Just so that everybody will be reminded that I am not, in fact, a Democrat (Green Party ftw!) after my last post...have I mentioned lately that I've been exceptionally unimpressed with President Obama's leadership, or rather lack thereof?
In 2008, when I voted for him, I suspect I was one of millions who cast my ballot for him with a certain sense of hope and optimism. After the eight years of the George W. Bush presidency, I think a lot of us were desperately hungry for someone - anyone - who was willing to put forward a progressive-minded agenda that seemed the antidote to the doldrums in which we had found ourselves as a nation. Bonus points for being able to speak in coherent, complete sentences.
And now, pushing three years later, the buyer's regret is strong with with this guy living in Chicago. While I appreciate Obama's community organizing model of leadership, I think it is obvious after three years that...it doesn't work in DC. You cannot "community organize" the half of Congress that wakes up every morning and throws darts at a picture of you over their coffee and Cheerios. Furthermore, while I respect the President's attempts at staying "above the fray" and not getting down into the mudpit with the partisan bulldogs...that also hasn't proved remarkably successful, either. What should have been three years of telling us very direct truths about who's to blame for the pathetic state of this nation's economy - rampant deregulation, tax policies principally designed to let the rich pay lower taxes, percent-wise, than the rest of us, expensive wars marked by questionable ethical justification and little practical payoff, corporate empowerment that threatens to send us back to the "good ol' days" of robber barons and wage-slaves - was instead spent dithering spinelessly, failing to explain matters and, in the process, losing the rhetorical battle on nearly every key issue.
And the chickens are coming home to roost - the 2010 election was, let's be honest, a dumpster fire. The recent debt ceiling agreement was a Tea Party-orchestrated coup that never should have happened. A NY Times article recently compared Obama's leadership, very unfavorably, with FDR's during the Depression. FDR, from the get-go, named the culprits responsible for the economic collapse, took them to task, and - most importantly - COMMUNICATED THIS OFTEN AND WITH CLARITY TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY. Fireside chats, anyone? But...we don't get this with Obama. We get the aloofness that comes from being above the fray. We get a cool operation who leaves us wondering what key values he might be willing to throw under the bus next (remember how he almost gutted Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid to appease the Tea Party?). We get a man who seems to have an almost pathological aversion to conflict, in a time where we could really stand a chief executive who will NOT roll over and play dead.
If we end up with a President Perry or President Bachmann...it will be nobody's fault but Obama's.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
President Crotch
I learned earlier, (thanks to this article posted by my friend Kaleigh: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/13/rick-perry-a-candidate-who-will-do-anything-to-beat-romney-and-obama.html) that Rick Perry's old nickname, among certain folks in the Texas political world, was Crotch thanks to his tight jeans and tendency to adjust himself very publicly.
I have never been a fan of people declaring that they'll leave the country if so-and-so is elected president, but...Global Missions will look a LOT more appealing if the phrase "President Perry" becomes a reality. Take it from someone who lived in Texas for most of the man's political career - he's scum. This is a man who has never had an adult career - he is as smooth-operator-career-politician as they come. He has no love for, or interest in, serving the people; his primary interest, as far as I can tell, has been in maintaining his own political power and position. Again, he's never had an adult job other than politics. He also, as I learned in this article, managed a C in Animal Breeding. Not only is he a career politician, he's not even a bright one.
As for the claims that Perry has saved the Texas economy, consider that most of the job creation during his time as governor has come either from the surge in energy prices (he had nothing to do with that), or in the form of minimum jobs without benefits (he likely had plenty to do with that). Also consider that, during his time as governor, Texas' budget has been gutted, at least when it comes to education and providing services for poor Texans...and, by the way, there are a lot of them thanks to the superabundance of low-paying jobs with no benefits. Look up the numbers - Texas leads the nation in uninsured residents, uninsured children, and children living below the poverty line, at last I checked. As for worker's rights, well...it's telling that at least one company which set up shot in Texas will only build facilities in developing nations...and Texas.
Have jobs been created in Texas? Sure. Are they the kind of jobs which we need as a country to move forward? Nope. Have Perry's "screw the poor" policies kept the state out of fiscal trouble? Nope; the state is $27B in the red for this fiscal year, and as the list of cuts shows, the problem is Texas' reluctance to overhaul its tax code or invest wisely in the future rather than loads of wasteful spending. Is this what we want for the rest of the country? Is this presidential leadership? Will this make us a better, stronger union? Please vote "no" when it comes to Crotch Perry.
I have never been a fan of people declaring that they'll leave the country if so-and-so is elected president, but...Global Missions will look a LOT more appealing if the phrase "President Perry" becomes a reality. Take it from someone who lived in Texas for most of the man's political career - he's scum. This is a man who has never had an adult career - he is as smooth-operator-career-politician as they come. He has no love for, or interest in, serving the people; his primary interest, as far as I can tell, has been in maintaining his own political power and position. Again, he's never had an adult job other than politics. He also, as I learned in this article, managed a C in Animal Breeding. Not only is he a career politician, he's not even a bright one.
As for the claims that Perry has saved the Texas economy, consider that most of the job creation during his time as governor has come either from the surge in energy prices (he had nothing to do with that), or in the form of minimum jobs without benefits (he likely had plenty to do with that). Also consider that, during his time as governor, Texas' budget has been gutted, at least when it comes to education and providing services for poor Texans...and, by the way, there are a lot of them thanks to the superabundance of low-paying jobs with no benefits. Look up the numbers - Texas leads the nation in uninsured residents, uninsured children, and children living below the poverty line, at last I checked. As for worker's rights, well...it's telling that at least one company which set up shot in Texas will only build facilities in developing nations...and Texas.
Have jobs been created in Texas? Sure. Are they the kind of jobs which we need as a country to move forward? Nope. Have Perry's "screw the poor" policies kept the state out of fiscal trouble? Nope; the state is $27B in the red for this fiscal year, and as the list of cuts shows, the problem is Texas' reluctance to overhaul its tax code or invest wisely in the future rather than loads of wasteful spending. Is this what we want for the rest of the country? Is this presidential leadership? Will this make us a better, stronger union? Please vote "no" when it comes to Crotch Perry.
I took a plane out to find some truth, but all I found, I can't seem to leave behind
Well, distinguished readers, this homesick adopted Chicagoan has returned to the city of his dreams. If you've never dreamt of Chicago, I encourage you to do so at the soonest possible opportunity. To give you something to dream by...
Yes, the song is a re-post...so sue me. It's gorgeous. In other news, it has been an insanely busy month, in case the dearth of updates did not give that away. Since mid-July, I have....
-gotten back together with Emily
-ridden my bike most of the way across Iowa
-said goodbye to Dayton, Iowa
-driven a moving van across Iowa and Illinois back to Chicago
-settled into a new apartment
-Gotten pink eye, which caused me to miss a good friend's wedding
-flown to Texas to visit family and friends-who-are-family-in-my-mind
-preached at a Lutheran church on the SW Side
Now, I get to catch my breath...for a couple of days. YAGM orientation starts on Wednesday, and it will, no doubt, be an insanely wonderful busy week of 18 hour days spent with 50 outstanding young adults who are getting ready to spend the next year of their lives abroad, being surprised by how God meets them wherever they land. Then, another few days of breath-catching, and then returning student retreat/fall registration, then a long weekend, and then classes. Senior year.
It doesn't quite feel real, yet, that I'm nearly done with my seminary, and candidacy, journey. By the end of tomorrow, I'll have sent my edited approval essay to my candidacy committee chair (knock on wood); by the end of December, I'll (knock on wood) be approved to take a call and will have turned in first call paperwork, including geographic preference forms. More than ever, the future is looming over me - and this time, it's not just short-term choices that affect where I land for a year. I'm watching the birthing of a career, of living in the same place for an extended period of time, without moving around and spending summers elsewhere only to come back to a new apartment and new roommates, for the first time in my life.
It's exciting, mostly. As much as I love wandering, I'm ready to settle down somewhere for a while. I'm ready to find another congregation, like Emanuel, full of people who want to find ways to proclaim the Gospel and form Christian community...and, this time, be able to put down roots. I'm ready to arrive at a point in life where I can actually look at marrying and starting a family and say that, realistically, it's feasible.
Of course, the nervousness comes with it. Where will I land? I'm planning to make it clear that I want to stay in the Upper Midwest; will I actually get to do that? What if I get sent back to Texas (dear God, please no....)? What if I get sent to another extremely rural area because I have ministry experience in that sort of an environment? What'll I do? Even if I do get to be where I'd like geographically speaking, what sort of congregation will I find? Will I get to lead a group of mission-minded, progressive-thinking Christ-followers who are willing to embrace all of the scandal and risk that the Gospel entails, or will I find myself at a church where lutefisk and krumkake take precedence over serving others and sharing the Good News?
Then again, even as those thoughts fill my head, I remember that, a year ago, I was two weeks into my year in the last place on earth I'd have ever chosen to live. Not that I really want to dive deep into rural living again, but God found me there in southeast Webster County and equipped me for the things to which I was called to do there. Same goes for Bethlehem in Beverly, Boulder, Montevideo, Ghana, Seguin, and Lake Jackson. Wherever the Wind of God (no coincidence that "spirit" and "wind" are the same word...) blows me, I know I'll find what I need. Here's hoping it blows to Regions 3 or 5, but even if it doesn't...I'll have what I need.
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