Couldn’t Say It Better Myself

Hair of the Dog by Michael Kinsley

Much to Mary’s consternation, I’ve pretty well decided that if and when the government ever coughs up my $600 “rebate”, I’m going to give the whole thing, lock-stock-and-barrel, to the Salvation Army. I can’t think of any other action that would be more contrary to the sick mentality of our politicians than to give the money to the poor rather than buying something new for myself. I’m related to the Kinsley’s on Mom’s side, and this may explain why I so wholly agree with Michael’s thoughts.

On another note, I can identify on a miniscule scale with how John Edwards must be feeling today. I know what it’s like to answer the noble call to fight injustice in all its various forms, and I know what it’s like to not be able to get others on board with that cause. Edwards would be a perfectly fine president, but such is for naught if he can’t convince the majority to feel the same way. I was a perfectly fine pastor, but without the support of parishioners that became a moot point. It may well be sour grapes on my part, but I still think that the majority needs to seriously rethink what it endorses and why.

Super Bowl XLII: Cancelled?

I heard someone say that the Super Bowl is this weekend, and you know what? They’re right! Silly me; I’ve been focused on what’s going on in the world and the fact that the high holy day of football is next Sunday completely slipped by me. Now that my Broncos are chronically mediocre, I just haven’t been interested enough in the sport to keep up.

Yesterday I added my measly voice to the chorus of pundits who felt that Bush’s State of the Union address was anything but inspiring. Some of his fans (are there still any?) are probably asking what kind of sacrifice on the part of the American people he could have proposed. And in the spirit of fairness, here’s my answer:

Let’s cancel all professional sports until the United States no longer imperialistically occupies Iraq. Unless someone can make a valid argument that the Super Bowl falls into the necessities category along with food, water, and shelter, we can live without it. Perhaps if we had to spend this coming Sunday thinking of a way to get out of Iraq in order to get our football back, we would give some serious thought to how to get it done. And voila! $720 million per day would truly stimulate our economy, the senseless loss of our best and brightest would cease, and we could look forward with great anticipation to Super Bowl XLII in 2009 as our well-deserved reward.

The Day After

After Bush’s final State of the Union address last night, pundits were quick to point out that he didn’t call upon the American people to do anything about anything. About the only responsibility he has given us is to go out and spend our $600 as quickly as we can to “stimulate” the economy. No sacrifice was called for in terms of supporting our troops overseas, or as a more legitimate way to turn the economy around. No public support was called for to remedy failing education and health systems other than to, I suppose, reelect the same old greedy bastards that have gotten us into this mess in the first place.

By contrast, Barack Obama never misses an opportunity to challenge us to envision what WE can do together. This is one of his characteristics that I find most refreshing and inspirational. The proof is in the pudding, I know, and only time will tell if he’s sincere, but I sense a genuine spirit of selflessness as Obama campaigns to become the twenty-first century Moses that will demand, “Let my people go!” I agree that most of us have become the victims of corporate greed that has as its only goal the enrichment of the few at the expense of the many. I am hopeful that Obama is inciting a patriotic fervor to take back the reins of government in order to reverse that mindset. I will go so far as to proclaim Obama the American Redeemer, and as those he seeks to liberate it is incumbent on us to ensure that he is not crucified by the evil he enjoins us to battle.

Let This Be the Last

Last week I sent a You Tube link to everyone on my personal e-mail list concerning the war in Iraq costing approximately $720 million per day. In the past when I have sent such a “mass mailing”, if what it purports is in error, someone usually “snopes” me rather quickly. This leads me to believe—on less than empirical grounds—that there may be some truth to the allegation.

Now, if there really is any truth to the fact that this country is expending roughly $500,000 per minute on Bush’s war, does this in any way account for the economic recession that has gained attention as the most pressing issue on Americans’ minds? Or am I just stupid? Apparently Bush and Congress believe the latter. In the guise of “stimulating” the economy with a $600 per person rebate that is supposed to turn things around, nothing is being said of the financial hemorrhage that is the war in Iraq. Since first expressing my strong opposition to the war I have contended that if $720 million per day was spent on food, clothing, shelter and medicine for the people in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the other countries that are reacting with terrorism to the United States’ imperialistic occupation, the terrorists would be out of business virtually overnight. I continue to believe that such is true, but such policy would fail to line the greedy pockets of the military industrial complex (if you don’t like Eisenhower’s term, choose one of your own).

Finally, we are to the point of having to endure only one more pathetic State of the Union address from the idiot, but I encourage my readers to pay close attention to how he gets away with it. He assumes that you and I are not smart enough (good grief! not as smart as he is) to put 2 + 2 together and get 4. I for one am sick and tired of his condescending arrogance, and I will gladly watch him burn in the fires of hell when his immoral regime is over…if the M.I.C. doesn’t succeed in reinstating him as emperor for life.

Pissing and Moaning

How sad! The lunch that Mary prepared for me seems to have whetted my appetite while giving me writer’s block all at the same time. When I was in law enforcement we were drilled in the concept of imminent danger. That’s the phenomenon that justifies action up to and including the use of deadly force. For police, it’s an acute event. But I’ve increasingly been experiencing a chronic sense of imminent danger that potentially threatens the whole of humanity. As a nuclear-age baby-boomer this is only natural because I’ve spent my whole life in the specter of global annihilation. But the “signs” these days seem to me as ominous as ever, and I don’t see anyone or anything on the future’s horizon that offers a ray of genuine hope. War, terrorism, disease, hunger, poverty, climate change; these are all very real threats to the well being of our species. And yet we get so caught up in Heath Ledger’s death that there is little to no time to address the truly global issues. It is disheartening to watch the once “high road” campaigns of presidential candidates deteriorate into slanderous spin. Huckabee was right that Jesus was too smart to run for president, but that’s just a fluffy excuse for not taking seriously what Jesus was about. It would probably be smarter of me to skip a day’s post when I’m in this kind of mood, but those damned evangelicals have infected me with their question, “What would Jesus do?”

It’s Broken!

Last Saturday’s Nevada caucus was a comedy of errors. The Republicans were straightforward about theirs being closed, but the Democrats tried to have their cake and eat it, too, by falsely advertising that independents such as myself could register Democrat just long enough to participate. I stood in three different lines to come as close as completing a registration form (there was no acknowledgment of my already being a registered voter) changing my party affiliation until the precinct captain (erroneously, I think) declared that such was permanent and not temporary. Not wishing to become a Democrat (or Republican) for life, I tore the form up and sat in the middle school courtyard until Mary finished what the two of us had set out to do: support the candidacy of Barak Obama. The experience confirmed my belief that our political process is fundamentally flawed, right down to the grassroots. I join those who feel that there should be one national primary and one national election based upon the popular vote and not upon the Electoral College. If the Democrats and Republicans want to persist in their exclusive practices, that’s their business, but don’t deny my right as a United States citizen to campaign and vote for whomever I independently choose.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

It doesn’t seem possible for twenty-four years to have passed since that bitterly cold Colorado morning when Rachel gloriously graced this planet with her beautiful presence. From the very beginning those penetrating brown eyes have been twinkling at the world around her, ever inquisitive, ever curious. Her room at our Brittany Oaks town home was freshly decorated in sunny yellow and aloe green, and it was breathtakingly miraculous to place her in the newly assembled crib for the first time.

She’s a woman now, but not one whit less beautiful and wonderful. It is delightful to share in the love that blesses Rachel and Steve in their emerging life together. It is joyous to watch the bond of sisterhood with Rebecca evolve as they join in the Flagstaff life to which they have returned. It doesn’t take a lot for me to become nostalgically sentimental for those days when I walked Rachel to school and tried to trip her up with a word she couldn’t spell. I have loved every minute of fatherhood.

Rachel knows that there was a serious discussion between her parents about the responsibilities and ramifications of bringing a new life into this world. Things are certainly not as I would wish them to be, but I suppose they never have been. About one thing there is absolutely no question. The world is a far better place for our decision to let the universe unfold as it should, and for having done our little part in bringing this brilliant light into our lives.

It’s Time That We Find Out

I was in junior high when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I was a senior in high school when Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. Just as Pearl Harbor and September 11 are more than just history to those who lived through the experiences, so is the traumatic murder of national leaders for my generation. I’ll grant you that it doesn’t take a lot to bring Mary to tears, but it was particularly poignant as she made the association between Barak Obama in the present and those pillars of leadership from the past and realized that he is extremely vulnerable to the same fate for precisely the same reasons.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s warning about the military industrial complex as he left office is often quoted, but I question how well it has been comprehended. For all the investigations and reports, there never really has been a fully adequate explanation of whom and what was behind those murders during the turbulent Sixties. As I knock on the door of my golden years, I’m either becoming paranoid or cynical (probably a nice mixture of both) in my belief that the very nameless, faceless entity to which Eisenhower referred is more dramatically involved with all the evil in our world than we are prepared to admit and still maintain our sanity.

Mr. Obama, I fear that you are in danger. Your integrity, your hopefulness, your faith in Everyman is placing you in the sights of those who will not tolerate such. As an American, and as one of your supporters, I am duty-bound to learn the truth behind the assassinations of those in whose footsteps you are following. Whether they are called the military industrial complex, neoconservatives, right-wingers, or evil incarnate, there are those who are held accountable by nothing but their own greed, and it is time that we bring them out into the light.

All Men Are NOT Created Equal

O.J. Simpson’s antics continue, and I for one am getting tired of the whole affair. Although a jury determined that there was reasonable doubt about Simpson being a murderer, there is no doubt in my mind. Other than being a popular professional football player, what contribution has Simpson made to the betterment of anything? The media circus surrounding his L.A. trial was sick enough, but its revival here in Las Vegas is nauseating. I cannot begin to estimate the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands that have been spent by the City of Las Vegas and Clark County to provide unprecedented security for this Neanderthal who continues to draw media attention like flies to shit. What is wrong with us? There is no question but what the media panders to our morbid curiosity about this nominally human beast. Poor O.J. grimaced as the judge scolded him with a quarter-of-a-million dollar bail, but he walked out of the courtroom the celebrity we have made him. I’m all for putting him back out on the streets just like any other criminal would be and letting fate have its way with him.

Don't Get Too Comfortable

immigrant
illegal
alien

I received an e-mail that’s circulating (you may have received it, too) that starts out talking about what happens when someone—in a magnanimously bighearted way—starts to feed the birds that frequent the backyard. It quickly digresses into a slam of illegal immigrants (I’ve provided the links above because in my mind this term is an oxymoron) who are draining the United States of every cherished benefit to which we believe we are entitled. There have been some lively discussions under our roof about the inherent discrimination present in this popular debate, and I have to concede to Mary that for the most part it is Mexicans who are being portrayed as the perpetrators. When reference is made to the 11 or 12 million illegal immigrants who are currently in this country, I confess that the stereotypical Hispanic is what pops up in my mind. There is probably a degree of justification to this perception, but such certainly does not justify vilifying those who seek to earn the compensation that Americans are more than willing to pay them. My argument is that illegal operates as the key word. Whether they are Mexicans, Germans, Irish or Kenyans, I believe that their presence in our country must be documented. If one has not bothered to obtain such documentation, then they need to be deported. Documentation should not necessarily imply ex-officio citizenship, either. It is true that our social services are being strained by the requirement to provide for citizens and aliens alike, and permitting someone to be legally employed should not automatically bestow the privileges of citizenship upon him or her. It’s a tough question any way you look at it. That’s why I’m processing these words while I digest my lunch. The issue is not going to go away, so how are we going to deal with it?

It's Time!

This Saturday I’m going to caucus for Barak Obama. I’m none too happy with Nevada’s characteristically backwards closed policy that will require me to register as a Democrat just long enough to participate—I’ll be returning to my preferred independent status just as soon afterwards as I can. I do not believe that the fascist Bush administration has served this country well, nor has it done anything but besmirch this great nation’s reputation in most of the world. I admire Obama’s candid honesty and hope that it can survive with integrity the remaining months until he is elected our president. Working for his election is the only positive way I can think of to counter my cynical belief that this country lost its democracy when Bush was appointed to office in 2001 and of allaying my fear that the neo-cons have actually taken over our government without spilling a drop of blood (at least their own). I believe that there is a new day ahead for America, and it can’t come a minute too soon.

P.S. Mary has a new post at her blog, Rant, which is well worth the time it will take to link with it from my home page.

If It Ain’t Broken…

I repeat: no one is more blessed than I. This includes a wonderful wife and two beautiful daughters who love and support me. This is exemplified in yesterday’s comments from Rachel who, through her constructive (and flattering) criticism compassionately said, “Dad, get over yourself.” That’s a message I needed to hear. I have been challenged by insecurity for as long as I can remember, and it causes me to do things like “crave commentary”. Rachel correctly points out that this is not the nature of blogging and that it’s really a misuse of the format. So, ten days into the New Year I shall repent of my short-lived contrivance to manipulate people into commenting on my blogs and return to my lunch-hour ruminations. If there are those who find some value in what I have to say, fine and well. If there are not, I still have the privilege and satisfaction of using my mandatory midday break to do what I like best: word process my thoughts. Early on I realized that the purpose of my life is to share the reality of my life in and of God; to, in a manner of speaking, witness to the gospel. There really isn’t anything more important for me to do, considering how it blesses me day by day.

Flowbee Confessions

I flowbee. This is, I suppose, a confession of sorts. Mary has alerted me to the possibility that associating my referral to the lack of discipline in my life with my no longer writing weekly sermons might mistakenly be construed as that these e-pistles will be taking some homiletic form. I write. More to the point, I flowbee. If this conjures up visions of John Wesley, then so be it.

There is a fundamental presence in my life for which I really cannot account. It is as real as any aspect of my being—very likely the most real—but it defies rational or empirical explanation. This presence I call God. It is not benign. It is not static. It is all, yet it is more than everything combined. Through Christ I become ever more aware of my viable relationship with God.

When I flowbee, God experiences it. To the best of my understanding, I have no control over God’s intimacy. What I do control is whether or not I flowbee. Other than that God is my very origin, I do not sense that God controls my actions; rather, God experiences mine. God’s omniscience includes both the seminal creator and the sentient created, and the opinion of scripture is that this is God’s will. The whole supplies and receives; a process in which I am inescapably involved.

Author’s note: For me, it’s not like riding a bicycle. I have been away from the process for longer than I realized, and it shows. The good news is that I can obviously do nothing but improve. At least there are some things said here with which to agree or disagree—or simply diss—and that will hopefully generate some commentary. Finally, I would be remiss not to thank my lifelong friend, Rob, for introducing me to Flowbee (among other things).

Happy New Year!

Incite is headed in a new direction for 2008. Craving commentary, I’ve devised a plan which will provide it—even if it is my own. Wishing to revive the discipline of preparing weekly sermons (much more to my own benefit than many of the intended recipients), I will post something each Sunday and then have the audacity to comment upon it during the week. Continuing my naïve belief in example as the best teacher, I will be actually doing what I encourage others to do: participate. The risk of monologue trumping dialogue is not, as far as I can see, any greater with this new format. To get us started, I’m concluding with my personal journal entry (plog?) from yesterday so that we ALL have something to comment on until Sunday.

A new day in a new year with the promise of new life; what if I somehow managed to let the Christ be born in my life this Christmas? Is such a thing really possible? What in my life would change if it were? What will I start doing differently? Will anyone but me be able to tell? Will I able to tell? Are there others? How many?