More than the levee was breached this week. The social contract that binds us was breached this week. The obligation we have as a nation to secure all citizens and the protection we purchase by restricting our actions in exchange for the benefits of civil society were both breached this week. The patina of civil rights and of equality of access were breached this week. The illusion that the government has done anything more than talk about security or preparedness or that security is even a priority, was breached this week. . . . → Read More: Wading Into The Breach…
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We, as a nation, have spent much of the past several years living the simple life, river like content with surface ripples and the path of least resistance. It’s about as effective as having Paris Hilton run the farm, without the comedy. (New administration motto: That’s hot!—‘Bring ‘em on’ was proving alarmingly effective)… Don’t probe, don’t examine too closely, because when you do superficial glaze fails us. When we focus on the question instead of the simplest answer, then we have to notice the difference between death tolls and ‘last throes’, between bringing democracy and freedom and loss of civil liberties under the ‘patriot act’, between the claims of success and the reality of enemies wanted ‘dead or alive’ at large four years later. We like our realities simple. . . . → Read More: The Simple Life… We are easily shocked by crimes which appear at once in their full magnitude, but the gradual growth of our own wickedness, endeared by interest, and palliated by all the artifices of self-deceit, gives us time to form distinctions in our own favor. The clearest indication that there is a sea change—a political sort of high slack tide—that point when the water reaches its highest point and pauses as the currents shifts and begin to ebb—is that the marketing people are on the job first. When you need to repackage the ‘war on terror’ as ‘the global struggle against violent extremism’ as though fixing our national security, misadventures and lack of integrity and foresight were as easy as getting a thinner more athletic version of Ronal McDonald to dance on a commercial instead of hang out with Mayor McCheese and chase fries, then you know the bullshit meter is in the red. There, are of course, other accompanying signs of upcoming discomfort for those clinging to last year’s status quo views that seemed to just barely carry the election. Bush’s approval rating is at an all time low, gas is approaching (or at, and in some cases above) $3.00 a gallon and rising, a democratic Iraq veteran gets 48% of the vote in a reliably conservative district in Ohio (calling Bush a ‘chicken hawk’) and Newt Gingrich calls it a wake up call. General Casey publicly sets a timetable for reducing troops next Spring (just in time to impact the fall elections) despite the President’s repeated statements that setting a time table for withdrawal helps the terrorists, and the constitution looks to be in trouble—er…, I was referring to the Iraqi constitution, but yeah, ours too. It’s unlikely in the extreme the Iraqis can negotiate past the Shiite/Sunni impasse prior to the deadline and there are noises about leaving the Sunni’s out of the process entirely. Respect for the word is the first commandment in the discipline by which a man (or woman) can be educated to maturity…Respect for the word—to employ it with scrupulous care and an incorruptible heartfelt love of truth—is essential if there is to be any growth in a society or in the human race. To . . . → Read More: The Corruption of the Word… I can’t help but wonder when we will, as Londoners apparently understood, adopt the notion that it’s a question of when—not if—and start planning and acting accordingly. Because the truth is what we’re doing now, regardless of the reason or ideology behind it, is deploying our limited resources poorly—it’s not the best bang for the buck. And that’s cold comfort on the #5 Express from Bowling Green at night. . . . → Read More: Bang for the Buck?… We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don’t it is easier to ignore the facts than to change the preconceptions. –Jessamyn West I watch with increasing dismay the way that we consistently see the triumph of style over substance on the issues. The thing that bothers me the most about this . . . → Read More: Fixing the Facts for Factions… Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us. In the wake of a compromise cut by the Senate moderates and the Minority leader that curiously cut out majority leader Frist, the House passed legislation to expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Bush, for his part, has threatened to veto any such legislation should it pass, though he may find himself to be the next Dr. Frist (both in terms of competency and marginalization) should he do so as a majority (57%) of Republicans support embryonic stem cell research and achieving override may be easier than anticipated. This is an issue that I have both some experience in and a vested interest in, so I’m going to address this from several perspectives because the administration makes it a point of pride to display its disdain for both science and metaphysics more complex than a first grade Sunday school primer. As it happens, I have adopted one of those frozen embryos in a fertility clinic that this debate whirls around. My son—my six month old baby boy—is the blessing of embryonic adoption and that has without question transformed my life. It is troubling to hear so many talk about the disposition of these embryos when so few actually have any exposure to the process. So, having actually done more than talk about those frozen entities and done something about it, I’d like to take the opportunity to inform those who insist on meddling in the very private matters of those of us involved in these processes. Continue reading Stemming the Flows of Compassion & Hypocrisy… |
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A Higher Opinion of You: The Dangers of Talking Down to America
Opinions, like showers, are generated in high places, but they invariably descend into lower ones, and ultimately flow down to the people as rain unto the sea. —Charles Caleb Colton
Bush’s Tuesday night speech was, as many have noted, long on platitudes and short on substance. This shouldn’t come as a surprise—the administration has . . . → Read More: A Higher Opinion of You: The Dangers of Talking Down to America