Sunday, April 27, 2008

The Lamb & The Lion

If it was just him alone, it would not be about race. Barack Obama is not a threatening presence. To start with, he is one half white. He did not grow up in the inner city but in, of all places, Hawaii. He spent parts of three years working with local folk in Chicago. The rest of his career has been in places like Los Angeles (Occidental College), New York (Columbia), Boston (Harvard Law), Springfield, Illinois (state senator), and in Washington D.C. (U.S. Senator). He has a picture perfect family, with an accomplished beautiful wife, and two darling daughters. Throughout this long campaign, he has rarely, if ever, raised his voice or shown deep emotion. He is well spoken, self assured, and an excellent ambassador for the legions of young voters who have flocked to his cause.

The problem is that Barack Obama is not alone. And he has known that for a long time. When it came time to announce his candidacy, Obama went to great pains to keep his long time pastor, Jeremiah Wright, from blessing the occasion. Having spent around twenty years in Wright's UCC Chicago church, Obama must have had an inkling about the danger Pastor Wright might bring to his campaign. After scoring a long list of February victories over Hillary Clinton, the video (almost definitely dreaded by Obama) of some of Wright's more passionate sermons, came to public light. Denunciations of America, spoken in a violent manner that most white Americans have never been exposed to, have caused great concern among many voters.

People are not voting for Jeremiah Wright. They are casting votes for Barack Obama. But the clips of Wright have put the race card back into the election. Obama will never speak the way Wright does. He might never even agree with most of what Wright has been quoted as saying. But, he is linked forever more with the fiery preacher. And here lies the damning questions that may cause Obama the Democratic Party nomination and/or the general fall election.

Was Obama in the pews when Wright gave these sermons?
Was Obama exposed to the messages through friends, family, church tapes, etc.?
Why didn't Obama move away from Wright before this campaign began?
Why didn't Obama and his handlers realize the negative impact that Wright would have on the voting population?
Coupled with other missteps (i.e. Michelle Obama's supposed lack of pride in the U.S., Obama's "bitter" comments), would it be fair to say that Obama does not understand the concerns of the everyman?

Obama is the Lamb. He appears to be the gentle voice of reason in the dog eat dog world of politics. True or not, Pastor Wright is the Lion of black anger and identity politics that Obama was trying to avoid. The question now is how much of the public still buys the initial view of Obama that was on stage for so many months and how many will see him through the prism of the roaring Lion?

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Hillary Beats The Spread

Eight points. The over and under spread. Spurs vs. Suns. NBA bettors special. NOT!! This was the spread for the Pennsylvania Primary. Six weeks of grueling work. The spotlight of the nation and the world upon it.

This is what our politics has come to. It is no longer enough to win an election; the question is by how much. For Hillary Clinton, deep into debt, heavily outspent by her rival, the bar indeed was set high. A victory by a point or two would not do. The impossible had to become possible.

And she did such a thing. With 98% of the votes in, Clinton could claim a ten point lead over Senator Obama. She won. She beat the so called spread. She reached the proverbial double digit victory. She hung tough. She reached deep within. She did all she could do.

And yet some continue to disparage Clinton. She was negative (see today's NY Times editorial). She was dirty. She did whatever it took to defeat her rival. But what is wrong with that. If the Democrats are to finally retake the White House they need someone who will get off his/her high horse, get dirty, and find a way to win. After the "swiftboating" of John Kerry you would think that Democrats would cheer for a candidate that will fight for them not only on potential issues but to win the presidency so that those issues can have the light of day. That some continue to bemoan the nastiness of high stakes politics is one of the reasons that Republicans continue to win the big races. To fellow Democrats, the message is grow up, get down from the ivory towers, go where the people are, roll up your sleeves, and fight with all your soul and strength for the things you truly believe in.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Little House on the Texas Prairie


Or is it the Long House? The Log Cabin? The rebirth of the Beehive House in Salt Lake City? Or if we boil it down, sexual heaven for some perverted middle age men?

I mean what is going on down in San Angelo, Texas? It is hard to pin down all the facts. Was there this anonymous sixteen year old girl who telephoned for help? Are there girls, as young as thirteen and fourteen being forced to marry and have sex with these men? Is is true that some of the sex act is watched as it is performed within the Temple?

Obviously, it will take time for the truth to come out. But to see the images across the newspaper and on TV? When was the last time that women wore clothing like that - 1880? Is there something sacred and holy about that time period?

We are blessed in this country to have freedom to pursue our concepts of God and the afterlife. But when some of these so called "religions" prey upon the unformed and trusting minds and bodies of the young, then someone has to step in. Many were upset with the way Waco played out. Many will be upset with the way the Texas authorities have pried over four hundred children from the arms of their "loving" mothers.

But what mother, in her right mind, would subject her female children to the horrors that await them once they reach puberty. And what woman, would allow herself to distill the essence of her being to a machine that pumps out babies.

A line has been crossed. No one in Texas's government wanted
this job. But it has been thrust upon the judge, a host of lawyers, and the local and state police to right a wrong and protect the innocent. Some will see this as another intrusion of a government hellbent on taking away guns, shutting down churches, and following a path of political correctness. Do not be misled. See yourself in the shoes of these young ones. Think about the future they will have faced in that Texas compound.

Our system is not perfect but it works. Religion is not religion when the people caught in it can not think for themselves. Let us applaud the tough and heartbreaking job being done by our government in the dusty Texas prairie.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

What Obama Wanted To Say

For someone who has built his campaign on rhetoric, Barack Obama has really stumbled upon his words this time. By now, everyone knows about Obama's secret speech to the "elite, liberals" in the San Francisco area. Asked why he was not polling better in places like small town Pennsylvania and Indiana, the candidate mumbled on about people being bitter and clinging to their religion, their guns, their views on homosexuality, and their fear of immigrants who were threatening their economic and moral outlook.

And just as everyone has heard or read about Obama's "bitter" remarks, the pundits have overwhelmingly weighted in against him and have all but pronounced his candidacy as dead. These are the same folks who pounced on Obama's pastor, Reverend Wright, for his public denunciations of America. Obama was declared a loser a few weeks ago and has again been declared not only a loser but an "elitist" (read flaming, far left liberal!)

We will leave the ultimate decision to the voters of the ten remaining primary states. If the vast majority vote against Obama, then perhaps his candidacy will no longer be seen as a sure thing and if he ekes out the Democratic nomination, he truly could be Dukakis incarnate, as he goes down to a seventy plus Republican candidate.

What is lost in all this pontificating, is the essential truth that Obama was trying to make. The fact is that Democrats (liberals and centrists alike) are frustrated that church going middle America continues to vote against their own economic interests by siding with one Republican after another. Obama meant to say that issues like gay marriage, abortion, and the second amendment must give way to reality. The folks who are so caught up in Republican propaganda and become single issue voters, can ill afford anymore GOP administrations. The nation is teetering on the brink of economic ruin. Democrats continue to call for living wages, much more affordable health care, an end to a costly war in the Middle East, and a way to clean up our environment so that the children of these voters will grow up strong, healthy, and mentally intact.

The sad thing is that Obama found a way to botch his presentation and perhaps showed a side of himself that was not endearing to those who have made our country strong and prosperous. If the voters cut him some slack and see the truth of his message,he still can go on to win. However, there might be many who will see this truth but also see a man who might be out of touch with the "average Joe and Jane." If these people turn to Senator McCain as an alternative, then we will be right back where we are four years from now and can only hope that a new candidate will have learned a lesson from Obama's misspoken words and clearly speak the truth so as to advance the cause of middle class Americans towards what rightfully should be their's: a life of freedom and prosperity.

Friday, April 11, 2008

The Nature of Things


There was a great episode of Seinfeld where George finds the natural order of things falling apart. He has destructive encounters with birds and then an innocent squirrel which leads to an animal hospital bill and the squirrel's need to coalesce in George's apartment. After each encounter, George wryly observes that humans and animals have a deal to stay out of each other's way. This is George's way to explain the way things work in our world.

When all is well, animals and humans have a way of staying apart and avoiding each other. When all is well, people go to work, buy things, go on vacation and basically go on with their lives without fully comprehending the nature of economics and its impact upon them. When things go off course, people begin to mumble that just maybe the mundane things of life have become more difficult and that they have been dealt a bad hand. The deal if off.

Certainly, we are heading straight into that no deal era. Gas prices climb to record levels and that extra savings money is being poured into the coffers of the oil conglomerates. With the gas pump sucking the extra dollars, many are cutting back on the perks that they have taken for granted. A weakening dollar has kept all but the rich from that long dreamed European vacation. That twice a month trip to Red Lobster and Olive Garden has become a costly affair for the average family and has turned into a once every two months outing. Unless there are more bargain matinees, families are reconsidering two hours at the local movieplex.

If the current deal was only centered on the extraneous, we could all muddle through and know that eventually things will balance out again. But this economic malaise is much deeper. Thousands and perhaps millions have or will be foreclosed from their homes. Construction workers are being laid off. Home Depot and Lowes are cutting back as the remaining homeowners are putting off planned remodeling. Just today, Linen & Things, a national middle class chain, has declared bankruptcy.

Obviously the cycle will continue to accelerate. Car buying will be put off and when new cars are purchased they will be smaller and much more economical. With money becoming precious, middle America has become more leery of Wall Street and brokerage houses and banks are teetering on the edge of ruin.

No one wants to be the voice of doom. Eventually all things balance out and we will get back with the blessed American life that we have come to expect and enjoy. But something has happened for the time being. The deal we so believe in has fallen apart: We work hard, we take care of our families, we enjoy our lives. Now fear has crept into the lives of so many. Will we make the next mortgage payment? Is it really necessary to purchase auto insurance? Can the young ones fit into the hand-me-down clothes of their older siblings? Will my salary be cut and will I be able to buy the nutritious food that my family depends upon? Tough questions for a tough time.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Victory Slips Away From Memphis


There it was. Right in their own hands. Destiny. Victory. Immortality. Nine points up. Less than two minutes left. The CBS announcing team felt it. Kudos were being handed out to Coach Caliperi and his "dream team". How quickly the dream turned into a nightmare.

Looking back upon Kansas' overtime triumph, three key plays led to Memphis' demise.

1) The non-three pointer. Derrick Rose hit a three pointer late in the game that pushed his team to a comfortable nine point lead. Play continued. A timeout was finally called. And then the refs looked to the monitors and at first upheld the three points. Then they decided to turn it into a two pointer. TV replays showed that the acrobatic Rose, started his ascent with one foot within the three point arc before landing outside it after the ball left his hands. Perhaps it was the right call. But why wasn't it made right at the moment? If there was any doubt, why didn't the officials stop the game and make their decision right then. The Tigers were feeding off the emotion of Rose's shot and in a tight game, nine points instead of eight is a big deal. That extra point that was finally awarded to the Jayhawks was like having an extra free throw from a technical. It was not deserved.

2) Memphis guard, Chris Douglas-Roberts inability to hit three key free throws down the stretch. Much had been written about Memphis' poor charity stripe shooting, but in the semi-final against UCLA, the Tigers scored big at the free throw line. With the pressure on, Douglas-Roberts missed three out of four which gave immense hope to Kansas and helped to seal Memphis' loss.

3) The final tactical mistake. With all that was happening, Memphis still had a three point lead with less than ten seconds remaining in the game. What could go wrong? Obviously, someone from Kansas could hit a three pointer and tie the game. Coach Caliperi should have realized that overtime was a danger zone that he needed to avoid at all costs as his rebounding machine center, Joey Dorsey had already fouled out of the game and would not be available in any extra period. So as Kansas guard, Mario Chalmers drove down court with the last precious seconds ticking away, there was opportunity for Memphis to grab him well before he got off any shot. With about four seconds remaining, two free throw points would only put Kansas within one, and the odds would have been incredibly in Memphis' favor. Instead, Chalmers was allowed to get his shot off. As we all witnessed, it hit nothing but net, overtime ensued, and Kansas was the improbable but well deserved champions of big time college basketball.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Loudness

Loud, louder, louder still. The voices scream across the internet wires. Ann Coulter says this. Randi Rhodes says that. Michelle Malkin shouts. Cindy Sheehan yells. An Obama activist makes accusations. A Clinton supporter responds.

Who are these folks that are driving our political conversations? How many understand the value of looking at both sides of an issue? In our 24/7 world, opinion is cheap and finding it on the internet is free.

Take Ann Coulter. She is intelligent, a lawyer, and an Ivy League grad. Yet who is there to rein her in? Does she report to an editor at CBS or a big city newspaper? No. She hawks books and gets publicity by becoming more and more outrageous in her opinions. She has to get loud to have her voice heard over the herd of others who are trying to make a buck off politicial commentary.

Michelle Malkin is a free wheeling blog writer. Her right wing comments are strange seeing that she came from the historically liberal and free thinking Oberlin College. Once again, Malkin has to come up with opinions that are so off the wall, that she will get any publicity. Perhaps her biggest claim to fame was a public rebuke by another loud but much more sophisticated journalist, MSNBC's Chris Matthews.

On the liberal side you have folks like Cindy Sheehan and Randi Rhodes. Sheehan was a household name a few years ago when she rightly dogged President Bush for the Iraq War and the death of her son in that war. But Sheehan did not know when her time on stage should end and has become a long winded blowhard for the extreme left. Rhodes, a little known radio host on little known liberal Air America, has just hit the news world with her incredibly crude comments about Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton. Want to get some minutes of notice, then be a minor celebrity like Rhodes, and call fellow Democrats/liberals "F...... Whores!"

At least in Rhodes' story, there was accountability as Air America has suspended her and might fire her from their radio crew. And that is the problem in a nutshell. Too much commentary is not thought out. The only thing many so called columnists and bloggers care about is getting publicity and the money and fame that streams from that. No one is telling Coulter and the others not to stick to their ideas and beliefs. But say it in a way that is smart and shows some regard for the opinions of others.

When all is said and done, there might be a reason that the most reliable voting bloc is the one that is least familiar with the insanity of the internet. These voting seniors still read their local newspapers and still watch the network evening news shows. There they get their news in a way that is balanced and to a much larger extent free from the anger and shrillness that the younger audience gets from the so called opinion makers of the new technology.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Hope Springs Eternal


The page is being turned on the winter. Spring has hit in most locales. The boys of summer have returned. And as every long suffering baseball fan knows, "hope springs eternal".

But on a deeper level, where is hope? We just visited the people of Tent City where there is little hope. People who have been done in by the complexities of life. Most wondering where their next meal will come from let alone worrying about whether the Dodgers, Angels, or some other team packed with millionaire players will walk off with the pennant in late September.

Nor is there much hope for those stationed in the five year long quagmire of Iraq. At least, the soldiers do get a short rotation out of the war zone and an opportunity to see loved ones state side. But what about the Iraqis who live with little water, little electrical power, and little hope to an end to a war that they did not bring upon themselves.

And what about the common Joe and Jane who increasingly see their hard earned wages eaten up at the gas pump. And what about those who barely can afford the mortgage payments on a home they purchased not fully understanding the complexities of what seemed to be easy to finance loans. And what about the parents who want to do the right thing and forgo the junk food that they know will poison their children but can't afford the basic necessities of bread, milk, and eggs.

There is a weird correlation between hard economic times and the game of baseball. When things get tough, Americans have often looked toward the sport to bring a bit of excitement and energy to their lives. There is something fundamentally clean and precious about rooting for the hometown heroes as they fight for their city on a pastoral setting within the gritty confines of an urban sprawl that is rocked with the realities of life.

In the depression era 1930's, when going to a movie or a
ball game was affordable for almost all, these easy to reach
escapes sustained an entire nation. What will happen if our economy continues in this downward spiral and those who run our theaters and stadiums continue to charge outrageous admissions for the rich actors and sportsmen who occupy them? You say, watch the games on TV. Listen on the radio. All good, but the concept is to allow people an opportunity to get out a bit and feel good about themselves. A thrilling victory, witnessed in person, can bring hope to the thousands who are in that baseball cathedral. A night spent under the powerful lights watching men in whites and grays playing on a sea of perfect green grass is an opportunity for families and friends to bond and to plant seeds of determination.

The American dream of picking oneself up off the floor and against all odds, making a worthwhile life, is the morality play of baseball. As the times continue to get hard, it would be hoped that the economic disparity between the players and the fans would be bridged just a bit so that thousands of seats can be sold on a fair price basis. Baseball has always been there; may it remember its roots.