chasing whales

I Used to Like Countdown--and Sometimes Still Do

2009-01-25T12:59:00.000-08:00

Twenty years back, I watched Sports Center with Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann. They were funny, ironic, and hilariously enjoyable despite Olbermann's being a New York Mets fan and my agony over the 1986 World Series in which my Boston Red Sox lost to the Blue and Orange of Shea Stadium. Olbermann eventually left ESPN, went to NBC and, as far as I knew, dropped from the news radar screens. In more or less 2005, however, he re-appeared on a news show called "Countdown" over the MSNBC network. Once again, he was funny, ironic and this time, scathing in his denunciations of the now former Bush 43 administration. I thought most of what Olbermann said needed to be said and I especially appreciated his "Worst Person in the World" segments plus his periodic "Special Comments" along with nightly reminders of how many days it has been since "Mission Accomplished" was pronounced in Iraq.
Since the election of President Obama, however, I have grown tired of Olbermann. He has continued to rant, rave and denounce every hint of a policy that does not mesh with his view of what should or should not be done. His program does not even pretend to interview opposing perspectives, as if somehow left of center social, economic and foreign policies are beyond the scope of review, examination and question. I usually agree with the basic push of Olbermann's viewpoints, but I am weary of any form of absolutism, be it political, theological, journalistic or--more broadly still--moral. Olbermann's is not an exception and, I think, can become potentially more harmful to the causes he advocates. To my knowledge, he has never indicated the possibility of being wrong or at least incomplete in his analysis. After eight years of George Bush's never admitting that he might have been substantively rather than procedurally wrong, we as a country and, more importantly, as a people, simply do not need anyone in the public view expressing the same inflexible, apparently divinely-ordained mentality. Olbermann, along with several people I know on a personal basis, can't seem to release their--sometimes our--bitterness over Bush's Presidency long enough to allow President Obama the opportunity to govern in the direction of national healing. As much as I thought his inaugural speech was rhetorically disappointing, President Obama's invitation to healing and national health, I think, stood at the core of the entire ceremony, be it from the speeches, prayers and the glorious--if taped to preserve the instrument's tuning--music.
If Olbermann and my fellow left wingers want what they say they do--national accountability and a restoration of our international standing--they need to turn down their own rhetorical heat long enough for it to take place. These same sort of calls for vengeance howled from their left wing political ancestors 35 years ago when President Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. Even Ted Kennedy now admits that President Ford did the right thing for the long term interests of the country. President Ford's actions largely helped to cost him the 1976 election, but aside from some of my fellow left winger's assessments of his administration when he died, Ford's larger sense of the moral and correct have proven the most effacacious for the country.
I very much agree that we are not a banana republic. We believe in the rule of law and seek justice for all. We have survived as a country due to our insistence that those principles are more than just ideologically-driven words. They apply without exception. In these next few months and first two years of President Obama's administration, let's rise above our anger and frustration long enough to act like Americans again. We'll be more likely to survive Bush 43's legacy as we do.
Keith Olbermann needs to calm down: or at least become more ironic again.

I Hope Obama Governs Better than he Spoke

2009-01-20T16:11:00.000-08:00

I assume like many Americans and people across the world, I eagerly anticipated President Obama's inaugural address. I have heard him on two memorably past occasions when his words, demeanor and themes--in short, his rhetoric--became transcendent with their possibilities of restoring what he more prosaically calls our "common purpose." With the stream of news reports that as President-elect, Mr. Obama had been studying the speeches from his predecessors, I was expecting at least an effort to attain his previously poetic efforts.
After listening to his speech today, however, I felt a keen sense of disappointment. President Obama referred to issues, but did so sounding like a policy analyst on C-SPAN rather than a President using a platform surrounded by a rapt audience to set a tone for those policies whose details will, of necessity, come later (given our predicaments, tomorrow seems the best time to start). In all his preparation, our new President paradoxically seemed to miss what the best Inaugural Addresses--and other memorable orations throughout history--have achieved.
Namely, how words can define and shape an era. President Lincoln, of course, combined a knowledge of biblical King James poetry, a belief in American destiny--itself arguable, but Mr. Lincoln believed we had it--and a Shakespearean sense of power to mold words that went beyond themselves at Gettysburg and on March 4, 1865. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan captured the tenor of their moments through well-crafted and delivered--in Ford's case, almost by accident--phrases, words and sentiments. Lyndon Johnson also did so as he addressed "the American promise" on March 15, 1865. As President Bill Clinton spoke in Oklahoma City near the first anniversary of the Murrah Federal Building bombing, ending his remarks with the words of a church hymn ("Farther Along"), it did not matter that the theology it suggests is, shall we say, less than intellectually adequate. President Clinton spoke to a theology of the human heart and reduced many of us to tears ( I listened to his words from a hospital lobby after visiting a parishioner).
Today at least, President Obama missed a chance to speak, as it were, to a theology of our common heart. We Americans--and the world itself--know and will look forward to a set of policy proposals that will be for our heads to decipher, discern and debate. No one need remind us that as a result of many reasons over many years, Americans and the world face byzantine problems that seem almost incomprehensible even to the most astute minds. We needed, in short, a poem that resembled a sermon today--or maybe the other way around. Instead, we got a laundry list.
As I listened to the President's speech, I was reminded of something I have understood as "becoming or being Presidential." It is evidently an awareness that the office goes beyond one person or one time and carries with it an inherent call to preserve its position to paraphrase historian Michael Beschloss, as "head of state and head of government." Lyndon Johnson, once he assumed the office, insisted that he deliver his speeches in a "presidential" manner and subsequently did not permit himself to appear relaxed, humorous and even anecdotal in his public addresses. It lessened his chances to effect the types of overall changes that he desired and, at least to a degree, contributed to his downfall in 1968. I am sure there are other instances in which the need to be "Presidential" has inhibited a given person from achieving all he wanted during a given term in the office.
Given, however, the extremely tenuous nature of the country at present, I think even the most disappointed of us will just shrug off President Obama's speech as reflective of his trying too hard, obvious nervousness (so was Chief Justice John Roberts, who was administering his first oath of office today) and awareness of the tasks that we have elected him to address. There will be other chances and, no doubt on some of them President Obama will render unto us the sermonic poetry of which he is capable. If what occurred today--and from what I hear on the radio, I seem to be in a small minority of disappointed listeners--becomes something of a metaphor for the development of his administration, however, President Obama may well be sitting where his predecessor did, but in four rather than eight years. I hope, as it were, that he governs better than I perceived him to have spoken.

Why I'm for Obama

2008-10-21T15:14:00.001-07:00

I voted for Barack Obama last week under Illinois' new early ballot system. I did so mostly with enthusiasm, certainly more than I would have had for any other candidate beyond Joe Biden, whom I supported last year until his poor showing in the Iowa caucuses. Senator Obama's selection of Biden for Vice-President only made whatever ambivalence I may have felt dissipate basically disappear. So I voted for the Obama-Biden ticket and hope they will win in two weeks.

Saying "whatever ambivalence," however, implies that I have at least some reservations about Obama or, more specifically, what he generally represents. I do not doubt that Senator Obama is both a decent and ambitious man. Those are not irreconcilable categorizations and I do not exclude Senator McCain from them either. In the last several years--even stretching over the last quarter century--however, I have come to question not simply the reasonableness, but what I'll call the "awareness" on the part of left wing as well as right wing orthodoxy. If their adherents would go so far as to admit their own limitations and, as the best theological thinkers might put it, acknowledge the "context" of the conclusions they reach, I might be more hopeful about what remains possible in our common life together.

My experience, nevertheless, has been mostly contrary to the hopes of my youth and early manhood. Both wings, left and right, are well-represented and quite vocal throughout our society, demanding that anyone with sense and decency come to their senses and adopt whichever flap of orthodoxy happens to be on the television or internet screen at a particular moment. It makes reasoned conversation and plausible solutions almost beyond the skill of our best politicians and past the common sense of our fellows who live in parts of the country where no one will even think of spending time in a coffee shop. We have come to live in an increasingly stratified society, one where notions of "one society" or "common purpose" or "common values" has come to be either labelled with every left wing epithet imaginable or defended with every right wing epithet imaginable. We're seeing--not surprisingly--a great deal of both wings flapping furiously as the election itself draws closer by the day.

Here is where I think Senator Obama gives us the best opportunity to at least tone down the hatred, disgust and demonization of those with whom we disagree. My reasoning is not primarily related to his mixed ancestry, although perhaps that may help in some way. It also does not have much to do with his "calm, cool demeanor" in a crisis that his campaign staff has been mouthing too much for my taste in recent weeks. As Ernest Hemingway reminds us, however, showing grace under pressure isn't necessarily that bad of an idea. I also do not worry too much about whether Obama somehow stayed altogether clear of the shenanigans in Chicago politics. If he did, so much the better. If he didn't, I'm not too sure that either the RNC or Senator McCain or Governor Palin can cast too many stones without worrying about their lack of culpability in their local settings. Bridges can be built to nowhere, it seems, in Chicago or anyplace else for that matter.

What I believe Obama represents is more that I think he actually believes how we as a country are, in fact, a common country. He understands the need to recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints and perspectives, but does not allow that to morph into--metaphorically at least--these experiences taking their chairs away from the one table in the room. At the same time, Obama, in fact, recognizes that we as Americans share something beyond a continent of land. We actually do share a set of values, a mutual outlook and the bare-bones reality that like it or not, we are all in this together. In short, I think Obama understands both the singular and dual nature of who we are as Americans and invites people to avoid emphasizing one to the expense of the other.

I can argue that belief with some degree of confidence after I heard Obama's remarks the night he won the South Carolina primary last, I believe, early February. Of course what he said was a political speech with the next set of caucuses and primaries in mind. Of course what he said was to emphasize his credentials as a Democrat to lead Democrats back to the White House. But something else was there: something to which he neither had to express or allude on a night of political victory. Obama specifically indicated that he believed we as Americasn shared a common link even as we are different. He mentioned that his support had generated an increase in voter turnout, which for him indicated that inviting people to "hope" was something that a good many people desperately wanted. Not so much "hope" in a specific set of policies, but something along the lines that Robert Kennedy indicated the night he won the California primary or the night Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed: that in spite of our divisions and in spite of our self-doubts and seeming inability to listen to one another, we can begin to embrace something different even when it seems hopeless to even try.

Obama concluded that night with an anecdote about why several of his campaign workers had expended such effort for him. He mentioned how one person affiliated with former Republican and Dixiecrat Senator Strom Thurmond had seen something beyond the ordinary in what Obama was saying and had enrolled to help. Then Obama told the story of how an older black man and a younger white woman were asked why they had signed on: the white woman indicated, as I recall, something along the lines of hope and exhaustion in how she felt about the country (this is a lot of paraphrasing, so forgive me if I am a bit or more than a bit off here). The somewhat older black man, sitting immediately next to his white fellow campaign worker, then said according to Senator Obama, "I'm here because of (the young white woman's name)."

That statement did not have a lot to do with proclamations of "justice" or a belief that God chooses sides between American politicians. It did, however, have something to do with overcoming suspicion and weariness and a good bit of history just long enough to begin to see, experience and feel one another as human beings. That statement will not solve the interrelated problems we Americans face among ourselves or throughout the world. It will not somehow magically lead to an adoption of this or that economic policy or health care plan or find another Harry Blackmun for the Supreme Court. It might, at the same time, allow for civility and decency and a hand shake across the aisle when a day's debate is done. I think Senator Obama represents the chance we have to create an atmosphere where that handshake can take place. I think a good way to start, if he actually wins, is to award Senator John Sidney McCain III the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his lifetime of heroism, sacrifice and service to our one common country.

Musings on Meltdowns

2008-09-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

I wrote this in response to a Washington Post article on September 19, 2008.

Being a pessimist--or at least a very, very weary once upon a time optimist--I don't find Senator McCain's daily peregrinations about the economy, foreign affairs or his attempts to somehow associate Senator Obama with Freddie and Fannie to be very reassuring. His efforts to endlessly repeat that "he knows what to do" without specifying--or even generally outlining--just "what" it will be are also beyond my ability to even sort of give him any benefit of credence. We've had people in place for eight years who made claims about "knowing what to do," usually with the support of Senator McCain. Now his campaign, in an effort to disassociate him from policies and people he supported twice and followed an overwhelming percentage of the time-- has decided to repeat "maverick" so often that I'm beginning to think Tom Cruise will pop out of his campaign plane to the tune of Top Gun. Neither the current occupants--with the notable exception of Secretary Paulson, who at least recognizes the seriousness of the matter--nor Senator McCain have a clue, I think.
I'm not an economist and I no longer have a reflexive reliance upon the central government to fix or even mitigate what we're facing. My suspicion is that government intervention will almost inevitably make matters worse over the long, or even the short, term. Too many people have too many vested interests to simply allow "good governance" and "good policy" to take hold here. So I'm not sure, even if I were an economist, what policies will work.
For the moment, however, what a President can do--and the next one must do on a variety of interrelated, byzantinely-related fronts--is demonstrate leadership. He needs to operate from a basic set of core principles around which everything else is flexible (and remember Everett Dierksen's line about how these two are connected). Part of that leadership is to be willing to answer questions from the press and citizens alike. Even if by saying "I'm not sure about that specific instance, but I will get back to you personally," a President can provide reassurance and calm in the face of a universally-acknowledged--except in the White House and on the Mccain campaign until two days ago--"meltdown." In that sense, I'm not surprised that President Bush has done nothing but sit in the White House and let Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke try to stem the flow of good, bad and teetering money. We as a country are suffering from the accumulated idiocy from the last 8 years of massive debts, massive tax cuts, pre-emptive war and the loss of our moral position as "leaders" of the democratic world. Those policies and their consequences have become linked together in a downward spiral from which we'll be lucky to escape with something approaching our former standard of living. I'm not sure Senator Obama can restore or renew what we once had, but I am quite certain Senator McCain can't.

Being Reminded and Invited

2008-07-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

I thought about entitling these ruminations as "Abram and Abraham Lied," but expressing it in the first sentence will do nicely just the same. I'm back in Oklahoma for the weekend, attending a gathering of men from my former denomination called "Sessions 2008." This group gathers every four years in different locations across the country for fellowship, food and attempts at middle-aged frolics, having begun such matters in 1976. This morning I decided to attend a workshop loosely titled "The Old Testament" led by a Professor who teaches said collection and, like me, once lived in the state where wind does sweep down the (mostly Republican these days) plains. Since seminary, I've had a living interest in the first testament of God's ongoing revelation--for we Christians anyway--and am usually eager to listen, learn and try not to talk too much. So today's opportunity was a welcome way to spend a few minutes.
Our convener broke our large group into smaller fragments and assigned us the task of looking closely at three apparently different stories in Genesis, of which my particular fellows and I , as I recall, perused 12:-10-20. It's the story of Abram--not yet Abraham--telling Sarai--eventually Sarah--to lie to Pharaoh so they might gain admission into Egypt and, given the present famine in Canaan--eat. Abram told Sarai--not asked, told--to say that she was his sister rather than his wife. As the story goes, Pharoah admitted Sarai "into his house," probably meaning in those days that Pharoah had sex with Sarai and there was nothing she could do about it. The text isn't spcific, but given the cultural realities of those years, it's a fair inference that Sarai was "sent for," especially since the text indicates that she "was a beautiful woman." The story goes on that Pharoah rewarded Abram with multiple material gifts for Sarai ("'s services," but again, the text isn't specific here), but eventually YHWH (the LORD in English and always capitalized) sent plagues onto Pharoah and, conveniently, he saw the light enough to send Abram, Sarai and their unmentioned fellow travellers on their way.
The other two stories from a bit later in Genesis were basically retellings of the same story even as Abimelech became Pharoah and, in the final eipsode, Isaac took the place of his father while Rebecca became her mother-in-law. All of this was fascinating stuff, especially since in the stories before and after each episode, the writers of Genesis proclaimed and reaffirmed God's promise(s) to his people. In the midst of our overall discussions, however, I was once again reminded how they have been unfortunately misinterpreted by us people of faith for our own purposes even as we profess the desire to "take the Bible seriously."
Several times in our assembly, I heard people say that "once God got angry at Pharoah (for what he may have done with Sarai), he got busy" and saved Abram, Sarai and the promise of faith. Others put it that "this was all part of God's plan" while still more wanted to say that Pharoah probably didn't have sex with Sarai, implying that someone so specifically chosen by God for "his purposes" couldn't possibly fall into the hands of such a nefarious a character as Pharoah. I tried, without much success, to keep a sort of straight face. I became reminded that for all our talk about "taking the Bible seriously," we still want to impose our beliefs about God's relationship with human beings onto what the text(s) actually say. It is true, as I learned today, that Abram's lie was not seen in the same light as we understand a lack of truth-telling since as the senior male of the household, it was Abram's cultural job to use any method and any means to protect it. That obligation, logically enough, became even more pronounced as Abram had just received God's promise of future generations. If, as would have happened with his truth-telling, Abram had been killed by Pharoah and Sarai simply absorbed into his household with no hope of leaving, it is understandable that our biblical hero might have wanted, well, "to help God out a little bit" by making sure that he stayed alive long enough to have a chance at preserving God's promise.
There are basically two interelated problems with that idea. First, that there was any sort of "plan" at all apart from God's promise and second, Abram's--and our own--desire to somehow "help God out a little bit." What I wanted to scream was that God did not institute any pan at all before the beginning that, conveniently for Christians, culminated in the "Second Coming" of Jesus. That notion comes from a particular reading of Scripture, refers to John Calvin's notion of God's "sovereignity" and creates more than a few theological problems (was the Holocaust a part of the plan? The Trail of Tears? How about the woman who died in a Brooklyn hospital lobby floor last week after she had been ignored for apparently 24 hours? Was the Murrah Building explosion that murdered 168 Oklahomans including small children part of the plan?). Many of God's people have just swallowed these dubious notions without one ounce of thought to their implications and what those inferences suggest about God. Such thinking--however well intentioned as most of the people who use that expression, in my experience, are not moral monsters--has done more harm to more people than almost any theological notion I can imagine.
What I did manage to suggest here and thgere this morning was that Abram--and, in the later stories, Abraham and Isaac--just out and out lied. They lied , or as my Baptist Grandmother might have said, they sinned (she would have put it more graciously). Whether their time and place thought it morally acceptable--or at least necessary--to those of us who read these stories today, our moral code tells us without equivocation that Abram, Abraham and Isaac, the heroes of faith we learned to believe set us on the road to "God's saving revelation in Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice was the final atonement for our sins that, if we accept him as our personal Lord and Savior, will get us into heaven," were morally dubious characters at the very best. We continue to have a great deal of trouble in accepting what the stories so clearly tell us through the lenses of our own values, so we desperately look for any means, methods or rationalizations that "pretty-fy" or clean up what stares us in the face.
At the same time, we paradoxically miss what so clearly stares in the face. We do not allow ourselves to see, in a rather interesting irony, what Abram also did not allow himself to see. With our sometimes desperate talk about "the plan" or some other eternal recurrence of the same (Nietzsche pun), we miss the reality of God's ongoing promise. We miss that, in spite of our own foolishness, fear and outright unfaithfulness, God remains faithful, even to the point of working with liars, thieves, rogues and moral ne-er do wells. As my Baptist grandfather might have said, to grab hold of God's promise and embrace God's loving abundance stands as our ongoing invitation as God's people. That is no easy grab to accomplish, quite often well-nigh and apparently impossible. But as Henry may also have said, God's love is greater than our fear and promises to--somehow--see us through. That's something I can, at my best when I, with fear and trembling, muster the courage to be long enough to let myself experience God in yet newer ways, doing so "just as I am." I don't even need a plan to do it.

Senator Chuck Hagel's Speech

2008-06-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

Below is a recent speech by Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam Veteran seriously wounded on our behalf some four decades ago. He has served for almost two terms representing Nebraska and has garnered much respect for his views on foreign and military matters during those nearly twelve years. I hope Senator Hagel will receive at least some consideration for the Vice-Presidential nod from Senator Obama. They do not agree on everything--and as an Obama supporter, I don't share all of Senator Hagel's arguments here either--but these exceptionally dangerous times we as Americans now share call for the type of national purpose that both Senators have openly advocated. In both domestic and, to a more significant degree, foreign affairs, an Obama-Hagel administration would demonstrate just the sort of unified sense that we live in a tenuous world that calls for solutions which transcend partisan claims to "moral superiority" or God taking the one or another side in the ever-present silliness of our national discussions.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Below is the text of a speech entitled "Memo to the Candidates" United States Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) delivered today at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution:
"In 1979, one of America's greatest journalists, Hugh Sidey, wrote, 'Politics, when all is said and done, is a business of belief and enthusiasm. Hope energizes, doubt destroys. Hopelessness is not our heritage.' These are wise words as America prepares for a defining presidential election.
Elections are about course corrections, and Americans are in a serious mood to change the direction of their country. According to the most recent Washington Post-ABC Poll, eighty-four percent of Americans believe America is headed in the wrong direction. Gallup says it's eighty-three percent. These are historic numbers, and they register the depth of discontent with the current policies, leadership, and politics of our country. I believe what awaits the next President is an inventory of problems more complicated than what Franklin Roosevelt faced on March 4, 1933, and will require the same boldness of leadership and initiatives that FDR brought to his time in order to meet the challenges of our time.
The 2008 American presidential election flows into a historic confluence of events. Our nation finds itself bogged down in two wars; with record high energy prices; deep devaluations and displacements in the housing, financial and credit markets; record private and public debt; inflation on the rise; future of health care uncertain for millions; intense economic pressures for many; a combustible, unpredictable and dangerous world; and a sense that America may be on the backside of history. The world is in a state of transformation with an astounding diffusion of power occurring around the globe. State-to-state relationships are maturing, shifting and redefining alliances and geopolitical influences.
The great challenges facing mankind in this new century are not unique to nations, regions, religions, or cultures. All citizens of the world must confront the threats of nuclear proliferation, terrorism, pandemic health issues, endemic poverty, environmental degradation, and the most insidious and difficult of all, despair. These are Twenty First century challenges that will require Twenty First century thinking within a Twenty First century frame of reference. History instructs and is a guide, but it cannot navigate our way...develop our strategy...or implement our policy. The rate and intensity of change today in a world of less and less margin of error has brought with it an unprecedented immediacy to actions, reactions, and consequences. But wise leadership exercising wise judgment that results in wise policy is never outdated.
Over the next four months, our two candidates for President, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, will have not just an opportunity, but an obligation to clearly present their views and policies that would be the foundation that guides their presidencies. We live in complicated times--the issues that will determine our fate demand more than glib ten second answers and clever thirty second television ads. McCain and Obama are both smart, capable and decent men who love their country. Presidential campaigns are tough and there should be vigorous debate which produces political tension. But these two candidates must not allow this reality to control the process...thereby obfuscating the serious discussion of serious and specific issues so critical to the future of America and the world.
Americans will decide who they believe is the more capable candidate to lead us over the next four years. But our candidates should also note that the world's leaders and citizens will also be carefully listening and observing this election. As the campaign unfolds, this global audience will begin to form expectations, shape judgments, and adjust their own national strategies and policies based on what they perceive to be America's direction under a new leader. That process of evaluation is happening now.
One of these candidates is going to have to bring this country together, make the Congress a partner, form a broad consensus to govern, and help lead the world. If they so polarize and divide our country during the campaign, they will find it difficult to govern. The complexities of an interconnected world will require leadership and decisions from the new president the day he takes office. These realities won't wait until America might come back together.
This American presidential election presents unparalleled opportunities for our country and our two candidates. They must not squander this magnitude of the moment. The next president and his team will have a unique opportunity to capture domestic and international support unlike any time since September 11, 2001. I believe that America and the world will follow an honest, competent and accountable American president. To seize this moment, the next president will not have the luxury of extra time to prepare to govern. The candidates must begin that work now as they earn the trust of the people over the next four months.
What better optic for the world to see than a presidential campaign of relevant, vital and imaginative ideas and inspirational leadership. That would make a difference in the ability of the next President to move quickly and confidently to form a government based on a consensus to govern with the hope and goodwill of the world with him. This is within the grasp and capacity of Senators McCain and Obama. America's politics are in the throes of a political reorientation. The plurality of registered voters in America today are Independents, not Republicans or Democrats. Politics mirrors society. It reflects our times and is the process that carries democracies to their destination. Campaigns are about politics...elections are about governing. Both are about the future.
Just as we must sense the opportunities ahead of us, we must also be clear-eyed about the awesome challenges we face. Let's dispense with the political re-litigating of the mistakes of the past and move to the future. We are where we are. And I believe America is in trouble. The next president's challenge will be to fix problems and make a better world. That's what defines leadership.
America's competitive position and strength in the world demands that we address the domestic challenges that are eroding our economic strength and consuming our government budgets. Our next President will be faced with a long list of important issues that touch every American and will require serious reform, such as: entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid); tax and regulatory systems; public infrastructure; health care; and immigration.
Our national debt, and its rate of accumulation of deficits, is not sustainable. If this continues, America's debt burden will crush our children's future.
Economic strength is the foundational base that determines our ability to project and use all of our instruments of power, including diplomatic and military power. The rule of law, property rights, open markets, productivity, technology and science have all contributed to America's great prosperity and success. Trade is a driving force for sustained economic prosperity and job creation both in the United States and throughout the world. Trade, however, is not a guarantee. The ongoing credit crisis and skyrocketing world food and energy prices are among the recent temptations for countries to restrict markets and veer toward protectionism that leads to dangerous insular thinking. These temptations must be resisted and the hard-earned lessons of history not forgotten. The United States must continue to press for a successful conclusion to the Doha Round of global trade negotiations. America's leaders should stand behind our trade agreements and support the pending Free Trade Agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama as well as renewing Trade Promotion Authority for the next President.
Energy drives prosperity in the world and is a principle determinant of our economic welfare. In the last four years, gas prices have risen by more than one-hundred percent. Every American is feeling the effect and there is little relief in sight. There is no near-term substitute for oil, natural gas, and coal. But our next president needs to initiate policies that will eventually break our long-term reliance on oil. This includes more investment, research and focus on technology, alternative and renewable sources of energy (particularly nuclear energy), conservation, mass transit, and seriously improving our mileage standards. This is an area where the American people are ahead of the politicians. There is no perfect energy policy or solution that will satisfy everyone; there is no risk free society. Increased energy production and supply must be organizing principles of our economy and government policies.
Our infrastructure is in a state of crisis...as Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser stressed when he told the Senate Banking Committee two weeks ago that, 'we are witnessing a quiet collapse of prosperity.' Morgan Stanley has projected that emerging economies will spend twenty-two trillion dollars on infrastructure over the next ten years. Like our workforce, our nation's infrastructure is aging and will require new initiatives like the bill that Senator Chris Dodd and I have introduced to create a National Infrastructure Bank that would allow private investment to finance public infrastructure projects.
As America is working its way through its most pressing issues, the world is undergoing tectonic shifts.
Five billion of the world's six and a half billion people live in less developed regions and forty percent of the world's population is under nineteen years old.
Fifty percent of economic growth over the next decade is estimated to come from emerging economies.
In 2000, trade between India and China was two billion dollars per year. In 2007, it was two billion dollars a month.
Sovereign wealth funds today hold over three trillion dollars and are projected to grow by one trillion dollars per year...enhancing emerging economic powers such as Russia, China, India, Brazil, nations of the Persian Gulf and Asia.
As we witness these remarkable shifts, America continues to spend billions of dollars a week stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan. This has resulted in an undermining of our influence and interests in these regions and the world, as well as draining a tremendous amount of resources, attention and leadership away from our other national priorities.
We cannot escape the reality that Iraq and Afghanistan will remain centers of gravity for U.S. foreign policy. The United States has today over one hundred and ninety thousand troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan...a number unlikely to change significantly by January 20th. And we continue to take more and more American casualties in both wars...losing ten Americans in Iraq over the last three days. The most dangerous area of the world...representing the most significant U.S. national security threat...is not Iraq but the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. As the Government Accountability Office has concluded in separate reports in the last two weeks, we still lack relevant, long-term strategies to achieve sustainable security and stability in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Our ability to influence and shape outcomes will be measured by the larger and longer term objectives of common interests in all areas of our security...not just Iraq and Afghanistan. The success of our policies and efforts will depend not only on the extent of our power, the strength of our purpose, and cohesion of regional alliances, but also by an appreciation of great power limits.
America's long-term security interests are directly connected to alliances, coalitions, international institutions and our standing in the world. No country, including the United States, is capable of successfully meeting the challenges of the Twenty First century alone...whether it is terrorism, economic growth, climate change, or nuclear proliferation. Yet today, much of the world has lost its trust and confidence in America's purpose and questions our intentions. The next President will have to reintroduce America to the world in order to regain its trust in our purpose as well as our power.
International institutions are more important now than at any time in modern history. Our post-World War Two alliances and partnerships, particularly with the European Union, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Turkey, must be strengthened and recalibrated to recognize that these powers are no longer American Twentieth century surrogate powers expected to automatically do our bidding or agree with our positions. Our relationships with these nations and others have matured bringing more equality and balance to the relationships. All of today's most pressing global challenges require some degree of consensus and common purpose. Working through international institutions and alliances...as imperfect as they are...to build broad, diplomatic consensus may be difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating but they are the best options...and smartest approaches to sustainable and effective strategic outcomes. The alternative of unilateral action is no substitute, and undermines our influence and further isolates us in an interconnected world.
Today, President Bush announced a significant step regarding North Korea. As a result of the multilateral Six-Party process, North Korea has provided a nuclear declaration and will soon destroy the cooling tower on its nuclear reactor. The United States will respond by lifting sanctions and removing North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terror. Although more work remains to verifiably end North Korea's nuclear weapons program, this important achievement for the Bush Administration is the direct result of painstaking, multilateral diplomacy. The President and his Administration, and in particular Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill, deserve credit for their efforts and this accomplishment.
Nuclear proliferation will require special attention by the next President. Today's post-Cold War nuclear nonproliferation framework has become inadequate as more states seek nuclear capacity, and nuclear know-how is becoming increasingly more accessible. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, in the last two years, over a dozen Middle East countries have announced intentions to establish nuclear power programs and build nuclear reactors. The world must build a new Twenty First century nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament framework...and the United States, Russia, China, India, and the European nuclear powers must lead this effort. The 2010 'Review Conference' meeting of members of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty will be a key opportunity for the United States to pursue this objective. But the next President cannot wait for or depend only on this opportunity. He must initiate and lead on this issue next year.
The United State must pay particular attention to three key relationships - China, India and Russia. America's relationships with each of these three countries will continue to be comprehensive, including areas of agreement and disagreement. We cannot, however, allow these relationships to be dominated and shaped by our differences...or we risk creating dynamics that can quickly get beyond our control and move down a dangerous and irreversible path. We must define these relationships on our common interests. Most notably, our relationship with Russia needs a renewed focus on issues such as the U.S.-Russia civil nuclear cooperation agreement...the so-called 'one-two-three agreement'...now before Congress. This agreement is clearly in the interests of America, Russia and the world, allowing for significant bilateral nuclear cooperation between these two nuclear powers. Blocking this agreement would adversely affect all areas where we will need Russia's cooperation...such as Iran and North Korea.
The Middle East today is more dangerous, more complicated, more interconnected, and more combustible than ever before. Regional, comprehensive strategies...rather than individual nation-by-nation compartmentalized policies will be required in this troubled region. As one of his most immediate priorities, the next President will need to implement a comprehensive geostrategic approach to the broader Middle East region spanning North Africa to Afghanistan and Pakistan. This will require employing all of our instruments of power...diplomacy, trade, exchange and economic assistance programs, alliances, intelligence, and military might.
We are engaged in a war of ideas and ideologies to win over the youth of this region. Classrooms are the battlefields. This will require a revolutionary universe of new thinking and policies. The human dynamic always dictates outcomes.
The United States must enhance its initiative in support of Israel-Palestinian negotiations. We should make clear our support for direct Israel-Syria and Israel-Lebanon negotiations and be prepared, at the right time...if asked...to become directly involved, including as a sponsor. We should take the initiative to re-engage Syria by returning the U.S. Ambassador to Damascus. The United States should open a new strategic direction in U.S.-Iran relations by seeking direct, comprehensive and unconditional talks with the Government of Iran, including opening a U.S. Interest Section in Tehran. We must avoid backing ourselves into a military conflict with Iran. That need not happen, but it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. We are currently in a strategic cul-de-sac in the Middle East. We need to find our way out with new policies. Engagement is not appeasement. Diplomacy is not appeasement. Great nations engage. Powerful nations must be the adults in world affairs. Anything less will result in disastrous, useless, preventable global conflict.
America's occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan is not a 'win-lose' proposition. That is an inaccurate context for our objectives and policies. Stability, security, prosperity and peace are the objectives. That is the appropriate context. There will not be a military victory in these conflicts. As General David Petraeus stated in a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, there is no military solution in Iraq. The outcome in Iraq and Afghanistan will be decided by the people of these nations, and that outcome will be much influenced by their neighbors. Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are the three most critical nations in this equation. The leaders of Iraq need to find a common ground of political accommodation preparing for political reconciliation to govern their country and assume responsibility for the security and prosperity of its people. As CSIS President and former Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. John Hamre recently wrote, 'Iraqis genuinely want us to leave, and the only issue in question is when and how quickly...what we now need is realism about Iraq. We haven't failed, but winning won't fit any traditional definition of success.'
The next President will need to pursue a responsible phased troop withdrawal from Iraq that will slowly...steadily...but surely bring to an end the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
America's way out of Iraq will require a regional diplomatic strategy that includes a sustained and disciplined American engagement with all of Iraq's neighbors, notably Iran and Syria, as well as the international community. This would also include a regional security conference supported by key international institutions. Our goal should be to build a constructive regional and security framework supported by the international community to help the Iraqis achieve a core of political stability. It is up to the Iraqis how they will shape their government and build their country.
The framework for a continued U.S.-Iraqi relationship is presently being negotiated. But there should be no urgency to reach any agreement this year that fails to enjoy strong and broad political support both in the United States and Iraq. The experience of the British with the failed 1930 security treaty with Iraq should serve as a warning and guide post for all of us on this matter.
While Afghanistan's future remains uncertain, the success of the Paris donor's conference earlier this month...where more than twenty billion dollars, including ten billion dollars from the United States, was pledged to assist Afghanistan...could be a foundation to build a new international strategic priority on Afghanistan. We need to emphasize institution building, including increased budgetary assistance and vigorous anti-corruption programs. More effective and integrated international coordination, preferably through the UN Special Envoy and working from the Afghan Government's priorities, should be central to our overall approach.
Strong and capable Afghan security forces will be the only sustainable solution for Afghanistan's stability. That must be our strategic objective. Until that is achieved, international forces are needed in Afghanistan...but we must be careful about the U.S. and NATO military footprint in Afghanistan. We need more troops to prevent security vacuums from emerging, as we witnessed in the southern province of Kandahar earlier this month. But we also need more effective NATO capacity, some of which remains constrained by national restrictions on the rules of engagement...known as 'national caveats.'
Another challenge that awaits the new President is the human condition of the world's impoverished populations. While the last sixty years brought unparalleled progress and prosperity for America and many parts of the world, it is equally true that there are billions of people who have been left behind.
Helping these people break this cycle of poverty and despair is the right thing to do, but it is also clearly in our self-interests. The impoverished regions of the world are the most unstable, volatile, and dangerous areas representing the greatest threats to America and the world. Extremism and terrorism breed in these locations. Therefore, we must pay attention to them. President Bush deserves credit for his initiatives to create the Millennium Challenge Account promoting sustainable, long-term economic growth and good governance in the world's poorest countries. The President's Emergency Relief Plan for AIDS Relief...or 'PEPFAR'...which has been the world's largest international health initiative in modern history to combat HIV/AIDS also deserves great credit. These programs should continue. In addition, we need to understand how some of the developed world's trade policies harm the world's poorest countries, and, as I have said, urgently seek a successful conclusion to the Doha Trade negotiations. Public-private partnerships must become a central tenet in our development strategy.
The next President will need to assume a leading role in global climate change efforts to build an international consensus for action that achieves results. Climate policy affects the world's economic, energy, environmental and security policies. Therefore, solutions must also reflect these linkages. Dealing with global climate policy requires global leadership and global coordination. We need to unleash the power of the free markets - not new government-imposed costs and regulations - to accelerate development and use of advanced technologies that reduce, eliminate, and sequester greenhouse gas emissions in all countries.
Awaiting the next president are all of these great challenges that I've noted and more. Senators McCain and Obama must conduct their campaigns with the recognition that their ability to lead is being shaped each day of their campaigns. Both are serious men who are serious leaders with differences in the way they'd approach the challenges that confront America and the world.
The day after the election, the hard work will begin for one of these men. He will need to gather around him the best people in America to utilize all of the tools of an American leader in order to unify our country and govern. John McCain and Barack Obama are meeting at a time of historic confluence. They will be forever linked together. The next four months will define how they are remembered. If they rise to the magnitude of the moment, when America and the world need them most...and engage in a presidential campaign that strengthens our nation, enhances our image, inspires mankind, and makes us proud...then they will have been found worthy of the honor and responsibility bestowed upon them by the citizens of our great country."
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- 1stThron See Profile I'm a Fan of 1stThron
Hey Chuck, any of the main issues you have addressed could have been addressed by you, McCain and Obama in the senate.1. Social Security: Stop immigrants who never contribute from collecting benefits. Stop illegals from qualifying for SS benefits in 18 quarters2. Medicare and Medicaid: Stop rewarding hospitals and other providers for preventable medical errors and operational inefficiencies.3. Taxes: Make federal bureaucracies accountable for operational efficiencies. Stop supporting teachers unions that have become the catalyst for K-12 cost tripling in cost adjusted for inflation.4. Public Infrastructure: Stop earmarks and use the dollars for infrastructure.5. Healthcare: Stop transferring Medicare and Medicaid discounts to commercial premiums to the tune of 10-30 percent of total premium cost.6. Immigration: Protect the borders. Streamline legal immigration process. Register all illegals and deport the criminals and require the law abiding to pursue citizenship or go home. All of the above can be done if the members of the U.S. Congress were more focused on the good of the country rather than personal wealth and party power.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:45 AM on 06/28/2008
- Azor See Profile I'm a Fan of Azor
I am curious, how exactlly would you register ALL illegals? They are refered to as illegals for a reason, you know... Most of your other comments make equal sense.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:31 AM on 06/28/2008
- tinarm See Profile I'm a Fan of tinarm
Well, if this is really how Hagel feels I can't imagine him doing anything to help McCain out. We need a pragmatist as the next president. Someone who is not so right and someone not so left. We have seen the effects of nuts like Bush, and I'm afraid McCain seems to have forgotten who the heck he was in 2000. McCain has become intollerable, he has allowed surrogates to bring in race, and all of the other republican crap from 2004. Just get ready Hagel, McCain will be saying and doing everything you warn about, simply because it is the only way he feels he can win. The republican strategy, divide, conquer, shame, humiliate, and lie. That's how they always do it and they will once again. You might want to take a vacation until after Nov. Chuck, because the repugnants aren't like you, they love that kind of crap.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:36 AM on 06/28/2008
- eden4barack08 See Profile I'm a Fan of eden4barack08
OBAMA/HAGEL08 ?
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:25 AM on 06/28/2008
- Donk See Profile I'm a Fan of Donk
Nice article, lots of good advice for President 44. Was hoping for some serious discussion of how our current problems are mostly self -inflicted rather than random coincidences or the wrath of a displeased deity. Guess it would be too much to admit that the arrogance and incompetence of the current administration has seriously hobbled the next president's options on what to do about the deep hole we are in. The next few years will be interesting. As in the Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times"
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:18 AM on 06/28/2008
- darlingdem See Profile I'm a Fan of darlingdem
This country needs more men and women like Chuck Hagel on Capitol Hill. What extraordinary courage and insight this man has!Chuck Hagel should definitely have a place in President Obama's Cabinet. Secretary Of Defense, maybe??
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:45 AM on 06/28/2008
- sdguppy See Profile I'm a Fan of sdguppy
I was thinking Sec Def or Secretary of State. Hagel is 100% Conservative in his voting habits but so pro-common sense (as well as honest and ethical) I'd love him as Obama's VP - talk about a unity ticket! Fox Noise wouldn't know what to do with it! At this point in our history I believe that the ability to heal and work together is the number one thing we need.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:20 AM on 06/28/2008
- mergina See Profile I'm a Fan of mergina
No president can bring this country together, no country can bring the world together. GREED rules this planet from the poorest human to the richest.The only way, it seems, that the human animal is motivated to change is when it is subjected to extreme trauma and real threats to its way of life and its very life.Humanity is never going to change, until it is too late. You mention despair in the correct light, since the forces of GREED mandate that the vast majority of humans on this planet live in despair.What is happening on this planet is the RAPID degradation of life as we know it. Humanity starts its day, the sun comes up, at the end of the day the sun goes down. Life goes one, but how and to what END?Humanity is slammed with one disaster after another and still it is business as usual.The critical time is at hand when humanity must act to insure its very existence as a species, yet it does not. It wallows in despair or denial or just insane stupidity, ignoring the URGENCY OF THE MOMENT, refusing to change NOW to even have a TOMORROW.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:40 AM on 06/28/2008
- 3Gs See Profile I'm a Fan of 3Gs
Yeah, amazing and scary and wonderful in it's simple truth.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:34 AM on 06/28/2008
- researcher See Profile I'm a Fan of researcher
No president can bring this nation together.Too much ideological differences.Our form of capitalism must self-destruct.Universal laws demand"s it. Our form of capitalism is based on greed and power.We now borrow from communists, socialists, and kings to keep our form of capitalism afloat.You would think we would figure out something is wrong with the system but no we blame everyone but the economic system. Typical response.We would rather blame people than look at the economic system it is human phenomena.Twenty-five years as an international organizational consultant taught me this and this phenomena cannot be learned at any university. And we treat the constitution as infallible. Big mistake. Our forefathers could have never predicted the corp and media takeover of America. They did well, very well in fact brilliant, but they were not perfect predictors of the future. Who among us is perfect?We must bottom out as a country before we are willing to change our economic paradigm. Paradigm paralysis is alive and well in America with a good bit of arrogance.Thanks for the Christmas card. Lovely family. God bless them and you.Thank you for coming out against the war.Signed A grateful American.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:31 AM on 06/28/2008
- JohnFObama See Profile I'm a Fan of JohnFObama
Obama/Hagel '08!
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:00 AM on 06/28/2008
- oldwiseone See Profile I'm a Fan of oldwiseone
Reading this took me by surprise. Apparently not all replublicans, well I was going to thank the replubicans for showing us what they are made of and especially for choosing John McCain as their nominee. Yes, it is true that replublican does not automatically mean evil. But the seeking for riches is certainly misleading, especially for a politician. For, example, since when is Social Security an entitlement program? And when the citizens pay the taxes, why is giving sme of it back entitlment? There is one thing that Hegel does not mention but is probably the root cause of our present problems - corruption. What level of corrupotion is tolerable? What level of corruption leads to bankrupcy? If a store makes a ten percent profit on an item, and someone steals on of those iteems, the store will have to sell ten of the items just to break even.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:53 PM on 06/27/2008
- Azor See Profile I'm a Fan of Azor
Sen. Hagel, what an interesting surprise to see you post here! Will the DailyKos be next :-)? Actually, I am not sure whether I say it in jest or it is actually a suggestion... There, like here, you would not be received with open arms, but many would read, some would ponder, and some may even become more tolerant and come to understand the importance of each honest and intelligent point of view, even when different from your own.Thank you for the lucid and thorough analysis in your speech. I sincerely hope that the candidates will pay attention, and I obviously put more faith in the good will and open-mindedness of one of them. I do not agree with some of your positions, but I trust your judgement and even more your good will.Whatever you do once you leave the Senate, please do not become anyone's driver as I heard you joke a couple of times, and especially, please, oh please do not join Fox News :-).Welcome to HuffingtonPost!
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:50 PM on 06/27/2008
- rcampbell See Profile I'm a Fan of rcampbell
Wow!! Thank you, Senator Hagel.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:16 PM on 06/27/2008
- tbone99 See Profile I'm a Fan of tbone99
Oh and thanks, too, for voting with Bush on 94% of the issues!
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:21 AM on 06/28/2008
- lafrance See Profile I'm a Fan of lafrance
Sen. Hagel, Excellent article. Your voice will be missed in the senate. While so many have gone off the deep end, we have far too few pragmatic and grounded voices in that body.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:36 PM on 06/27/2008
- onp67 See Profile I'm a Fan of onp67
Thank you Sen Hagel. I happen to concur with you on many points. Would love to hear you speak more on these issues perhaps jointly with former Sen. Sam Nunn --- for the good of the nation. Again, thanks!
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:13 AM on 06/28/2008
- onp67 See Profile I'm a Fan of onp67
Thank you Sen Hagel. I concur on many points. Would that I could sit and converse with you and Sam Nunn on these many issues. Best of everything to you in your next endeavors!
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:05 AM on 06/28/2008
- MARSHA1961 See Profile I'm a Fan of MARSHA1961
I blogged a post as early as Feb '08 on CNN for an OBAMA-HAGEL ticket. I still feel the same way. It would instantly cement OBAMA's legacy as a nonpartisan in the current environment that is totally partisan. It would also bring a lot of what is needed to compliment OBAMA's Presidency. I wouldn't be surprise to see something as transformative as this from OBAMA, look what he did with his campaign. OBAMA-HAGEL '08
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:04 PM on 06/27/2008
- speakeasy See Profile I'm a Fan of speakeasy
While Hagel has impressive foreign policy credentials and ideas, he is solidly conservative on domestic issues and votes the party line most of the time. He is extremely brave to stand up to his fellow repubs on the Middle East and has paid the price, but I do respect the guy for it! You have to maintain some principle or you will go down in history as a party hack, which is the same thing as saying "I did it for myself (i.e. made the necessary contacts to continue my greedy existence)". Both parties are in on this...
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:27 AM on 06/28/2008
- heal57 See Profile I'm a Fan of heal57
Hagel is still a republican; not for VP but certainly somewhere in the Obama administration. This was a great piece written by Senator Hagel.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:55 PM on 06/27/2008
- Boadicea See Profile I'm a Fan of Boadicea
I see a Profile in Courage in your future, Senator Hagel. Thank you for an insightful, honest commentary on our foreign policy responsibilities and risks. Americans are desperate for the truth, and having people like you come out and speak the truth is a welcome change from the pap that is fed to us by our traditional media.As someone who left the Republican party fairly recently, I confess that you are one of the few Republicans I still respect. There are good people on both sides of the aisle, but the Republican Party has been hijacked by ideologues like Grover Norquist. The Republican Party I once proudly belonged to is no more. I'll be voting Obama.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:41 PM on 06/27/2008
- syllepsis See Profile I'm a Fan of syllepsis
What Chuck Hagel is saying about Iraq is exactly what the Iraq Study Group said two years ago.I suppose it must be said, over and over again, until we have a President who is willing to listen to reason.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:34 PM on 06/27/2008
- SShaw490 See Profile I'm a Fan of SShaw490
Chuck Hagel has proven himself to have more political courage than anyone in Washington. In my opinion, he should be the VP nominee. I realize his political philosophy runs counter to Obama's, and while I personally view that as a good thing - the last thing we need in America is another "single brain" administration - it could be an electoral problem. On the other hand, Joe Biden as VP and Hagel as Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense has a great ring to it. Hillary also has the Secretary of State feel to her. But I just have a consuming hunger to see an Obama administration that incorporates the best of the best - whether they're Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, or independents.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:07 PM on 06/27/2008
- Boadicea See Profile I'm a Fan of Boadicea
I think Hagel's "political philosophy" is right in sync with Obama's. They are both pragmatists, realists, and honest.They differ on policy in some areas, definitely. But I'd love to see Hagel become an Independent and run with Obama. I know they're friends as well as colleagues, and I consider that a plus, too.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:45 PM on 06/27/2008
- Azor See Profile I'm a Fan of Azor
I 100% agree. They have differences on specific issues, quite a few I guess, but in terms of "political philosophy" they are strikingly similar. The same open-minded, non-prejudiced thoughtful approach to attempting to deal with an issue, and the same desire to get to the bottom of a problem without getting bogged down by ideology or partisanship.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:48 PM on 06/27/2008
- cam See Profile I'm a Fan of cam
Lieberman would lay claim to the same qualities. I am playing devil's advocate, but you should know that the more acceptable Hagel is to liberals the less he is to illiberals.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:27 PM on 06/27/2008
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- DeMaria See Profile I'm a Fan of DeMaria
This was a thoughtful and thorough, non-partisan speech. I am happy to hear it and respect Hagel more than most Republicans. For those of you completely hung up on the FISA issue, the key here is to see that there are many other important issues to be concerned with and you're getting sidetracked. George Bush already does whatever he wants. Cheney already does whatever he wants. If McCain gets elected, he'll continue the same disrespect for the law. I believe that Obama will not only uphold the law, but that he'll work to revise the FISA courts to make them respect our privacy and rights while keeping us as safe as possible. So whatever we do, let's get Obama in office, then hold him accountable. He has promised a transparent administration, and after BushCo, that's what we need. Then we can continue to speak out and protect our rights. But for now, I think Hagel did a pretty good job of presenting the situation at home and abroad.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:48 PM on 06/27/2008
- Scarllatti See Profile I'm a Fan of Scarllatti
Though I am an independent progressive, Chuck Hagel remains one of my consistent heroes. I sincerely wish that he will accept to serve this great nation in any capacity in a democratic administration just as Bill Cohen did during the Clinton administration.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:43 PM on 06/27/2008
- bethinCary See Profile I'm a Fan of bethinCary
Excellent, and always eloquent words Sen Hagel.Thanks for that-agree entirely.I guess I reached somewhat of the same conclusion, as an adult going back to college and taking a stats & probability class..I realized then--that the bubble of cheaply-made, at the expense of foreign workers who worked to sustain superpowers like the US would eventually have to come to an end..China & India, while having more than a fair-share of poverty all these years and neglect of thier environment--at least had a goal in mind for where they wanted to eventually take their country..Fault them for labor laws, unfair wages..at least the best part of it is--that the US and their "New World Order" bubble begun after the Coldwar---has burst..The US strength was never imposing its' will/pricing on other countries-that was false security.It was leading by example to be a country of ingenuity,ideas, courage, justice, equality,principles, and cooperation..It is also NOT by leadership that panders to self-interest groups-be they corporate or foreign-but by leadership that has compassion for all of its' citizens and standing up for rule of law over chaos and posturing through guiding morals and a sense of fairness..Only a person who has a strong moral compass NOT to play into such games/techniques will emerge to be a TRUE leader over political panderer.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:36 PM on 06/27/2008
- somekid1234 See Profile I'm a Fan of somekid1234
Secretary of State, Chuck Hagel
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:57 PM on 06/27/2008
- nancytheragingliberal See Profile I'm a Fan of nancytheragingliberal
I say VP.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:58 PM on 06/27/2008
- sleepless See Profile I'm a Fan of sleepless
I agree with your spoken words on Iraq. Thats about it. This is not the week for any Senator who did not stop FISA (at least it is delayed but I hold no trust in any of you but the few who tried) to lecture. Obama has already disappointed. I do not want him to pick any of you Republicans who might be on his list. Not you, not Powell. Do you know how long and how much work it is going to take for us to trust elected officials again? You and Arlen Specter make me furious because you at least talk as though you care.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:46 PM on 06/27/2008
- Boadicea See Profile I'm a Fan of Boadicea
I consider myself progressive, and I support Obama's position on FISA. The blogosphere needs to learn that it does not make up the whole of the Democratic Party. These Purity Progressives should either learn to stop attacking the Democratic nominee during a campaign, or get used to Republican administrations.A third option, of course, is to line up behind Dennis Kucinich (whom I respect and admire) and form a third party, the Purity Progressives.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:50 PM on 06/27/2008
- visigoth See Profile I'm a Fan of visigoth
OBAMA-HEGEL......Man thats got a good ring to it
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:41 PM on 06/27/2008
- burnt See Profile I'm a Fan of burnt
You had me... and then you lost me... there's nothing that even resembles CHANGE in your call for "more of the same"... especially in regard to your support of corporatist "free trade" outsourcing and your pandering to the nuclear sector of big energy.You had such a great opportunity to tap into what the vast majority of Americans are demanding in the way of change... an you blew it just to push the status quo.... and for your continued Middle East military "solution"... I don't know how you could be so wrong and pretend that you have a grasp on reality. We need to get out NOW!!!dissapointed
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:33 PM on 06/27/2008
- Azor See Profile I'm a Fan of Azor
Just one comment, out of the several possible: getting out of Iraq NOW, is no "grasp on reality" but instead assumes a kind of magical wand able to perform miracles. The true grasp on reality is to understand that such a think is not possible, and instead, as Sen. Hagel suggests:"The next President will need to pursue a responsible phased troop withdrawal from Iraq that will slowly...steadily...but surely bring to an end the U.S. occupation of Iraq. "a withdrawal that must go hand-in-hand with persistent, meaningful and innovative diplomatic efforts.In other words, just wishing something, does not make it so.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:03 PM on 06/27/2008
- Kitaj See Profile I'm a Fan of Kitaj
Sorry senator, but things have gone waaay beyond this. Our political system is damaged beyond words, and in order to fix it, the first question we have to ask ourselves is, how did America become so sick and so stupid that people like Bush and Cheney could even get anywhere near the White House in the first place!! A related question that also needs to be asked is how are we going to rid the body politic of these insane right-wing christian fanatics who have hijacked this country and who are destroying it?The world is facing the most difficult problems ever faced by humanity in our known history, and yet, there is absolutely no sign in Washington of the kind of urgency rational people ought to be feeling right about now: Peak Oil, climate change, trillions in debt, decaying infrastructure, Imperial collapse - the question is: how do Bush and Cheney still have jobs? How the hell could they have gotten this far in wrecking this country? How senator?Well ,we know that media whores have had a lot to do with it, but when senator, is the political establishment going to openly admit that the present leadership and the elite clique they front for are completely out of touch with reality, or, as we used to say in simpler times, stark raving insane!
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:28 PM on 06/27/2008
- Zankee See Profile I'm a Fan of Zankee
"Zankee's Pick"....
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:57 PM on 06/27/2008
- HumeSkeptic See Profile I'm a Fan of HumeSkeptic
Thank you for endorsing Senator 0bama, Senator, even though you didn't say it. ;-).
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:11 PM on 06/27/2008
- sdguppy See Profile I'm a Fan of sdguppy
Yes, it was easy to read between the lines to see who Hagel prefers.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:27 AM on 06/28/2008
- Azor See Profile I'm a Fan of Azor
In a Bloomberg interview yesterday:" Hagel has policy differences with both candidates, and said his disagreement with Obama ``probably is not as big'' as his differences with McCain over Iraq. "http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQ0hfm1KRlp4&refer=home
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:40 AM on 06/28/2008
- ckemp See Profile I'm a Fan of ckemp
Yes, thank you, I agree.(and my professional career is devoted to work on Hume 'the skeptic'!)
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:50 PM on 06/27/2008
- HumeSkeptic See Profile I'm a Fan of HumeSkeptic
Lucky you. I just happened to be reading Hume the day I first registered at this web site, which was soon after its inception.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:01 AM on 06/28/2008
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Barack Obama's Speech

2008-03-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

Below is Senator's Obama's speech today in reference to the remarks of his former Pastor that have caused a stir in the last week or so. What the Senator says here is why I am supporting for him--and voted accordingly in our Illinois primary--and why I think he represents our nation's best hope for the type of national community that we have had since Robert Kennedy's death 40 years ago.

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787. The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations. Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time. And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because 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 of children and our grandchildren. This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story. I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible. It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one. Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans. This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either “too black” or “not black enough.” We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn. On one end of the spectrum, we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike. I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed. But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam. As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:“People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend’s voice up into the rafters….And in that single note – hope! – I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and freedom, and hope – became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories tha t we didn’t need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish – and with which we could start to rebuild.”That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety – the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias. But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America – to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality. The fact is that the comments that have been made and 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. And if we walk away now, 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. Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven’t fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students.Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments – meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today’s urban and rural communities.A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families – a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods – parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement – all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us. This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What’s remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it – those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations – those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicia ns, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings.And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committ ed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time. Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding. This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy – particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.But 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 is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union. For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for 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.Ironically, this quintessentially American – and yes, conservative – notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright’s sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change. The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen – is that America can change. That is 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.In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. 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 would 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. For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.We can do that. But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change. That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time. This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don’t have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together. This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit. This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should’ve been authorized and never should’ve been waged, and we want to talk about how we’ll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned. I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. 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. There is one story in particularly that I’d like to leave you with today – a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King’s birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta. There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there. And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that’s when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat. She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother’s problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn’t. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they’re supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he’s there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, “I am here because of Ashley.” “I’m here because of Ashley.” By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.

Once More, Ireland

2008-03-09T09:56:00.001-07:00

It's spring break at my University and once more, I am visiting Galway, Ireland. It's still beautiful, green and bustling with life, both of the capitalist and human varieties. Some things, of course, have changed since my visit here last year, including the internet cafe where I am presently enscribing these words. All in all, however, what I remember is as it was, including St. Nicholas (Church of Ireland) Church where I worshipped this morning. For a small congregation inside an 800 year old building on which Oliver Cromwell paid a not-so-pleasant theological call during the Commonwealth era, St. Nicholas does very well for itself, better, in fact, than some American parishes who somehow have gotten it in their heads that only the choir should sing and everyone else should sit like stone faces for an hour. As Clifford used to say, "it"--the Bible--"doesn't say make a beautiful sound. It says make a joyful noise." As in many other things, Clifford was right and he would have been pleased, I think, with our sounds and noise this morning (even if, as a Baptist, he might have thought we were a bit too much with vestments and choir robes and liturgy). Heaven knows, at the same time however, that the sort of replaying of God among us through liturgy--another word for drama and God's people finding our "place" within the divine spirit--laughter, children scurring around (and their parents, of course, worrying about them making too much noise), music--even some magnificent antiphonal chants--and fellowship in the Anglican sense of having coffee and snacks afterwards made today's worship a marvelous experience for me once again.
Seeing my friends--with more to follow--at the place where I stayed last year also makes my trip all the more worthwhile. It seems as if we almost picked up where we left last March 15 when I left last year to return home. We've laughed, joked, teased and even talked some politics, which I usually want to avoid these days, but oh well, the disease still grabs me every so often. To make matters even more enjoyable, North Carolina beat Duke last night in the second round of their yearly grudge match, which sets up the Tarheels well for the upcoming ACC and, in all likelihood, the NCAA tournaments in the next few weeks. My beloved Memphis Tigers, at the same time, should have little trouble in the Conference USA tournament and since we recently lost to the Orange Evil Empire from Knoxville, we won't have the pressure of an undefeated season hanging over our heads when the Dance--our American euphemism for the NCAA tournament--starts, I believe, one week from Tuesday. In the overall scheme of what is, I am presently pleased and looking forward to the next several days here. Then it's home and back to the grind. At least Shakespeare awaits--as does Miss Lannah. That's a rather pleasant set of prospects.

George Clifford Walker 1909-2007

2007-12-28T16:37:00.000-08:00

When I was a boy, my mother's mother referred to "Clifford," her younger brother who lived "in Atlanta" and ran a dry cleaning store. My brother, mother and grandmother would travel fairly often from either North Carolina or--later--Tennessee to see Clifford and my great-aunt Annie Will as well as perhaps either or both of their daughters Anne and Deborah. The Walker side of my family was and remains very small even by adding the children of my cousins Mark, Scott, Jeff, Todd and Julie (who, to clarify, is not yet married and has no children) and the children of Pat, who married Clifford a few years after Annie Will died in 1984. All that as it is, I have more memories of Clifford from my childhood than perhaps a typical great-nephew does in similar situation given the size of our family and the manner in which it has managed to stay in contact--by association and, more recently, by spending time at this or that event--through the years. For however these matters came about and have continued, I am grateful. I'm writing on December 28, 2007 in recognition that Clifford, after a somewhat unexpected illness, probably will not live much longer. As my relatives say, there may be a miracle, but I'm nonetheless trying to gather thoughts in case something else takes place in the next several days.
My Grandmother--Lorraine Walker Brookshire--was Clifford's oldest sibling of the four born to the union of their parents Joshua Taylor and Mary Bronson Walker. If ever there was a southern lady, my Grandmother fit the bill and Clifford became, in his own type of way, an elegant southern gentleman. I do not mean to say that either of them were stiff cigar-store Indians without spirit or life for they both radiated with each. It was difficult for a small boy--me--to appreciate the extent to which Grandmother and Clifford resembled one another and tried to give something to me besides a desire for material matters of this, that or the other variety. As I've gotten older, however, what they said and, more importantly, did enabled me to begin to somewhat grasp what they had in mind. After Grandmother died in 1980, I guess Clifford came to serve that role in my life to a larger extent than I knew until I more fully realized it over the last four or five years. I have been increasingly grateful that he has lived as long and been as healthy as he has. Six months ago, I had a chance to visit with Clifford and Pat in their home, share a few stories and simply to hear his words and see his facial expressions as some of his great-grandchildren scurried around the living room almost literally under his feet. Being able to have that set of experiences with someone who was, at the time, 97 and then to share a huge Sunday brunch the next day will remain with me as long as I live. As will the picture I have of Clifford, Pat and myself on their front porch (thanks to Scott for taking the shot).
During my childhood, I was full of fire and vinegar about a lot of things that I now find, well, foolish and misplaced. I suppose that's a normal retrospective, but I wish that I would have appreciated Clifford more for who he was rather than sometimes what he may or may not have thought. We all have those sorts of disconnects and I would rather honor Clifford's person than quibble over matters that were much more products of an earlier time and place than any sort of actual notion. Heaven knows I retain more than a few disconnects and wince at memories of occasions when my mouth bellowed a whole lot of vingear and oil (mixing metaphors on purpose) than I imparted wisdom and grace. These matters, it seems to me, are all of a piece and Clifford is more important to my life and memory than my own warped priorities of my youth and early adulthood. Clifford's presence and patience are realities that I hold with appreciation and love.
I guess I have lived long enough to know that, as one of my seminary professors put it, "there are many things I don't know." My mother and I talk a good deal about our family's past and the importance we have placed in those experiences. Mother wants me to know how her parents and Clifford--among others--shaped her experiences and how they have subsequently given form to mine. I've come to think--I think--that much of that form is not so much words or even actions, but something like instincts, although that's not quite the right word. It's hard to explain, but something still that "is"--however ambiguously at a given moment--and won't ever leave me. Clifford played a large part in that "is" for me and I shall always love him, both for that, but moreso, just for being who he was. I don't know the Latin for rest in peace, but I'll guess and say "requiem et pacem." He would understand--

Semester and Bowl

2007-12-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

At last, the semester is finished and somehow I survived. What's more, my beloved U of M, after starting the season 2-4 rallied to win 5 of their last 6 and finish 7-5. We play this Friday--December 21st--in the New Orleans Bowl against Florida Atlantic coached by Howard Schnellenberger (best guess on the spelling), he who coached Miami to the 1983 Championship against Nebrasks before Tom Osborne discovered the need for speed on defense. Coach S also played for the Bear (the Coach for the Ground of Being and I'll concede that Bear is presently assisted by Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy) at Kentucky, which would make him at least passably plausible if he weren't lined up against Memphis. I'm hoping U of M can win, but even going to a game after last year's 2-10 "transition" is a large accomplishment. Too many folks on the Commercial Appeal's sports blog argued that our Coach West should be fired for the slow start, but I think they reflected our cultural tendency to want everything now (like a National Championship for a school that isn't even a BCS Conference) rather than giving his staff time to regroup AD (after DeAngelo). So I'm happy the semester is done and the U of M is in a bowl game. We'll go from there--

New Academic Year

2007-08-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

Wednesday of this week at 11:30 AM, the returning Graduate Assistants in SIU's English Department return for three days of pre-semester workshop. Many of my colleagues and friends have worked hard putting these events together and, in my judgment, deserve extensive credit for their efforts. Classes begin for the year on Monday next, August 20th, and after a summer of people basically doing their own thing, the routine of regular academic schedules will make its own reappearance. Freshmen will get lost in Faner Hall and 18 year olds will--bravado aside--feel anxious about starting a new part of their lives. New Graduate Assistants across our campus will walk into classrooms and begin teaching, in the process learning more than they realize as the semester develops. I went through that process three years ago and, while being older than perhaps many of my fellow GA's, I had to learn as well, occasionally by "un-learning" from assumptions I had about how students see themselves and what they expect from a Composition class. These next several days, in other words, will be busy and, frankly, I'm grateful.
Within a few weeks as well, SIU's football team will suit up for its first game. One of my former students plays on the team and from what I can tell, has done well throughout his career. The first few games are always in weather too hot for comfort, but I will be always grateful for warmth after going three years ago--with my friends Nathan and Chris--to what we came to call our own version of the "Ice Bowl" when SIU lost to Eastern Washington in Round One of the NCAA Division I-A playoffs. We froze and each got wet in the persistent drizzle; we all escaped pneumonia by probably the skimmest of margins, or so it seemed; and to make matters worse, SIU was ranked Number One in the country, only to lose the game at home. So warm or cold: who knows? I don't know how the Salukis will fare this year, but I imagine I'll take in a game or two after I see my beloved Memphis Tigers twice in early September. I only wish the SIU would sell Coke products rather than Pepsi. I guess the older I get, the more I feel drawn to my original preferences and tend to notice negative taste--personal choice, nothing "scientific" here--that I just can't seem to swallow for the length of a game. Memphis, being a Southern school, sells Coke soft drinks, I believe. Then again, the Dallas Cowboys sell Pepsi at their games and they are somewhat Southern even as my Texas friends will insist on being known as Texans prior to anything else. Maybe the Cowboys' choice of Pepsi is another reason I don't like them. Now if my Minnesota Vikings sell Pepsi, I'm not sure what I'll do.
I'm hoping, in any case, for a productive academic year and that we as students and those students we teach will enrich one another's learning experience.

Bonds and Bridges

2007-08-02T18:18:00.000-07:00

Through last night's baseball action, mercifully, Henry Aaron continues to hold the Major League home run record. I grew up watching Mr. Aaron play for (mostly) bad Atlanta Braves teams, although they did come within--I believe--8 games or so of winning the division one year in the early 1970s. I attended a game in which he played, on September 25, 1972, when the Los Angeles Dodgers and Frank Robinson defeated the Braves 5-4 (a score I would some six years later find even more painful). Ron Reed started the game for Atlanta and I remember thinking when I saw him warming up before the game, "We're going to lose." Reed never pitched consistently well, although he did belong to the Phillies team that won the World Series in 1980. I was pleased for him, but also wish Phil Niekro--also a Brave on "my" day--could have done so as well.
All that aside, most of you remember I posted not too long ago about my--shall I say--intense disdain for Barry Lamar Bonds. Barring something horrific that I do not wish for him, Bonds will in reasonably short order pass Mr. Aaron and receive credit for hitting more home runs than anyone else in baseball history. I could care less as even if Bonds plays until he is 725 years old--his knees already seem about that age--Mr. Aaron will be, in Milo Hamilton's words on April 8, 1974, "the new home run champion in baseball." Alex Rodriguez will someday--without major injury--pass Mr. Aaron and You-Know-Who, for which I will applaud his well-earned and legitimate accomplishment. Maybe Albert Pujols will approach 755 as well. I'm venting, of course, and trying to not pay attention to the inevitable.
The past 24 hours have been occupied with the much more serious news from Minneapolis and the collapse of the bridge over the Mississippi River. Some of my friends have posted about it and wrote in their usual eloquent fashion. It's easy to blame, even when--as it seems--the lack of funding from Washington in the Bush era has helped to create the circumstances in which our national infrastructure has been neglected. Given that they were in near total power from 2003 through last January, the Republicans and their aversion to "gub-mint" must assume most of the responsbility for the context in which these events can occur. It's in the hands of Norman Coleman, the Republican Senator from Minnesota, to make clear that they will "own up" to the neglect they helped to foster. It's also in the hands of the majority Democrats to push unrelentingly the sort of non-telegenic legislative drudgery that is infrastructure update and repair. Most people, I think, get "glazed eye syndrome" when "infrastructure" is mentioned, except when something like yesterday takes place. Then all too often, overheated, accusatory emotionalism assumes control more than reasoned debate and the necessary political compromises that rest at the heart of our political system. The Democratic Senator from Minnesota--whose name I can't remember how to spell--is in the position, along with her Congressional colleagues, to presently choose between blaming "Norm Coleman, George Bush and the Republicans" or doing the hard work of legislating that will insure increased funding for our very real and apparent national needs. Hubert Humphrey was as partisan a Minnesota Democrat as there ever was, but he worked with Everett Dierksen, Gerald Ford and other Republicans for the good of the whole country, not just the faithful who happened to belong to the same party. If, in any case, Norm Coleman, George Bush and other current Republicans try somehow to blame Democrats (or, in Pat and Jerry's words after 9/11, homosexuals and "liberals") for yesterday, then the Democrats ought to respond with some unrepeatable advice from Lyndon Johnson. Or, as Bill Clinton reportedly said, if they try to cut you with a knife, you cut their hand off with a meat cleaver. Human tragedy and suffering ought to be beyond even the most partisan political pale. But, as ever these days, we'll see.

A Humbled Viking Fan

2007-07-12T20:31:00.001-07:00

Over the past three years, I have become teasingly good friends with a cashier in our Student Union cafeteria. He's an avid St. Louis Cardinal fan--and St. Louis sports generally--and I've enjoyed reminding him good-naturedly about the Cardinals losing 4 games to none against the Boston Red Sox, my American League team of long-standing, in the 2004 World Series. I also relished making more fun when the University of North Carolina defeated Illinois for the 2005 NCAA Men's basketball championship. Conversely, my friend has given equally as well since the Cardinals won the World Series last year.
Earlier today, my friend and I were teasing one another yet again and I mentioned--as I have previously--that my only childhood team yet to win a Championship continues to be the Minnesota Vikings. To make matters sort of worse, the Vikings not only lay claim to the first team to lose four Super Bowls (out of the first 11 played and only the game against the Steelers was halfway close), but they haven't returned to the contest since 1977. They have come close three times (well, two and a half), but thirty years of no Super Bowl and counting. But I keep hoping that management, coaches and players will find a way to be on a similar page long enough to at least give themselves a chance to lose again. My friend knows all these matters and as I was referring to what hopes I have, he uttered these immortal words: "Maybe you can be like Cub fans." Since the Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908 and haven't been to one since 1945, I felt put in an exceedingly less than comfortable place. The Vikings, you see, will go on and on, year after year, finding ever more creative ways to lose NFC Championship games or, if they somehow miraculously get there again, the Super Bowl. The Vikings, you see, will continue year after year to make Herschel Walker-like trades and misuse (THANKS JERRY BURNS: pass the ball in the flat to a runner whose foot speed and power came from going straight ahead after a HANDOFF) tremendous players on both sides of the ball. The Vikings will go through coach after coach, coordinators upon coordinators and only remember the glorious games at Metropolitan Stadium when they would beat the Rams and the Cowboys (OH NO!! DREW PEARSON DID NOT INTERFERE WITH NATE WRIGHT!! OH NO!! AMERICA'S TEAM WOULDN'T EVER THINK OF DOING SUCH A THING AND NEVER, EVER WOULD GET--AHEM--INCREASED FAVORABLE AWARENESS FROM ANYONE IN A SUPERVISORY CAPACITY [Any inference to an actual person in any capacity at that or any other game between Minnestota and Dallas or any other NFL team at any time past, present or future is unintentional and purely coincidental]) for the NFC Championship. The Vikings, now that they are linked to the Cubs, will continue to lose, lose, lose and never win a Super Bowl as long as I live. I also expect to see a football version of Steve Bartman to show up at Viking games this year. Trust me, he'll find a way to interfere at the worst possible moment and Moises Alou will put on football pads long enough to ensure Viking defeat in a game they HAVE to win. Maybe Cubs and Vikings fans could form an association and support group as we endure more defeat together.
But that itself wouldn't be fully possible. You see, what makes matters worse is that the Cubs have at least won the World Series.

Frank Thomas, 500 Home Runs and, Well, ...

2007-06-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

Today, June 28, 2007, Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas hit his 500th career home run in a game against the Minnesota Twins (somewhere, Hubert Horatio Humphrey is rolling in his grave and, no doubt, is making a speech about the occasion). There is absolutely no question about the manner in which Thomas achieved his milestone, even in the age of steroids, human "They Ain't Intellectual" growth hormones and diluted pitching as caused--largely--by too much expansion. Thomas will, in due time, earn first ballot admission to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. His personal career was also capped by being a member of the 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox.
Last week, another former White Sox, Sammy Sosa, hit his 600th career home run against the Chicago Cubs, the team for whom he enjoyed the most individual success (OK, I won't put success in quotation marks as I usually do. Today at least, I won't quibble with its meaning as well as cultural and linguistic implications, ....). Unfortunately, "Slammin' Sammy" has been linked to useage of the same "enhancing" materials that Frank Thomas chose not to pursue. Linked, of course, not proved, and Sosa is innocent until proven guilty. Whether Sosa really forgot how to speak coherent English in his testimony before Congress or had an illiness that day, if I were a baseball writer with a Hall of Fame vote, I would not vote for his election the first year of eligibility, but would do so in the second year. I would do likewise for Mark "I Didn't Come to Talk about the Past" McGwire. Since, however, Raphael Palmiero did test positive after piously claiming never to have used steroids, I would not vote for his election unless some mitigating circumstances arose.
Whether Sosa forgot English or Palmiero forgot the difference between honesty and creative truth-telling, AT LEAST they had the intestinal fortitude to sit before Congress and the cameras. That is more than I can say for Barry Bonds. He is, as I write, within 6 home runs of tying Hank Aaron's all-time home run record and most of the major sports shows seem trying to navigate between a television event and the storm clouds currently downpouring their all-too-obvious rain on his allegedly ill-gotten parade. I do NOT doubt Bonds as one of the best players of the current era. I do NOT doubt, on the basis of his career prior to the (alleged) enlargment of his head, Bonds' election to Cooperstown. I do NOT doubt his unique offensive skills of speed and power. I DO have doubts--unproven, unsubstantiated and--ergo--Bonds is still innocent until proven guilty--about his post-35 years old, late 1990s power totals. Unless I see evidence that disproves my suspicions about his offensive totals from the late 1990s forward,--which just happened to be when steroid abuse came into public awareness and eventual scrutiny, even from the idiotic Commissioner's and Player's Union Offices--and I had a Hall of Fame vote, I would, as with Sosa and McGwire, not vote for Bonds in his first year of eligibility. Afterwards, I would hold my nose and vote to elect him on the basis of the earlier portions of his career. I do have the satisfaction however, that unless the San Francisco Giants get a lot better very quickly, that Bonds won't play on a World Championship team. He won't, in other words, have the same feeling as Mr. Aaron, Mr. Mays, The Big Hurt and the members of the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox. I rather enjoy that type of solace.

Retrospectively

2007-06-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

In more or less four years, my alma mater will celebrate its centennial as a University. Originally begun as a Normal School to train public school teachers, The University of Memphis has grown into an institution that offers several doctoral degrees and has, I think, tried in recent years, to find a sense of itself beyond the shadow of the University of Tennessee. It's no sense in trying to out do the Vols. They will always receive more state funding and have a larger following. They've also been around since right near statehood in 1796. My sense is that the U of M tried to stand eye to eye with UT for decades and it simply didn't work. My own thoughts as a student--when I allowed myself to have them in between political crusades--was that we didn't need to try for the eye to eye. We could simply walk away from UT and let them have their space while we could create our own (mixed metaphors and all). I feel better about U of M now, especially since the early 1990s when some major new buildings were built, coupled presently with the burgeoning Student Center to replace the one I remember from my days on campus. We will always have land issues and never enough students to meet UT or now, it seems, MTSU in Murfreesboro. We have been able, however, to move in the direction of being a unique University by emphasizing what Memphis offers. Namely, the River, music, history and--for better or worse--issues involving race and religion (which are included in discussions about the first three). Let Knoxville be Knoxville and let MTSU stress its connections to Nashville up north and the Saturn plant down south. We Memphis folks will do the Delta as it were.
I went to U of M neither by intention nor legacy. I didn't spend my time doing nearly the number of enriching activities provided by a major campus. I talked too much about politics and didn't pay attention to what presented itself before me. Almost by coincidence, nevertheless, I benefitted from attending there as it became my place rather than that of anyone else I knew. I had mostly excellent professors, adequate library resources and--most of the time-- administrative help in getting my questions answered. I went to some football and basketball games, had a great time (except for the Louisville football game in 1982 when it rained all day long and we lost by something like 35-3), and even worked for a disabled student one semester as his assistant. Since 1999, I've belonged to the Alumni Association and just recently became a lifetime member. I wish I could do more and hope to be able to give some modest amounts of help to whatever celebrations the University has in store come 2012.
I graduated form the U of M in 1984. Unless I end up teaching at a nearby University, I doubt I'll ever attend classes there again. Retrospectively, in any case, I made a terrific decision to go there and it's a place with which I am proud to associate myself.

In Spite of Myself

2007-06-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

Fairly recently, I experienced a situation that reminded me--positively--of the literary theory I tried to read two summers ago. Most people who have endured my tendencies to bloviate can attest to my suspicion of theory as it applies to literature and, more generally, theology and politics. Nevertheless, the situation I encountered connected some dots and led me to wonder if I might be missing a necessary tool for my overall approach to all matters literary.
I recently attended a sporting event with family members. It sounded like a pleasant time and, for me at least, a time to sentimentally reconnect with my childhood "glories" on the field of athletic effort. We arrived at the stadium and, after spending more than ten dollars for "food," I sat down to watch the game. Every half inning, the PA Announcer would start to blare some promotion or "Congratulations to ..." for finishing this or that stupendous such and such. If it wasn't the PA Announcer, a young MC of sorts would invite someone from the stands to walk on to the field to play a game "like they do on The Price is Right. and have a chance to win X amount of dollars." If it wasn't either of these folks, still more folks would rush onto the field paralleling the stands to booming displays of music and--on cue--throw t-shirts toward grasping, clawing (but not quite desperate) audience members. The game itself seemed an intermittent after thought surrounded by endless meanderings of "entertainment." I soon realized again that if I want to experience sports as something other than mind-numbing diversions from issues that warp our lives, I could do better sitting home and pay my overpriced cable television bill.
Such is where theory renewed itself in my mind. One of the writers our class read--and it's always fair to say with these folks, "tried to read"--argued that capitalism as a system gets to the point of preserving itself through the mental deadening of its "customers." In so doing, the customers are literally and figuratively duped into continuing participation in the process that is against their own personal, psychological, political, even "spiritual" interests. We buy "stuff" in ever-increasing amounts--say sporting tickets and concessions and t-shirts, caps and ad infinitum--to keep up appearances with our neighbors who then buy more stuff to return the favor to us. We watch Grey's Anatomy and wonder who is sleeping with whom rather than ask ourselves what kind of actual life we have or what we--as my Baptist Grandfather used to say--are doing "to help our fellow man" (he lived in the early 20th Century, so his language reflected that time and its assumptions. His point, however, stands as timeless). Our churches argue over money, committee chair slots or how many banners to hang in the narthex as an enticement for "new members" "since that's what our consultant said to do." We--sadly--write blogs rather than sitting down with pen and paper to experience the mysterious and singular joy of our own handwriting. We, in short, anesthetize ourselves and our societal "base" and "superstructures" reflect the noxious reality of how much gas we pump into our lungs.
In that sense, I realize that theory has a point to make and in so doing, it is much like the best of Judeo-Christian theology as it provides a critique of culture from an admittedly "inside" perspective. I remain not sure that either theory or theology provides an equal measure of solutions alongside its criticisms. Perhaps, however, that's not its job and at its best, theory and theology invite us to reexamine ourselves, our priorities and find culturally-applicable solutions for our present experiences. What provides renewal for Americans, in other words, may not do so for Ireland or Japan or--as it were--someone from Vulcan. Perhaps my sense of theory--as it always has been for theology--is that it invites us to find our own way and, in so doing, discover the fullness of life that can be ours. That's both frightening and invigorating.

Justice, the Grizzlies and Tiger Football

2007-05-23T18:07:00.000-07:00

It's rather tempting to comment about the Justice Department US Attorney firing idiocy, but it won't satisfy anything but my need to vent. I've long since relinquished any hope for basic decency in the current administration, but their lack can easily be applied to any grouping of politicians or, as George Orwell put it, those who seek power for its own sake. No one in politics has clean hands and our society needs a thorough hand-washing or, to paraphrase Al Gore's newest book, a return to reason. I'm not surprised, but I don't think the US Attorney scandal is anything terribly new.
Without a good transition, I sunk into a measure of despair when I found out that the Memphis Grizzlies got the fourth pick in the upcoming NBA draft. The Griz had the worst regular season record and had the best chance to get the first overall pick, but ended up getting the slot we had to get: God knows where the Griz's ping pong balls landed in the NBA bin. As a Memphian by feeling, I think it all but nuts that Nashville can have an NFL and an NHL team, but Memphis can't land anything outside a transplanted NBA franchise. Jerry West did the best he could and Hubie Brown coached the team to the playoffs, but the current ownership seems determined to remain mediocre or--worse--a replay of the Sacramento Kings of 20 years ago (bad, bad and always bad).
In a more hopeful note,--at least until the season starts, when anxiety and no doubt some frustration will ensue--Memphis Tiger football begins in less than four months. If we can find a consistent offense,--an effective running game would help--I have hopes for about a 7-5 season and a return to a bowl game. Much of our season also depends on our quarterback from last year, Martin Hankins, discovering that completing passes to players wearing uniforms similar to his own tends to result in favorable outcomes. He had good season statistics, but he was--politely--inconsistent and not much of a presence in key moments. If Hankins doesn't get off to a good start, Coach West might hear rumblings to replace him with our red-shirt freshman from Oxford, Mississippi, Matt Malouf (spelling?). That would put a lot of pressure on a 19 year old without one down in major college action--a prescription for a lot more trouble. To paraphrase my cousin's comment about his school (Georgia) last year: heaven help the offense. Well, at least the Dawgs went to a bowl game--

Progress

2007-05-22T20:09:00.001-07:00

I try not to be vain, but now there are two photos of me (same one) on my electronic diary. It's rather a queasy feeling,--Miss Lorraine would look askance at me being too self-promoting--but after figuring out where to go with which key on the typewriter, I managed to get a smaller version in the right hand corner rather than just one placed in the "posting" log. More later--

Presumably

2007-05-21T15:35:00.001-07:00

After checking with my friend Steve (aka: "The Cracker"), I've managed to post a photo and more or less enter the twenty-first century. I guess my next evolutionary step will be to familiarize myself with various and assundry programs that otherwise I want to ignore. With all the Community Colleges in my immediate area, my guess is that such "goals" remains accesible and--all else being equal--fairly simple. More concessions, more access to the sort of life I desire.

Trying Again

2007-05-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how I ended up here, but I'll try to post from henceforth via the current name and variances (I refuse to call this an "address"). Once I get a photo posted (hopefully today, once I speak with my friend the photo guru), I'll be satisfied for a while here.