOP's game. Every four years for at least 44 years, the GOP walks out the same old line: "Vote for us because we will lower your taxes and reduce the size of government. The only problem: they never do. It's a nice promise and they count on the voters with short attention spans and even shorter memories buying it.

I remember when Barry Goldwater and Bill Miller tried to sell it in 1964. Even Nelson Rockefeller, the acknowledged leader of the liberal wing of the Republican Party in the early 1960s was promising not to raise taxes. (Yes, there was a liberal wing of the Republican Party in those days.)

Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew tried it, too, in 1968 and 1972 with better success. They even threw in a promise of victory in Vietnam with, "Peace is at hand." (They were smart enough not to say "victory is at hand" as John McCain does today.)

In 1976 Jerry Ford and Bob Dole would have used it to better effect if the aftermath of the Watergate scandal had not cleared the way for Democrats Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale to be elected.

Then came Reagan in 1980. The former Democrat, former actor turned Republican, understood what to do with the old line. He and George H.W. Bush got elected twice on the line. Voters generally have forgotten that Reagan/Bush tripled the national debt as they lowered taxes (because they did nothing to reduce spending) and the size of the government almost doubled on their watch. Oh well, maybe nobody noticed.

Reagan -- the fiscal conservative -- never balanced a budget. He never came close to balancing a budget. He never came remotely close to even thinking about balancing a budget. Ronald Reagan, the patron saint of the GOP, paid for his massive expansion of the federal government by pawning off the expense on the next generation. And he used his communication skills to tell us this was all somehow OK.

Bush 41 and Dan Quayle got their chance in 1988 and simply continued the Reagan "borrow and spend" years but Bush made one fatal mistake. He emphatically stated, "Read my lips: no new taxes." He forgot that you are not supposed to lay that sacrosanct campaign tenet in concrete, you are only supposed to promise lower taxes. But those Bush boys were never very good with the English language. When taxes went up and Bush 41 did not veto them, voters turned him out because he could not erase the words he had put in the consciousness of every voter.

Democrat Bill Clinton was the first President since Lyndon Johnson to present a balanced budget to the Congress and the American people. When he left office after two terms of consistent growth and prosperity, he left a $230 billion surplus for the next administration.

In 2000 Bush 43 came into office with his co-president, Dick Cheney (still hard to know who was the real President but that's another blog entry). Bush 43 and Cheney went back to 1964 and picked up the mantra: "we promise you lower taxes and smaller government." And they added, "Who knows better than you how to spend your own money? Certainly not the government." Sounds so sweet, doesn't it? They didn't believe it, of course, but sure thought the electorate would.

The GOP must think we are all infants...or idiots? 91.4 PERCENT OF THE FEDERAL BUDGET GOES TO DEFENSE, SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, MEDICAID AND INTEREST ON THE NATIONAL DEBT. The GOP will not speak of these locked in spending items. Only Defense can be called discretionary but the GOP certainly does not see it as discretionary.

It is up to us -- as Sarah Palin likes to say -- to "call them out" when they promise something we and they know they can't deliver and indeed, have no intention to even attempt to deliver.

As Obama says, it's time to declare, "Enough."

The truth is this: The fiscally conservative party has indebted this country since 1980 with a mammoth amount of debt. Bush 43 will leave office on January 20, 2009, having doubled the national debt from 5.4 trillion dollars to 10.6 trillion dollars.

Just typing those record debt numbers is depressing to me. I'm ready for someone who will speak the truth to us, not the tired old mantra of discredited political ideology.

Not one of us wants to pay higher taxes, we just want to pay our fair share of taxes when it is warranted. That is patriotism in action. And we are all patriots -- at least we believe we are -- when we ask government to keep greed in check by regulating financial markets, care for the elderly by providing a small measure of support through Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid programs, pay for the infrastructure that provides safe roads and bridges and levees, secure our borders from those who would do us harm, and most importantly, provide for the common defense. There's more, much more we Democrats AND Republicans expect of our government, but you get the picture. We will pay taxes, we will pay higher taxes if needed, but we insist they be taxes fairly apportioned among the citizens and expended only in ways that are transparent and fully accountable.

Where Have All the Young Votes Gone?

Yesterday, again I walked the neighborhood in my precinct, urging a vote for Barack Obama by every person I saw. And I found something very discouraging. A young man in his early 20s was busy washing his car and said he couldn't stop to talk, "I don't have time." Another young man in his late 20s answered the door, "I still haven't decided and probably won't until election day." Another came to the door after his mother got him off the sofa where he was watching a football game, "I think I'm going to be out of town on election day." When I told him he could vote absentee, he said, "OK, we'll see."

Here's the sad truth: the odds are great that none of these young voters will vote on November 4.

Some young people will tell you they don’t vote because they believe their vote isn’t going to make a difference. Of course, it does. Of the 110 million votes cast in the 2000 presidential race, just 537 votes in Florida made the difference in the outcome. That’s 537 powerful citizens!

Maybe our youth don’t vote because they spend too much time listening to the idle barber shop conversation of their elders. On any given Saturday morning, you’ll hear someone getting a clip explain away his lack of personal involvement with “It doesn’t matter who gets elected; special interests control government anyway.”

But it does matter. It matters very much.

In the introduction to her recent book, Be the Change, Michelle Nunn wrote “We stand at a time of enormous potential but also of danger – environmental hazards, nuclear proliferation, global poverty, and terrorism are all very real threats to our world and the promise of progress. But perhaps the biggest obstacle of all is apathy.”

If our youth don't bother to vote, we have bigger problems than determining just who will sit in the Oval Office. We have our future at risk. Please urge every young person you know between the ages of 18 and 34 to "bother" to vote.

In the Middle of the Rally!

Photos from today's rally in Denver. Obamamania! A good friend, standing in the middle of the rally, sent these photos from her Blackberry moments ago.

Here is the observation of my friend "from the scene."

Barack gave a CURRENT and inspiring, outstanding speech! We had to wait about an hour for him to appear. What I found so wonderful were the conversations we had with folks in the crowd. One Latino gentleman who brought his mother said he didn't pay much attention to political candidates before, but when McCain chose Sarah Palin, he was so disturbed that he began listening closer to their message. He was so turned off by the venom and negativity of the Republican candidates....not just McCain and Palin but also congressmen and senators at the state level. The more he listened to both, the more excited he became about Obama. I can tell you that the commercials here for local and state officials have been so negative....I think even worse than in Virginia!

Others were saying the same thing....young and old, white, black, Latino,
and "the first Americans for Obama" as one sign said.

Georgia on my mind

Georgia is my home state and so I follow politics there closer than I do almost any other state in the nation. I lived there when it was solidly Democratic. I left by the time McGovern had begun chasing the good ole boys into the Republican camp where they have been very happy. Richard Nixon got the second highest percentage win in November 1972 in Georgia (right behind Mississippi's 76% vote). And the party switch was underway.

But something is happening now. There is a movement afoot in the Peach State. And it starts with general unhappiness among the electorate there with the leadership of George Bush. (Who can't love a repentant alcoholic!) But the good ole boys ARE unhappy with Bush 43 and they don't see much hope for a better day in the aging maverick and his moose shootin' sidekick (Sarah The Shooter).

Various polls show incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss leading by 4 points, by two points, and even tied in at least one poll with Democratic challenger Jim Martin. John McCain is just two points ahead of Barack Obama in Georgia. Georgia! A state that Bush 43 won by 17 points in 2004. There is a dark spot on the Republican brand in Georgia and it's called incompetence. There's not enough Oxi-Clean in the world to remove it. (Out damn spot, out!)

Yes, Obama still has work to do in Georgia and so does Jim Martin...but they are close and closing. And now folks are talking about a possible Obama win in South Carolina. If that happens, palmetto trees on the state house lawn are sure to topple! But the fact that reliable sources are even talking about a possible win for Obama in South Carolina tells you to get ready for an earthquake. (Yes, we have them in the South.) Okefenokee is the Seminole Indian name for the swamp in South Georgia which, when translated means, "land of the trembling earth."

Let it shake, baby. Let it shake!

Five minutes ago: Breaking News!!!

A new Insider Advantage Poll came out this morning and it now shows Obama at 48, McCain at 47 with Undecided at 3 -- IN GEORGIA! In the race for US Senate, incumbent Chambliss is 44, challenger Martin is at 42 with Undecided at 12. Although well within the margin for error, trends are UP for Obama and Martin. The ground is starting to tremble under my feet. Can you feel it!!

We are all Americans

Colin Powell told Tom Brokaw on "Meet the Press" last Sunday how he was moved when he opened the New Yorker a few weeks ago and saw a picture of a mother resting her head on the Arlington gravestone of her son who had been killed in Iraq. He was stopped cold when he read the headstone: Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. Above his name was the star and crescent, denoting his Islamic faith.

Powell said he stared at it for a long time. This young man was buried at Arlington. No one questioned his faith or his patriotism. He was an American who died for his country. Something in the picture seemed out of sync with the whispering we have been hearing in the current presidential campaign.

Powell pointed out he has been troubled by what some Republicans, not McCain, have been saying, "'Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.' Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim. He's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no. That's not America. Is something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be President?"

The answer is no, nothing at all wrong with any American of any faith aspiring to be President.

And still the e-mails persist. I get them and I suspect you do as well. I won't repeat their utterly disgusting assertions here. The time for such transparent racism is over. We have a fine American in Barack Obama -- endowed with a large measure of intellectual curiosity, personal integrity, and an inordinate amount of instinctive good judgment -- among other qualities that make him uniquely qualified to lead us at this time.

Barack Obama's Faith

Remarks delivered by Barack Obama, Tuesday, July 1, 2008 in Zanesville, Ohio should help those "Christians" who are praying for Obama's defeat to understand why their activity is wrong...on so many levels:

Obama:

"I didn’t grow up in a particularly religious household. But my experience in Chicago showed me how faith and values could be an anchor in my life. And in time, I came to see my faith as being both a personal commitment to Christ and a commitment to my community; that while I could sit in church and pray all I want, I wouldn’t be fulfilling God’s will unless I went out and did the Lord’s work.

"There are millions of Americans who share a similar view of their faith, who feel they have an obligation to help others. And they’re making a difference in communities all across this country – through initiatives like Ready4Work, which is helping ensure that ex-offenders don’t return to a life of crime; or Catholic Charities, which is feeding the hungry and making sure we don’t have homeless veterans sleeping on the streets of Chicago; or the good work that’s being done by a coalition of religious groups to rebuild New Orleans.

"You see, while these groups are often made up of folks who’ve come together around a common faith, they’re usually working to help people of all faiths or of no faith at all. And they’re particularly well-placed to offer help. As I’ve said many times, I believe that change comes not from the top-down, but from the bottom-up, and few are closer to the people than our churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques.

"That’s why Washington needs to draw on them. The fact is, the challenges we face today – from saving our planet to ending poverty – are simply too big for government to solve alone. We need all hands on deck.

"I’m not saying that faith-based groups are an alternative to government or secular nonprofits. And I’m not saying that they’re somehow better at lifting people up. What I’m saying is that we all have to work together – Christian and Jew, Hindu and Muslim; believer and non-believer alike – to meet the challenges of the 21st century."

Are not those your sentiments, too? If not, why not?

Let's Move On

I'm done with Sarah Palin. You'll find no more comment here about this unfortunate woman. The GOP spent $150,000 on a new wardrobe for her and she didn't care enough about their political fortunes to find out what the US Constitution says about the duties of the Vice President. She told CNN yesterday that she would be "in charge" of the US Senate and couldn't wait to "get in there with the Senators to change policy." Uh, excuse me, Sarah, but that's not what a Vice President does...and that's made pretty clear by the US Constitution as every elementary grade student learns.

Someone should tell her to read the Constitution some day, perhaps on the plane as she and the "first dude" fly back permanently to their little moose lodge in Wasilla. She will soon have plenty of time to learn more about the three branches of our republican form of government. It shouldn't take more than a day or two for her to find the section of the Constitution that actually describes the limited duties of the "VeePee" -- as she likes to say.

Who is the most popular governor in America?

John McCain is quick to tell us his running mate is “the most popular governor in America” and that’s supposed to be a good reason we should vote for her (and him).

There is only one problem with that: Sarah Palin is NOT the most popular governor in America.

In July 2007, The Weekly Standard reported Governor Sarah Palin had “an approval rating in the 90s” and the report was based on a recent public survey in Alaska. Not your state, not mine, just Alaska.

I have no idea what her approval rating is today in Alaska…but let’s accept “the 90s” estimate of The Weekly Standard. That makes her the most popular current governor in Alaska, that’s all. Until late August, no one in the lower 48 had even heard of her.

She is the most popular governor in Alaska, to be sure, but the rest of us – 300 million of us – have never voted for her, and never rated her anything, until John McCain introduced her in Ohio in August of 2008.

It is incorrect, therefore, for John McCain to keep referring to her as the most popular governor in America. If John McCain says, “Sarah Palin has a statewide approval rating in Alaska that is higher than the approval rating of any other sitting governor in his or her state,” I can accept that.

Breaking News: Hold the phone. On October 1, 2008 Mason-Dixon Polling reported her ratings had tumbled to around 68 percent. While that is still good, there are two governors in Western states with approval ratings in the low 80s, and at least two in the 60s. Now McCain can’t say she is the most popular governor – uh, anywhere. Dang it!

Humphrey Syndrome Likely to Doom McCain

Do you remember the Presidential election of 1968? If you are as old as I am, this year’s campaign may be déjà vu all over again.

In 1968, America was sick of the Vietnam War and it seemed there was nothing Hubert Humphrey could do to separate himself from the war policies of Lyndon Johnson. When the vote was counted, Humphrey found he could not disassociate himself from Johnson. The voters chose Nixon because Nixon promised to end the war and bring the troops home. Sound familiar? The Electoral College vote in 1968 was 301 for Richard M. Nixon, 191 for Hubert H. Humphrey and 46 for Gov. George C. Wallace.

This year, in spite of his best efforts, John McCain cannot separate himself from the failed policies of George Bush, the President with whom he voted 90 percent of the time. McCain has the added challenge of trying to disassociate himself from the economic disaster that accompanies a failed Bush administration struggling to find an exit off the stage

Circumstances -- mostly out of his control -- are likely to end McCain's ambitions and put Barack Obama in the Oval Office. It will be interesting to see if the Electoral count of 2008 is even close to the count of 1968 and not a tsunami as some have predicted.

History does repeat itself.

Spread the Wealth? Indeed.

Context is critical to meaning.

Sometimes it means “share the credit,” or “give others a chance,” or “a little equality would be fine.” Sometimes it is a pick-up line in a bar, as in, “Let me know when you are ready to spread the wealth around.” It is not always used to indicate the desire to establish a socialist state. John McCain’s seizing of the line uttered by Barack Obama in passing to “Joe the Plumber” is a wild stretch of an off the cuff remark and more than likely was meant to convey the idea that we should “spread opportunity around” and make the tax burden on all of us more fair – especially for small businesses. But it’s all John McCain has, I guess.

By the way, John, what do you call your vote for the $700 billion rescue plan? Was that capitalism or socialism?

Pray for Defeat?

I am still troubled by an e-mail I received the other day from a Republican asking all who receive it to stop what they are doing each night at 7 p.m. and join in a mass effort, as Christians, to pray for the defeat of the one “leading in national polls,” but who does not “share our Christian values.” The not so subtle reference was to Barack Obama, of course, a devout Christian.

You can see why I am confused and troubled.

John McCain is the guy who divorced his wife when he came home from Vietnam. She had been in a terrible auto accident and just “wouldn’t do” anymore, I guess. He is also the guy who “dated” everything in skirts up and down the East Coast during his days as Navy liaison to the US Senate. He is also the guy who admitted that for a time he “dated” a stripper. He is also the guy who told intimates he was going to leave the Navy to run for Congress from a district in Florida because he had found a rich maiden who could support such an effort. He is the same guy who a few weeks later told the same intimates he had changed his mind, that he had met another beauty (Cindy McCain) in a Hawaiian bar and would be moving to Arizona soon to marry her and run for the Congress from a district to be identified there.

John McCain cannot be the real Christian, can he?

I’m having trouble finding the Christian life in John McCain. Let’s look at the other guy. Obama has been married to only one woman and devotedly so. He came to his Christianity through a long and circuitous faith journey and soul searching that brought him to Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago where he made his commitment.

We gain some useful insight into the faith of Barack Obama when we review comments he made in a 2006 speech at a conference sponsored by Jim Wallis’s Sojourners organization.

In that speech, his message to the political Left was stop rejecting people of faith and instead find common ground. To the Right, he said you need to recognize the “critical role that the separation of church and state has played” in America. “Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.”

Then he said something most revealing: “And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson’s, or Al Sharpton’s? Which passage of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is okay and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount – a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful our own Defense Department would survive its application? So, before we get carried away, let’s read our Bibles. Folks haven’t been reading their Bibles.”

The speech served as the basis for the chapter on faith in Obama’s The Audacity of Hope.

There is more, much more, in his speech that I commend to those who seek more insight into the faith journey of this thoughtful man. A comment near the end of the speech is worth repeating. He says religion ought to change its voice when entering the public square. "Democracy demands,” he argued, “that the religiously motivated translate their concern into universal rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amendable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teaching of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.”

I don’t know about you, but Barack Obama is the kind of Christian I want in the White House – probing, asking questions, doubting, yet faithful and grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition, someone who will use the precepts of his faith to unite us.

Why Obama is the Christian for These Times

Again, the extreme right is saying Obama is not a Christian. Some are even calling on those with Christian values to pray for Obama's defeat. Obama is a man whose faith journey has formed a Christian more in tune with the lessons Jesus taught than nearly anyone I know. Thus, I am moved to post here a few selected quotes from the speech Obama gave March 18, 2008 in Philadelphia, one of the more important speeches of our time.

Many in America did not see him deliver it; many have not taken the time to read it. The passages selected here will give you a sense of the import of Obama's words.

Selected Quotes of note from Obama speech of March 18, 2008
“A More Perfect Union”

“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 our children and grandchildren.”

“…race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now….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. …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.”

“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 if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.”

“…it means taking full responsibility for our 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.”

“…America can change. That is the 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.”

“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 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.”

“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.”

--It is a speech that will be quoted by others, referenced in future texts, and studied by scholars and political scientists for years to come. Obama will win this November...and the Christian values reflected in this speech will support his daily actions throughout his tenure in office.

Just Practicing...

That's me at the rear of a Depression era soup line (shot at the FDR memorial in Washington, DC, 2005).

At the time this photo was taken, I had no idea I would be practicing for a possible repeat behind a real Bush Depression soup line in 2008.

God Bless America.

Seize this Moment

As a staffer in the US Senate, I found government works best when elected representatives bring their ideas to the table and, with equal conviction to cooperation and collaboration, commit their full intellect and energy to solving America’s problems.

Too often elected officials walk in lockstep with party ideology rather than using their own best judgment to arrive at consensus on the issues. They stick to the extreme right or left of the political spectrum, and expect us to view them as leaders. For them, all problems can be solved easily; the choices are always “either/or.”

In my view, the best solutions are not found using a black and white “either/or” approach; they are most likely to be crafted from a “both/and” approach.

Today, that is hard for Republicans and Democrats to practice…but they must. The economic picture for America – and indeed, the entire world – is dire.

The economic environment represents a great opportunity for the man who would be our next President.

We need someone who will seize this moment as an opportunity to unite the nation, and that is best done by steering neither hard right nor hard left. It is my hope that Barack Obama will take the time at the debate next week to help calm fears, pull the country together, offer words of hope and encouragement as well as a clear, easy to understand plan, to all who need to hear. A plan – or at least a set of operating principles that represent the best thinking from both sides of the aisle and middle ground, too.

As I write this, I hear the news that Obama is negotiating with the networks to buy a full half hour of network time. I don’t know the details, but it would be good news to all if he used the time to describe how we might get out of this mess – together.

I am confident Barack Obama has the courage to tell us what we need to hear and will let the chips fall where they may on November 4^th.

LOL -- Not

Isn't it amusing to watch the very people who rose to high office by promising to reduce the size of government and its involvement in our lives coming to the conclusion -- albeit, reluctantly -- that the government must buy a stake in the banks they are rescuing in order to help restore enough confidence among bankers that they will begin loaning money to each other?

I should be laughing out loud, but I get no joy from seeing these Republicans hoisted on their own petard! No, none.....really. Because what they have done to America with their Joe Six Pack approach to governing is tragic.

Is it too much to hope for that the day will come when they will cease their Simple Simon approach to government, acknowledge that it is more complex than they imagined, that really smart people (not hockey moms) MUST be in charge, that taxes paid to that government are indeed a patriotic exercise?

Canvassing for Obama ...Again

This past weekend, my wife and I spent several hours going door-to-door once more for the person we feel best qualified to be the 44^th president of the United States: Barack Obama.

If you have never done it, I recommend you wear out a little shoe leather on behalf of your favorite candidate. It was our second time, but it won’t be the last. The exercise is good for you and the people you meet are good for you, too. They give you a realistic view of the campaign from the front door of residences occupied by the ordinary Americans who will actually go to the polls in less than four weeks and choose the next President. Some pretend not to be home and ignore the bell, some come to the door and lie to you about who they support, some waste your time by asking unrelated questions, but some are truly interested in knowing more about the candidate you have chosen to support. It’s a pretty good sampling of America itself.

I tell everyone I meet that I have been voting in Presidential elections 44 years and have never gone door-to-door for any candidate. I tell them this year is different; I’m going door-to-door for my grandchildren because this race is critical to their future. We must make the right choice.

We have indulged the Republicans their chosen mediocre candidate for the last time, and it is time for an informed person imbued with integrity, intelligence and wisdom to assume the leadership of this great nation.

BarkObama

Who let the dogs out? Joe Fab sent this great photo of his properly attired trio -- Wallace, Princeton and Gus -- no doubt ready to go door to door, or at least, hydrant to hydrant, for their candidate.





Note the message on their custom made scarf!

Joe tells me the scarves are available at http://petsvote.com

Thanks, Joe.

The Records

Make no mistake about it, Bush 43 will go down in history holding every record by which we typically measure the success or failure of a President. He will be Number One! He will hold all the important records perhaps in perpetuity. He will hold the record for --

• Greatest increase in national debt during his term (doubled the debt)
• Greatest annual rate of federal spending (on and off budget)
• Largest amount spent on nation building ($1 trillion and counting)
  
• Greatest miscalculation in the cost of the Iraq war
• Greatest miscalculation in the way American forces would be welcomed
• Greatest attack on the constitutional rights of all Americans
  
• Highest price per gallon at the pump for gasoline
• Greatest cuts in Medicaid proposed
• Greatest miscalculation in the cost of prescription drug benefit for seniors under Medicare
• Largest number of Americans lost health insurance
  
• Lowest amount spent on nation's infrastructure
• Lowest approval rating of any President in the history of the nation.
• Greatest fall in the value of the stock market since the Great Depression

Only God knows what record he would have held if the Congress had permitted him to privatize Social Security by taking all of its funds and investing them in the stock market. Now, that really would have been special!

"My Friends"

John McCain used the speech crutch, "my friends," way too many times last night. I know John McCain. When he becomes really irritated with the situation in which he finds himself, he uses the phrase frequently. But it helps if you know what he is really saying.

I have known John McCain since the mid-1970s and observed his use of "my friend" or the plural "my friends" for many years. So, try to think of it this way: the next time you hear him say, "my friend," please know he is really saying, "you idiot," as in "Listen, you idiot, I will explain my energy plan once more." And when he says, "my friends," he is really saying, "you stupid people," as in "You stupid people, I am best qualified to lead this nation."

If you substitute "you idiot" or "you stupid people" each time you hear him say "my friends," you will have a much better idea of what he really means. But don't take my word for it, ask the people even closer, the staff of his campaign what they think he means.

Addendum:

Every time John McCain speaks publicly, I get requests for help in clarifying his words and his style of speaking. He has never been the most dynamic speaker on the circuit, a fact that is obvious to all who have witnessed his attempts to connect with the American voter. If you are among those sometimes wondering what to make of his public utterances, here is a repeat of the primer I posted in June:

1. When McCain is blinking, he does not believe what he is saying.

2. When his eyes are blinking so fast they seem to flutter and he is smiling, he has no idea what he is talking about but he hopes you are buying it anyway.

3. When he is staring blankly into the camera without blinking, he desperately wants you to believe what he is saying and he hopes you will take it to the bank without further questions.

4. When he furrows his brow and squints darkly into the audience as a question is being asked, he is praying………….for an answer, any answer, to occur to him.

5. Of course, if you happen to engage him in conversation, be wary of any sentence beginning with, “My friend,” for at that point in the conversation he is not thinking of you as his friend.

Enough said.

Oh, You Cal

Boy, are the Republicans in a bad mood this morning!

I heard that arch-conservative Cal Thomas on the radio this morning describing the debate as a waste of time. “There’s only one word for last night’s debate,” complained Cal. “Booooring!!”

On the contrary, Cal, I found it fascinating. Steady as she goes, Obama was calm and reasoned in his demeanor and clear in his description of his ideas for the future. McCain, on the other hand was petty, petulant, and picayune in just about every way. And did you notice that his voice kept going higher and higher and becoming more whiny as the night went on. His voice dripped with contempt for his fellow debater, the person he described as “that one.”

Cal Thomas said both seemed to have forgotten that it is “we the people, not them, the government.” I have news for you, Cal. “we the people IS we the government every day – because that is our system of government.” What planet are you living on?

I heard Mary Matelin on the Don Imus program today saying “people need to start focusing on the differences in these two candidates – and then the polls will move in the right direction.” Mary, I have news for you, the people have focused on the differences and they believe Obama is the best candidate for America’s future.

And then there is my Republican neighbor, who said to me as I picked up the Washington Post in my driveway, “Debates? What debates? I try not to watch, it won’t make a difference.” I have news for her. This time it will make a difference. The American treasury cannot afford another four years like the last eight. We simply cannot afford it.

Confidence is what it’s all about. Confidence and trust. When we elect Barack Obama, confidence will return to the financial markets as they realize we have an actual grown up at the helm, someone in whom we can place our trust to get America moving again. We certainly don’t need someone who believes the government works best when we send it less money and expect it to do more and more. We certainly don’t need someone who believes there is no role for government in our lives and then says government should step in to buy up all the bad mortgages, the same person by the way, who – a few minutes earlier – said we ought to freeze government spending right where it is. No wonder Republicans are in a bad mood this morning.

You out of sorts Republicans need to take two aspirins. It’ll be over soon. The Democrats will be back in power and you can join your old friend Herbert Hoover on the sidelines of history.

Out of the mouth of Bush...

President George Bush was on TV this afternoon attempting to explain what Congress did and what he did to address the credit crisis and the Wall Street meltdown. A small businessman explained the great difficulty he was having getting credit for his business operations and wanted to know what the President was doing about it.

First, President Bush said he "listened to some pretty smart people" and he followed their advice. "They said we had to make a big, bold move and we did. (shrugged his shoulders) I know some members of Congress didn't like it, they never like it when government makes a big, bold move, but we had to do something about freezing up credit."

I kid you not, that's what he said.

Is it any wonder the people are scared to death. Our leader doesn't have a clue what he is saying.

It truly is up to the candidates at the Nashville debate tonight to calm the waters if they can, to explain to the American people exactly how they would address the current financial crisis. In a very real sense, the people have stopped listening to their ersatz President and will be looking for one of these guys to help restore some measure of confidence in the financial system that makes America work. Can they do it? We'll see.

Nine Senators more "liberal" than Obama; Seven Senators more "conservative" than McCain

Let’s get one thing straight: Barack Obama is not the “most liberal member of the US Senate” despite what the GOP says.

In its analysis and rating of senators’ votes in 2007, the National Journal concluded back in June that Obama is the “most liberal member of the Senate.” The GOP jumped on it, sending out press releases to all media. The right-wing bloggers jumped on it too, as further evidence that Obama is just another one of those “tax and spend liberals.”

McCain had a lot of fun with this report in June. Now that October is here and his polling numbers are not so hot, McCain and his minions are raising the false charge again and hoping it will stick this time.

So, is the charge correct? Here's a primer on ratings and votes they measure.

The ratings are often based on a very subjective analysis of votes cast. For example, in the judgment of editors of the National Journal, Obama’s vote to establish a Senate Office of Public Integrity should be counted as a liberal vote. Who knew? Wouldn’t you think that vote would be neither liberal nor conservative? Could there be anything more deserving of bipartisan support?

What about those ratings of special interest groups. Do they make things clearer? I’m talking about organizations like Americans for Democratic Action, American Civil Liberties Union, National Federation of Independent Business, the Americans for Constitutional Action – to name just a few. Their ratings are so important they appear at the end of every member’s bio in The Almanac of American Politics. These ratings, however, are based on a select list of 10 or 12 votes from among hundreds of votes cast in a single year, and they’re mostly designed to be used as a lobbying tool. No, the special interest groups don’t help us understand the ratings because typically they use their ratings to polarize the electorate.

I worked in the US Senate for 17 years and I can tell you with confidence that nothing so frustrates the members – all members of both parties – like these arbitrary ratings. Anyone can pick a dozen votes to make a member look “liberal” or “conservative.” I remember well, Barry Goldwater, THE father of the modern conservative movement, and he voted frequently with his more liberal colleagues. I wonder what Goldwater's ACA rating would be today? It wouldn't be hard to determine. The conservative rating services would simple pick the most conservative votes to make him look really conservative and ignore any that might make him look like his friend Ted Kennedy.

All right, but what about John McCain? Is McCain “liberal” or “conservative?” Conservatives certainly don’t like it when he partners with Democrats like Russ Feingold in writing campaign finance reform legislation. McCain certainly sounds liberal, doesn’t he?

Is Obama liberal or conservative? Liberals don’t like it when he says he wants to bring the best minds into his administration, even Republicans! Obama certainly sounds like a conservative, doesn’t he?

Can political scientists give us an objective answer?

One respected Internet site, Voteview.com, created by political scientists, reports there are nine senators more liberal than Obama, and seven senators more conservative than McCain.

Let’s be blunt: Most of the analysis and ratings are not an accurate reflection of the political ideology of a given Senator. You may be able to discern someone leaning one way or another…but it is not possible to gauge who is the “most liberal” or “most conservative” by simply reading the ratings published today. That's the bottom line. So, forget 'em.

So when someone says to you, “I’m not voting for Obama because he is the most liberal member of the US Senate,” tell them, “That’s not true; the record doesn’t show that. Find another reason, please, and then we’ll talk.”

Problems with the Republican Mantra

Many readers of this blog are Republicans in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Georgia. They always have thought provoking questions which I appreciate. Late last week, I had an exchange with one who asked me why Republicans in the House of Representatives had such a hard time voting for Treasury’s rescue bill which most seemed to agree was needed to stabilize the economy and send a message to world markets that America was getting its financial act together. Here’s part of my answer:

It is hard for "always cut your taxes, anti-big government" Republicans to swallow this kind of economic medicine. Because, if they swallow it, it undermines their pet attack line on the Democrats which is, "Democrats will raise your taxes and increase the size of government. Elect me and I will reduce your taxes and reduce the size of that big ole government that interferes too much in your life."

If this latest legislative initiative works, it pulls the rug out from under those folks and they will have to admit that government does indeed have a role in keeping this country on an even keel and taxes do have a role to play in paying for the services we all depend on. Most importantly, they will have to admit that a free market can be depended upon to “take care of things” but only so long as the people are willing to endure enormous personal pain in the process (complete collapse of the financial markets) which they are not inclined to accept in 2008.

Of course, if you take away their mantra – “I will cut your taxes and reduce the size of government” – Republican ideologues are left with nothing POSITIVE to say about why they should be elected. Note that none of the “young turk” Republicans in the House, elected after Newt Gingrich taught his party to stick to the mantra, never vary, and never try to explain or educate constituents on the “right thing to do for the country.”

I hope this is a cycle in American politics that is nearing its end, and that the Gingrich generation will soon depart so that America can get back on track and resume its place of leadership on the world stage.

"To Be Our Best Selves"

Yesterday, on NBC’s Meet the Press, Peggy Noonan, former speechwriter and adviser to President Ronald Reagan made a comment that is worth pondering by serious people interested in finding a way to “keep” this republic. Tom Brokaw made a reference to economic conditions in 2008 being similar to those of 1980 when the presidential contest was between Reagan and Jimmy Carter, and the desire of the country to find a leader to help get the country “back on track.”

Peggy Noonan responded:

Oh maybe it’s all more so, but I actually think we’re living in a different world. The intensity of our economic crisis seems to me to be greater. But, Tom, also there’s something that we all know, and it’s in the back of our minds but we don’t quite think of it enough, and it is this: We are living in the age of the unknowable, of weapons of mass destruction, of crazy people who can get and harness these things and who can come and hurt us. When you—you don’t want to be dark and you don’t want to be preoccupied, but when you keep your mind on that fact and that we may in our country face difficult days ahead, and even immediately ahead, when you keep your mind on that, you realize, whoa, this old partisan gamesmanship, this “tear out his throat,” all of that stuff, it’s over, it’s yesterday.

What we need now is grace. We need real patriotism, which patriotism isn’t used as a weapon in a campaign. Patriotism actually needs grace in order to function. We got to be our best selves right now. We got to hit our game in a higher way. We got to be forbearing. We got to be adults.

I sometimes think one of the problems in America is there are too many people that don’t want to embrace the role of the simple grown-up and show the maturity and forbearance of a grown-up.

Palin was careless, reckless, naive, foolhardy...

...and she was generally insulting to the intelligence of the American people.

Here are notes I made at the end of the "debate."

Biden spent a lot of time setting the record straight. He also displayed enormous knowledge of the facts and a clear understanding of the nuances of the issues. Biden scored over and over, but I don't think it will change many minds.

She showed she can memorize lots of text...and she also demonstrated there wasn't a question asked that would get her off the script she was given.

Her memorization was good but awkwardly presented to say the least. Her climate change comment was a little strange to me.

After the first half hour she really got tentative and uncertain of what she should say. Her coaches had obviously told her, "If you don't know the answer or don't want to answer the question, just ignore it and repeat this block of information on McCain's positions." What an insult to the voters!

Biden knows foreign policy cold. There was no way she could keep up with him on that subject. This was embarrassing. Why did she say he is looking backward when he clearly displayed a breadth of knowledge and understanding that no one else in the room had. I was surprised when she actually used the word "proliferation" -- a new word for her. I was impressed that she didn't say, "When the bad guys start throwing those nuclear hockey pucks at us...". Incidentally, did you notice she had no clue what to say on the nuclear trigger question?

If something happens to John McCain, she said she would show her maverick stripes, too, and would pursue things differently, of course. That comment alone should scare the pants off every single person in America.

She also said she hoped the Constitution will allow more authority for the VP should she decide to assert it. What!!?? Thankfully, Joe Biden straightened her out by citing Article 1 of the US Constitution, stated the duties of the VP and made clear for Palin -- and Dick Cheney -- that the VP IS part of the Executive branch. Period. This part was weird.

And when asked to name the worst thing Dick Cheney did, she responded, "I think it was the hunting accident."

With 15 minutes to go, Palin "left the building." She never answered the question, "what is your Achilles heel?" Obviously, this was not a block of text presented to her and memorized in rehearsal. Actually, it could be that she did not understand the question. Maybe Sarah did not understand that Gwen Ifil was asking her to name a personal area of weakness or vulnerability.

SHE WAS A ROBOT...RECITING ALL SHE HAD MEMORIZED...IGNORING THE MODERATOR...DELIVERING BLOCKETTES OF A SPEECH.

Bottom line: she was much better than anyone expected...BUT... on a scale of 1 to 10, Joe Biden scored 9 and Sarah Palin scored 1.5. What does that say? It says she was a disaster.

The only thing that saved her was the perception that she was better than expected. Like the old Peggy Lee song, "Is that all there is?" Or, perhaps I should say, "Is that all we are looking for in a VP?

I don't think we will hear much more about Sarah Palin because everyone finally knows exactly what's in that skirt -- nothin'. She does have beautiful brown eyes (you betcha') and when she bats those over sized lashes (gonna wow ya'), she starts a veritable breeze in the room. Let's acknowledge she is the cutest VP candidate we've ever had (let's see that wink one more time).

Republicans will ignore the fact that she is absolutely vacuous. There are no brain cells processing incoming information not to mention questions. She has Ronald Reagan's ability to memorize significant blockettes of information that she can recall when she has nothing to say or is unable to respond to a specific question. And that's all the Republican base needs to know.

Democrats, on the other hand, saw what they needed to see, too: she is as much an "empty skirt" as George Bush was an "empty suit." Americans bought that empty suit before and we won't make that mistake again -- no matter how many times she twitches that nose.

Ben Frankllin would be proud of Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md)

I don’t know Wayne Gilchrest, the moderate Republican member of Congress, defeated for re-election in a primary earlier this year, but old Ben would be proud of the way he tried to represent his constituents, and Ben would endorse the comments of Gilchrest as reported in Marc Fisher’s Washington Post column today. I have excerpted Gilchrest’s remarks from the column:

“The Republican Party has become more narrow, more self-serving, more centered around ‘I want, I want, I want.’ I’ve had it with my colleagues who don’t understand the issues, who not only don’t read the Financial Times, they have never heard of the Financial Times. We’re in this bad place as a country because of the evangelicals, the neo cons, the nasty, bitter and mean…very clever ideological groups that use money, technology, fear and bigotry to lead people around. Voting according to your knowledge and experience – that’s out the window. Competence and prudence? Forget it.”

He also had a few choice words for the American citizen:

“We’ve become a country that sits down in front of the boob tube and listens to people shouting about freedom, but now people equate freedom not with the acquisition of knowledge but with comfort. ‘Give me my flat-screen TV, the gas-guzzling car, the goods made in China.’ The whole concept of freedom has become the idea of comfort, with a complete lack of responsibility.”

What about his party’s standard bearer, John McCain? Gilchrest had this to say:

“John McCain just recites memorized pieces of information in a narrow way, whereas Barack Obama is constantly evaluating information, using his judgment. One guy just recites what’s in front of him, and the other has initiative and reason and prudence and wisdom.”

OK….no wonder the ideological purists of his party are happy to see him go. He tells the truth, and that is not something the right wing ideologues can truck. No sireee!

Now you know why Ben Franklin’s quote is the inspiration for this blog. He said, “You have a republic…if you can keep it.” Ben knew that if our representatives reach the point where they set aside their own intellect, their own judgment and simply be guided by public opinion, we would be in danger of losing the republic. Writing to “The Electors at Bristol” in 1790, Sir Edmund Burke eloquently expressed this sentiment when he wrote, “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays rather than serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”

American needs a lot more like Rep. Wayne Gilchrest!