Lazy Politicians

You'd think it was a freshman literature class. One of those gen-ed courses that everyone has to take. Where neither the students nor the professor are really excited about being there, so everyone half-asses it. Where you can read maybe half of the Cliff's Notes and still get a B.

It's not.

When will these people realize that they are running a country? A fairly large and powerful country, at that. When I skipped the reading in a literature class, there were two key facts - I was prioritizing the work for other classes and projects, and I accepted the consequences for not doing the reading. These politicians who voted to go to war without doing their homework were doing neither. Aside from leading the country, all they have to do is campaign for the next election. And now that their votes have unpopular consequences, they're by-and-large trying to say they shouldn't be held responsible. When will we, the voters, start holding our "leaders" responsible for their voting and legislative record, instead of their name-recognition and rhetorical abilities?

Because that's the real catch - if our politicians are being lazy students, WE are being even lazier grading them.

We need to start voting based on the records of our senators and congressmen. Only rookie politicians who have no record should be able to make promises - for everyone else, the voting record shows what they will do.

What if we refused to vote for any politician who voted yes and then reneged on their Iraq War vote? Yes, you made a mistake, but mistakes have consequences. Or, if you feel strongly about it, deny your vote to any candidate who you disagree with on your biggest issues. The Iraq War. Global Warming. Immigration. Oil consumption. Zoning laws forcing us to be an automative and gasoline based society. Spending millions of dollars to build sports stadiums. Closing public schools and pools.

Why would you vote for a politician whose votes you will disagree with?

floating...

The Coulter Files

So I just discovered someone named Ann Coulter.

Preface: I don't know much about her, or who she is. I just skimmed her website, saw she has a whole lot of books, and read two of her columns.

Wow.
She practically convinced me to vote for Senator Obama with a column in which she tried to make fun of him. I say tried, because while trying to make the presidential candidate sound foolish, she just made herself (and by extension, all the right-wingers she claims to represent) sound stupid. Pitifully so. She even made a point of referring to him as "B. Hussein Obama", as though his name has anything to do with his qualifications as a candidate.

This is why people are afraid of the right wing. Because people like her and Pat Robertson are its most vocal members, and they don't have any common sense between them. I started to say they don't have any rhetorical ability, either, but I realized I'm not familiar enough with Mr. Robertson to say that.

When people let their personal or party positions dictate their responses, instead of thinking through things rationally and actually evaluating the merits of the candidate, argument, or evidence in front of them, they remove themselves from the discussion. Because no one who does do that thinking will take the time to listen to them.



Incidentally, I think it's strange that Sen. Obama's "inexperience" is being focused on so much. Whether he is or is not experienced, shouldn't his positions, plans, and ideas be more important? I seem to recall another Illinoisan politician with little or no experience in national-level politics who did a pretty good job at being president.

One Word

"If you could describe 2006 in one word, what word would you use? I'm not talking about anything but your own personal experience in 2006. Not what happened politically, globally, environmentally, not what happened in entertainment or anything like that. I'm just curious as to what all of you have to say about 2006 in only one word (if you read this, you're on the honor system to answer the question!)." -xxemberxx


For me, that word is Fire.

-Fire consumes. Last January, I jumped headfirst into my job at the theatre, putting in about 100 hours (on top of being a student and living in Hodson) in the first three or four weeks. Theatre consumed my life.
-Fire sheds light. Sometimes, there are things you think you want. When you see them, or yourself, in a different light, though, you realize you don't want it, or that you want something else. Last spring, I got some new perspective on what I wanted - in life, in love, in work, etc. There's still a lot I don't know, but light was shed.
-Fire is playful. Last summer, I stayed on campus and worked at IWU. It was really fun, getting to know some people I didn't know at all, and getting to know some friends a lot better. We ran, biked, swam, played basketball, volletyball, climbed, lifted, went to shows, and just generally spent time in community. It was a blast. I wish post-grad life could be like that-living with your friends, low stress, and playful.
-Fire burns bridges. Every year, there's always some friends you drift away from. But last fall I made a mistake that really hurt a friendship. I apologized, and for a while I thought things were getting better. I was wrong. I'm still sorry, and I know I screwed up, but I've decided not to let that dominate my life anymore. If my friend ever decides he wants me back, that door's open for him, but I can't change the past and I can't change him.
-Fire dances. The past couple months, on the whole, have been great. Getting to know Grace better and exploring that, graduating, getting a better idea of what my options in life are and exploring that, meeting lots of great underclassmen through Antigone, doing the 12 Days with Dave . . . . lots of great memories that brighten the heart.
-Fire needs to be controlled. God's been shaping me. I haven't always sought Him like I should, but looking back I can see how He used certain events this year. There were lots of times I misstepped, misspoke, and generally messed up. There were also times I got it right (I think). I'd like to thank everyone in my life who has encouraged me when I'm going in the right direction, and helped me see when I'm going wrong. I'd also like to thank you for tolerating my idiocy, and helping me through and towards God.


-Fire lights the way. 2007 is a new year. It won't be the same year, at all. I don't know what's going to happen - the light only spills so far. It's going to be a challenge, it's going to be an adventure. I'm going to do my best. That's all I can do. Will you be a part of my adventure?

The Crux

This morning I went the church at The Crux. (For those of you who don't know, I've been wanted to get out and visit some other churches.)
It was great. There are moments and events, some people call them "divine meetings," some people call them "happy accidents," some people call them "serendipity" or "fate." I think God has a hand in them; but whatever you want to call them this morning was one of them.
I've been a little down recently, with some of the things that've happened in the past few months and what I guess boils down to a post-graduation directionlessness. Pastor Daron talked about looking for what God is doing new, about being excited to have 2007 be a different sort of year, not the same old sad year.
- i'm not communicating this very well -

I guess the main reason I'm writing this right now is because there's a few quotes I wanted to be sure I remembered.

"The memories you dwell on will determine your attitude and how you see the future."

"Look for progress, not perfection."

"The pain of discipline vs. the pain of regret"



As a climber, I like the name The Crux, too. It has some cool theological meanings, it's a cool world, but to a climber, the crux is the most difficult part of the climb. It's also the key - if you keep attacking the crux, and push through, you improve yourself as a climbing and you'll be ready for a new challenge. The crux you are past will still challenge you when you come back to it, but once it's behind you it makes you stronger.
I think it's related to the word crucible, another great "good pain" word.

Political Priorities

"There's a vast gulf between the message of Jesus and the political agenda of the conservative movement in America. Young evangelicals need to look at the message of Jesus ad count the number of New Testament references to homosexuality and abortion and compare those passages to Jesus' teachings about caring for the poor. I believe that if we dealt with poverty in this country, we might actually dramatically reduce the abortion rate."
-former Congressman Jim Slattery

The floor is now open for debate.

Letter from a Marine

This letter needs no comment. It deserves your respect.