Tuesday, March 25, 2008
An Endorsement I Really Love
I love Bill Richardson. He was the man I first supported for president this year (well, last year...but you get it). I was very happy when he came out last week in support of Barack Obama. I really do think it is important for him to show the solidarity that I felt both of their races for the White House represented.
Both men are intelligent, caring and honest about their beliefs and what they saw as the opportunities and challenges before us. It is completely consistent for them to work together, maybe as running mates later on this year.
But thanks to a member of the East Cobb for Obama group, I was clued into an endorsement for Obama that was truely astounding and important, at least to me. It was unexpected, yet the reasoning of this person is superb.
I present the following, from salon.com:
Endorsing Obama
Today I endorse Barack Obama for president of the United States. I believe him to be a person of integrity, intelligence, and genuine good will. I take him at his word that he wants to move the nation beyond its religious and racial divides and that he wants to return the United States to that company of nations committed to human rights. I do not know if his earlier life experience is sufficient for the challenges of the presidency that lie ahead. I doubt we know this about any of the men or women we might select. It likely depends upon the serendipity of the events that cannot be foreseen. I do have confidence that the senator will cast his net widely in search of men and women of diverse, open-minded views and of superior intellectual qualities to assist him in the wide range of responsibilities that he must superintend.
This endorsement may be of little note or consequence, except perhaps that it comes from an unlikely source: namely, a former constitutional legal counsel to two Republican presidents. The endorsement will likely supply no strategic advantage equivalent to that represented by the very helpful accolades the senator has received from many of high stature and accomplishment, including most recently, from Gov. Bill Richardson. Nevertheless, it is important to be said publicly in a public forum in order that it be understood. It is not arrived at without careful thought and some difficulty.
As a Republican, I strongly wish to preserve traditional marriage not as a suspicion or denigration of my homosexual friends but as recognition of the significance of the procreative family as a building block of society. As a Republican and as a Catholic, I believe life begins at conception, and it is important for every life to be given sustenance and encouragement. As a Republican, I strongly believe that the Supreme Court of the United States must be fully dedicated to the rule of law and to the employ of a consistent method of interpretation that keeps the court within its limited judicial role. As a Republican, I believe problems are best resolved closest to their source and that we should never arrogate to a higher level of government that which can be more effectively and efficiently resolved below. As a Republican and a constitutional lawyer, I believe religious freedom does not mean religious separation or mindless exclusion from the public square.
In various ways, Sen. Barack Obama and I may disagree on aspects of these important fundamentals, but I am convinced, based upon his public pronouncements and his personal writing, that on each of these questions he is not closed to understanding opposing points of view and, as best as it is humanly possible, he will respect and accommodate them.
No doubt some of my friends will see this as a matter of party or intellectual treachery. I regret that, and I respect their disagreement. But they will readily agree that as Republicans, we are first Americans. As Americans, we must voice our concerns for the well-being of our nation without partisanship when decisions that have been made endanger the body politic. Our president has involved our nation in a military engagement without sufficient justification or a clear objective. In so doing, he has incurred both tragic loss of life and extraordinary debt jeopardizing the economy and the well-being of the average American citizen. In pursuit of these fatally flawed purposes, the office of the presidency, which it was once my privilege to defend in public office formally, has been distorted beyond its constitutional assignment. Today, I do no more than raise the defense of that important office anew, but as private citizen.
Sept. 11 and the radical Islamic ideology that it represents is a continuing threat to our safety, and the next president must have the honesty to recognize that it, as author Paul Berman has written, "draws on totalitarian inspirations from 20th-century Europe and with its double roots, religious and modern, perversely intertwined. ... wields a lot more power, intellectually speaking, then naïve observers might suppose." Sen. Obama needs to address this extremist movement with the same clarity and honesty with which he has addressed the topic of race in America. Effective criticism of the incumbent for diverting us from this task is a good start, but it is incomplete without a forthright outline of a commitment to undertake, with international partners, the formation of a worldwide entity that will track, detain, prosecute, convict, punish, and thereby stem radical Islam's threat to civil order. I await Sen. Obama's more extended thinking upon this vital subject as he accepts the nomination of his party and engages Sen. McCain in the general campaign discussion to come.
About Doug Kmiec
Douglas W. Kmiec is Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law, Pepperdine University. He served as head of the Office of Legal Counsel (U.S. Assistant Attorney General) for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Former Dean of the law school at The Catholic University of America, Professor Kmiec was a member of the law faculty for nearly two decades at the University of Notre Dame.
Both men are intelligent, caring and honest about their beliefs and what they saw as the opportunities and challenges before us. It is completely consistent for them to work together, maybe as running mates later on this year.
But thanks to a member of the East Cobb for Obama group, I was clued into an endorsement for Obama that was truely astounding and important, at least to me. It was unexpected, yet the reasoning of this person is superb.
I present the following, from salon.com:
Endorsing Obama
Today I endorse Barack Obama for president of the United States. I believe him to be a person of integrity, intelligence, and genuine good will. I take him at his word that he wants to move the nation beyond its religious and racial divides and that he wants to return the United States to that company of nations committed to human rights. I do not know if his earlier life experience is sufficient for the challenges of the presidency that lie ahead. I doubt we know this about any of the men or women we might select. It likely depends upon the serendipity of the events that cannot be foreseen. I do have confidence that the senator will cast his net widely in search of men and women of diverse, open-minded views and of superior intellectual qualities to assist him in the wide range of responsibilities that he must superintend.
This endorsement may be of little note or consequence, except perhaps that it comes from an unlikely source: namely, a former constitutional legal counsel to two Republican presidents. The endorsement will likely supply no strategic advantage equivalent to that represented by the very helpful accolades the senator has received from many of high stature and accomplishment, including most recently, from Gov. Bill Richardson. Nevertheless, it is important to be said publicly in a public forum in order that it be understood. It is not arrived at without careful thought and some difficulty.
As a Republican, I strongly wish to preserve traditional marriage not as a suspicion or denigration of my homosexual friends but as recognition of the significance of the procreative family as a building block of society. As a Republican and as a Catholic, I believe life begins at conception, and it is important for every life to be given sustenance and encouragement. As a Republican, I strongly believe that the Supreme Court of the United States must be fully dedicated to the rule of law and to the employ of a consistent method of interpretation that keeps the court within its limited judicial role. As a Republican, I believe problems are best resolved closest to their source and that we should never arrogate to a higher level of government that which can be more effectively and efficiently resolved below. As a Republican and a constitutional lawyer, I believe religious freedom does not mean religious separation or mindless exclusion from the public square.
In various ways, Sen. Barack Obama and I may disagree on aspects of these important fundamentals, but I am convinced, based upon his public pronouncements and his personal writing, that on each of these questions he is not closed to understanding opposing points of view and, as best as it is humanly possible, he will respect and accommodate them.
No doubt some of my friends will see this as a matter of party or intellectual treachery. I regret that, and I respect their disagreement. But they will readily agree that as Republicans, we are first Americans. As Americans, we must voice our concerns for the well-being of our nation without partisanship when decisions that have been made endanger the body politic. Our president has involved our nation in a military engagement without sufficient justification or a clear objective. In so doing, he has incurred both tragic loss of life and extraordinary debt jeopardizing the economy and the well-being of the average American citizen. In pursuit of these fatally flawed purposes, the office of the presidency, which it was once my privilege to defend in public office formally, has been distorted beyond its constitutional assignment. Today, I do no more than raise the defense of that important office anew, but as private citizen.
Sept. 11 and the radical Islamic ideology that it represents is a continuing threat to our safety, and the next president must have the honesty to recognize that it, as author Paul Berman has written, "draws on totalitarian inspirations from 20th-century Europe and with its double roots, religious and modern, perversely intertwined. ... wields a lot more power, intellectually speaking, then naïve observers might suppose." Sen. Obama needs to address this extremist movement with the same clarity and honesty with which he has addressed the topic of race in America. Effective criticism of the incumbent for diverting us from this task is a good start, but it is incomplete without a forthright outline of a commitment to undertake, with international partners, the formation of a worldwide entity that will track, detain, prosecute, convict, punish, and thereby stem radical Islam's threat to civil order. I await Sen. Obama's more extended thinking upon this vital subject as he accepts the nomination of his party and engages Sen. McCain in the general campaign discussion to come.
About Doug Kmiec
Douglas W. Kmiec is Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law, Pepperdine University. He served as head of the Office of Legal Counsel (U.S. Assistant Attorney General) for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Former Dean of the law school at The Catholic University of America, Professor Kmiec was a member of the law faculty for nearly two decades at the University of Notre Dame.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Remembering Grandma Niga
Something occurred to me this morning. Barack's grandmother and my grandmother may well be the same person. On second thought, that can't be because my grandmother passed away 17 years ago. But I'm sure they were twins separated at birth.
My grandmother, of blessed memory, may well have been the sweetest woman I ever encountered in my entire life. She was smart, accomplished, very religious and an undying Detroit Tigers fan. I heard her argue with my grandfather all of one time, and that was when she was suffering from amazingly painful hemorrhoids.
I also never saw her treat anyone with anything but respect and Christian love. When she knew I was about to visit, she would whip up a batch of apple sauce/date nut cookies just for me to devour (and I would never disappoint her on that question). She went out of her way on a daily basis for others. She took great care of my grandfather, even when he was given 6 months to live (which he beat by 30 years).
But her one flaw was her distrust of black people. It wasn't that she was racist, but she was scared of them for no good reason. I will never forget the conversation she and I had over the phone when I told her that I was getting an apartment with my then next-door neighbor.
I had told her that he was a black man who was a few years older than me at the time we had met. But he was a generally nice guy, I told her, and I thought he'd make a good roommate.
She then shocked me by saying "Now Kevin, remember to watch your stuff if you are going to live with him. Blacks are known to take things which do not belong to them."
I sat in my apartment, stunned to have heard such words from my grandmother. My grandmother had just made a inane and bigoted generalization about blacks which had, from what I could tell, no basis in factual data. My world was completely shaken for about 5 minutes.
And then I thought about it after I told her I loved her and got off the phone. My grandmother's generation had watched the Detroit riots of 1968. The racism and segregation of the north was in many ways more ugly than that of the deep south. Although polite, it was still there and the undercurrent was unmistakable.
So when Barack Obama spoke this week of his grandmother, it just rang so true for me. It made me remember her, both her good points which were too numerous to count and her bad points which really did not diminish the person she was.
Thank you Barack, for speaking of the truth of all of us. None of us are perfect. We all have our failings. But we must work each day to be better, to do better.
My grandmother, of blessed memory, may well have been the sweetest woman I ever encountered in my entire life. She was smart, accomplished, very religious and an undying Detroit Tigers fan. I heard her argue with my grandfather all of one time, and that was when she was suffering from amazingly painful hemorrhoids.
I also never saw her treat anyone with anything but respect and Christian love. When she knew I was about to visit, she would whip up a batch of apple sauce/date nut cookies just for me to devour (and I would never disappoint her on that question). She went out of her way on a daily basis for others. She took great care of my grandfather, even when he was given 6 months to live (which he beat by 30 years).
But her one flaw was her distrust of black people. It wasn't that she was racist, but she was scared of them for no good reason. I will never forget the conversation she and I had over the phone when I told her that I was getting an apartment with my then next-door neighbor.
I had told her that he was a black man who was a few years older than me at the time we had met. But he was a generally nice guy, I told her, and I thought he'd make a good roommate.
She then shocked me by saying "Now Kevin, remember to watch your stuff if you are going to live with him. Blacks are known to take things which do not belong to them."
I sat in my apartment, stunned to have heard such words from my grandmother. My grandmother had just made a inane and bigoted generalization about blacks which had, from what I could tell, no basis in factual data. My world was completely shaken for about 5 minutes.
And then I thought about it after I told her I loved her and got off the phone. My grandmother's generation had watched the Detroit riots of 1968. The racism and segregation of the north was in many ways more ugly than that of the deep south. Although polite, it was still there and the undercurrent was unmistakable.
So when Barack Obama spoke this week of his grandmother, it just rang so true for me. It made me remember her, both her good points which were too numerous to count and her bad points which really did not diminish the person she was.
Thank you Barack, for speaking of the truth of all of us. None of us are perfect. We all have our failings. But we must work each day to be better, to do better.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Our Higher Good
I may well be the worst barometer on the planet in terms of getting the sense of what American's are thinking on any particular subject. Every time I think I have a clue as to what is moving in the body politic, I find I have miscalculated.
This may be because I am a white guy. It may be because I am Jewish. It may be that most of my friends are in the upper middle class economic classification. My best friend is a gay black man, but that is hardly getting the pulse of the black community in the nation. My family is Mormon, Baptist, Methodist and Catholic.
This is all to say that I've been really wrong before. So please take that caveat.
I have re-run Barack Obama's speech yesterday in Philly through my head about 20 times now. I have talked it over with friends of mine of all political stripes. I have read article after article. I made myself listen to a few minutes of Hannity and Colmes last night (until I became too sick to continue) and I heard Rush Lame-brain's take on it. And most importantly, I have prayed on it.
After all that, I am now more convinced than ever that Barack Obama is the man meant to lead this nation. His speech was courageous and selfless. It was honest and hopeful. It was frank and self-responsible. It was meant to speak to all people, and I pray it did.
Think about it, yesterday was an opportunity for Obama to go about business as any politician would. Throw the trouble-maker under the bus, babble about how wonderful he is and how he's not like the trouble-maker, and do the double-speak rap which politicians are famous for.
Instead of doing this, he trusted us all as intelligent human beings. He spoke honestly to us, and asks us to think on our own how we react to each other and treat each other. He spoke to the reality of the anger and resentment the vast majority of us feel, no matter our race. He took the high road, when the low road was so easily available.
Now, he did not preach to us. There was no lecturing done. There was no "you should think this or you need to feel that." There was a recognition that issues are there and they are valid, on all sides. The question is are we so wedded to our anger and resentment that we cannot have a constructive conversation and reconciliation to the issues that are inherent in our society. I pray not.
When we come to the bottom line, Barack Obama again asks us to grow. We need to become bigger to confront our future, as opposed to staying the same and continue to watch our society become more fractured and dysfunctional. The question is will we accept the responsibility to grown.
I promise to do so. I will heed his wise words and try to elevate myself and those around me.
Please join me in that quest.
This may be because I am a white guy. It may be because I am Jewish. It may be that most of my friends are in the upper middle class economic classification. My best friend is a gay black man, but that is hardly getting the pulse of the black community in the nation. My family is Mormon, Baptist, Methodist and Catholic.
This is all to say that I've been really wrong before. So please take that caveat.
I have re-run Barack Obama's speech yesterday in Philly through my head about 20 times now. I have talked it over with friends of mine of all political stripes. I have read article after article. I made myself listen to a few minutes of Hannity and Colmes last night (until I became too sick to continue) and I heard Rush Lame-brain's take on it. And most importantly, I have prayed on it.
After all that, I am now more convinced than ever that Barack Obama is the man meant to lead this nation. His speech was courageous and selfless. It was honest and hopeful. It was frank and self-responsible. It was meant to speak to all people, and I pray it did.
Think about it, yesterday was an opportunity for Obama to go about business as any politician would. Throw the trouble-maker under the bus, babble about how wonderful he is and how he's not like the trouble-maker, and do the double-speak rap which politicians are famous for.
Instead of doing this, he trusted us all as intelligent human beings. He spoke honestly to us, and asks us to think on our own how we react to each other and treat each other. He spoke to the reality of the anger and resentment the vast majority of us feel, no matter our race. He took the high road, when the low road was so easily available.
Now, he did not preach to us. There was no lecturing done. There was no "you should think this or you need to feel that." There was a recognition that issues are there and they are valid, on all sides. The question is are we so wedded to our anger and resentment that we cannot have a constructive conversation and reconciliation to the issues that are inherent in our society. I pray not.
When we come to the bottom line, Barack Obama again asks us to grow. We need to become bigger to confront our future, as opposed to staying the same and continue to watch our society become more fractured and dysfunctional. The question is will we accept the responsibility to grown.
I promise to do so. I will heed his wise words and try to elevate myself and those around me.
Please join me in that quest.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Two Mantras for Obama
Well, last night was somewhat disappointing. I'd have LOVED to close this thing out yesterday, but dirty politics sometimes carry the day. I am grabbing for the silver lining.
#1 - Barack was down over 20 points in polling in both Texas and Ohio about 3 weeks ago. They almost won Texas (they won the caucases) and if not for the ugliness that is Billary they probably would have won Ohio. So, they can continue to say without hesitation that the message is getting out. They need to carry that message further.
#2 - Obama still leads in pledged delegates and in total declared delegates. If there is any justice, the super-delegates will do the nation the favor of going ahead and aligning to their constituents. I believe we will still see this happen.
There's the good news. Now comes the next tasks.
Up to this point, my mantra has been "Yes We Can!" But, I now am supplementing. Here's my addition.
"What's Hillary Hiding?"
She won't release her tax returns. What's Hillary Hiding?
She won't release her foreign contacts and papers as first lady. What's Hillary Hiding?
She's taken tons of lobbyist dollars. What's Hillary Hiding?
So, we now must ask the question continuously. What's Hillary Hiding? She must be hiding something, so why else would she be so willing to evade and avoid.
I will now go forth, knowing what a great man I am behind. But I will keep the two mantras in mind.
What's Hillary Hiding?
YES WE CAN!!!!!!!
#1 - Barack was down over 20 points in polling in both Texas and Ohio about 3 weeks ago. They almost won Texas (they won the caucases) and if not for the ugliness that is Billary they probably would have won Ohio. So, they can continue to say without hesitation that the message is getting out. They need to carry that message further.
#2 - Obama still leads in pledged delegates and in total declared delegates. If there is any justice, the super-delegates will do the nation the favor of going ahead and aligning to their constituents. I believe we will still see this happen.
There's the good news. Now comes the next tasks.
Up to this point, my mantra has been "Yes We Can!" But, I now am supplementing. Here's my addition.
"What's Hillary Hiding?"
She won't release her tax returns. What's Hillary Hiding?
She won't release her foreign contacts and papers as first lady. What's Hillary Hiding?
She's taken tons of lobbyist dollars. What's Hillary Hiding?
So, we now must ask the question continuously. What's Hillary Hiding? She must be hiding something, so why else would she be so willing to evade and avoid.
I will now go forth, knowing what a great man I am behind. But I will keep the two mantras in mind.
What's Hillary Hiding?
YES WE CAN!!!!!!!
Monday, March 03, 2008
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
Very seldom do I become completely disgusted with a politician, unless that person has completely taken advantage of their position to their personal benefit (think William Jefferson, Tom Delay, etc.). Today, I became completely disgusted with Hillary Clinton.
Here's what I got via e-mail:
Hillary Clinton just issued the following statement endorsing JohnMcCain over Barack Obama."I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House.I know that Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience that he willbring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002."
The full story & video can be found at the DailyKos.http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/3/174153/7363/722/468109
So, a DEMOCRAT has just endorsed a REPUBLICAN over another DEMOCRAT!!!! WOW, I just thought I'd never see that in a presidential race.
I could have sworn that we were going to have a race based on issues, and not lies. I was wrong.
I could have sworn that Hillary just said she was "honored" to be running with Barack just 10 or so days ago. Well, she did say that, but it was a LIE.
She says she's running to improve the lives of others. Given the evidence, she is running to make sure that she wins no matter the costs. No matter the damage it does to the party and our chances for this year.
I'm borrowing heavily from Keith Olbermann, but she is now THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD!!!!
I cannot think of any reason to vote for her for any office EVER!!! That includes this year.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.
I'll call each and every person in Pennsylvania if I have to, should she continue to rip apart this party with her egomanical power-hungry vendetta against everyone who doesn't agree with her.
OOOH, YES WE CAN!!!!
Here's what I got via e-mail:
Hillary Clinton just issued the following statement endorsing JohnMcCain over Barack Obama."I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House.I know that Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience that he willbring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002."
The full story & video can be found at the DailyKos.http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/3/174153/7363/722/468109
So, a DEMOCRAT has just endorsed a REPUBLICAN over another DEMOCRAT!!!! WOW, I just thought I'd never see that in a presidential race.
I could have sworn that we were going to have a race based on issues, and not lies. I was wrong.
I could have sworn that Hillary just said she was "honored" to be running with Barack just 10 or so days ago. Well, she did say that, but it was a LIE.
She says she's running to improve the lives of others. Given the evidence, she is running to make sure that she wins no matter the costs. No matter the damage it does to the party and our chances for this year.
I'm borrowing heavily from Keith Olbermann, but she is now THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD!!!!
I cannot think of any reason to vote for her for any office EVER!!! That includes this year.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.
I'll call each and every person in Pennsylvania if I have to, should she continue to rip apart this party with her egomanical power-hungry vendetta against everyone who doesn't agree with her.
OOOH, YES WE CAN!!!!
