My thoughts go out to the Indian people for these attacks upon their country, and for the people who have died so senselessly.
On this American Thanksgiving, we celebrate that which we have to be thankful for. I am thankful that I live in a country where I can expect this feast, and thankful for everything this country gives me, including freedom, a relative peace, and a relative prosperity.
But what I feel thankful for most when I hear about events like these attacks in Mumbai, is how they make me and others embrace, with all the more vigor, all the communities on this world who suffer. We're all human, we all suffer, and so we should all love each other.
This terrorism doesn't make me hate, it makes me love more intensely, and I am thankful for that. That can be attacked, but it can never be destroyed or dissuaded.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Guilt Trip Through Time & Space
"Ender in Exile" - A Book Review
This book is a direct sequel to Orson Scott Card's original "Ender" book, "Ender's Game," and follows Andrew (Ender) Wiggen in the few years (relativistically speaking) following his defeat of the hive-minded alien race called formics.
The story is basically divided into three parts: Ender's trip to the first colony world, Shakespeare, which occupies one of the defeated formic planets; his brief time as governor on the colony where he finds the Hive Queen cocoon and is inspired to write "The Hive Queen" (which is where "Ender's Game" actually ends); and then his visit to Ganges colony. Most of the book therefore takes place between the last two chapters of "Ender's Game."
Summary
After Ender destroys the formics, he has nowhere to go. On Earth, he would become a pawn in a global power struggle as the American hero who saved the world; at the same time, every other country would have a target on his head. The solution is therefore to send him off to one of the colonies that will be based on one of the now-vacant formic planets.
While most of the colonists heading for Shakespeare are put in stasis for the two-year voyage at near light speed--forty years for everyone else--Ender, his sister Valentine, a small group of colonists and the ship's crew stay awake. Ender has been designated Shakespeare's governor but the admiral captaining the ship scoffs at the idea of a teenage governor and has plans for power. During the trip, a subtle power struggle between Ender and the admiral plays out; simultaneously, Ender is the object of a love interest that becomes a pawn in the power struggle.
Ender, clever kid that he is, finds a way to subordinate the admiral and take the governorship of Shakespeare as planned. Arrival on the planet means Ender can focus on his obsession of understanding the formics and why, he thinks, they let him wipe out their entire species. Shakespeare was one of their worlds, complete with biological and technological remains. This is basically the story of how, while surveying a site for a new colony, Ender discovers elements of the fantasy game he'd played in "Ender's Game," which leads him to finding the Hive Queen cocoon left behind. Upon finding the cocoon, Ender develops a telepathic link to the life inside and is able to finally understand the Hive Queens who led the formics. This inspires him to write "The Hive Queen," a story from the formics' perspective basically vindicating them in the war with humans.
Ender must now find a time and place to let the cocoon hatch so that the formics can live once again, but he decides he must wait until far in the future to do so. Too soon, and humans would just freak out again and wipe them out. To get there, he will travel around in stasis at relativistic speeds so that time passes dramatically but he ages little. Therefore, he and Valentine leave Shakespeare on a 20-year voyage (a year for them) to Ganges colony.
On Ganges, we start to see the wide-ranging effects of his book, "The Hive Queen," and how people are turning on Ender the Xenocide and sympathizing with the formics' extinction. Here, Ender confronts a rabble-rouser heading a sort of religion based on his books. The rabble-rouser wants to kill Ender, and in some ways Ender wants to let him for the guilt he still feels over the xenocide. This leads to the final revelation that Ender appears to have needed to go on with life: He doesn't want to die for what he did; he wants to live and still has a purpose. Thus he and Valentine fly off into the stars. For Ender, twenty years will pass; for everyone else, three-thousand years will go by before the book "Speaker for the Dead" takes place.
Review
With Ender, Card has created a poignant tragic character, a tragedy that ironically stems from Ender's refusal to be defeated. During the time frame of this book, Ender learns that he killed two children who had bullied and cornered him for a fight. Ender's response is always the same, what I have come to call "Ender's Gambit": Defeat the enemy so fully in the first move that there is never a second move. The same gambit wipes out the alien formic species completely, even when it seems Ender is about the be defeated.
In the war with the formics, Ender was used and led to believe he was simply playing a game. The realization that in winning the game he has really wiped out an entire civilization is an overwhelming blow to a 12-year-old boy. For the rest of his life, Ender will be filled with guilt and seeking redemption. Part of that stems from the fact that he always takes Sun Tzu's advice to heart, quite literally and completely: He comes to know his enemy so much that he loves his enemy.
Card, in my view, does an excellent job at portraying the type of war-torn, guilt-ridden spirit of someone who fights for his country, knows he has to, but cannot reconcile the horrors of war with a strong and fundamental goodness in his heart. Ender accepts the responsibility and the need to fight but is too deeply good to survive it without mental maiming. Just a child who will carry with him through life experiences no child should ever face.
The love for Ender that may have developed in "Ender's Game" and other books carries over into this one, but I doubt readers who pick this up as a stand-alone could appreciate it. I think knowing what he's been through helps to connect fully with his psychology in this book, namely his guilt and his obsession with the formics.
This book feels like a nexus of the Ender books in some ways, since its plot, stretched over 60 years of real time (though Ender only experiences 3), is simultaneous with the entire "Shadow" series which follows the events on Earth with Bean and Ender's brother, Peter. Readers of all the books will appreciate the tie-ins, mostly through email exchanges received via ansible. (There's a sub-plot in which Ender's parents want him to write (after 46 years separated--they elderly and he still little older), but he can't get himself to do it for fear of what they think of him; when he finally does, I find it a very touching letter.) Again, those just picking this book up could be thoroughly confused by the emails that sometimes seem discordant with the plot. This makes it rather realistic, though, since over the course of this 3-year plot, 60 years of plot are racing by in normal time.
Something of Card's writing that has impressed me is his ability to dip back into "old" plots and dig out new and intriguing stories. He did this with "Ender's Shadow," going back to the same time-line as "Ender's Game" but from Bean's perspective. Amazingly, it is not a bit repetitive, the plot stands out as unique, and fans will love being able to go back again with a whole new plot. This book is similar, taking place literally between chapters of "Ender's Game." And yet, there is a complete, fascinating, and moving plot between those pages.
Of course, Card could write a book for every stop Ender makes in his next 20 (3,000) years and I'd read it because he has created characters that are easy to fall in love with and he never fails to tell a captivating story.
Bottom line, if you haven't read "Ender's Game" please do so at your earliest convenience, and if you don't love it, there is something wrong with you. Or, at the very least, you don't share my "no-one-loves-me" fear of abandonment issues that makes these books resound with me.
This book is a direct sequel to Orson Scott Card's original "Ender" book, "Ender's Game," and follows Andrew (Ender) Wiggen in the few years (relativistically speaking) following his defeat of the hive-minded alien race called formics.
The story is basically divided into three parts: Ender's trip to the first colony world, Shakespeare, which occupies one of the defeated formic planets; his brief time as governor on the colony where he finds the Hive Queen cocoon and is inspired to write "The Hive Queen" (which is where "Ender's Game" actually ends); and then his visit to Ganges colony. Most of the book therefore takes place between the last two chapters of "Ender's Game."
Summary
After Ender destroys the formics, he has nowhere to go. On Earth, he would become a pawn in a global power struggle as the American hero who saved the world; at the same time, every other country would have a target on his head. The solution is therefore to send him off to one of the colonies that will be based on one of the now-vacant formic planets.
While most of the colonists heading for Shakespeare are put in stasis for the two-year voyage at near light speed--forty years for everyone else--Ender, his sister Valentine, a small group of colonists and the ship's crew stay awake. Ender has been designated Shakespeare's governor but the admiral captaining the ship scoffs at the idea of a teenage governor and has plans for power. During the trip, a subtle power struggle between Ender and the admiral plays out; simultaneously, Ender is the object of a love interest that becomes a pawn in the power struggle.
Ender, clever kid that he is, finds a way to subordinate the admiral and take the governorship of Shakespeare as planned. Arrival on the planet means Ender can focus on his obsession of understanding the formics and why, he thinks, they let him wipe out their entire species. Shakespeare was one of their worlds, complete with biological and technological remains. This is basically the story of how, while surveying a site for a new colony, Ender discovers elements of the fantasy game he'd played in "Ender's Game," which leads him to finding the Hive Queen cocoon left behind. Upon finding the cocoon, Ender develops a telepathic link to the life inside and is able to finally understand the Hive Queens who led the formics. This inspires him to write "The Hive Queen," a story from the formics' perspective basically vindicating them in the war with humans.
Ender must now find a time and place to let the cocoon hatch so that the formics can live once again, but he decides he must wait until far in the future to do so. Too soon, and humans would just freak out again and wipe them out. To get there, he will travel around in stasis at relativistic speeds so that time passes dramatically but he ages little. Therefore, he and Valentine leave Shakespeare on a 20-year voyage (a year for them) to Ganges colony.
On Ganges, we start to see the wide-ranging effects of his book, "The Hive Queen," and how people are turning on Ender the Xenocide and sympathizing with the formics' extinction. Here, Ender confronts a rabble-rouser heading a sort of religion based on his books. The rabble-rouser wants to kill Ender, and in some ways Ender wants to let him for the guilt he still feels over the xenocide. This leads to the final revelation that Ender appears to have needed to go on with life: He doesn't want to die for what he did; he wants to live and still has a purpose. Thus he and Valentine fly off into the stars. For Ender, twenty years will pass; for everyone else, three-thousand years will go by before the book "Speaker for the Dead" takes place.
Review
With Ender, Card has created a poignant tragic character, a tragedy that ironically stems from Ender's refusal to be defeated. During the time frame of this book, Ender learns that he killed two children who had bullied and cornered him for a fight. Ender's response is always the same, what I have come to call "Ender's Gambit": Defeat the enemy so fully in the first move that there is never a second move. The same gambit wipes out the alien formic species completely, even when it seems Ender is about the be defeated.
In the war with the formics, Ender was used and led to believe he was simply playing a game. The realization that in winning the game he has really wiped out an entire civilization is an overwhelming blow to a 12-year-old boy. For the rest of his life, Ender will be filled with guilt and seeking redemption. Part of that stems from the fact that he always takes Sun Tzu's advice to heart, quite literally and completely: He comes to know his enemy so much that he loves his enemy.
Card, in my view, does an excellent job at portraying the type of war-torn, guilt-ridden spirit of someone who fights for his country, knows he has to, but cannot reconcile the horrors of war with a strong and fundamental goodness in his heart. Ender accepts the responsibility and the need to fight but is too deeply good to survive it without mental maiming. Just a child who will carry with him through life experiences no child should ever face.
The love for Ender that may have developed in "Ender's Game" and other books carries over into this one, but I doubt readers who pick this up as a stand-alone could appreciate it. I think knowing what he's been through helps to connect fully with his psychology in this book, namely his guilt and his obsession with the formics.
This book feels like a nexus of the Ender books in some ways, since its plot, stretched over 60 years of real time (though Ender only experiences 3), is simultaneous with the entire "Shadow" series which follows the events on Earth with Bean and Ender's brother, Peter. Readers of all the books will appreciate the tie-ins, mostly through email exchanges received via ansible. (There's a sub-plot in which Ender's parents want him to write (after 46 years separated--they elderly and he still little older), but he can't get himself to do it for fear of what they think of him; when he finally does, I find it a very touching letter.) Again, those just picking this book up could be thoroughly confused by the emails that sometimes seem discordant with the plot. This makes it rather realistic, though, since over the course of this 3-year plot, 60 years of plot are racing by in normal time.
Something of Card's writing that has impressed me is his ability to dip back into "old" plots and dig out new and intriguing stories. He did this with "Ender's Shadow," going back to the same time-line as "Ender's Game" but from Bean's perspective. Amazingly, it is not a bit repetitive, the plot stands out as unique, and fans will love being able to go back again with a whole new plot. This book is similar, taking place literally between chapters of "Ender's Game." And yet, there is a complete, fascinating, and moving plot between those pages.
Of course, Card could write a book for every stop Ender makes in his next 20 (3,000) years and I'd read it because he has created characters that are easy to fall in love with and he never fails to tell a captivating story.
Bottom line, if you haven't read "Ender's Game" please do so at your earliest convenience, and if you don't love it, there is something wrong with you. Or, at the very least, you don't share my "no-one-loves-me" fear of abandonment issues that makes these books resound with me.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
No to Auto-Maker Bailout
I take the stance that General Motors should be allowed to fail and declare bankruptcy. I am against giving the auto makers my money for a failed business plan.
Bankruptcy would allow GM to either sell or close a variety of unpopular product lines, reorganize the company, and dump ridiculous union payment contracts. Then they can come back (as themselves or in other incarnations) smarter, more focused, making products that match the times and that people actually want to buy.
I believe GM needs to fail, so that we can rejuvenate that industry from its ashes.
What I am 100% against is simply throwing money at them so that they can continue with their business as usual. If there are no changes, they'll just burn through that money and fail a little later. No, if they get anything from the government, I would insist that they deliver a new business plan that re-evaluates their product lines, their leadership and planning, their finances, and also that secures from them a firm and fiercely aggressive investment in the development and production of fuel-efficient/alternative fuel/green technology. Only then would we offer the loan (which they would be expected to pay back).
If you're going to take my money, you better have something to show for it, you better give me back something in return, and you better use it not only to improve yourself, but to improve the country we live in.
I'm sick of just throwing up money without a plan or any expectations.
Bankruptcy would allow GM to either sell or close a variety of unpopular product lines, reorganize the company, and dump ridiculous union payment contracts. Then they can come back (as themselves or in other incarnations) smarter, more focused, making products that match the times and that people actually want to buy.
I believe GM needs to fail, so that we can rejuvenate that industry from its ashes.
What I am 100% against is simply throwing money at them so that they can continue with their business as usual. If there are no changes, they'll just burn through that money and fail a little later. No, if they get anything from the government, I would insist that they deliver a new business plan that re-evaluates their product lines, their leadership and planning, their finances, and also that secures from them a firm and fiercely aggressive investment in the development and production of fuel-efficient/alternative fuel/green technology. Only then would we offer the loan (which they would be expected to pay back).
If you're going to take my money, you better have something to show for it, you better give me back something in return, and you better use it not only to improve yourself, but to improve the country we live in.
I'm sick of just throwing up money without a plan or any expectations.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Proposition Hate
California's Proposition 8 is anti-American, and everyone who voted for it acted un-American in doing so. A bold statement, but plainly true.
I can back it up easily by citing the constitution, where it says all men are created equal, where it says everyone is granted inalienable rights--they are not capable of being repudiated. Among those, the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Denying these things is at its most fundamental anti-American.
Throughout our country's history, the Constitution has moved in one direction: Granting more and more people the rights that everyone else has, as the people of this country have come to realize that these people are, in fact, equal to everyone else.
Gay people are equal to everyone else, and they are citizens of this country. Even if you don't realize that, or don't appreciate that fact, they have inalienable rights and no one in this country has the right or the power to remove them. God himself has granted these rights, and what God has wrought no vote can cast asunder.
My God, people, is Love, and if you vote against him you vote for Hate. If that's what your religion or your church beckons you to do, who does your church worship?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) encouraged its members to donate to Proposition 8 and vote in favor. In response to the passage of Proposition 8, gay people and their supporters around the country have taken to the streets to protest. In response, the LDS released this statement:
I have one response:
"Fuck You."
Where was your spirit of mutual respect and civility toward each other? I guess it only applies to the people you approve of, the ignorant people like yourselves.
Gay people will win this fight. The history of our country and its minorities, its downtrodden and marginalized, reveals another trend:
In the end, the protesters always win.
I can back it up easily by citing the constitution, where it says all men are created equal, where it says everyone is granted inalienable rights--they are not capable of being repudiated. Among those, the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Denying these things is at its most fundamental anti-American.
Throughout our country's history, the Constitution has moved in one direction: Granting more and more people the rights that everyone else has, as the people of this country have come to realize that these people are, in fact, equal to everyone else.
Gay people are equal to everyone else, and they are citizens of this country. Even if you don't realize that, or don't appreciate that fact, they have inalienable rights and no one in this country has the right or the power to remove them. God himself has granted these rights, and what God has wrought no vote can cast asunder.
My God, people, is Love, and if you vote against him you vote for Hate. If that's what your religion or your church beckons you to do, who does your church worship?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) encouraged its members to donate to Proposition 8 and vote in favor. In response to the passage of Proposition 8, gay people and their supporters around the country have taken to the streets to protest. In response, the LDS released this statement:
"Attacks on churches and intimidation of people of faith have no place in civil discourse over controversial issues. People of faith have a democratic right to express their views in the public square without fear of reprisal. ... We call upon those who have honest disagreements on this issue to urge restraint upon the extreme actions of a few that are further polarizing our communities and urge them to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward each other."
I have one response:
"Fuck You."
Where was your spirit of mutual respect and civility toward each other? I guess it only applies to the people you approve of, the ignorant people like yourselves.
Gay people will win this fight. The history of our country and its minorities, its downtrodden and marginalized, reveals another trend:
In the end, the protesters always win.
Friday, November 7, 2008
The Future of the Republican Party
Some thoughts.
It took forty years for Republicans to break the Democrat's majority. It took only fourteen for Democrats to completely retake the government. Clearly, the Republican Revolution was an illusion. 2008 was further, strong defeat of the Republicans and now, to survive, I believe they must rethink their philosophy, their policy, their playbook, and indeed, who they play with.
Philosophy & policy: Being the party for the rich doesn't seem to work. Focusing on the top 1% alienates the middle & working class. Perhaps they could consider an economic philosophy that favors helping everyone hold on to their money, keep the government lean, and not disproportionately favor such a tiny demographic.
I think the core philosophies of keeping what you earn, keeping government small, and being fiscally conservative are appealing to a wide demographic. They appeal to me--I am very fiscally conservative myself; however, I do believe in contributing my share to the betterment of everyone, which I believe the government has a responsibility to ensure.
When it comes to social conservatism, I thought it meant keeping government out of people's lives as much as possible, or to the extent that people desire; laissez-faire. Again, I would agree in many ways, and this also helps to keep government smaller. The Republican notion of social conservatism has been perverted, though, and I'll discuss that later.
Playbook: The 2008 election was a massive defeat of Republican strategy. Rovian politics is something this country should look back at and be ashamed of. Fear and deception are best suited to Machiavelli; Hope and integrity, I feel, best suited to America. It's easy to smear, debase, and attack one's character, but ad hominem arguments are considered a fallacy. They ignore the substance of an opponent's argument in favor of cheap-shots at the opponent's character--a weak and evasive tactic, the antithesis to straight-talk. This time we saw the truth of that, in how McCain used Bill Ayers, a man of limited acquaintance to Obama, to suggest Obama is in line with terrorists. Nothing stuck this time, and if you know what McCain's past holds, then you know just how much restraint Obama showed. Obama won with hope and integrity, and McCain's vitriolic campaign turned voters against him.
Who they play with: Namely, those who adhere to extremist religion. I don't call their beliefs social conservatism, I call them social intolerance. Evangelicals and other zealots have an antipathy for anyone who is different than them, who does not believe exactly as they do or do exactly as they do, and they aim to force everyone to be, think, and act like them. This, I suggest, is anti-American. America is proud to be the melting pot; a salad. This is a land of assimilation and sub-cultures; many peoples merging as one, many communities living together. It is in many ways the differences that make this America.
Republicans need to dump the zealots, quite simply. They may be a large voting block, but they are not enough to win the presidency alone, and catering to them too specifically or too enthusiastically alienates the broader electorate. I think we saw this in 2008, as well. It is possible to be socially conservative and have an appeal to the more religious among us while still appealing to the more moderate and liberal Republicans, and even to some conservative Democrats. It's just a matter of balancing the ship a bit and keeping the cargo from collecting exclusively on the extreme right side.
The zealots need to dump the Republicans, quite simply. Evangelicals talk about being afraid the Republicans will ditch them as I suggest above. The problem is, I do not think traditional Republicanism and Christian extremism are completely compatible. If the zealots are so powerful, why don't they form their own political party? I'll call it the Christianist Party. They could put all their fiscal and social policies under that umbrella and run their own presidential candidate. They would instantly split the vote three ways with a voting block immediately large enough to have a good shot. 25% is not enough in a two party system but only about 10% away from what would be needed to win in a three-way split.
Sarah Palin
Is Sarah Palin "the future of the party"? If anyone thinks that, then they have no clue why the Republican Party lost, or that they even lost. Palin exemplifies what the Republicans need to excise--not only is she Bush in a skirt, but she's a solid representative of the social intolerance movement. She was also one of the factors that helped bring down the McCain campaign.
Mark my words, unless she involves herself in more scandal up there and out of sight in Alaska, she will run for president in 2012. She won't win, she won't even get the nomination, but she is conceited enough to run.
That Dr. Phil Moment
Right now, the Republican Party doesn't even have a clear leader. Their revolution has utterly failed. The question I'll be interested to see answered in time is if they cling to the same old ways, or if they come together, see the error of their ways, and aim for a new, perhaps friendlier, revolution. If not, then I suggest, "You must be an idiot!"
It took forty years for Republicans to break the Democrat's majority. It took only fourteen for Democrats to completely retake the government. Clearly, the Republican Revolution was an illusion. 2008 was further, strong defeat of the Republicans and now, to survive, I believe they must rethink their philosophy, their policy, their playbook, and indeed, who they play with.
Philosophy & policy: Being the party for the rich doesn't seem to work. Focusing on the top 1% alienates the middle & working class. Perhaps they could consider an economic philosophy that favors helping everyone hold on to their money, keep the government lean, and not disproportionately favor such a tiny demographic.
I think the core philosophies of keeping what you earn, keeping government small, and being fiscally conservative are appealing to a wide demographic. They appeal to me--I am very fiscally conservative myself; however, I do believe in contributing my share to the betterment of everyone, which I believe the government has a responsibility to ensure.
When it comes to social conservatism, I thought it meant keeping government out of people's lives as much as possible, or to the extent that people desire; laissez-faire. Again, I would agree in many ways, and this also helps to keep government smaller. The Republican notion of social conservatism has been perverted, though, and I'll discuss that later.
Playbook: The 2008 election was a massive defeat of Republican strategy. Rovian politics is something this country should look back at and be ashamed of. Fear and deception are best suited to Machiavelli; Hope and integrity, I feel, best suited to America. It's easy to smear, debase, and attack one's character, but ad hominem arguments are considered a fallacy. They ignore the substance of an opponent's argument in favor of cheap-shots at the opponent's character--a weak and evasive tactic, the antithesis to straight-talk. This time we saw the truth of that, in how McCain used Bill Ayers, a man of limited acquaintance to Obama, to suggest Obama is in line with terrorists. Nothing stuck this time, and if you know what McCain's past holds, then you know just how much restraint Obama showed. Obama won with hope and integrity, and McCain's vitriolic campaign turned voters against him.
Who they play with: Namely, those who adhere to extremist religion. I don't call their beliefs social conservatism, I call them social intolerance. Evangelicals and other zealots have an antipathy for anyone who is different than them, who does not believe exactly as they do or do exactly as they do, and they aim to force everyone to be, think, and act like them. This, I suggest, is anti-American. America is proud to be the melting pot; a salad. This is a land of assimilation and sub-cultures; many peoples merging as one, many communities living together. It is in many ways the differences that make this America.
Republicans need to dump the zealots, quite simply. They may be a large voting block, but they are not enough to win the presidency alone, and catering to them too specifically or too enthusiastically alienates the broader electorate. I think we saw this in 2008, as well. It is possible to be socially conservative and have an appeal to the more religious among us while still appealing to the more moderate and liberal Republicans, and even to some conservative Democrats. It's just a matter of balancing the ship a bit and keeping the cargo from collecting exclusively on the extreme right side.
The zealots need to dump the Republicans, quite simply. Evangelicals talk about being afraid the Republicans will ditch them as I suggest above. The problem is, I do not think traditional Republicanism and Christian extremism are completely compatible. If the zealots are so powerful, why don't they form their own political party? I'll call it the Christianist Party. They could put all their fiscal and social policies under that umbrella and run their own presidential candidate. They would instantly split the vote three ways with a voting block immediately large enough to have a good shot. 25% is not enough in a two party system but only about 10% away from what would be needed to win in a three-way split.
Sarah Palin
Is Sarah Palin "the future of the party"? If anyone thinks that, then they have no clue why the Republican Party lost, or that they even lost. Palin exemplifies what the Republicans need to excise--not only is she Bush in a skirt, but she's a solid representative of the social intolerance movement. She was also one of the factors that helped bring down the McCain campaign.
Mark my words, unless she involves herself in more scandal up there and out of sight in Alaska, she will run for president in 2012. She won't win, she won't even get the nomination, but she is conceited enough to run.
That Dr. Phil Moment
Right now, the Republican Party doesn't even have a clear leader. Their revolution has utterly failed. The question I'll be interested to see answered in time is if they cling to the same old ways, or if they come together, see the error of their ways, and aim for a new, perhaps friendlier, revolution. If not, then I suggest, "You must be an idiot!"
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Barack Obama Is Our President
And I just want to list all the reasons why I am excited:
Barack Obama is our President, and I am excited to be an American.
- Obama didn't just win, he ran away with it, with 364 Electoral votes and 53% of the popular vote. There's no doubt the country wanted Obama.
- Obama ran a near flawless campaign and throughout was presidential in his bearing--thoughtful, steady, in-control, with integrity; I am excited to think his Presidential administration could be run the same way.
- My country has elected its first African American President, which will be one of the country's defining historical moments, and I had the chance to help it happen.
- We will finally have an intelligent President.
- I have a President that for the first time inspires me.
- I love Michelle Obama and she is going to be our First Lady, and I think she's going to get stuff done as well. She will be a positive role model of a successful black woman helping to raise a strong family.
- We're going to see a Black family in the White House, and they are "just like us."
- Learning who President Obama will select for his administration. Seriously, this stuff is exciting to me.
- What dog will they pick to be First Pet? Ok, I'm just kidding on that one (but I hope it's a beagle!).
- Joe Biden, a man who actually knows that Spain is an ally and that Africa is a continent, will be our Vice President.
- Congress now has a stronger Democratic majority. Will this always be for the better? I don't know. But I feel safer knowing it's not the reverse.
- Should the opportunity arise, President Obama will select liberal justices for the Supreme Court, and Congress will confirm them with pleasure.
- The world will actually like us again, and President Obama will renew our respect and our reputation around the world.
- Obama is already a worldly man; he has connections to Kenya and Indonesia, and this mere fact seems to make their people warmer to our country.
- With Obama as President, African American parents can say to their little boys and girls while pointing to their President, "See, you can become anything you want." There's no excuse against greatness anymore, no reason not to dream, no dream that can't be made true.
- Many other things I am yet to think of or to see...
Barack Obama is our President, and I am excited to be an American.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day
The day has finally come.
It was a little warmer than yesterday when I got up today; it felt like a proper fall day, with its crisp chill and kaleidoscopic carpet of dry, crackly leaves. Many trees are almost bare, yet some cling to their fading vibrance. The day begins a basket waiting to be filled with its events, and I see inside it my own anticipation. I'm breathing in hope, exhaling expectation. The day might not know it yet, it never does, but the world is going to change. The sentience of the world alone knows it and feels it in the air.
On the way to work, I took a corner on the street and there, centered in my view as if aimed just for me, the sun's disk, magnified by perspective, was rising over the trees and fighting through a gossamer fog. At this time of day there is the ephemeral potential for a moment of magic, during which lighting, atmosphere, and scenery conspire to steal you into fantasy. These moments feel like they're just for you and your companions, they strike you with awe, and they demand inspiration.
Yesterday on the news, someone said, "There is a majesty to this day," and it took the thought right out of my head. There is a majesty to the knowledge that millions of people across a land, granted the purpose by a uniting contract, go out this day to decide a country's future. Each one free, each with care for their country, each a noble agent of change. There is something profound about the idea that no matter the course of the country, we've no one to blame but ourselves for its failures, and no further to look than ourselves for its redemption.
The sun's glory this morning helped to realize the majesty of this day, itself a symbol of revival. I know in which direction I believe redemption lies, and I hope this day's sun is rising up to deliver it, rising up to a new and brighter future, rising up in optimism and in hope, rising up to burn off the fog's uncertainty.
Tonight, the sun long set, we will know at last how that sun will rise tomorrow, and what new world we will awaken to.
Be profound. Vote. It is we, the people, who are invested with the power to bless our own nation.
It was a little warmer than yesterday when I got up today; it felt like a proper fall day, with its crisp chill and kaleidoscopic carpet of dry, crackly leaves. Many trees are almost bare, yet some cling to their fading vibrance. The day begins a basket waiting to be filled with its events, and I see inside it my own anticipation. I'm breathing in hope, exhaling expectation. The day might not know it yet, it never does, but the world is going to change. The sentience of the world alone knows it and feels it in the air.
On the way to work, I took a corner on the street and there, centered in my view as if aimed just for me, the sun's disk, magnified by perspective, was rising over the trees and fighting through a gossamer fog. At this time of day there is the ephemeral potential for a moment of magic, during which lighting, atmosphere, and scenery conspire to steal you into fantasy. These moments feel like they're just for you and your companions, they strike you with awe, and they demand inspiration.
Yesterday on the news, someone said, "There is a majesty to this day," and it took the thought right out of my head. There is a majesty to the knowledge that millions of people across a land, granted the purpose by a uniting contract, go out this day to decide a country's future. Each one free, each with care for their country, each a noble agent of change. There is something profound about the idea that no matter the course of the country, we've no one to blame but ourselves for its failures, and no further to look than ourselves for its redemption.
The sun's glory this morning helped to realize the majesty of this day, itself a symbol of revival. I know in which direction I believe redemption lies, and I hope this day's sun is rising up to deliver it, rising up to a new and brighter future, rising up in optimism and in hope, rising up to burn off the fog's uncertainty.
Tonight, the sun long set, we will know at last how that sun will rise tomorrow, and what new world we will awaken to.
Be profound. Vote. It is we, the people, who are invested with the power to bless our own nation.
Monday, November 3, 2008
A Few Articles to Read Before Entering the Booth
This is an excellent article, from the Huffington Post:
Who Would Be a Better President? I Say, Who Ran a Better Campaign?
Ditto on all of that!
Another great and revealing article, linked in the above, from Rolling Stone, about John McCain:
Make-Believe Maverick
Simply scary. Every American should read this.
Who Would Be a Better President? I Say, Who Ran a Better Campaign?
Ditto on all of that!
Another great and revealing article, linked in the above, from Rolling Stone, about John McCain:
Make-Believe Maverick
Simply scary. Every American should read this.
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