Showing posts with label Important Things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Important Things. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Friday, September 17, 2010
My Epiphany
I had an epiphany the other day. I was not on the road to Damascus. Rather is was driving down New Jersey Avenue looking at the U. S. Capitol building in the morning light. And with that epiphany I changed my mind about Barack Obama.
I have been horribly impatient with him, with the pace of progress, with the oppressive burden of 30 years of idiocy and pseudo-conservatism. Like many liberals, I wanted everything done now. I wanted a dynamic president who demanded change. Now.
But I was wrong.
Bear with me while I digress.
Once upon a time -- just about half a century ago -- we elected another young president, the first Roman Catholic, to the presidency. He wasn't a liberal as he may romantically seem in retrospect, but he was a breath of fresh air. He was visibly strong in the face of miitary threats and talked about wonderful plans. In the beginning he seemed like the answer to the plodding Eisenhower years, yet he accomplished little.
Folks tend to toss that off as the result of his assassination, but I don't think that's true. I think he was destined to be a different kind of agent of change. His main job was to make a Roman Catholic president not so scary to the American people, to reassure us that the Pope wasn't in charge of Washington. (This may seem ridiculous to folks now, but it wasn't then. It was a huge issue.) And he did that. He put to rest the concerns about putting a Roman Catholic into the White House. And he created a space wherein his successor was able to accomplish some of what Mr. Kennedy spoke of.
I think that Mr. Obama is another such president.
It now seems to me that Mr. Obama's job is to show us that we needn't be afraid of an African-American president, to reassure us that there won't be watermelon growing on the White House lawn, to teach us that we don't have to cringe in fear because a black man walks down the street or hails a cab. He can't do that by being angry, by being insistent, by pushing us and rushing us and making demands. He can only do that by being the rock steady person that he appears to be, unflappable and pleasant.
Perhaps if he survives his first term he can be more dynamic in his second. Or perhaps cleaning up the mess of the past 30 years will have to wait for his successor. But I am convinced we, as a nation, need this time. We need the zealots and bigots to rage and scream while the president stays steady. And by doing just that he allows this nation with its horridly racist undertones to move just a little bit closer to a place where race doesn't matter.
I have been horribly impatient with him, with the pace of progress, with the oppressive burden of 30 years of idiocy and pseudo-conservatism. Like many liberals, I wanted everything done now. I wanted a dynamic president who demanded change. Now.
But I was wrong.
Bear with me while I digress.
Once upon a time -- just about half a century ago -- we elected another young president, the first Roman Catholic, to the presidency. He wasn't a liberal as he may romantically seem in retrospect, but he was a breath of fresh air. He was visibly strong in the face of miitary threats and talked about wonderful plans. In the beginning he seemed like the answer to the plodding Eisenhower years, yet he accomplished little.
Folks tend to toss that off as the result of his assassination, but I don't think that's true. I think he was destined to be a different kind of agent of change. His main job was to make a Roman Catholic president not so scary to the American people, to reassure us that the Pope wasn't in charge of Washington. (This may seem ridiculous to folks now, but it wasn't then. It was a huge issue.) And he did that. He put to rest the concerns about putting a Roman Catholic into the White House. And he created a space wherein his successor was able to accomplish some of what Mr. Kennedy spoke of.
I think that Mr. Obama is another such president.
It now seems to me that Mr. Obama's job is to show us that we needn't be afraid of an African-American president, to reassure us that there won't be watermelon growing on the White House lawn, to teach us that we don't have to cringe in fear because a black man walks down the street or hails a cab. He can't do that by being angry, by being insistent, by pushing us and rushing us and making demands. He can only do that by being the rock steady person that he appears to be, unflappable and pleasant.
Perhaps if he survives his first term he can be more dynamic in his second. Or perhaps cleaning up the mess of the past 30 years will have to wait for his successor. But I am convinced we, as a nation, need this time. We need the zealots and bigots to rage and scream while the president stays steady. And by doing just that he allows this nation with its horridly racist undertones to move just a little bit closer to a place where race doesn't matter.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
With Apologies To My Jesus-Believing Friends
and I'm Sorry About The Picture But You Need To Understand What I'm Talking About
Today I was driving home from a difficult day at the office, wending my way through an area which is largely devoid of power thanks to an amazing storm on Sunday. I found myself barely into Maryland in bumper-to-bumper barely moving traffic when I was faced with, standing/sitting in the easement between the sidewalk and street, a seemingly endless review of people wearing "pro-life" shirts and propping up pictures of aborted fetuses. They were seated/standing maybe every thirty feet for about a mile. We, those in vehicles, were trapped, waiting for many turnings of a traffic light ahead. You can get the flavor of the posters and their size from the example on the right which is an exact duplicate of the most frequently occurring one.
These people were not subtle. Being the excellent researcher that I am I have found them on the web and even identified this particular gathering. Here is their flyer (PDF) in case you wish to attend a showing. I am told that they have a right to demonstrate in the easement. I am told they do not need a permit to demonstrate in the easement, although I will check that with the County Executive.
They surely did tick me off. But then one got her ass off of the easement and approached my car. Her breath touched my right passenger's window. I slid the windown down -- surely she saw my beet red face and the steam coming out of my ears -- and she began to move a flyer toward me. I'm afraid I hissed that she should get her fucking bullshit Jesus crap away from my car. She didn't have a heart attack but I think she swallowed her tongue as my window closed.
These people claim that showing these images to children isn't their fault. They blackmail us. Their web site (which I won't link further to) tells me "The images themselves don't harm children, particularly when they have parents who take the time to answer their questions. in fact, we have had parents bring their children to participate in showing the images to the public! And the children do so with pride."
This is obscene by any standard I know. So my mission will be to (1) do everything I know how to do to have these materials declared legally obscene and off limits to anybody under 13 and (2) have anybody who uses their children to engage in these protests declared an unfit parent.
Sorry about the rant, but stay out of my face and you won't force me there.
Today I was driving home from a difficult day at the office, wending my way through an area which is largely devoid of power thanks to an amazing storm on Sunday. I found myself barely into Maryland in bumper-to-bumper barely moving traffic when I was faced with, standing/sitting in the easement between the sidewalk and street, a seemingly endless review of people wearing "pro-life" shirts and propping up pictures of aborted fetuses. They were seated/standing maybe every thirty feet for about a mile. We, those in vehicles, were trapped, waiting for many turnings of a traffic light ahead. You can get the flavor of the posters and their size from the example on the right which is an exact duplicate of the most frequently occurring one.
These people were not subtle. Being the excellent researcher that I am I have found them on the web and even identified this particular gathering. Here is their flyer (PDF) in case you wish to attend a showing. I am told that they have a right to demonstrate in the easement. I am told they do not need a permit to demonstrate in the easement, although I will check that with the County Executive.
They surely did tick me off. But then one got her ass off of the easement and approached my car. Her breath touched my right passenger's window. I slid the windown down -- surely she saw my beet red face and the steam coming out of my ears -- and she began to move a flyer toward me. I'm afraid I hissed that she should get her fucking bullshit Jesus crap away from my car. She didn't have a heart attack but I think she swallowed her tongue as my window closed.
These people claim that showing these images to children isn't their fault. They blackmail us. Their web site (which I won't link further to) tells me "The images themselves don't harm children, particularly when they have parents who take the time to answer their questions. in fact, we have had parents bring their children to participate in showing the images to the public! And the children do so with pride."
This is obscene by any standard I know. So my mission will be to (1) do everything I know how to do to have these materials declared legally obscene and off limits to anybody under 13 and (2) have anybody who uses their children to engage in these protests declared an unfit parent.
Sorry about the rant, but stay out of my face and you won't force me there.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Dear Blog,
I’d love to talk to you now but I’m tired and have to get ready for the State of the Union thingy tonight. You know, the perfumed bath, lotion, negligee, glass of wine, chocolate covered strawberries, and appropriate mood lighting. I sure hope Mr. Obama is worth it.
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